Supreme Court to hear cases affecting federal agencies

The U.S. Supreme Court next week will hear arguments on two major cases that could affect federal agencies.

The cases to be heard during oral arguments on Oct. 2 are Kloeckner v. Solis and U.S. v. Bormes. Kloeckner revolves around the appeals process for a narrow category of cases at the independent, quasi-judicial Merit Systems Protection Board. According to the legal site FindLaw, there are inconsistences in where employees can appeal MSPB decisions in cases of adverse employment actions and discrimination, but where the MSPB ruling does not address the discrimination claim. Those inconsistencies affect which portion of the claim employees can challenge, FindLaw said.

U.S. v. Bormes will assess whether the federal government is immune from paying damages for Fair Credit Reporting Act violations. The case originated with a Chicago attorney who used a personal credit card to pay a filing fee for a federal law suit. He claimed his receipt from the government’s computer system showed the expiration date on his credit card, in violation of FCRA, and he brought a class action suit against the government.