Source: http://dc.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20091027_0001258.DDC.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 13:31:21+00:00

Document:
Plaintiff and Intervenors challenge the Department of Labor's adoption of an administrative rule requiring use of claimants' initials instead of their full names in decisions and orders of administrative law judges in cases under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act ("Longshore Act"), 33 U.S.C. §§ 901-950, and the Black Lung Benefits Act ("Black Lung Act"), 30 U.S.C. §§ 901-944. See AR 282-83 (Memorandum dated July 3, 2006, promulgating the "Rule"). Plaintiff and Intervenors contend that the Rule is arbitrary and capricious, that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), 5 U.S.C. § 551 et seq., the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, the Longshore Act, the Black Lung Act, common law, and the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Secretary moves to dismiss or for summary judgment, and Plaintiff and Intervenors also move for summary judgment. As explained below, the motions will be granted in part and denied in part. The Rule will be set aside and its enforcement enjoined because it was not properly promulgated under the APA.
The Longshore Act and the Black Lung Act establish workers' compensation programs to pay benefits to certain maritime workers and coal mine employees, respectively. These programs require employers or their insurance carriers to pay benefits to eligible claimants at government mandated rates, and the programs share a statutory system for adjudication of benefit claims. The Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs ("OWCP") carries out the initial processing of claims and maintains records of the administration of these and other compensation programs. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 1.1, 1.2, & 701.201.
The 1996 e-FOIA amendments required agencies to publish adjudicatory decisions on the Internet.*fn4 A consequence of that law is that commercial Internet search engines negated any "practical obscurity" that was previously true of agency decisions relating to the [Black Lung Act] and the [Longshore Act]. Thus, to limit a claimant's exposure on the Internet, the Department of Labor has decided that it will avoid referring directly to the claimant's name in decisions and other orders that are required to be posted on the DOL web site on or after August 1, 2006.
The caption will display the claimants initials. . . . A cover or referral memorandum, not part of the decision, will be sent only to the parties. That memo will identify the claimant's full name.
Id. at 283. Also, hearings under the Black Lung Act and the Longshore Act remain open to the public. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 702.344 & 725.464.
The Chief ALJ issued the Rule as a rule of agency procedure, without notice and comment. See 5 U.S.C. § 553(b)(3)(A). The Secretary of Labor did not publish a proposed rule and invite public comment and did not publish the final Rule in the Federal Register.
A pre-existing rule that applied to claims under the Black Lung Act provided that ALJ decisions "shall contain a statement of the basis of the order, the names of the parties, findings of fact, conclusions of law . . . ." 20 C.F.R. § 725.477(b) (version effective prior to Jan. 30, 2007) (emphasis added).*fn6 After the adoption of the Rule at issue here, § 725.477(b) was replaced with one that did not require ALJ decisions to contain party names. See 72 Fed. Reg. 4204 (Jan. 30, 2007); 20 C.F.R. § 725.477(b).*fn7 The new regulation was published in the Federal Register as a final rule without opportunity for notice and comment because it allegedly pertained "solely to the Department's formatting of decisions and orders." 72 Fed. Reg. at 4204-05.

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