The ABC Florida East Coast Chapter Jan. 26 won an appeal upholding a judgment that a crane safety ordinance in Miami-Dade County was unenforceable because it violated the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act.
The
Florida East Coast Chapter, with support from ABC’s
Construction Legal Rights Foundation and
ABC of Florida, among others, filed the original lawsuit in March 2008 arguing that the Miami-Dade County ordinance was preempted by the OSH Act and that it had improperly conferred discretionary authority upon county building officials. The district court ruled in favor of ABC and the plaintiffs noting that the ordinance, and specifically the wind load standard contained in it, was not an approved safety regulation by the OSH Act.
The courts granted summary judgment in favor the plaintiffs prompting Miami-Dade County to appeal. The county argued that the ordinance was designed to protect the public and not workers and thus didn’t fall under the OSH Act.
In a victory for ABC, the appeals court rejected this and other arguments and upheld the original permanent injunction on the crane ordinance.
For more information, contact Dan Shaw, President and CEO of the ABC Florida East Coast Chapter, (954) 984-0075.