Details on today’s opinions

By Adam Schlossman
on Mar 1, 2011 at 11:32 am

The Court issued three opinions this morning:

Henderson v. Shinseki (No. 09-1036) – In a unanimous opinion by Justice Alito (with Justice Kagan recused), the Court reversed the decision of the Federal Circuit.  It held that the deadline for filing a notice of appeal with the Veterans Court does not have jurisdictional consequences and that Congress did not require the 120-day deadline to be treated as jurisdictional.

Staub v. Proctor Hospital (No. 09-400) – In a unanimous opinion by Justice Scalia (with Justice Kagan recused), the Court reversed the decision of the Seventh Circuit.  The decision deals with the so-called “cat’s paw” theory of liability for workplace discrimination.  The Court held that if a supervisor performs an act motivated by bias against the military that the supervisor intends to cause an adverse employment action, and if that act is the proximate cause of the ultimate employment action, then the employer can be held liable under a federal statute that prohibits employment discrimination against members of the armed services.

Justice Alito filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, which was joined by Justice Thomas.

FCC v. AT&T (No. 09-1279) – In a unanimous opinion by the Chief Justice (with Justice Kagan recused), the Court reversed the decision of the Third Circuit.  It held that corporations do not have a right of personal privacy for purposes of Exemption 7(C) of the Freedom of Information Act, which protects from disclosure law enforcement records whose disclosure “could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”