From JDSupra, Richard Reibstein discusses the legal challenges to the Biden Administration’s independent contractor regulation and the courts’ upholding it but notes that the Trump administration is ready to withdraw it anyway. Richard writes:
Two case developments last month pertained to the Biden Administration’s regulation on whether a worker is an IC or an employee under the FLSA. In New Mexico, a federal district court judge rejected a trucking company’s request to strike down the Biden Administration’s IC rule. The plaintiff, Colt & Joe Trucking LLC, did not convince the judge that it had suffered harm as a result of the Biden rule, concluding the plaintiff therefore lacked “standing” to pursue its legal challenge. The court also concluded that even if the plaintiff had standing to sue, the rule was neither arbitrary nor capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Colt & Joe Trucking LLC v. U.S. Department of Labor, No. 24-cv-00391 (D. New Mex. Jan. 9, 2025). This lawsuit is but one of several legal challenges to the Biden IC rule. Thus far, none has been successful. As noted above, the Fifth Circuit delayed oral argument in a case where a transportation company has also challenged the Biden Administration’s IC rule, affording the Trump Administration 60 days to inform the appeals court of its position. Commentators fully expect the Trump Administration to inform the appeals court that it plans on rescinding or withdrawing the Biden regulation, likely rendering moot the court case. Frisard’s Transportation, L.L.C. v. U.S. Department of Labor, No. 24-30223 (5th Cir. Jan. 24, 2025). In the event the Trump Administration thereafter issues a new IC regulation, it too will likely have little impact on the law yet, like each of the prior IC regulations, will generate a great deal of news and commentary.