No. 25-7519October Term 2025Before Arguments
Fousseini Tounkara, Petitioner v. James Macy, Director, Office of Worker's Compensation Programs, et al.
from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Case status
- Current stage
- Before Arguments
- Latest event
- Accepted by the Court
- Decision timing
- No window until argument is scheduled.
- What it's about
from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Question presented
1. Whether a reviewing court may uphold an Administrative Law Judge's adverse credibility determination in a Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act case when that determination is unsupported by substantial evidence and contradicted by the preponderance of medical and testimonial proof. 2. Whether the Ninth Circuit's deference to an AU's credibility finding — despite lack of factual support and conflict with uncontroverted medical evidence — violates the Fifth Amendment and the statutory requirement that agency decisions reflect the entire record. 3. Whether a court of appeals may refuse to consider exculpatory medical and audio evidence solely because it was excluded from the administrative record where the exclusion resulted directly from the AU's procedural rulings. 4. Whether a reviewing court may affirm an administrative decision where the AU (1) denied Petitioner the right to present his case first; (2) cut off cross-examination of a vocational expert; (3) excluded a disputed allegation as "irrelevant" while still relying on it; and (4) returned Petitioner's pretrial exhibits before they could be admitted, ensuring they were not part of the record.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit / Accepted by the Court
- Area
Administrative Law
Timing
Expected by late June 2026, if argued this term
The Court granted review but has not yet scheduled oral argument. Once argued, the median case reaches a decision in 94 days. Nearly all cases are decided by the end of the term in which they are argued.
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Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Sep 1, 2026
- Method
- Methodology