Two former Sawbill Canoe Outfitters staffers traveled to Washington, D.C. to lend support to Adam Hansen as the workers’rights case he participated in was heard by the Supreme Court. Pictured in front of the Supreme Court building are (L-R) Max Wilson, who is now an attorney working in Washington, D.C., Hansen, and Nathan TerBeest, a school administrator in Omaha, Nebraska. Also attending the hearing was Hansen’s girlfriend, Lisa Burtch, and his Nichols Kaster supervisor Paul Lukas.
In December 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought forward by Tofte native Adam Hansen. Since then Hansen, employed with the law firm of Nichols Kaster, has been awaiting the outcome of the workers’ rights case. On March 9, 2015, the nine justices issued a decision— in Hansen’s favor.
Some of justices wrote concurrences addressing other points or disagreeing with some of the reasoning of the majority opinion, authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, however the overall decision was 9-0.
Reached after the decision, Hansen said, “I’m certainly happy that we won the case. And it’s pretty cool that all nine justices, who sometimes have a hard time agreeing on much, ruled unanimously in our favor.”
Hansen was the lead attorney representing three former mortgage loan officers in a case against their employer. Hansen’s case was consolidated with another case in which the U.S. government was taking a similar position. Hansen and the government’s deputy solicitor general argued that the three were denied workplace protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“It feels strange that after working on the case for more than four years, it all comes to such an abrupt end,” said Hansen, adding, “I came away very impressed by the Supreme Court.
“The justices were immaculately prepared and showed a deep understanding of the law. Justice Sotomayor wrote a very scholarly opinion. It was exciting to read the Court’s decision and see our arguments now as part of the law.
“Justice Thomas also wrote an interesting concurring opinion talking about the relationship between the branches of government and citizens. Whether you agree with him or not, he raises some thought-provoking points, and it’s worth a read for anyone interested in government or civics,” said Hansen.
The justices’ opinions and other documents of the case can be viewed online at SCOTUSblog.com—search for Perez vs. Mortgage Bankers Association.
Asked if there were any surprises in the process, Hansen said, “No real surprises, but it was a tremendous learning experience for me. The Supreme Court has many age-old norms and traditions, and it was fun to be the “new guy” learning the ropes. I would love to go back to Washington, D.C. some day and do it all again.”
Hansen joined Nichols Kaster as a law clerk in 2007. After law school, he gained knowledge of the workings of the Supreme Court during two years in the judicial system as judicial law clerk to Chief Justice Eric Magnuson of the Minnesota Supreme Court and Judge Kermit Bye of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Hansen rejoined Nichols Kaster as an associate attorney in 2011, where he now represents clients in a variety of contexts, including discrimination, retaliation, harassment, whistleblower, breach-of-contract, severance, wage and hour disputes and Fair Credit Reporting Act violations.
Hansen had been doing such work all along, but said, “To my firm’s credit, when the Supreme Court accepted the case, a meeting was called and the firm assigned my other work so I could focus solely on this case. That was extremely helpful.”
Asked if there are any other major cases brewing, Hansen said, “There are always a lot of ‘irons in the fire.’ There are always academic issues lurking that could lead to another Supreme Court case. We are always looking at ways to go about things differently to improve conditions for workers.”
Loading Comments