Dole v. United Steelworkers of America
United States Supreme Court
494 U.S. 26 (1990)
The Department of Labor (DOL) (defendant) issued a rule requiring manufacturers to disclose workplace hazard information to their own employees. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which under the Paperwork Reduction Act reviews and approves federal "information-collection requests," determined the DOL's disclosure rule was such a request and disapproved it, and the DOL withdrew the requirement despite disagreeing with OMB's characterization. The United Steelworkers of America (plaintiff) sued, arguing the disclosure rule was not an information-collection request under the Act, so OMB had no authority to review or disapprove it. The court of appeals agreed with the union, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a federal agency's statutory interpretation is entitled to judicial deference when it contradicts the clearly expressed legislative intent of the statute.