Supreme Court Rejects Lawsuit Against Individual Federal Employees

A rancher filed a lawsuit against employees of the Bureau of Land Management contending with numerous examples that he had suffered several years of harassment and intimidation because he would not grant an easement on his property. The court agreed with the government’s position that when the federal government is the “intended beneficiary of the allegedly extortionate acts,” then the act does not apply. The court concluded that the federal employees could not be sued individually for their campaign against the ownership rights of the rancher.

All Should Be Forgiven–I’m a Whistleblower!

A federal employee who is subject to discipline will sometimes argue that the discipline was in retaliation for whistleblowing activity and that the discipline should be overturned. In this Air Force case, an employee admitted manipulating a process to steer contracts to one company but says the disciplinary action was retaliation. The court doesn’t buy it and leaves the 30-day suspension in place.

A Bad Combination: Machine Guns and Lying to a Grand Jury

While some would argue that a former military member and federal employee should be held to a higher standard, this petitioner argued his status and poor health justified reducing his 33-month prison sentence. He took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court but, with the exception of Justice David Souter, he did not convince the court his case was meritorious.