D.C. Circuit Holds that No Judicial Review Is Available for Employment Terminations Linked to Security Clearance Decisions

The D.C. Circuit in Bennett v. Chertoff, 425 F.3d 999 (D.C. Cir. Oct 18, 2005) has held that there is no federal subject matter jurisdiction over an employment discrimination claim that challenged as pretextual the government agency's proferred reason for termination of the employee: the employee's inability to sustain a security clearance. Security clearance determinations relate to complex areas of foreign relations and national security and they are inherently discretionary and sensitive. Thus, the court, per Judge Rogers, held that courts may not inquire into such decisions.