Jenny Employee works for the Centers for Disease Control and

Jenny Employee works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. Jenny has excellent performance reviews over her twenty year career with the CDC. She just received her Masters in Epidemiology and is looking forward to her annual review, where she anticipates a raise based upon an administrative regulation that provides a mandatory pay bump for an employee with a certain level of education. At her employee review, she is summarily fired and given no reason for her dismissal. Jenny just turned 62 years old.

If Jenny sues the CDC in federal district court in Georgia for wrongful termination, does the federal district court have subject matter jurisdiction? Does the federal district court have personal jurisdiction? Defend your answer with reference to relevant facts and with specific reference to statutory authority on the issue of federal question jurisdiction.

Solution

No, Federal court does not have subject matter jrisdiction. But it has personal jurisdiction.

United States labor law is the body of law that mediates the rights and duties of workers, employers and labor unions in the United States of America, including employment law and collective labor rights. Federal laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, theNational Labor Relations Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and theOccupational Safety and Health Act set the standards that govern workers\' rights to organize in the private sector, and override moststate and local laws. Usually there are more limited rights for employees of the federal government, but not state or local governments, where workers derive their rights from state law. Federal and state laws protect workers from employment discrimination, on grounds of race, gender, religion, national originand age. Federal law preempts most state statutes that would bar employers from discriminating against employees to prevent them from obtaining pensions or other benefits or retaliating against them for asserting those rights.