Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

Aaron Terveen was an employee for the South Dakota Department of Transportation. When returning from a work-related trip, Terveen was involved in a one-automobile accident on a dead-end road just off the highway. The Department of Labor awarded workers’ compensation benefits, determining that Terveen sustained an injury arising out of and in the course of his employment. The circuit court reversed, concluding that Terveen’s accident and resulting injuries did not arise out of and in the course of his employment. The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s denial of coverage, holding that Terveen had taken a severable side-trip when he was injured, and the side-trip did not arise of or occur in the course of his employment. View "Terveen v. S.D. Dep’t of Transp." on Justia Law

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) led the effort to clean up nuclear waste at the Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington state. URS Energy & Construction, Inc. (“URS Energy”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of URS Corporation, worked as a subcontractor on the project. An employee of URS Energy brought this action alleging violations of the Energy Reorganization Act (“ERA”) whistleblower protection provision concerning the cleanup efforts. The district court dismissed the DOE from the suit and granted summary judgment in favor of URS Corp. and URS Energy. The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) the DOE and URS Corp. were correctly dismissed for lack of administrative exhaustion, but administrative exhaustion was sufficient as to URS Energy; and (2) the employee introduced sufficient evidence to create a triable issue as to whether his whistleblowing activity was a contributing factor in the adverse employment action URS Energy took against him, and there were other existing genuine issues of fact that precluded summary judgment to URS Energy. Remanded. View "Tamosaitis v. URS Inc." on Justia Law

Employee fractured her ankle on a staircase at her workplace. A workers’ compensation judge awarded benefits to Employee, concluding that the injuries “arose out of” her employment. The Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals (WCCA) affirmed, relying on its previous decision in Dykhoff v. Xcel Energy. The Supreme Court stayed Employer’s appeal while it considered Dykhoff. The Supreme Court then reversed the WCCA’s decision in Dykhoff and remanded. On remand, the WCCA again affirmed, this time applying the “increased risk” test, which requires an employee to to show that her workplace exposed her to a risk of injury that was increased over what she would face in her everyday life. The WCCA relied on two factual findings to conclude that Employee’s injury was compensable under the increased risk test. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the WCCA’s decision was manifestly contrary to the evidence. Remanded. View "Arrowhead Senior Living Cmty. v. Kainz" on Justia Law

Oliver Arlington, who worked for Miller’s Trucking for one year, claimed he was owed wages in accordance with a verbal employment agreement and was also owed unpaid overtime wages. On remand, a hearing officer with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry Hearings Bureau denied Arlington’s claims. The district court affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) substantial evidence supported the hearing officer’s finding that Arlington and Miller’s Trucking did not have an oral employment agreement guaranteeing over $60,000 per year in wages; (2) the hearing officer’s conclusions of law were contrary to applicable wage and hour law; (3) the hearing officer’s factual findings were clearly erroneous; and (4) the hearing officer did not abuse his discretion when he refused to admit documents pertaining to regulatory violations by Miller’s Trucking. View "Arlington v. Miller’s Trucking, Inc." on Justia Law

Under the Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) Act, motorists receive emergency roadside assistance on California’s highways. The FSP program is administered by, among other agencies, the Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Local agencies then contract with privately owned tow services, which provide trucks dedicated to the FSP program. One local agency contracted with California Coach Orange, Inc. for FSP tow services and also contracted with CHP for field supervision and program management. Joshua Guzman, a California Coach FSP tow truck driver, hit a car on an interstate highway, injuring Plaintiff. Plaintiff sued CHP, among other defendants, seeking recovery on the theory that CHP was Guzman’s “special employer.” The trial court denied CHP’s motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeal reversed, ruling that CHP cannot be the special employer of an FSP tow truck driver as a matter of law. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the Court of Appeal erred by ruling that FSP statutes categorically bar CHP from acting as a special employer; and (2) the language of the statutory scheme does not support a finding that CHP is the special employer of FSP tow truck drivers, but this conclusion does not eliminate the possibility that CHP might act as a special employer in particular circumstances. View "State ex rel. Dep’t of Cal. Highway Patrol v. Superior Court" on Justia Law

In the process of hiring a new city manager, the City Commission of the City of Polson held a closed executive session with the description, “Personnel-meet with interview panels and deliberate on selection of city manager.” The Commission later unanimously voted to approve a city manager employment contract with Mark Shrives. Citizens for Open Government brought suit, contending that the executive session violated Citizens’ right to participate under the Montana Constitution and Montana statutory law. The district court ruled in favor of the City on the merits of Citizens’ claims. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the Commission did not comply with the open meeting laws when it closed its executive session without first determining that the demands of individual privacy clearly exceeded the merits of public disclosure; but (2) because the Commission did not finalize its hiring decision until it held two additional open public meetings, the district court did not err in declining to void the Commission’s decision to present Shrives with an offer letter. View "Citizens for Open Gov’t., Inc. v. City of Polson" on Justia Law

Appellant was injured while working as a staff home nurse at the Eastern Nebraska Veterans’ Home. Appellant filed a petition in Workers’ Compensation Court alleging that she suffered from complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and had sustained injuries to her left and right upper limbs as a result of the accident. The compensation found that Appellant was entitled to temporary total disability (TTD) benefits and permanent partial disability benefits. Appellant appealed the award. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that the compensation court (1) did not err in finding that Appellant was permanently partially disabled and suffered a seventy-five percent loss of earning capacity; (2) did not err by denying Appellant a waiting-time penalty, attorney fees, and interest; but (3) erred in failing to consider mileage expenses for all of Appellant’s travel to injury-related medical appointments. Remanded. View "Armstrong v. State" on Justia Law

In 2010, while Kerner was an Evidence Custodian, GS-05, with the Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service, he applied for two vacancies: Wildlife Inspector, GS-09/11, and Wildlife Inspector, GS-11/11. Both positions were merit-promotion vacancies. Each required federal employee applicants to meet a time-in-grade requirement. A federal civil service applicant must have completed at least 52 weeks of experience equivalent to GS-07 to be qualified for the GS- 09 position, and at least 52 weeks of experience equivalent to GS-09 to be qualified for the GS-11 position. The vacancies also required one year of specialized experience in the federal civil service equivalent to GS-07 or GS-09, respectively. Kerner had no federal civil service experience at the GS-07 or GS-09 level and, therefore, did not meet the time-in-grade requirements. The Department determined that he did not qualify for either vacancy. Kerner then filed a Veterans Employment Opportunity Act claim with the Department of Labor, alleging that the Department violated his VEOA rights. The Department of Labor and Merit Systems Protection Board rejected the claim. The Federal Circuit affirmed. The provisions cited by Kerner only apply to preference-eligible veterans not already employed in federal civil service, not to current federal employees seeking merit promotions. View "Kerner v. Dep't of the Interior" on Justia Law

Mason Mauldin, an employee of Central Flying Service, Inc. (CFS), was killed when the plane he was flying during the course of his employment crashed. Mauldin’s estate (the Estate) filed a wrongful-death complaint against CFS and Mauldin’s supervisor (collectively, Petitioners), alleging intentional misconduct, respondeat superior, wrongful death, and survival. The Estate then amended its complaint to raise a claim challenging the constitutionality of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Act. Petitioners moved to dismiss the Estate’s complaint because of a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, asserting that the Estate’s exclusive remedy was provided by the Act. The circuit court denied the motion to dismiss. Petitioners petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of prohibition to prohibit the circuit court from continuing to exercise jurisdiction over the complaint. The Supreme Court granted the petition, holding that the circuit court was wholly without jurisdiction over the Estate’s complaint, as (1) Petitioners were entitled to immunity from tort liability for the Estate’s claims against them; and (2) in order to challenge the constitutionality of the act, the Estate must demonstrate that the Act applies to it, and the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission has exclusive, original jurisdiction to determine the applicability of the Act. View "Central Flying Serv. Inc. v. Circuit Court" on Justia Law

Appellee was injured while on the job and made a workers’ compensation claim. The Wyoming Division of Workers’ Compensation denied Appellee’s claim for coverage. Appellee later admitted that he provided false documentation in order to secure his employment, that he was a citizen of Mexico, and that he didn’t know if he had permission to work in the United States. After a contested case hearing, the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) denied benefits on the grounds that Appellee was not an “employee” as defined in Wyoming’s workers’ compensation statutes. The district court reversed the OAH and awarded Appellee benefits, concluding that the denial of Appellee’s claim for benefits was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err in concluding that the OAH’s action was not in accordance with the law and in awarding benefits. View "L & L Enterprises v. Arellano" on Justia Law