Last month we reported on the Obama Administration’s new “Bridge to Justice” program, in which Department of Labor farms out wage and hour complaints to contingency-fee attorneys recommended by the American Bar Association. Vice President Biden announced the plan last November, praising the program as an inventive, inexpensive new way to sue employers.

This mawkishly named scheme has drawn little subsequent attention, even though it promotes anti-business litigation and  violates the spirit of the Executive Order that bars federal agencies from hiring private attorneys on a contingency basis. This “Bridge to Justice” warrants serious scrutiny from Congress.

Committees could start by posing the questions raised in a blog post by Littller Mendelson attorney Tammy McCutchen, who served as administrator of the DOL’s Labor’s Wage and Hour Division from 2001 to 2004. From “Department of Labor to Provide Information and Documents from Wage-Hour Investigations to Employees and Plaintiffs’ Attorneys“:

• Will the DOL require employees and their attorneys to file Freedom of Information Act requests before releasing information and documents from its investigation files?
• What type of documents and information will the DOL be turning over to employees and their attorneys?
• Will the employees’ attorneys be given the time records and payroll data that employers provided to the DOL during investigations (and which often include employee names, addresses, and Social Security numbers)?
• Will the DOL provide employers with notice that it is turning over company information or documents?
• Will employers be provided with the opportunity to object to release of confidential and proprietary company information?

A Department of Labor website and FAQ on the “Bridge to Justice” program addresses some of these questions, but from the perspective of the employee who wants to sue the employer. (continue reading…)

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis testifies Wednesday before the House Education and Workforce Committee, a hearing entitled “Policies and Priorities at the U.S. Department of Labor.”

One useful line of inquiry might pursue the Department of Labor’s deal with the American Bar Association to farm out employee complaints that come to the Department to contingency-fee attorneys. Questions might include:

• President Obama has left in force President Bush’s Executive Order No. 13433, “Protecting American Taxpayers From Payment of Contingency Fees.” That order specified that “no agency shall enter into a contingency fee agreement for legal or expert witness services.” Can you please explain to me why this new arrangement does not violate that executive order. Should the president repeal that executive order?
• Explain, if you would, how exactly the attorneys are selected for this referral service. What percentage fee of the awards will the attorneys be working for?  Please provide me a list of the attorneys who are serving in this capacity. Do you intend for their arrangements with clients to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act?
• How does it improve the business climate or encourage employers to hire new workers if the Department of Labor refers lawsuits against business to outside, contingency-fee attorneys? Can you understand why employers might be upset that your agency is serving as a referral service for trial lawyers?

We wrote about the White House’s embrace of this trial lawyer referral service last week in two posts, “What about the Executive Order Barring Contingency Fee Lawyers?” and “Department of Labor: Working the Phones for Contingency Lawyers.”

We thought the White House Middle Class Task Force was a platform for the Obama Adminstration and organized labor to make common cause, with Vice President Joe Biden carrying the flag. Turns out the trial lawyers have a piece of the action, too.

From Fox Business News, Feb. 4, “Hate Your Boss? Call the Government“:

In an unprecedented and controversial move, the White House has launched a new program at the Department of Labor which will refer workers who have complaints about their bosses to a toll free number at the American Bar Association, where they can get a lawyer to work on their case on a contingency fee basis….

And since Vice President Joe Biden says the lawyers will be working on a contingency fee basis, and not pro bono, doesn’t that pretty much guarantee that the lawyers will be more apt to earn those fees via lawsuits against businesses? 

The program was actually announced back on Nov. 19, 2010, by the Vice President. From the White House blog, “Helping Middle-Class Families Pursue Justice.”

[The] Department of Labor (DOL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) are launching a new partnership to help workers resolve complaints received by DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, such as not getting paid the minimum wage or overtime, or being wrongfully denied family medical leave.  DOL resolves more than 20,000 of these complaints every year, but because of limited resources, there are thousands more they are unable to pursue.  Starting next month, people whose cases cannot be pursued will be provided with a newly created toll-free number that will connect them with an ABA-approved attorney referral service so they can find a qualified lawyer to help with their claims.

We anxiously await the TV ads, “Need a lawyer? Your boss messing with you? Call 1-800-etc.”

Hat tip to the American Tort Reform Association and its president, Sherman “Tiger” Joyce, who observes, “Members of the plaintiffs bar, one of Washington’s most influential special interests, are the only ones who benefit from lawsuit-spurring policies such as this.”