The firings of over 5,000 probationary employees at the Agriculture Department may have been unlawful, and the workers should be reinstated for at least the next 45 days, a federal civil service board ruled Wednesday.

A federal personnel board on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reinstate a fired worker, as well as "numerous" other probationary employees who were fired Feb. 13 and later. The Merit Systems Protection Board issued the ruling at the request of the Office of Special Counsel,

A workers’ board is reinstating – at least temporarily – almost 6,000 fired probationary workers from the Department of Agriculture, according to a newly issued order obtained by CNN.