New York -- The state Attorney General's Office has joined a coalition of 19 other states to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the firing of thousands of probationary federal workers, including hundreds in New York state.
The lawsuit charges the Trump administration has directed federal agencies to fire employees without following the law.
The layoffs have upended workers' lives, disrupted essential services and forced states to scramble to provide resources for recently fired workers, Attorney General Letitia James said in a news release Thursday night.
The Trump administration is required to provide advance notice of mass layoffs to employees and states so that states can get resources ready for unemployed workers, James said.
Federal agencies are required by law to provide at least 60 days of prior written notice before they release any federal civil service employee, according to James.
With this lawsuit, the AG's office is seeking a court order to stop further mass layoffs without notice and the reinstatement of all illegally fired federal workers who have been laid off since Jan. 20, 2025.
In the last week of February, 372 federal workers filed for unemployment in New York, the AG's Office said.
"Thousands of workers across New York and the nation are now struggling to pay rent, put food on the table and care for their loved ones," James said.
In Buffalo and Syracuse, more than 100 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees have been fired, leaving New Yorkers without a critical resource for assistance with their tax returns at the height of tax season, she said.
The regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Buffalo also saw major staffing cuts.
More than 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs employees nationwide were fired in February, including workers at VA medical centers in New York state.
Workers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who were fired included seven staffers assigned to New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, according to James.
The employees that the Trump administration has targeted are workers who have either been newly hired or have recently been promoted or changed jobs. They are generally subject to a probationary period of one or two years, James said.
In addition to New York, the following states joined the lawsuit: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin as well as the District of Columbia.