The Labor Department will resume scheduling wrongful discharge cases immediately, acting Commissioner Eleuteria Roberts said Monday.
There was a hiatus on hearing cases after District Court Judge Thomas K. Moore dismissed the territory's Wrongful Discharge Act in February, saying it was superceded by federal law and therefore invalid.
"In an effort to minimize any backlog and burden to either claimant or respondent, I have instructed my staff to continue to function in the normal matter until we have a final decision on this matter," Roberts said in a release from Government House.
While there has been some difference of opinion on the impact of Moore's decision, most legal experts say it scuttled the whole law. The Attorney General's Office is researching the question.
A receptionist at the AG's office said acting Attorney General Iver Stridiron would be off-island for a week.
Roberts said there may have been an error in Moore's decision and thus "the entire act may not have been thrown out."
"We were basically given the go-ahead by the AG's office," she said. "If either the claimant or the respondent request a stay, we'll refer them to Territorial Court."
For information on scheduling wrongful discharge cases, call the Labor Department at 776-3700 on St. Thomas or 773-1994, ext. 233, on St. Croix.
Editor's note: The full text of Moore's opinion is on Community/Data.
