Branson v. District of Columbia Department of Employment Services

I concur in the judgment and join the court’s opinion. I write separately, however, to add a few words about the nature and significance of the issue that the agency must decide on remand.

At first blush, one might conclude that, in the context of this case, there is little difference between “unsafe working conditions” (ie., “smoking is dangerous to everyone’s health, including mine”) and “medical reasons” (ie., “smoking can make me ill”). But as the court points out, the agency’s rejection, based on a credibility determination, of Ms. Branson’s medical grounds does not deal with the much…