Fitzgerald,
who worked for the Air Force, testified before a Congress about
inefficiencies and cost overruns in the production of the C-5A transport
plane.
One
year later Fitzgerald was fired.
President
Nixon took personal responsibility for firing Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald
then sued Nixon for damages after the Civil Service Commission concluded
that his dismissal was unjust. (He claimed he was a whistleblower).
The
Supreme Court held that the President is entitled to absolute immunity
from damages liability for his official acts.
Justice
Powell argued that this sweeping immunity was a function of the
"President's unique office, rooted in the constitutional tradition
of separation of powers and supported by our history."
In
the companion case, Harlow v. Fitzgerald, it was held that this Presidential immunity did not extend to
the President's aides.
In the case of Clinton v. Jones, President Clinton claimed that, as a sitting
President, he could not be sued for civil litigation unrelated to his
office.The Supreme Court
established that a sitting President has no immunity from civil law litigation
against him, for facts unrelated to his office (having occurred before he took
office).
The
Court ruled that separation of powers
does not mandate that Federal Courts delay all private civil lawsuits
against the President until the end of his term of office.
In his
concurring opinion, Justice Breyer argued that presidential immunity would
only apply if the President could show that a private civil lawsuit would
somehow interfere with the President's constitutionally-assigned duties.
Justice
Stevens wrote, "it appears to us highly unlikely to occupy any
substantial amount of petitioner's time."
Considering
the result of the suit, it can probably be argued by future Presidents
that this sort of civil litigation will interfere with their duties.
