Federal workers incensed by performance language in termination letters
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/17/fired-federal-workers-performance-language-doge/78886104007/
"Termination letters shared by a U.S. Department of Education employee, a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee, a Natural Resources Conservation Service worker and four workers for the U.S. Forest Service all state that probationary employees must demonstrate why it’s in “the public interest for the Government to finalize their appointment to the civil service.”
“The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest,” the letters continue. The workers interviewed by USA TODAY said they had good performance records.
An employee with the U.S. Department of Transportation also shared a termination letter with nearly identical language. A letter sent by the Small Business Administration to a fired probationary employee has different language but still mentions performance.
“You have failed to demonstrate fitness for continued federal employment,” the SBA letter reads. “The Agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the Agency’s current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the Agency.”
Fired U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs data scientist Elena Moseyko was incensed to see that her termination letter mentioned her performance. Moseyko said she has “an excellent performance record” and plans to challenge her dismissal.
“This was an illegal termination,” Moseyko said, adding: “They terminated thousands of people, and thousands of people cannot possibly all have bad performance. It’s not possible. So basically this is illegal.”
Chris Johnson, who was fired from his job in Arizona with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, believes that highlighting his performance in the letter gives him grounds to challenge his termination because he can point to successful performance reviews.
“To me, that gives me legal grounds to appeal," he said."