On June 22, 2016, in Labnet, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota issued the first decision arising out of three separate lawsuits seeking preliminary injunctions blocking the DOL from implementing its revised "persuader activity" rule. The court found that the rule’s challengers had a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their claim but declined to enter a preliminary injunction at such an early stage of litigation.
While employers would have preferred preliminary injunctive relief, they are encouraged by the court's acknowledgement that the rule has a substantial likelihood of being overturned in the litigation to come.
The other two suits are being pursued before federal district courts in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Lubbock, Texas. (Ogletree Deakins represents employer groups in the Lubbock suit.) We expect decisions on motions for preliminary injunctions in those cases to be issued before the revised persuader activity rule's July 1, 2016 implementation date.
