Monday morning musings for workplace watchers.
AGs Weigh in on OSHA Case|Missing DOL Publication|EEOC litigation down
Bruce Rolfsen: A federal lawsuit that seeks to cancel hundreds of OSHA safety regulations is getting the attention of state attorneys general, environmental groups, and labor advocates.
The lawsuit, now at the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, argues for that for 50 years OSHA’s “permanent rules” have been unconstitutional.
A federal district judge dismissed the case Sept. 2. The plaintiff, heavy industry general contracting firm Allstates Refractory Contractors LLC of Waterville, Ohio, appealed, and has gained the backing of industry groups such as National Federation of Independent Business and a host of conservative legal advocacy organizations.
Groups supporting OSHA responded by filing their own legal briefs in late January.
“This case threatens the stability of the statutory regime under which OSHA operates, and in doing so jeopardizes amici States’ ability to ensure the safety of workers in their jurisdictions,” 19 attorneys general, all Democrats, said in a brief.
Without a federal OSHA, states would likely have to create and fund their own worker safety agencies, and employers could face different standards in each state, the AGs argued.
The AFL-CIO labor federation in its brief asserted that the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision against OSHA’s Covid-19 test-or-vaccination standard otherwise backed OSHA’s rulemaking powers.
“The Supreme...
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a legal complaint in a federal court in the Southern District of Florida to shut down tax return preparers Cedric Reid and Juan Santana, along with their b...