Portela-Gonzalez v. Secretary of the Navy
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
109 F.3d 74 (1997)
Navy Exchange manager Portela-Gonzalez (plaintiff) was fired for improperly applying a price reduction to merchandise she had put on layaway, and after her termination was upheld through several levels of internal Navy appeals -- including a full evidentiary hearing -- she was advised of one further right of appeal to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy but instead sued directly in district court. The district court found she had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies but nonetheless reached the merits and ruled for the Secretary of the Navy (defendant), and Portela-Gonzalez appealed.
Whether the futility exception to the exhaustion-of-administrative-remedies doctrine applies when there is demonstrable certainty, rather than mere doubt, that pursuing further administrative remedies would be unsuccessful.