Worker relief in D.C.

Relief may be on the way for “at will” District government senior and midlevel managers, who claimed they were victims of a mercurial, capricious executive. They lobbied D.C. Council members for several months, urging them to amend the city’s Management Supervisory System. Councilmen Harry Thomas, Michael Brown and Marion Barry responded to their pleas.

The trio co-introduced last week the “MSS Employment Amendment Act of 2009,” which would provide that such employees only are “at will” during a one-year probationary period. Then, they “shall only be terminated for cause.”