‘A slap in the face’: Atlanta single mom fired from CDC job only 66 days before her probation ended — now she’s had to turn to food stamps, Medicaid to get by

Homeownership dream dashed

As the 41-year-old struggles to make ends meet, she’s turned to food stamps, Medicaid and, “for the first time in my life, applied for temporary assistance [to] pay my rent.”

Also for the first time, Corrigan was nearly able to purchase a home for her family. “I was this close to being able to make a livable wage for me and my daughters, and in one second, that was all taken,” she told Fox5 through tears.

Corrigan started in a janitorial role and worked her way up to earning $67,000 per year as an education technician. She doesn’t see how “poor performance” is justified, stating she’s worked hard her whole life and was even promoted at the CDC.

“I earned every promotion with dedication and hard work, and now it’s devastating,” she told reporters.

As for what’s next, Corrigan is currently exploring a class action lawsuit. She’s appealed the CDC’s decision with the Office of Special Counsel, which she told Fox5 News has been helping her navigate this very difficult time.

Invest in real estate without the headache of being a landlord

Imagine owning a portfolio of thousands of well-managed single family rentals or a collection of cutting-edge industrial warehouses. You can now gain access to a $1B portfolio of income-producing real estate assets designed to deliver long-term growth from the comforts of your couch.

The best part? You don’t have to be a millionaire and can start investing in minutes.

Learn More

Government jobs shrinking

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk describe the administration’s cutting of U.S. government jobs as an effort to reduce spending and make the public workforce more responsive to its directives. Trump has called the federal government “bloated,” adding it’s full of “people that are unnecessary.”

In a video call to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Musk reportedly stated the need to “delete entire agencies” as opposed to leaving a lot of them behind. “If we don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back,” CBS News reports.

Last month, government agencies were ordered to lay off almost all probationary employees, like Corrigan, and potentially hundreds of thousands of others.

It’s not a surprise, Republican strategist Brian Robinson points out. He told Fox5 News that American voters elected a president who would shrink the government.

“Conservatives in this country believe that the government has to be smaller, that there will be some pain involved. The president and Elon Musk said that there will be some pain in this transition.”

What can you do?

Corrigan is appealing her firing to the Office of Special Counsel, as other impacted federal workers can. While there may or may not be recourse for them, here are some steps the nonprofit, nonpartisan Protect Democracy group suggests.

1. Download personnel and benefits documents, including your full eOPF file, performance reviews and position description, ideally before employment ends.

2. Remove any personal documents from your work computer and exchange personal contact information with colleagues.

3. Learn about your rights and find resources. Protect Democracy provides overviews of substantive and procedural employee protections, the process for challenging violations of those protections and guides on what probationary employees should know. It also offers information about organizations that support civil servants and finding legal counsel.