Bailey v. Richardson

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit · 1950 · Administrative Law

Administrative LawFederal employmentLoyalty proceedingsRemoval from government serviceexecutive removal powerfederal civil serviceloyalty review boardExecutive Order 9835

Facts

Bailey had previously worked in the classified civil service, was separated in 1947 because of a reduction in force, and was later temporarily appointed and then reinstated in 1948 subject to Civil Service Commission regulations allowing removal within eighteen months if investigation disclosed disqualification. After her reinstatement, the Commission sent her an interrogatory stating it had received information that she had been affiliated with the Communist Party and certain named organizations; she denied the allegations except for a short past membership in one organization, asserted loyalty, and requested hearings. She received hearings before the Regional Loyalty Board and a panel of the Loyalty Review Board, where she testified and submitted witnesses and affidavits, but the government did not disclose informants or present adverse witnesses on the record. The boards found that, on all the evidence, reasonable grounds existed to believe she was disloyal, ordered her separation, and also barred her from federal employment examinations for three years.

Issue

Whether Bailey's removal following conditional reinstatement violated Executive Order 9835, the Lloyd-LaFollette Act, or the Constitution because the government did not reveal informants, provide a judicial-type hearing, or otherwise afford the procedures she demanded. Also, whether the three-year bar from federal employment was valid.

Rule

The President, absent congressional restriction, may remove from government service any person of whose loyalty he is not completely convinced, and may do so without assigning reasons or providing a judicial-type hearing. In this context, government employment is not protected property or liberty under the Fifth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment does not apply to dismissal from executive employment, and a former employee conditionally reinstated after separation is subject to valid Civil Service Commission regulations rather than the Lloyd-LaFollette Act. However, an individualized debarment from future federal employment imposed as punishment is invalid.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Nina Ortega works as an analyst for a federal records office in Denver. After an internal security review, the agency head concludes that there are reasonable grounds to doubt Nina's loyalty to the United States and removes her, even though no statute limits removal on that ground.

If Nina challenges the removal on the ground that the President and executive officials may remove employees only upon proof of actual disloyalty, how should a court rule under the majority's approach?

Explanation. The majority held that, absent congressional restriction, the President may remove from government service any person of whose loyalty he is not completely convinced. The constitutional standard is not proof of actual disloyalty in court; reasonable grounds for executive doubt are sufficient for removal from executive employment.