United States v. Washington

The  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.

In 2018, Washington amended its state workers’ compensation laws  specifically for these cleanup workers. The amended law creates a  rebuttable presumption that certain conditions and cancers are  occupational diseases.

The 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.

The case was decided on June 21, 2022. The Court held that Washington’s law facially discriminates against the Federal Government and its contractors. Because §3172 does not clearly and unambiguously waive the Federal Government’s immunity from discriminatory state laws, Washington’s law is unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause. Justice Breyer delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.

Credit: Oyez, LII Supreme Court Resources, Justia Supreme Court Center, available at: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/21-404