Arent Fox partner Stu Manela, head of the firm’s labor, employment and OSHA practice, was interviewed by Law360 on the US Supreme Court’s January 19 unanimous decision, NASA v. Nelson, in which the high court ruled that government scientists and contractors are lawfully subject to background security checks.

High Court Permits NASA Worker Background Checks
By Erin Coe

Law360, New York (January 19, 2011) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the federal government to conduct background checks that ask employees drug-related and open-ended questions. The high court unanimously reversed a federal appeals court’s injunction barring the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from inquiring about whether California scientists have received drug counseling and other personal information, finding the challenged portions of the background checks did not violate employees’ constitutional privacy rights. … [T]he court noted that the government was merely doing what private employers routinely do in finding that the government was acting reasonably as an employer, according to Parker.

If employers ask what employees do in their personal time and specifically whether they have used unlawful substances and had treatment for that use, the Supreme Court concluded that employers are entitled to know that kind of information about the people they hire or are considering hiring, said Stewart S. Manela, head of Arent Fox LLP’s labor, employment, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and immigration practice.

“An employer that explores that kind of background information is acting reasonable even if it’s the federal government, which unlike private employers, is governed by constitutional obligations,” he said. “I think the implications of the court’s analysis are that if a private employer makes inquiries analogous to what the government did here, that would be reasonable for the employer to do.”