Fired federal employees have limited route for challenging dismissals [View all]
Source: Washington Post
Federal employees who were fired because they did not sign up for the U.S. draft may not challenge the constitutionality of their dismissals in federal district courts, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The justices ruled 6 to 3 that Congress has set up a strict method for government employees to appeal their dismissals — first before the Merit Systems Protection Board and then the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal District — even if the claim is that the firing was unconstitutional.
Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, said the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 was intended to replace a patchwork of statutes and rules that developed when employees had the right to challenge agency actions in district courts across the country.
The system would be undermined, he wrote, if it could be bypassed “simply by alleging that the statutory authorization for such action is unconstitutional.”
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fired-federal-employees-have-limited-route-for-challenging-dismissals/2012/06/11/gJQAJYVaVV_story.html
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