Supreme Court Will Hear Pentagon Employee’s Appeal Against Furlough Decision

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a furloughed Department of Defense employee who waited five years for a decision from an understaffed government board that could not resolve his appeal promptly. The Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari, or review, in an unsigned order in Harrow v. Department of Defense late in the business day on Dec. 8. No justices dissented. The court did not explain its decision. At least four of the nine justices have to vote in favor of granting the petition for the case to move forward. The case goes back to 2013 when Stuart Harrow, a longtime Department of Defense (DOD) employee, was furloughed for six days as a result of funding cutbacks mandated by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, according to the petition (pdf) he filed with the Supreme Court on July 3. He asked to be exempted from the furlough on the grounds of financial hardship....