The U.S. Department of Labor told the justices the opposite in its brief opposing the certiorari petition filed on May 1. According to the Labor Department, many of Allstates Refractory’s contentions about the purportedly unchecked authority OSHA has are “refuted by” the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the federal legislation that created the agency.
Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su argued in the department’s brief that while Congress cannot delegate its legislative authority to the executive branch of the government, courts have long agreed that it can ask the executive branch for assistance via agencies like OSHA. The majority of the three-judge panel from the Sixth Circuit agreed with Su’s position when they ruled on the case in August.
Allstates Refractory, a general contractor providing furnace services to facilities producing glass, metals, and petrochemicals, first sued the Labor Department in 2021 to challenge whether the agency could constitutionally set workplace safety standards. The district court granted summary judgment to the government, and the majority of the Sixth Circuit panel affirmed that summary judgment grant.