Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

Robert Heier appealed a district court judgment affirming an administrative law judge's ("ALJ") decision affirming the termination of his employment with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court reversed, concluding Heier was unlawfully disciplined multiple times for one instance of misconduct, and the Court ordered Heier reinstated with backpay. View "Heier v. N.D. Dept. of Corr. & Rehab. " on Justia Law

James Mickelson appealed a judgment affirming a Workforce Safety and Insurance ("WSI") decision denying his claim for workers' compensation benefits. He argued WSI erred in deciding he did not suffer a compensable injury. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded WSI misapplied the definition of a compensable injury, and the Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Mickelson v. Workforce Safety & Ins." on Justia Law

Conyers and Northover were indefinitely suspended and demoted, respectively, from their positions with the Department of Defense after they were found ineligible to occupy “noncritical sensitive” positions. The Department argued that, because the positions were designated “noncritical sensitive,” the Merit Systems Protection Board could not review the merits of the Department’s determinations under the precedent set forth in Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518 (1988). The Board held that Egan limits review of an otherwise appealable adverse action only if that action is based upon eligibility for or a denial, revocation, or suspension of access to classified information. The Federal Circuit reversed and remanded. Egan prohibits Board review of agency determinations concerning eligibility of an employee to occupy a “sensitive” position, regardless of whether the position requires access to classified information. View "Berry v. Conyers" on Justia Law

In 2002, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Loretto-Oswego Residential Health Care Facility for violating employee safety standards. At the time, Loretto Management oversaw a number of non-profit corporations that operated nursing homes in upstate New York, including Loretto-Oswego; nearly all used the “Loretto” name. Loretto-Oswego reached an agreement with OSHA officials settling all matters related to the citations except whether several violations were “repeated” under 29 U.S.C. 666(a), which depends on whether Loretto- Oswego and a pair of other entities operated as a single employer for purposes of the OSH Act. If the violations were repeated, Loretto-Oswego must pay a penalty of $56,250, and if they were not, then Loretto-Oswego must pay only $11,250. An administrative law judge found that the three entities did operate as a single employer. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission reversed. The Second Circuit denied a petition for review, rejecting the Secretary of Labor’s variation of the “single employer test, which considers”: interrelated operations, common management, centralized control of labor relations, and common ownership. The Commission also considered the factor “common worksite.”

Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) appealed a decision of the Vermont Employment Security Board finding claimant, Abdullahi Mohamed, eligible for unemployment compensation benefits. The Board found that claimant’s discharge for off-duty criminal conduct did not constitute gross misconduct disqualifying him from unemployment compensation benefits. On appeal, FAHC argued that the Legislature’s recent amendments to the Vermont Unemployment Compensation Act required the Board to disqualify claimants from receiving unemployment compensation benefits when an employer can no longer retain them as a result of off-duty criminal conduct. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed.

Plaintiff Kevin Turnley appealed a trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant Town of Vernon. Plaintiff, formerly the Town’s Chief of Police, claimed that he was entitled to receive overtime pay under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which entitles nonexempt employees to overtime pay for time worked in excess of forty hours in a week. The trial court held that plaintiff was exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements because he was an "executive" employee. Upon review of the applicable legal standard and the trial court record, the Supreme Court agreed that Plaintiff was indeed exempt from receiving overtime pay.

Adams was employed as an Information Technology Specialist with the Missile Defense Agency of the Department of Defense, a position designated Special Sensitive and requiring the employee to maintain a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information. The Defense Intelligence Agency notified Adams that it had suspended his access to Sensitive Compartmented Information and had made a preliminary determination to revoke his security clearance for violations of agency security regulations. Weeks later, the Missile Defense Agency notified Adams that he would be suspended from his position indefinitely without pay. The Merit Systems Protection Board sustained the decision and the Federal Circuit affirmed, holding that the agency had afforded Adams the required minimal procedural protections and that “an employee is not entitled to a transfer to a nonsensitive position absent a separate transfer right arising from some” other source. Adams remained on indefinite suspension without pay pending completion of the agency appeals process. The Department of Defense terminated his employment and denied his request for early retirement. The MSPB held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the termination and denial. The Federal Circuit affirmed in part, but reversed concerning MSPB authority to review denial of a retirement request.

Whiteman was employed by the FAA and reported violations of regulations, mismanagement, and abuses of authority. Whiteman alleged that colleagues and supervisors began to threaten and intimidate her. She filed EEO actions and reported one incident to police. She was excluded from the radar room and stripped of duties, then reassigned to the control tower instead of her previous job. In 2003, Whiteman settled with the FAA resolving all claims, “known or unknown” in exchange for guaranteed priority consideration for the next available supervisor position. December 9, 2003, Whiteman applied for a position. No other applicants were considered. December 18, 2003, the FAA adopted pay scale changes, which reduced the salary of the position. Whiteman accepted the position, but sued, alleging that the FAA’s delay in notifying her of the vacancy breached the settlement agreement and caused loss of earnings. The district court dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Whiteman appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board contending that the FAA had unlawfully retaliated against her for whistleblowing. The Board concluded that the claim was barred. The Federal Circuit affirmed in part. The MSPB incorrectly concluded that Whiteman’s post-settlement retaliation claim was collaterally estopped, but its conclusion that the settlement agreement is enforceable is supported by substantial evidence.

William Buckley appealed a decision of a Workers' Compensation Board hearing officer on remand from the Supreme Court. Buckley contended that, when determining whether his permanent impairment level was above the threshold for receiving partial incapacity benefits for the duration of his incapacity, the hearing officer misinterpreted the Court's mandate by failing to combine or "stack" the percentages of permanent impairment attributable to all of his work injuries. Furthermore, Buckley asserted that the hearing officer's finding that he suffered 0% permanent impairment from a 2001 injury is inconsistent with a finding in the prior decree that he suffered 7% permanent impairment for that injury. Upon review, the Supreme Court found no error and affirmed the hearing officer's decision.

The Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota (the Union) petitioned for review of a decision of the National Labor Relations Board ordering the Union to cease and desist violating section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the National Labor Relations Act by coercing Lake Area Fence, a newly formed commercial fencing subcontractor, not to do fence installation work for Century Fence Company, a nonunion contractor. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the petition for review and granted the Board's cross-petition to enforce its decision and order, holding that the Board's decision was a reasonable construction of the statute and was supported by substantial evidence on the administrative record as a whole.