Merrick Garland on Jobs

Regulatory agency decides worker safety issues, not Congress

The majority on the three-judge DC Circuit panel said such comparisons were inapt. "The nature of SeaWorld's workplace and the unusual nature of the hazard to its employees performing in close physical contact with killer whales do not remove SeaWorld from its obligation to protect its employees from recognized hazards," the court said in a majority opinion signed by Judge Merrick Garland. They offered comparisons to traditional but dangerous industries such as welding and firefighting. Garland deferred to the Labor secretary's interpretation of workplace safety coverage. Such deference, a longtime pattern in federal courts, is the opposite of the skepticism Kavanaugh advocates.