Washington DC - A US judge on Wednesday ruled that Donald Trump's firing of Susan Grundmann, the head of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), was unlawful.

The FLRA is tasked with overseeing labor relations and resolving disputes between the federal government and its employees.

Grundmann had served as chair of the agency since 2023 before she was dismissed by Trump in a two-sentence email last month.

Federal law protects FLRA members from termination without cause. The Trump administration – which has taken unprecedented actions to gain control over independent agencies – argues that such protections are unconstitutional.

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"The Government’s arguments paint with a broad brush and threaten to upend fundamental protections in our Constitution. But ours is not an autocracy; it is a system of checks and balances," US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote in her ruling.

"Our Founders recognized that the concentration of power in one branch of government would spell disaster," she added.

The decision reflected a similar ruling on the termination of National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, in which Judge Beryl Howell wrote that "no one in our system of government was meant to be king – the President included."

Grundmann has now been effectively reinstated to her role – unless an appeals court reverses the decision.