Persons have asked for an interpretation of why civil rights advocates think a recent US Supreme decision could negatively affect employee rights and other American civil liberties. This article will provide a delineation of the legal process involved when the US Supreme Court overturns 40 years of legal precedent and expands the previous article, Supreme Court Overturns 40 Years of Its Legal Precedent, Potential Threats to Civil Rights and Safeguard Regulations.
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Congress, comprised of elected officials, to carry out the mission of laws passed by Congress, grants power to federal agencies to prevent safety hazards, eradicate safety violations and civil rights violations, understand and manage issues affecting employment rights, air and water quality, the environment and virtually all aspects of American life to promote public safety; such as food safety, pharmaceuticals safety, transportation safety which includes safety regulations in motor vehicle and airplane manufacturing.
Federal agencies who have decades of experience, and professional experts employed by the agencies, educated and trained in their specific field, have the knowledge to understand the highly complex and technical issues that arise in their field, be it airplane safety, environmental hazards, and worker safety. The Courts do not have their own experts and experience in these fields, which can be as diverse as pesticide controls, the safety of components in various pharmaceuticals, the dangers to employees on employment sites per OSHA regulations, etc.
These agencies such as the SEC and the pending SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2023, protect the public against dangers from big business, industry and improper regulation and monitoring. You may read more on this topic in the article SEC Whistleblowers to Gain New Rights, SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2023.
These agencies carry out the intent of Congress, comprised of elected officials, which grants power to federal agencies to prevent safety hazards, eradicate safety violations and civil rights violations and understand and manage issues in all areas of American work and manufacturing.
Recently in June of this year, the US Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 219 L. Ed. 2d 832 (2024) overturned forty years of the US Supreme Court’s own legal precedent, which is known as the “Chevron doctrine”. Civil rights advocates are concerned this recent Supreme Court case may undermine protections for the public and for workers.
A Short History of the Chevron Doctrine, Now Abandoned by the Supreme Court
The Chevron doctrine arose from a Supreme Court 1984 case, Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. NRDC, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984) which dealt with an environmental regulation. At issue in Chevron, was an environmental regulation, the EPA and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977. It involved the proper interpretation of an environmental regulation, and the Court gave deference to administrative agencies to interpret ambiguous wording in the law. The Chevron Courts’ holding which gave deference to administrative agencies, helped support worker protections in the specific agencies entrusted with those protections, such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP).
By abandoning deference to the Chevron doctrine, it undermines critical procedures that keep Americans safe in all environments and aspects of their life - those policies and nuts-and-bolts articulated requirements essential for a safe working environment, food safety, pharmaceutical safety, health, transportation safety (including exact acceptable specifications for airplane and motor vehicle manufacturing), water quality and air quality, environmental projections, to advancing consumer protection in the marketplace, securities regulations, civil rights and employee rights.
An administrative agency’s power to make rules carries with it a responsibility to be congruent with the governing legislation that was passed by members of Congress, who were chosen by the voters to represent them to keep them safe.
An administrative agency’s power to make rules carries with it a responsibility to be congruent with the governing legislation that was passed by Congress, comprised of its elected members in the Senate and House of Representatives. These respective administrative agencies rely on their vast expertise, professional experts and employ procedures that are in line with the mission and purpose of the statutes passed by these duly elected officials in the US Congress. The Courts do not have themselves have this vast expertise and employ professional experts to carry the details, the minutia, of any gap left in a law or regulation, but the respective agencies do have such expertise.
Many employment, environmental, and public health advocates are concerned that the US Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 219 L. Ed. 2d 832 (2024) decided June 28, 2024, leaves workers and the public vulnerable to abuses by big business interests, by turning over to the courts, powers that were formerly given to the administrative agencies, by ending the deference historically given to these agencies’ interpretations of the mission of the laws passed by Congress and meanings in the words of statutes and regulations. The power of an administrative agency to administer congressionally created programs requires the formulation of policy and the making of rules to fill any gap left by Congress. By not giving deference to the agencies who created the rules for proper interpretation of ambiguous statutory provisions, it has the effect of diminishing the power of Congress and Congressionally created programs whose goals are to promote safety and civil rights for Americans.
Don’t Sit on Your Rights
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If you are being subjected to such unlawful workplace discrimination or believe you are being pushed out of your job, call Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law today to contact us for a free consultation.
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