Roberts Unexpected Ally For Abused Employee

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts this week was an unexpected voice in defense of a former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier whose case calls into question the window former employees have in which to file lawsuits against abusive workplace environments. Marvin Green, a 35-year veteran of the Postal Service, signed an agreement on Dec. 16, 2009 announcing his intention to retire. He turned in his official resignation Feb. 9, 2010. Six weeks later he complained that he had been forced to retire because of a hostile work environment. The Postal Service claims Green waited too long, missing the 45-day window after he signed the agreement to retire. Green argued the 45-day period should have begun the day he officially retired. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Green, saying the 45-day window was from the last discriminatory act that gave rise to his resignation. Slate Supreme Court writer Mark Joseph Stern reports that Roberts poked holes in the Appeals Court’s ruling, noting that, “‘Quitting your job is a very big deal. You have to plan out’ when you’re going to do it, ‘and just because you can’t take it anymore doesn’t mean you could quit work right away.'”