Paluca v. Secretary of Labor

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge. We are required to determine the scope of judicial review under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (""FECA""). 5 U.S.C. §§ 8101 et seq. Specifically, we must consider whether Section 8128(b) of the FECA1 prohibits courts from reviewing policy or rulemaking decisions of the Secretary of Labor (""Secretary"") for conformance to the FECA, and whether that provision divests courts of authority to hear constitutional challenges to the Secretary's decisions under the FECA. We conclude that § 8128(b) does preclude judicial review of the merits of policy or rulemaking decisions on statutory grounds, but does not impede the adjudication by the courts of constitutional issues such as those raised by plaintiffs in this case.