WASHINGTON–In a development that could have a bearing on a case involving two fired NCUA board members, a federal judge has ordered that a fired FTC commissioner be given her job back.
The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, according to spokesperson Ary Gaplairizes.
U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan has ordered that FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter be restored to her position. The judge separately ruled that fellow Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya’s case was moot, as he had resigned from the job.
Slaughter and Bedoya are both Democrats who were fired by the Trump administration, as were Todd Harper and Tonya Otsuka, who were fired in April from the NCUA board. Harper and Otsuka are arguing in their suit that the move violates the Federal Credit Union Act and that they were fired with no attempt to “assert a basis for cause.
The Law is Clear
Judge AliKhan ruled the law is clear that the president may only fire members of the FTC for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
“Because the law on the removal of FTC commissioners is clear, and for the reasons explained below, the court will grant Ms. Slaughter’s motion for summary judgment and deny defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment,” the judge’s order states.
Attorney Vincent Levy, who is representing Harper and Otsuka, said at the time of the filing of their lawsuit, “The termination of Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka from the NCUA Board violates Congress’s intent in creating an independent financial regulator. This lawsuit seeks to vindicate Congress’s intent and to preserve the integrity of the financial markets.”
Harper and Otsuka spoke with the CU Daily here about their case and more.
The NCUA board currently has one member, Republican Chairman Kyle Hauptman.
