Former Empls. of Qual. Fab. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor

• Decision Date: 11 May 2004
• Docket Number: Slip Op. 04-48.,Court No. 02-00522.
• Citation: 343 F.Supp.2d 1272
• Parties: FORMER EMPLOYEES OF QUALITY FABRICATING, INC., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEP'T OF LABOR, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Court of International Trade

343 F.Supp.2d 1272

FORMER EMPLOYEES OF QUALITY FABRICATING, INC., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEP'T OF LABOR, Defendant.

Slip Op. 04-48.

Court No. 02-00522.

United States Court of International Trade.

May 11, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Collier Shannon Scott, (Adam Gordon and John Brew), Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General; David M. Cohen, Director; Patricia M. McCarthy, Assistant Director; Stephen Tosini, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, for Defendant.

OPINION

WALLACH, Judge.

I Introduction

Plaintiffs, Former Employees of Quality Fabricating, Inc., brought this action seeking judicial review of the United States Department of Labor's ("Labor") decision denying their eligibility for trade adjustment assistance ("TAA") benefits under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974. 19 U.S.C. § 2273 (2000). Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss ("Defendant's Motion"). On April 13, 2004, the court heard oral argument on Defendant's Motion. Defendant argues that Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted pursuant to USCIT R. 12(b). For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion is denied.

II Background

On June 28, 2001, Plaintiffs filed a petition seeking North American Free Trade Agreement Transition Adjustment Assistance ("NAFTA TAA") benefits in accordance with 19 U.S.C. § 2331 (1999).¹ Labor registered the petition on July 5, 2001 and designated it Petition # 5051. On May 17, 2001, Labor denied Plaintiffs' petition for certification of eligibility to receive trade adjustment assistance. See Notice of Determinations Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance and NAFTA Transitional Adjustment Assistance, 67 Fed.Reg. 35,140, 35,142 (May 17, 2002). Plaintiffs seek judicial review of Labor's decision denying their eligibility for "TAA" benefits.

Both parties have filed a number of motions in this matter. On July 1, 2003, Plaintiffs filed a 56.1 Motion for Judgment on the Agency Record. Defendant did not file a response to this motion. Subsequently, on August 1, 2003, Defendant filed a Motion for Voluntary Remand in order to "conduct a further investigation and to make a determination as to whether the petitioners are eligible for certification for worker adjustment assistance benefits." Defendant's Motion For Voluntary Remand at 1. Plaintiffs opposed the voluntary remand and on August 11, 2003, filed an Opposition to the Motion ("Plaintiff's Opposition to Voluntary Remand"). On August 22, 2003, Defendant submitted a Reply in Support of Its Motion for Voluntary Remand ("Defendant's Reply") to the court.

As a result of the variance among the issues proposed by the parties in their briefs, on August 27, 2003, the court ordered supplemental briefing to ascertain the parties' precise claims. Thereafter, on August 28, 2003, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Strike Defendant's Reply claiming that a reply was not permitted under the rules of this court and that the Defendant had failed to ask for leave to file its Reply brief. The court scheduled oral argument on these three motions for October 30, 2003. Before oral argument was held, however, Defendant filed its Motion to Dismiss.²

III Jurisdiction

Defendant claims that this court does not have jurisdiction to entertain Plaintiffs' claims. Defendant's Supplemental Brief in Support of its Motion for Voluntary Remand at 3 ("Defendant's Supplemental Brief"); Defendant's Motion at 7. Once jurisdiction is challenged, the Plaintiff must prove that jurisdiction before this court is proper. United States v. Biehl & Co., 539 F.Supp. 1218, 3 CIT 158, 160 (1982); Hilsea Inv. v. Brown, 18 CIT 1068, 1070 (1994); see also McNutt v. Gen. Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 189, 56 S.Ct. 780, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936). A "mere recitation of a basis for jurisdiction, by either a party or a court, cannot be controlling: federal courts are of limited jurisdiction, and may not alter the scope of either their own or another courts' statutory mandate." See Williams v. Sec'y of Navy, 787 F.2d 552, 557 (Fed.Cir.1986). Moreover, this court must also independently assess the jurisdictional basis for cases before it. See Ad Hoc Comm. v. United States, 22 CIT 902, 906 (1998).

The Court Has Jurisdiction Under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(d) to Entertain An Appeal Challenging Labor's Secondarily-Affected Worker Groups Benefit Determination

Defendant argues that secondarily-affected worker group benefits, referenced in the North American Free Trade Agreement Act's Statement of Administrative Action ("NAFTA SAA"), are not part of the Trade Act of 1974. See NAFTA SAA, H.R. Doc. No. 103-159, vol. 1, at 450 (1993). Defendant claims that "Congress only granted this Court limited jurisdiction to review only matters that relate to North American Free Trade Agreement Transitional Adjustment Assistance ("NAFTA-TAA") benefits." Defendant's Brief in Reply to Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss at 3 ("Defendant's Reply"). Thus, it says that this court does not have jurisdiction over appeals regarding Labor's administration of its secondarily-affected worker group determinations.³

Chapter 2 of Title II of the Trade Act of 1974 established benefits, called trade adjustment assistance, for primarily affected worker groups. Trade Act of 1974, P.L. No. 93-618, 88 Stat.1978, 2019-2020 (1975) (codified at 19 U.S.C. §§ 2271-2275 (1999)). These benefits include income support payments, job search and relocation allowances, and career services. See Former Employees of Chevron Prods. Co. v. United States, 298 F.Supp.2d 1338, 1340 (CIT 2003). Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 2273(a), certification of eligibility determinations by the Secretary of Labor must be made

as soon as possible after the date on which a petition is filed under section 221 ... the Secretary shall determine whether the petitioning group meets the requirements of section 222 and shall issue a certification of eligibility to apply for assistance under this subpart covering workers in any group which meets such requirements.

Once this determination is made, Labor is required to publish it in the Federal Register along with the rationale for its decision. 19 U.S.C. § 2273(c). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1581(d)(1), this court has exclusive jurisdiction over any civil action commenced to review "any final determination of the Secretary of Labor under section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to the eligibility of workers for adjustment assistance under such Act." See 19 U.S.C. § 2273 (1999).

On December 8, 1993, Congress approved NAFTA and implemented it through the NAFTA Implementation Act of 1993, P.L. 103-182, Section 101(a)(b), 107 Stat. 2057 (1993) ("NAFTA Implementation Act"). See Bestfoods v. United States, 165 F.3d 1371, 1374 (Fed.Cir.1999). As well as approving NAFTA, Congress approved the NAFTA SAA. NAFTA, H.R. Doc. No. 103-159, vol. 1, at 10 (1993); see NAFTA SAA, H.R. Doc. No. 103-159, vol. 1, at 450 (1993); see Bestfoods, 165 F.3d at 1374; Plaintiffs' Motion for Judgment on the Agency Record, Appendix 3; see also 19 U.S.C. § 3311(a)(2). The SAA described and the NAFTA Implementation Act authorized the promulgation of regulations "as necessary or appropriate to implement immediately applicable U.S. obligations under the NAFTA," NAFTA SAA, H.R. Doc. No. 103-159, vol. 1, at 463, as well as those regulations that were necessary or appropriate to carry out the actions proposed in the SAA. 19 U.S.C. § 3314(b); see Bestfoods v. United States, 165 F.3d at 1374. The services provided pursuant to the NAFTA Implementation Act, including those referenced by the SAA, are called transitional adjustment assistance.⁴ See NAFTA Implementation Act P.L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057, 2554. The NAFTA SAA explained that one "comprehensive program" was to afford affected workers with the necessary assistance. NAFTA SAA at 672. In order to provide this support, the Administration proposed a transitional worker assistance program having two components. The first component provided benefits to primarily affected workers; the second, to secondarily-affected workers. The NAFTA SAA explained that under the second component

[W]orkers in firms that are indirectly affected by the NAFTA would be eligible to receive assistance pursuant to the national grant program administered by the Secretary of Labor under Part B of Title III of the Job Training Partnership Act. The Secretary will reserve funds for this purpose. These firms will include suppliers of the firms that are directly affected by imports from Mexico or Canada or shifts in production to those countries. Secondary firms will also include "upstream" producers, such as direct processors, that assemble or finish products made by directly-affected firms....

Workers in these firms will receive the same rapid response, basic readjustment and employment services, job search and relocation assistance, training and income support available to workers in directly affected firms. In addition, income support would be available under this component to workers who are covered by a petition certified under the first component of the program but who are not eligible for income support under that component because they are not eligible for unemployment compensation, do not meet the tenure requirement, or were unable to meet the enrollment deadline because the first available enrollment date was past the deadline or a course was abruptly canceled.

Id. at 674. (emphasis added).

Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 2331(c) (2000), workers who file a petition for adjustment assistance and meet the eligibility requirements are issued a certification of eligibility to apply for assistance by Labor. Those denied certification of eligibility may appeal Labor's denial of NAFTA TAA benefits, pursuant to 19 U.S.C. § 2395(a) (2000), which provides that:

A worker ... aggrieved by a final determination...