DOL Defends Legality of In-House Judges for Contractor Oversight

Attorneys for the US Labor Department are urging a federal judge to shut down a challenge to the in-house judge system at its federal contractor oversight arm, one of the agency’s first responses to lawsuits looking to limit its power.

The DOL said in a Oct. 1 brief that the constitutional claims brought by ABM Industry Groups LLC, a janitorial and cleaning services contractor, don’t apply to the proceedings before the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs because they focus on equitable remedies and not “common law” disputes.

ABM’s lawsuit filed earlier this month argued that because the OFCCP is ...