The U.S. Supreme Court issued another important opinion today affecting the benefits area: No. 01-1368, Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs. The Court upheld the constitutionality of the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) by a 6-3 vote and ruled that Congress acted within its power when it applied the FMLA to the states. The law authorized state employees to sue states for damages for failing to give them leave under the FMLA. A state employee, William Hibbs, had sued the agency he worked for because it refused to give him leave to care for his wife who was recovering from an automobile accident. The Court declared in this opinion that Mr. Hibbs did indeed have the right to recover damages in federal court.

The Chief Justice wrote the opinion and was joined by O’Conner, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer. Souter filed a concurring opinion with Ginsburg and Breyer joining. Stevens filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. Justices Kennedy, Scalia, and Thomas dissented.

James Vicini for Reuters reports on the case via Yahoo! News and David Stout for the New York Times reports as well via Yahoo! News.