12, Sep 2024
Small Businesses File Lawsuit Challenging DOL’s Independent Contractor Rule

NFIB joins complaint urging Court to enjoin the 2024 rule

BEAUMONT, Texas (March 5, 2024)NFIB joined a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas concerning the Department of Labor’s (DOL) independent contractor rule. The case is Coalition for Workforce Innovation, et al. v. Julie Su.

“The Department of Labor issued a new independent contractor rule in 2024, which included the same Administrative Procedures Act (APA) errors that this court previously identified and vacated in a prior ruling,” said Beth Milito, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. “The new rule adds to the confusion over the proper classification of independent contractors and will irreparably harm the small businesses who depend on the work of contractors. Small business owners ask this Court to enjoin the 2024 independent contractor rule and stop DOL from enforcing it.”

NFIB opposed DOL’s 2024 final rule on independent contractors, arguing that the rule further complicates the worker classification process for small businesses. Small business owners supported the 2021 rule, which offered a straightforward test for determining who is and is not an independent contractor.

NFIB filed the complaint with the Coalition for Workforce Innovation, Associated Builders and Contractors of Southeast Texas, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Financial Services Institute, Inc., Chamber of the Commerce of the United States, National Retail Federation, and American Trucking Associations.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and in the US Supreme Court.