A pair of lawsuits filed by Perdue Farms and Comcast Corp. that seek to have whistleblower claims heard before a court instead of US Labor Department in-house judges are the first signs of what attorneys expect will be a flurry of challenges to the agency’s internal tribunals.
The lawsuits hinge on the US Supreme Court’s June ruling in SEC v. Jarkesy, where the high court majority said defendants have a constitutional right to make their case to a federal jury when the Securities Exchange Commission is seeking financial penalties, as opposed to before an administrative law judge.
Both Perdue Farms and Comcast Corp. argue that this precedent should similarly apply to the US Department of Labor’s administrative adjudication of whistleblower claims. The implications of this litigation could pave the way for more significant challenges against administrative law judges being employed by federal agencies to handle such disputes internally.
For more information on the specifics of the Perdue Farms and Comcast Corp. lawsuits, you can read the full article on Bloomberg Law.