The sweeping HHS layoffs have been chaotic and stressful for employees of the massive health department. They may also be illegal, according to lawyers and federal employment experts.
Healthcare Dive spoke to more than one dozen current and former HHS employees, all of whom shared elements of the reduction-in-force, or RIF, that don’t align with how the process — an undertaking so complex, onerous and rare that one former government official likened it to a lost art — is normally done. The sources were granted anonymity for fear of retribution.
Potential issues include the closure of entire offices, including some mandated by law; discrepancies in how the HHS determined which employees would be let go; incorrect information on termination letters; and a lack of transparency with department heads and HHS unions.
Several legal experts agree that some of those reasons could be grounds for a suit. And unions and employment law firms are taking notice, reaching out to impacted employees to collect information.
Last Tuesday, a virtual town hall for HHS staff run by Gilbert Employment Law quickly became so crowded that Zoom started bouncing attendees due to capacity constraints. Another firm, Federal Practice Group, told Healthcare Dive it plans to appeal the layoffs with a board that protects government employees from illegal terminations.
Meanwhile, the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents HHS workers in several agencies, has filed an institutional grievance —...
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