Rebecca S. Hollenbaugh and Fred K. Philburn v. Carnegie Free Library

Background

A librarian and a custodian at a state-run public library began living together after the woman became pregnant. Community members complained, the library’s Board warned them to stop, and when the employees refused they were fired. The two sued under a federal civil-rights statute seeking to undo the firings and get money damages.

Reasoning

The lower federal court applied a minimal rationality test and held that the dismissals did not violate equal protection and that the employees’ arrangement was not protected by the constitutional right to privacy. The Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling. The Supreme Court declined to review the case, so that lower-court judgment stands without a national decision on the merits.

Real world impact

Because the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, the library’s dismissals remain valid and the question whether public employers may fire workers for openly living together was not resolved by this Court. The ruling leaves unsettled how constitutional privacy protections apply to employees’ family and living-arrangement choices. The denial of review is not a final Supreme Court ruling on the underlying privacy or equal protection claims and could be revisited in other cases.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Marshall (joined in part by Justice Brennan’s view to hear the case) dissented from the denial. He argued the firings intruded on important privacy and family-living rights and that the lower courts applied only minimal scrutiny instead of requiring the government to show a substantial interest.