Federal Judiciary

Do Federal Circuit Judges Really Watch South Park?

By Robert Loblaw

Baird v. Department of the Army, 2007-3046 (Fed. Cir., Feb. 26, 2008)

As Mr. Mackey from South Park would say, “drugs are bad, mmmkay?”

It?s not every day that you see a South Park reference in a judicial opinion. And a one-liner in a Federal Circuit decision is even less common.  So who?s the unlikely funny guy? Why, it?s Judge Randall Rader, dissenting from a decision remanding an employment decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Petitioner Kim Baird was removed from her position as a psychiatric nurse in an Army Hospital after she tested positive for marijuana. The MSPB upheld the removal, and she filed suit in the Federal Circuit, arguing that her employer?s purported zero tolerance policy was a sham. On appeal, the majority concludes that Baird?s employer failed to comply with discovery requests, which denied Baird the ability to prove her theory. Accordingly, the Court remands the matter to the MSPB for further proceedings.

Judge Rader dissents, arguing that Baird had ample opportunity to prove her case, and the administrative judge did not abuse his discretion in imposing reasonable limits on further discovery. He also argues that the Court should not interfere with the federal government?s efforts to enforce a zero tolerance drug policy in its workplaces.

Full post as published by Decision of the Day on February 26, 2008 (boomark / email).