Carolyn M. Kloeckner, Petitioner v. Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of Labor

Decided December 10, 2012. Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-184 · 568 U.S. 41 (2012) · Cited 299 times

Holding

A federal employee who claims that an agency action appealable to the MSPB violates an antidiscrimination statute listed in § 7702(a)(1) should seek judicial review in district court, not the Federal Circuit, regardless whether the MSPB decided her case on procedural grounds or on the merits.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. Fausto · 484 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Elgin v. Department of the Treasury · 567 U.S. 1 (2012)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Perry v. Merit Systems Protection Bd. · 582 U.S. 420 (2017)
• BP p.l.c. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore · 593 U.S. 230 (2021)
• King v. Burwell · 576 U.S. 473 (2015)
• Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar · 579 U.S. 176 (2016)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2012). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).