{"ID":63437,"name":"United States v. Washington","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2021\/21-404","view_count":0,"docket_number":"21-404","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"United States of America","second_party":"State of Washington, et al.","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1641794400],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/55022"},{"event":"Argued","dates":[1650258000],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/55075"},{"event":"Decided","dates":[1655787600],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/55120"}],"lower_court":{"ID":5,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/5"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Hanford site was a federal nuclear production site in Washington State that operated between 1944 and 1989, producing substantial amounts of radioactive and chemically hazardous waste. The U.S. Department of Energy now oversees cleanup of the site, which is largely conducted by private contractors and subcontractors.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2018, Washington amended its state workers\u2019 compensation laws specifically for these cleanup workers. The amended law creates a rebuttable presumption that certain conditions and cancers are occupational diseases.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe federal government challenged the law as violating the principle of intergovernmental immunity. The district court granted summary judgment for Washington, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EDoes a Washington state workers\u2019 compensation law that applies exclusively to certain federal workers in that state violate the principle of intergovernmental immunity?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EWashington\u2019s workers\u2019 compensation law is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause because it facially discriminates against the federal government and does not fall within the scope of the federal waiver of immunity. Justice Stephen Breyer authored the unanimous opinion of the Court.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Supremacy Clause prohibits states from interfering with or controlling the operations of the federal government, also known as the intergovernmental immunity doctrine. Washington\u2019s law explicitly treats federal workers differently from state and private workers, and imposes costs upon the federal government that state and private entities do not bear. As such, it is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause. Contrary to Washington\u2019s claims, no federal law \u201cclearly and unambiguously\u201d waives federal immunity from workers\u2019 compensation laws.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":36722,"name":"Malcolm L. Stewart","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/malcolm_l_stewart","view_count":0,"last_name":"Stewart","roles":null,"thumbnail":null,"length_of_service":0,"identifier":"malcolm_l_stewart"},"advocate_description":"for the Petitioner","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_advocate\/case_advocate\/23243"},{"advocate":{"ID":63480,"name":"Tera M. 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