Restaurant Law Center et al. v. United States Department of Labor et al.

Issue

The Restaurant Law Center and Texas Restaurant Association filed an appeal in response to a district court’s dismissal of their complaint that argues revisions made to a Dual Jobs tip credit regulation result in a new statute and conflicts with the Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act.

May 9, 2022

Appellants filed an Opening Brief.

May 16, 2022

Attorneys General from nine states filed an amici brief in support of the Restaurant Law Center and Texas Restaurant Association. A group of hospitality associations filed their own amici brief in support of the appeal as well.

July 8, 2022

The Department of Labor filed a Response to Interlocutory Appeal, arguing that the District Court properly denied Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction and, because cross-motions for summary judgment are fully briefed in the District Court, the Circuit Court should wait for that decision before hearing oral argument on the merits.

July 29, 2022

Appellants filed a Reply Brief.

April 28, 2023

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the federal district court handling the Restaurant Law Center and Texas Restaurant Association challenge to the Department of Labor’s Dual Jobs Final Rule (also known as the 80-20-30 rule) abused its discretion in finding no evidence of irreparable harm when denying Plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction request. Reversing the denial of the preliminary injunction, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings with the expectation that it “will proceed expeditiously” to reconsider our preliminary injunction motion with the benefit of its ruling.

October 26, 2023

In their appeal’s opening brief, the Restaurant Law Center and the Texas Restaurant Association urged the Fifth Circuit to find the Dual Jobs regulation unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act because. We argue that it is unlawful for two reasons. First, the rule involves a major question without clear congressional authorization to regulate in the manner the agency is proposing. Second, the rule also fails because the Department did not try to define any arguably ambiguous terms in the statute and, arguably, is contradictory to the language in the statute.

November 2, 2023

Brief from group of hospitality associations in support of appeal.

November 2, 2023

Brief of state Attorneys General from Ohio, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.

January 17, 2024

In replying to the Department’s brief, we again urged the Fifth Circuit to strike down the Dual Jobs regulation and return to the historical definition of “occupation,” which is inclusive of all duties traditionally performed by a worker based on the Department’s own list of duties.