OSHA Sued Over Walk-Around Rule

In 2013, OSHA changed its policy on who could accompany an OSHA official during a workplace inspection. For many years the policy had been to allow an employee to accompany the inspector, making an exception for a third party only if it was “reasonably necessary.” A change in that wording in 2013 had a significant effect, according to the National Federation of Independent Business, by providing cover for “union trespassing” on non-union businesses. The group has filed suit in the Northern District of Texas, alleging that the change in policy amounts to a rule change and the agency did follow required procedures to make it. The case is being handled for the NFIP by the Pacific Legal Foundation, which on its website bills itself as “America’s first freedom-based public interest legal organization” and says that it has prevailed seven times in the U.S. Supreme Court.