The mission of the United States Department of Labor is, among other things, to “foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States.” That’s not the agenda the American people will be getting with Eugene Scalia, President Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Labor Secretary. If his 30-year career is any indication, Scalia priorities will be focused less on “promote and develop” and more on “seek and destroy.”
“If there’s one consistent pattern in Mr. Scalia’s long career,” U.S. Senator Patty Murray (Washington) remarked at Scalia’s confirmation hearing last week, “it’s hostility to the very workers he would be charged with protecting and the very laws he would be charged with enforcing if he were to be confirmed.”
Currently a partner at Washington D.C. law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and an active member of the right-wing Federalist Society, Scalia holds dogmatic, extreme views on everything from workers’ rights, consumer protections, and financial regulations. Scalia is a top “go-to” guy for corporations determined to swing a wrecking ball at any regulation that stands between them and a higher profit margin.
Indeed, Scalia’s abundant roster of corporate clients would immediately earn him a reputation as “one of the most conflicted labor secretaries in recent memory.”
No Friend to Workers
Throughout his career, Scalia has relentlessly attacked unions and collective bargaining, the same rights educators depend on to speak up on behalf of their students and stronger public schools.
In 2011, Scalia came to the aid of the Boeing Corporation after the National Labor Relations Board charged it with illegally transferring work from a unionized workplace in Seattle to a non-unionized plant in South Carolina. Boeing made this move in clear retaliation against workers who were exercising their right to strike under federal law.
Corporations First…and Second…and Third
Scalia’s defense of Boeing in abandoning unionized workers reveals only a small part of his zealously pro-corporate worldview. Time and time again, Scalia has never failed to protect corporations at the expense of their employees and consumers. Indeed, Scalia’s well-documented opposition to worker health and safety regulations prevented his Senate confirmation as Solicitor of Labor in 2001.
In 2013, Scalia defended SeaWorld against federal safety regulations that were created after an orca whale killed a trainer. He also represented United Parcel Service after employees sued the company for failing to provide adequate working equipment to protect them from injury. In 2006, he represented Walmart in persuading a court to strike down a Maryland law that required large companies to pay their fair share of health care costs.
More recently, Scalia has argued against additional regulation of the vaping industry, despite what federal officials call an “epidemic of youth use.” The number of high school students who use e-cigarettes risen about 75 percent in the past year to more 3 million students, overtaking tobacco products in popularity.
Extreme Views on Workplace Sexual Harassment
Scalia’s protection of corporate interests includes some eye-opening and disturbing work undermining sexual harassment claims. In 2015, Scalia represented mega-bank HSBC in a sexual harassment case involving several employees. According to written reports, Scalia browbeat a harassment victim in a deposition, repeatedly bringing her to tears.
It goes further back. In a 1998 law review article, Scalia laid out a case why companies should not be necessarily held liable for sexual harassment committed by their staff. “I believe the employer should not be liable in any of these scenarios unless it endorsed the conduct,” he wrote. Furthermore, Scalia argued that the form of workplace sexual harassment known as quid pro quo (threatening employees into giving in to sexual advances) “should be eliminated as a functional category of discrimination” under the law.
The record is clear, says NEA President Lily Eskelsen García.
“Scalia has made millions of dollars defending the indefensible for giant corporations … confirming him is no different than leaving the fox to guard the henhouse. That is why educators and working families today are calling on the Senate to reject his nomination.” (Read NEA’s letter to the Senate opposing Scalia’s nomination.)
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