A Texas federal judge has struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent rule banning post-separation non-compete agreements nationwide. The ban was originally slated to go into effect on September 4th, but employers can now continue to maintain non-competes as their state laws allow.

On August 2, 2024, AGC of America filed an amicus brief in a case concerning the scope of the "building and construction industry" exemption from multiemployer pension fund withdrawal liability under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The case, Walker Specialty Construction, Inc. v. Construction Industry & Laborers Joint Pension Trust for Southern Nevada et al. is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The brief supports Walker Specialty Construction’s (Walker) argument that demolition and abatement work fall within the exemption.

With the addition of two new federal bid protests, AGC is aware that four AGC-member construction firms have now filed federal bid protests objecting to project solicitations that require a project labor agreement (PLA). All four protests have led the government to voluntarily suspend the contract awards for the procurements while the protests are still pending. As reported recently in this article, the protests utilize a legal theory that AGC helped create with outside counsel at Fox Rothschild. All four protests are pending before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case later this year on whether Clean Water Act (CWA) NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits can include generic prohibitions that threaten the certainty that construction companies need to comply with environmental requirements. AGC recently submitted a friend of the court brief advocating for clarity to protect contractors from enforcement and costly fines due to vague NPDES permit language. AGC seeks to ensure that the Supreme Court’s decision preserves the successful permitting approaches used in construction general stormwater permits (CGP) issued by the U.S. EPA and states.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on July 19, 2024, granted the National Labor Relations Board’s (“NLRB” or “Board”) motion to voluntarily dismiss its appeal of a district court’s order to vacate the Board’s 2023 “joint employer rule.” The vacatur was a major victory for AGC and its co-plaintiffs that initiated the lawsuit challenging the Board’s regulatory effort to broaden the standard for determining when an employer may be deemed a joint employer of another company’s employees.

Successful Outcome Could Block Federal Officials from Including Project Labor Agreement (PLA) Mandate in Projects Valued over $35 million

Overturning the Chevron Doctrine Will Change How Courts Handle Lawsuits Over Federal Agency Rules

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) celebrates a significant legal victory in its ongoing efforts to protect members from overreaching federal regulations. On June 24, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Lubbock granted AGC’s motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking AGC-challenged provisions to a rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) expanding coverage of the Davis-Bacon Act.

Associated General Contractors of America Argues New Rule Exceeds Statutory Authority Under the Davis-Bacon Act, Court Agrees

You may recall, AGC of America filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) challenging the agency’s new final rule that designates two widely used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as hazardous substances under the Superfund law, or Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This rule imposes significant financial and legal burdens on contractors and could lead to costly litigation and stricter waste disposal practices.