Federal courts in Texas have already been the scene of lawsuits against Obama administration initiatives regarding immigration, the “Persuader Rule” and transgender bathrooms, and now another group is seeking an injunction against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard that mandates electronic reporting of injuries and illnesses beginning in 2017.
The rule requires employers to submit their Form 300A injury and illness data to OSHA in electronic format, thereafter to be published online for public access. Employers with more than 250 employees will be required to submit additional records and data.
“The Department of Labor is putting a target on nearly every manufacturer in this country by moving this regulation forward,” said Linda Kelly, general counsel of the National Association of Manufacturers, one of the groups sponsoring the lawsuit.
“Not only does OSHA lack statutory authority to enforce this rule, but the agency has also failed to recognize the infeasibility, costs and real-world impacts of what it preposterously suggests is just a mere tweak to a major regulation.”
TEXO ABC/AGC v. Perez was filed July 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.