The U.S. Justice Department has asked for a stay in its lawsuit against the state of Washington over a new law that eases state workers’ compensation requirements for claims from employees of the Energy Department’s Hanford Site.
The partial shutdown of the U.S. government has prohibited federal attorneys from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in limited emergency situations, according to the request filed in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington late last week. “Although we greatly regret any disruption caused to the court and the other litigants, the government hereby moves for a stay of this case until Department of Justice attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions,” the federal agency said in its motion to the court.
Washington state has no objection to putting the case on hold, the Justice Department said in its filing. Judge Stanley Bastian is not scheduled to consider the motion until Feb. 11, according to the court.
Washington asked on Jan. 9 that the lawsuit filed Dec. 10 be dismissed and that the state be granted attorney fees and other legal costs.
In March, Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation requiring the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries to presume that a wide range of health conditions suffered by Hanford personnel were caused by their work at the former plutonium production complex now undergoing environmental cleanup. Covered health conditions include neurological and respiratory illnesses and many cancers.
The law means these workers no longer have to demonstrate a connection between their health problems and time at Hanford, even just a single eight-hour work day.
The Justice Department says the state law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. It attempts to directly regulate the federal government and holds it to a stricter standard than other entities in the state, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit asks that the court declare the state law invalid, enjoin its enforcement, and award the federal government costs of the proceeding.
