A federal judge ordered the Trump administration’s personnel director to rescind memos that led to mass firings of probationary employees at several agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management.

At a 90-minute hearing Feb. 27, the American Federation of Government Employees and other plaintiffs presented evidence that workers in several agencies were told the personnel office ordered their dismissal.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said the Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management Charles Ezell has never had authority “in the history of the universe” to hire or fire federal employees.

Alsup said he had to limit his order based on the evidence presented to him, but urged other agencies to take heed of his ruling. “I’m going to count on the government to go a little bit further than what I have ordered,” he said.

Alsup said his order applies to memos sent to BLM, the Defense Department, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Park Service, National Science Foundation and Small Business Administration.

Public sector unions and five special-interest groups, including the Western Watersheds Project, allege the personnel office orchestrated the mass firings of tens of thousands of federal workers in many agencies between Feb. 12 and Feb. 14.

Workers were fired via standardized emails citing their performance. USDA-Agricultural Research Service scientists in the Northwest were among the terminated employees.

In a sworn statement, Ezell denied ordering the firings, saying agencies chose which probation employees to let go. Assistant U.S.attorney Kelsey Helland told Alsup the personnel office requested agencies review probationary employees, but left final decisions up to individual agencies.

The judge was skeptical and grilled Helland about the evidence the plaintiffs had gathered.

“How could so much of the workforce be amputated suddenly overnight?” asked Alsup, appointed to the bench by Bill Clinton.

“All this happened at once and that tends to corroborate what the plaintiffs say,” he said. “That’s the way the evidence points.”

Alsup said he will hold a hearing and have Ezell testify. “We’ll get to the bottom of what your guy said,” he told Helland.

The plaintiffs’ attorney, Danielle Leonard, said the personnel office’s denial of responsibility for the firings was not credible. “It is a lie, your honor,” she said.

It was unclear whether any federal employees will regain their jobs because of Alsup’s ruling. Alsup ordered the rescinding of two memos the personnel office sent to the select number of agencies, but did not order the agencies to rehire workers.

Alsup ruled the non-union plaintiffs had standing to sue because they might be harmed by the firings.

Western Watersheds Project executive director Erik Molvar said in a court declaration that cutbacks in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service threatens the recovery of the Wyoming toad and a decision on whether to list as a protected species the Arctic grayling, a fish found in Montana.