Restaurant Law Center et al. v. United States Department of Labor et al. (District Court-Austin, TX)

Case Movement

Case Details

  • Case Status: Pending
  • Docket Number: 1:21-cv-01106
  • Category: Regulatory Overreach

Issue

The Department of Labor made revisions to its Dual Jobs tip credit regulation, proposed as a revision under a Trump-era rule. Plaintiffs argue that the revisions result in a new statute and conflicts with the Fair Labor Standards Act, which will lead to small and local restaurant owners’ ability to operate their businesses being severely impacted.

December 3, 2021

The Restaurant Law Center and the Texas Restaurant Association filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief.

December 20, 2021

The Restaurant Law Center and Texas Restaurant Association filed an Emergency Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

January 20, 2022

The Department of Labor filed its Opposition to the Plaintiffs’ Emergency Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

February 22, 2022

The The Western District of Texas (Austin) issued it Order, denying the preliminary injunction filed by the Restaurant Law Center and Texas Restaurant Association.

March 1, 2022

The Restaurant Law Center filed a Notice of Appeal.

May 27, 2022

The Restaurant Law Center filed a Plaintiff’s Reply Memorandum in Support of Their Motion for Summary Judgment and in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment.

June 13, 2022

The DOL filed a Reply Brief in Support of its Motion For Summary Judgment.

July 11, 2022

The Restaurant Law Center filed a notice of supplemental authority informing the court of the recent SCOTUS decision in West Virginia v. EPA. We highlight the holding that agencies “must point to ‘clear congressional authorization’ for the power it claims.” In our case, there is no general federal law granting DOL the authority to regulate the performance of restaurant dining room work or customer-facing work in other industries as they are attempting to do.