A federal judge in Texas struck down a request to transfer a lawsuit challenging environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulation to Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, denied the request and said the Biden Administration had not shown “good cause” or demonstrated “that a transfer is ‘[f]or the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice.”‘
“When the transferee venue is not clearly more convenient than the venue chosen by the plaintiff, the plaintiff’s choice should be respected,” Judge Kacsmaryk ruled. “Assuming that jurisdiction exists and venue is proper, the fact that litigating would be more convenient for the defendant elsewhere is not enough to justify transfer.”
The Department of Labor (DOL) had previously contested that none of the 25 plaintiffs resided in Amarillo, where the suit was filed, and accused plaintiffs of filing in Amarillo on the basis that Kacsmaryk would preside over the case. Kacsmaryk, a conservative appointee of former U.S. President Donald Trump, currently oversees cases in the district, and has previously blocked Democratic-backed rules.
In his response, Kacsmaryk noted that the State of Texas was included in the original suit, and thus countered the argument by acknowledging that “Texas resides everywhere in Texas.”
He also pointed to Amarillo, Texas resident Alex L. Fairly, who has lived in the district “for the past 35 years,” and was added to the lawsuit as a subsequent plaintiff.
Kacsmaryk also rejected the Labor Department’s justification that the challenged policy was created and circulated in Washington, D.C., and that its administrative record was also located there. He stated that the Biden Administration had not identified witnesses or physical evidence, nor had they identified any specific witnesses unwilling to testify or any other practical problems.
The lawsuit involves a coalition of 25 states, along with publicly traded energy company Liberty Energy and its subsidiary Liberty Oilfield Services, and oil and gas non-profit Western Energy Alliance. The plaintiffs seek to block the DOL rule that would allow employers to consider ESG factors in workplace retirement plans, stating the rule jeopardizes Americans’ retirement savings.
Kacsmaryk’s motion comes as President Joe Biden vetoed a bill that would repeal the ESG rule last week. The U.S. House of Representatives later failed to meet a majority vote that would override the veto.
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