President Donald Trump’s pick to become his third Secretary of Labor (fourth if you count Acting Secretaries) is well-known in Washington, D.C. as an anti-labor lawyer who is an expert at suing the federal government to eliminate regulations.
Eugene Scalia, who also happens to be the son (and one of nine children) of the late, far right Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is the President’s latest nominee.
Eugene, or “Gene” Scalia is an attorney in private practice, working for the same law firm that positioned George W. Bush in the Oval Office by winning Bush v. Gore at the U.S. Supreme Court. Scalia worked at that same firm at the same time his father was on the Court deciding the case.
Scalia is known for successfully defending one of the nation’s largest employers, Walmart, in a case that ultimately struck down a law requiring large companies to spend at least 8% of their payroll expenses on healthcare. Walmart went on to become known as an employer who pays low wages and is effectively subsidized by the government which provides welfare for its workers.
A 2014 Mother Jones article reveals Eugene Scalia “spent most of the ’90s focused on labor law, primarily opposing workplace safety rules for white-collar employees.”
He defended SeaWorld against federal safety rules implemented after an orca killed a trainer during a live show in 2010. (Scalia has argued in court that the company has no more responsibility to protect its trainers than the NFL has a duty to combat on-the-field injuries.)
Scalia is also known for suing the federal government at least seven times over the Dodd-Frank law that increased regulations on the financial industry.
A 2012 Bloomberg article titled, “Suing the Government? Call Scalia!” begins with this anecdote:
Staffers inside the Securities and Exchange Commission have a nickname for the massive Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, which imposes hundreds of new federal rules on business: They call it the “Eugene Scalia Full Employment Act.” Funny, right?
Finally, Scalia has a history at the Labor Dept., having worked there as its chief legal officer thanks to a recess appointment by President George W. Bush. Scalia was not confirmable in the Democratically-controlled U.S. Senate because of his anti-labor positions, including calling ergonomics – an important field of study and industry that reduces human error and protects workers’ physical and mental health – “quackery” and “junk science.”
At this point it’s important to note the role of the Dept. of Labor is to protect workers, not Walmart. Not corporations. Not employers. Workers. That’s why for over a century, since 1913, there has been a Dept. of Labor, not a Dept. of Employers.
Trump’s pick, which reportedly was suggested by, among others, far right wing GOP Senator Tom Cotton, will continue the work – striking down regulations faster than you can say “OSHA” – his disgraced predecessor, Alex Acosta, started.