Former Employ., Quality Fab. v. U.S. Sec. of Labor

• Decision Date: 24 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-1486.,05-1486.
• Citation: 448 F.3d 1351
• Parties: FORMER EMPLOYEES OF QUALITY FABRICATING, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF LABOR, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

448 F.3d 1351

FORMER EMPLOYEES OF QUALITY FABRICATING, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF LABOR, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 05-1486.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

May 24, 2006.

Adam H. Gordon, Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, of Washington, DC, argued for plaintiff-appellee. With him on the brief was John B. Brew.

Stephen C. Tosini, Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellant. With him on the brief were Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, David M. Cohen, Director, and Patricia M. McCarthy, Assistant Director. Of counsel on the brief was Gary E. Bernstecker, Attorney, Office of the Solicitor, United States Department of Labor, of Washington, DC.

Before NEWMAN, RADER, and PROST, Circuit Judges.

RADER, Circuit Judge.

The United States Court of International Trade ordered the Department of Labor (Labor) to notify former employees of Quality Fabricating, Inc. (Quality) that they qualify for secondarily-affected worker benefits, to explain these benefits to the former Quality employees, and to provide the court with status updates demonstrating Labor's compliance with the court's order. Former Employees of Quality Fabricating, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, No. 02-00522 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2005) (Order). Because the Court of International Trade lacks jurisdiction to review Labor's determinations with respect to secondarily-affected worker benefits, this court vacates the Order and remands with instructions to dismiss.

I.

On June 28, 2001, several former Quality employees filed a petition with Labor seeking unemployment benefits stemming from Quality's loss of business with firms that either shifted production to Mexico or Canada, or lost sales because of increased imports from Mexico or Canada. The former Quality employees sought unemployment benefits under one of two programs: (1) benefits as "primarily-affected workers" under the North American Free Trade Agreement-Transitional Adjustment Assistance program (NAFTA-TAA); or (2) benefits as "secondarily-affected workers" under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) or its successor, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). From a former employee's perspective, these programs provide substantially identical benefits. Nonetheless, these programs apply to different categories of workers.

Before losing employment, primarily-affected workers had employers that were "directly affected" by increased imports from or shifts of production to other countries. The federal government provides benefits targeting primarily-affected workers under various Transitional Adjustment Assistance programs dating back to at least the Trade Act of 1974, codified at 19 U.S.C. § 98. See Hampe v. Butler, 364 F.3d 90, 91 (3d Cir.2004) (describing the unemployment benefits provided under the Trade Act of 1974).

NAFTA provides a specific program, the NAFTA-TAA program, for those primarily-affected workers affected by shifts in production to or increased imports from Canada and Mexico. See 19 U.S.C. § 2331 (1993). The Trade Act of 2002 combined the benefits programs under NAFTA-TAA and the Trade Act of 1974 and expanded those programs to expressly provide for benefits to "adversely affected secondary workers." See Pub.L. No. 107-210, Div. A, Title I, § 123(a), 116 Stat. 944 (2002); 19 U.S.C. § 2272(b) (2002). In this case, the primarily-affected worker benefits under the NAFTA-TAA program fall within that Trade Act program.

In contrast to primarily-affected workers, before losing employment, secondarily-affected workers had employers that were "indirectly-affected" by increased imports from or shifts of production to other countries. These secondarily-affected workers had worked for employers that supplied materials and/or components to a primary firm. Unlike primarily-affected workers, secondarily-affected workers did not receive unemployment benefits under the Trade Act of 1974. Instead, the Statement of Administrative Action (SAA) gave Labor the authority to provide secondarily-affected worker benefits under the JTPA. See H.R. Doc. No. 103-159, at 672 (1993) ("[T]hrough administrative action, the Secretary of Labor will use existing authority under . . . the Job Training Partnership Act . . . to provide assistance to workers in secondary firms that supply or assemble products produced by firms that are directly affected.") (SAA); H.R. Rep. 103-361, at 92-93 (1993) reprinted in 1993 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2552, 2642-43 ("The Secretary of Labor will use existing authority under the [JTPA] program to provide similar assistance to workers in secondary firms that supply or assembly products directly affected by the NAFTA."). At the heart of the present appeal, the parties dispute whether the SAA and the NAFTA Implementation Act, codified at 19 U.S.C. § 3311, created a secondarily-affected worker benefits program that was incorporated into the Trade Act of 2002 along with the NAFTA-TAA program.

In June, 2001, several former Quality employees filed a petition seeking benefits either as primarily-affected workers or as secondarily-affected workers. After investigation, Labor certified the employees as a secondarily-affected worker group that qualified for benefits under the JTPA / WIA. However, upon publication of findings in the Federal Register, Labor denied the petition as a whole, meaning that the group did not qualify either as primarily-affected or secondarily-affected. See Notice of Determinations Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance and NAFTA Transitional Adjustment Assistance, 67 Fed.Reg. 35,142 (Dep't of Labor May 17, 2002). Thereafter, one of the former Quality employees sent a letter of complaint to the Court of International Trade requesting an appeal of Labor's negative determination.

While the case was pending before the Court of International Trade, Labor discovered that it had not published notice in the Federal Register of the secondarily-affected worker benefits certification. Accordingly, Labor published that notice for the first time. See Quality Fabricating, Inc., North Huntington, PA; Affirmative Finding Regarding Qualification as a Secondarily-Affected Worker Group Pursuant to the Statement of Administrative Action Accompanying the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Implementation Act, 68 Fed.Reg. 53,397 (Dep't of Labor, Sept. 10, 2003). Labor claims to have also provided other forms of notice both before and after discovering the error in the Federal Register. For instance, Labor claims to have faxed a copy of its determination to the state coordinator in Pennsylvania. At trial, however, Labor could not lay a proper foundation for this evidence. Believing proper notice had, at that point, been given for the secondarily-affected worker certification and noting that benefits as secondarily-affected workers were substantially identical to benefits as primarily-affected worker benefits, Labor moved to dismiss the case as moot. Alternatively, Labor moved to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction because the Court of International Trade's jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1581(d)(1), (i)(4) encompasses only disputes under the Trade Act. Labor asserts that the Trade Act did not incorporate the SAA program for secondarily-affected workers.

The trial court disagreed with Labor on both grounds. The Court of International Trade instead asserted jurisdiction to review the secondarily-affected worker benefits issue because the SAA and NAFTA-TAA programs are part of a unified program that falls within the court's particular expertise in trade matters. Former Employees of Quality Fabricating, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 343 F.Supp.2d 1272, 1279 (Ct. Int'l Trade 2004) (Trial Court Decision). The trial court also found that the notice issue was not moot because, even with republication in the Federal Register, Labor had not provided proper notice under its own internal procedures. Id. at 1287. Thus, the trial court ruled for the former Quality employees on the merits and ordered Labor to "exercise all reasonable efforts" to identify the eligible employees, to explain these benefits to the former employees, and to provide the court with status updates demonstrating its compliance with the Order. Order, slip op. at 1-2. The present appeal followed.

II.

This court reviews decisions of the Court of International Trade about jurisdiction without deference. Xerox v. United States, 423 F.3d 1356, 1359 (Fed. Cir.2005) (citations omitted). In general, "[t]he United States, as sovereign, is immune from suit save as it consents to be sued." Awad v. United States, 301 F.3d 1367, 1372 (Fed.Cir.2002) (quoting United States v. Sherwood, 312 U.S. 584, 586, 61 S.Ct. 767, 85 L.Ed. 1058 (1941)). Only an express statute suffices to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States. West v. Gibson, 527 U.S. 212, 217, 119 S.Ct. 1906, 144 L.Ed.2d 196 (1999); Yancheng Baolong Biochem. Corp. v. United States, 406 F.3d 1377, 1382 (Fed.Cir.2005) (explaining that waivers of sovereign immunity must be "unequivocally expressed" in statutory language) (quoting Lane v. Pena, 518 U.S. 187, 192, 116 S.Ct. 2092, 135 L.Ed.2d 486 (1996)). A waiver statute may assign specific causes of action to specific courts as a condition of consent. See Humane Soc'y. of United States v. Clinton, 236 F.3d 1320, 1328 (Fed.Cir. 2001); Quality Tooling, Inc. v. United States, 47 F.3d 1569, 1576-77 (Fed.Cir. 1995); NEC Corp. v. United States, 806 F.2d 247, 249 (Fed.Cir.1986). Thus, this court must determine whether a statute unequivocally granted a waiver for adjudication of Labor's eligibility determinations with respect to secondarily-affected worker groups in the Court of International Trade.

In 1980, Congress sought to improve upon the judiciary's ability to handle increasingly complex international trade litigations by replacing the outdated United States Customs ...