Bayou Lawn & Landscape Services, and Chamber of Commerce, et al. v. Perez et al.

Case Updates

The Eleventh Circuit denied the petition for rehearing and petition for rehearing en banc.

The 11/5/2015 opinion was entered as the judgment of the court.

After the Panel decided to vacate the district court's order, the Chamber, et al. filed a petition for panel rehearing and for rehearing en banc, which argued that the district court’s initial decision invalidating the rule should not be vacated when the case was mooted as a result of defendants’ unilateral conduct.

The Eleventh Circuit vacated and remanded the case to the district court in light of new rules governing the H-2B program issued by the DOL and the Department of Homeland Security in April 2015. On remand, the district court decided these new regulations moot the proceeding.

The Chamber filed a brief with the Eleventh Circuit in its challenge to new Department of Labor (DOL) amendments to the H-2B visa program that businesses use to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. The Chamber, along with co-litigant Bayou Lawn & Landscape Services, previously prevailed on summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, which found that DOL lacks the statutory authority to engage in legislative rulemaking. DOL has now appealed.

In its brief, the Chamber urges the Eleventh Circuit to affirm the district court decision vacating the rule.

The Chamber joined as a defendant with Bayou Lawn & Landscape Services, the National Hispanic Landscape Alliance, Silvicultural Management Associates, Inc., National Association of Landscape Professionals and the Florida Forestry Association.

Christopher J. Schulte and Monte B. Lake of CJ Lake, LLC as well as Michael R. Sklaire and Laura Foote Reiff of Greenberg Traurig, LLP served as counsel for the appellees.