MetWest, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
560 F.3d 506 (2009)
In 1991, OSHA promulgated a rule on removing contaminated blood-drawing needles, requiring removal by mechanical device or one-handed technique when removal was allowed. OSHA initially did not enforce this provision against employers using reusable blood tube holders, but in 2003 issued guidance stating that reusable holders likely violated the 1991 rule. MetWest, Inc. (plaintiff) typically supplied its phlebotomists with reusable holders, even though its parent company's other facilities used single-use holders. In 2004, OSHA cited MetWest for violating the 1991 regulation, and an Administrative Law Judge and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission upheld the citation. MetWest petitioned for judicial review, arguing OSHA's 2003 guidance and stepped-up enforcement amounted to an unlawful rule change without notice and comment.
Whether an agency may change how it enforces an existing regulation without notice-and-comment rulemaking when the agency never previously issued an express, direct, or uniform interpretation allowing the conduct now being penalized.