Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Department of Labor is required to set up a system for receiving complaints concerning Labor Condition Applications filed in connection with H-1B applications. In a Labor Condition Applications, petitioning employers make various representations with respect to employee salaries and working conditions. The INA limits the parties eligible to complain to “an aggrieved person or organization.” The DOL is then to conduct an investigation and make a determination as to whether a reasonable basis exists to make an adverse finding. The DOL issued final regulations defining “aggrieved party” to include government agencies.
In its March 21, 1995 decision in Department of Labor v. Newport News Shipbuilding, the Supreme Court ruled 9 to 0 that a government agency is not adversely affected or aggrieved under the statute and has no standing to sue in court on behalf of an aggrieved employee.
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