Hazel T. Ellis v. Frederick H. Mueller, Acting Secretary of Commerce

This is a civil service case, in which plaintiff-appellant’s dismissal was the subject of an extensive hearing before the Civil Service Commission under the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944, 5 U.S.C.A. § 863, and was upheld by that body. Suit for a declaratory judgment and restoration of status was thereafter brought in the District Court. That court granted the appellees’ (defendants’) motion for summary judgment.

The function of the courts in cases like this is not to review the merits of a dismissal, but to determine whether the employee was accorded his statutory and procedural rights. See…