SCOTUS will review Wash. workers' comp law for federal contractors - Reuters
A construction worker walks through the West Front at the United States Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 24, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
- State law extends workers' comp to employees at nuclear facility
- Courts rejected claims law discriminated against fed contractors
- DOJ says law will cost tens of millions of dollars per year
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(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted the federal government's bid for review of a Washington state law extending workers' compensation benefits to employees at a U.S. Department of Energy site who were exposed to toxic fumes and radioactive waste.
The U.S. Department of Justice is asking the high court to reverse a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said a federal law allowing states to apply workers' compensation to sites operated by the U.S. government within the state extends to state laws that single out individual facilities.
DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did the office of Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who in September criticized the Biden administration's "cruel effort" to strike down the law.
The state passed the law in 2018 after news reports revealed that dozens of workers at a Hanford, Washington nuclear facility had become ill and were denied workers' compensation because of their status as federal contractors.
The law created a presumption that Hanford employees' illnesses were work-related and eligible for workers' compensation. Typically, workers have to prove they are injured on the job in order to collect benefits.
In a September petition, DOJ told the Supreme Court that allowing the 9th Circuit ruling to stand would embolden other states to pass similar laws targeting federal facilities. The Washington law alone will cost the federal government tens of millions of dollars per year, DOJ said.
The AG's office in an October brief said the Hanford site is a uniquely dangerous workplace, and upholding Washington's law would not invite other states to take similar steps.
The case is United States v. Washington, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 21-404.
For DOJ: Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar
For Washington: Noah Purcell of the Washington Attorney General's office
source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/scotus-will-review-wash-workers-comp-law-federal-contractors-2022-01-10/
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