Brock, Secretary of Labor, et al. v. Roadway Express, Inc. (481 U.S. 252)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 22, 1987 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 481 U.S. 252 · 107 S. Ct. 1740
- Decided
- April 22, 1987
- Term
- October Term 1986
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Marshall
- Issue area
- Due Process
- Disposition
- Affirmed and reversed (or vacated) in part
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Marshall announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion in which Justice Blackmun, Justice Powell, and Justice O’Connor join. Section 405 of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, 96 Stat. 2157, 49 U. S. C. App. §2305, protects employees in the commercial motor transportation industry from being discharged in retaliation for refusing to operate a motor vehicle that does not comply with applicable state and federal safety regulations or for filing complaints alleging such noncompliance. The statute provides for an initial investigation of an employee’s discharge by the Secretary of Labor and, upon a finding of reasonable cause to believe that the employee was discharged in violation of the Act, requires the Secretary to issue an order directing the employer to reinstate the employee. The employer may then request an evidentiary hearing and a final decision from the Secretary, but this request does not operate to stay the preliminary order of reinstatement. The issue presented in this appeal is whether the failure of § 405 to provide for an evidentiary hearing before temporary reinstatement deprives the employer of procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment. I Appellee Roadway Express, Inc. (Roadway), is a large interstate trucking company engaged primarily in cargo transportation; it is subject to the requirements of §405. See 49 U. S.…
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