HOBE SOUND, Fla. — From medals, to photographs, to commemorative plaques, David Pasquino's office is full of reminders of nearly two decades of service to the United States.
Pasquino traveled the world during his 18 years in the Army, which included two combat tours.
"I made some of the best friendships, I had some of the greatest experiences of my life. Some not so great — yeah, and I wouldn't trade a day of it," Pasquino said.
David Pasquino worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs — until last week
Now, Hobe Sound is home. It's where Pasquino spent about 11 months working remotely in human resources for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
"Working at the Department of Veterans Affairs was the perfect opportunity for me to give back to veterans and continue to serve," Pasquino said.
His team's role was to make hiring more efficient at the agency, after the government ended its contract with a private vendor.
"We were able to clear a two-year backlog in about three months," Pasquino said. "We reduced the time to hire from approximately 130 days down to about 62 days in an 11-month period."
On Thursday evening, Pasquino described an "itch" he had to check his work email. His employment was terminated, effective immediately.
The firing came despite positive performance evaluations, which Pasquino shared with WPTV.
"Shock, disbelief, anger, sadness — I kind of went through all the stages of grief in about a four-day period since this happened," Pasquino said Monday.
Pasquino said he had to tell his direct supervisor — as well as her supervisor — that he and many of his coworkers received the same email, with the subject line, "Termination During Probation Notice."
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"It feels like we don't matter," Pasquino said. "Our lives, our service — you know, I'm a 100% disabled combat veteran, and the sacrifices that I made don't matter, because it's just, I'm an arbitrary number."
Florida was home to about 94,000 federal civilian workers, according to December's estimates, the most recent available from the Congressional Research Service. It's not clear how that number is impacted by widespread terminations, but multiple agencies were affected.
"I have friends and colleagues who are federal prosecutors who are being laid off, even though they've had, you know, great successes and good stories and have a good conviction rate," said Cathleen Scott, an employment attorney based in Palm Beach County. "And so that's kind of one of those things we have to scratch your head and go... 'What is the goal here?'"
Scott explained that the federal government workers typically have more protections than private sector workers do, "but these layoffs seem to be targeted at probationary employees who have reduced rights."
Pasquino said he was about a month away from permanent status.
"I don't know what motivated the decision, but choosing probationary employees seems to be motivated by a desire to reduce the amount of court cases that could come," Scott said. "I would encourage everybody who's in this situation to get legal counsel and find out, you know, whether there are any appellate rights that they would have."
Scott said every appeal would need to be handled individually, particularly for individuals who are part of a class that is legally protected from employment discrimination. She also recommends displaced employees consult with their union, if they belonged to one.
Jamie E. Wright, an employment attorney based in California, adds this advice to federal workers who have not been laid off:
"Start saving your emails. Start documenting everything, start downloading emails, start backing them up, and start talking to your union. And if you have a chance to do like a 20- or 30- minute consult with an employment lawyer, do it just to make sure that you're protected and you have all the information you have, so that if you have to advocate for your job, you're prepared."
Pasquino is now looking for a new job, and said he wouldn't hesitate to return to the public sector.
"I love my country," he said. "I love helping veterans. I love helping people. And I — as much as it hurt — my life was one of service, and I'm going to continue to try and serve for however I can, if I were allowed to."
