Case Explained: HENRY MCMASTER v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; KEITH E. SONDERLING

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-06-24 The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the South Carolina Governor and Department of Labor’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA) claims challenging OSHA’s 2016 interim final rule regarding monetary penalty adjustments. The court held that the plaintiffs’ claims were time-barred under 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a), which requires civil actions against the United States to be filed within six years after the right of action first accrues. Applying the Supreme Court’s decision in *Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of Federal Reserve System*, the court determined that a claim accrues when the plaintiff is injured by final agency action and has a complete cause of action. Because OSHA promulgated the rule in July 2016, creating an immediate credible threat of injury to state plans that failed to match penalty increases, the right of action accrued at that time. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that their injury did not occur until OSHA issued a formal finding of noncompliance in 2022, noting that pre-enforcement review is available immediately upon rule publication and that the statute of limitations began running on July 1, 2016, expiring on July 1, 2022. Consequently, the plaintiffs’ March 2023 filing was untimely. The practical consequence is that while the plaintiffs may still challenge the rule’s validity as a defense in future enforcement proceedings, they have forfeited their right to bring a pre-enforcement facial challenge to the 2016 rule in court. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.