WATCH: Al Franken Blasts SCOTUS Nominee Neil Gorsuch
Image by Getty Images
Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat, brought the heat to Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Grouch Tuesday during his confirmation hearings for his decision as an appellate judge against a truck driver.
Truck driver Alphonse Maddin sued the TransAm trucking company for wrongful termination after he was fired for abandoning his malfunctioning trailer in subzero temperatures in Illinois. The trailer’s brakes froze and the heat in the cab went out. TransAm fired Maddin for abandoning his post. He sued, saying his termination violated federal safety law. Two of the judges in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in his favor in 2016, with Gorsuch in dissent.
Gorsuch claimed that labor rules forbidding employers for making employees operate dangerous machinery did not apply because he said the dangerous machinery was the inoperable trailer, not the truck’s cab, and that the trailer was not being operated. That rankled Franken, who said that Gorsuch’s opinion “makes me question your judgement.”
“I had a career in identifying absurdity, and I know it when I see it,” the Democrat and former comedian said to Gorsuch.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
