William Fletcher (California)

William Fletcher

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (senior status)

Tenure

2022 - Present

Years in position

3

Prior offices

United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

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Education

Bachelor's

Harvard College, 1968

Graduate

University of Oxford, 1970

Law

Yale Law School, 1975

Personal

Birthplace

Philadelphia, Pa.

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William A. Fletcher is a federal judge on senior status with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He joined the court in 1998 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton (D). He assumed senior status on January 20, 2022.

Early life and education

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Fletcher earned his B.A. from Harvard College in 1968, another B.A. from the University of Oxford in 1970, and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1975.

Military service

Fletcher served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1970 to 1972.

Professional career

• 1977-1998: Professor, University of California - Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law
• 1976-1977: Law clerk, Hon. William Brennan, Supreme Court of the United States
• 1975-1976: Law clerk, Hon. Stanley Weigel, United States District Court for the Northern District of California

Judicial career

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: William A. Fletcher
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 1262 days after nomination.
ANominated: April 25, 1995
AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire:
AHearing: April 29, 1998
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: May 21, 1998
AConfirmed: October 8, 1998
AVote: 57-41
AReturned: October 4, 1996

Fletcher was first nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Bill Clinton on April 25, 1995, to a seat vacated by William Albert Norris. Under Rule XXXI, paragraph six, of the standing rules of the United States Senate, Fletcher's nomination was returned to the president on October 4, 1996. President Clinton resubmitted the nomination on January 7, 1997. The American Bar Association rated Fletcher Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Fletcher's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on April 29, 1998, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on May 21, 1998. Fletcher was confirmed on a recorded 57-41 vote of the U.S. Senate on October 8, 1998, and he received his commission the next day.

Noteworthy cases

FedEx drivers in California and Oregon are employees, not independent contractors (2014)

Judge William Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit ruled that FedEx’s drivers in California and Oregon are not independent contractors; they are, in fact, employees. Before the ruling, the company called its drivers independent contractors and paid them as such, meaning the company did not pay for benefits, overtime, rest period pay, etc.

Judge [Fletcher wrote for the court, placing an emphasis on the fact that FedEx, in its written agreement with the drivers, retained the right to control the drivers’ uniforms, how their vehicles looked, how the drivers could use the vehicles when not making deliveries, and their workloads and territories. A secondary consideration, that FedEx could fire the drivers for cause, tilted towards the drivers being independent contractors. In the end, however, the court held that under both states’ laws, the drivers were employees based upon the amount of control FedEx retained over “multiple aspects of the drivers’ work.”

FedEx responded to the ruling by stating that the company’s agreement with drivers had been changed during the course of litigation. The company sought a review of the panel’s decision.

Articles:

• Multi Channel Merchant, "Federal Court: FedEx Drivers are Employees, Not Contractors," August 28, 2014
• Employment Law Spotlight, “Ninth Circuit Reverses District Court, Rules FedEx Drivers in California and Oregon are Employees,” September 2, 2014

Medi-Cal case: CA illegally attempts to cut doctors' fees (2009)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Independent Living Center of Southern California, Inc., et al., v. David Maxwell-Jolly, Director of the Dept. of Health Care Services, State of California, 2:08-cv-03315-CAS-MAS)

Judge Fletcher was part of a three-judge panel that wrote the majority opinion in a lawsuit involving withholding of retroactive reimbursement payments to providers of Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program. Judge Fletcher, along with judges Stephen Reinhardt and Milan Smith—who wrote the opinion—ruled unanimously to uphold an injunction against cuts in the reimbursement payments to providers. The judges ruled that California's budget crisis does not justify the 10 percent reduction in payments to providers.

The court's ruling held that California cannot withhold $1.1 billion a year in payments to doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other healthcare providers. The lawsuit came in response to a bill passed by the California Legislature in 2008 which reduced compensation to providers of Medi-Cal by 10 percent, or about $1.1 billion. The state is facing a major budget crisis that has forced many state programs like Medi-Cal to make deep budget cuts. The judges opined that driving away providers from the already shrinking group, while allowing the system to keep taking state-funded patients, endangers their ability to get treatment.

The underlying suit was brought in 2008 by healthcare providers who care for seven million Californians on Medi-Cal. The providers sued the Department of Health Care Services after the law at issue took effect on July 1, 2008.

Central District of California Judge Christina Snyder ruled against the fee reductions on August 18, 2008, but also ruled that the California Constitution shielded the state from having to make retroactive payments for the period spanning the effective date of the cuts up until her order on August 18.

As a result of the Ninth Circuit's ruling, the state of California must pay providers $55.8 million in retroactive reimbursements that were withheld weeks before Judge Snyder granted the original injunction. An official for the California Department of finance told the Los Angeles Times that the ruling would not affect the $26.3-billion state budget deficit because the state hadn't counted on the 10 percent savings from the Medi-Cal reimbursement changes.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit 1998-2022	Succeeded by -