Judge: Much of NSPS illegal

A federal judge ruled today that major portions of the Defense Department's new personnel system for civilian employees are illegal. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled against provisions in DOD's National Security Personnel System governing labor relations, collective bargaining and other employee rights.

"Judge Sullivan's ruling eviscerates the core of NSPS, leaving but a hollow shell of provisions that simply cannot stand on their own," said Joe Goldberg, assistant general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the unions involved in the lawsuit to block NSPS.

DOD had planned to implement the system in the spring of 2005, but union challenges delayed its implementation.