On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron, USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council. ABC’s general counsel, Littler Mendelson, provided an analysis of the decision:

“Chevron often required courts to defer to federal agencies when those agencies were interpreting statutes they administer. Because of [the June 28] decision, courts will no longer defer. Instead, they will give statutes their ‘best’ interpretation. That means agencies—including labor and employment agencies—will have less leeway to write broad rules. They will instead have to write rules that hew more closely to statutory language. They may also have to defend some existing rules against closer scrutiny in court. And that closer scrutiny could upset some recently adopted or proposed rules, such as rules on overtime, safety inspections, and independent contracting.”

The ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace issued a statement on the decision:

“The Supreme Court has rightly recognized that Chevron deference gave too much authority to federal agencies. Agencies like the National Labor Relations Board have taken advantage of this decision to interpret their statutes in radical, expansive ways never intended by Congress. Chevron also allowed the Board to engage in incessant flip-flopping on issues with each change of administration, leading to unmanageable uncertainty for the employer community.

“The Court’s new decision will result in more reasonable policies from the executive branch. The judicial system will finally have the ability and responsibility to rein in overreaching agencies like the NLRB to protect the regulated community.”