Hugo Black

“ Veterans in Subgroup A-1 Plus could not qualify for A-1 unless they had efficiency ratings of 'good' or better. But the language defining A-1 Plus includes veterans of all ratings, even below 'good.' And when the summary judgment in this case was rendered, 61 of the 118 veterans comprising A-1 Plus had not been rated at all. True, the Government asserts that 60 of these veterans have now been rated 'good' and the sixty-first member has resigned. But the potential membership of Subgroup A-1 Plus is not limited to those veterans who were in it when the case was tried. ”

“ In 1876, seventy-two years ago, Congress passed a law which required any executive department when making 'any reduction of force' to 'retain those persons who may be equally qualified who have been honorably discharged from the military or naval service of the United States and the widows and orphans of deceased soldiers and sailors.' 19 Stat. ”

“ There are several reasons why we cannot accept petitioner's argument that the Fishgold case requires the invalidation of the A-1 Plus classification. In the first place, we are here concerned with the one-year retention rights of veterans restored under § 8 (b) (A) to their old jobs with the Federal Government, not, as in the Fishgold case, with the rights of veterans restored to jobs in private industry under § 8 (b) (B) . We have previously pointed out that Congress in § 8 (b) (A) imposed a mandatory and unconditional reemployment obligation upon the Federal Government ”

“ The classification provides for a continuing status of preference of one year for all returning veterans who left government employment for war duty. There is no indication that additional war veterans qualified for classification under A-1 Plus will not return to Charleston Navy Yard and reclaim shipfitter jobs in preference to otherwise qualified nonveteran employees. And the Government does not claim that this classification has been repealed or altered so that in the future it can include only those veterans who have an efficiency rating of 'good' or higher. ”

“ Under these circumstances we are unable to say that all members of A-1 Plus could qualify or will be able to qualify as members of A-1. Therefore we cannot accept the government's contention that petitioner's likelihood of injury from A-1 Plus is too remote to justify his attack on it. If invalid, there is as much reason for his right to challenge this subgroup as for his right to challenge Subgroup A-1. ”

“ He was also informed that his 'active service' had already been terminated and that unless sooner recalled to duty he would be separated for reduction in force at the end of his one-year furlough period.
The civil service regulations said to require termination of petitioner's active service divide government employees into three main groups-A, B, and C. Group A, which has the highest priority for retention, is composed of 'permanent employees'; groups B and C are composed of employees with limited tenures of employment. ”

“ The interpretation is compelled, so the Government argues, by the Act's legislative history, particularly when the proviso and preceding clauses in the section are viewed in the light of a long series of prior congressional enactments and authorized executive orders granting preferences in government employment to veterans and their close relatives. We agree with the Government that in the light of the foregoing factors no other interpretation of the pertinent parts of the section can fairly be reached. ”

“ In the treatment of permanent tenure civil service employees, should qualified honorably discharged war veterans, merely because they are such, be retained in preference to nov eterans, even though those nonveterans have served the Government a substantially longer time than the veterans. The questions depend upon whether certain regulations promulgated by the Civil Service Commission are valid under a proper interpretation of controlling statutes. ”