Skip to content

Supreme Court Issues Major Decision That Will Assist Businesses In Challenging Unlawful and Burdensome Federal Rules

Back to TFFA | Daily Buzz

Supreme Court Issues Major Decision That Will Assist Businesses In Challenging Unlawful and Burdensome Federal Rules

BREAKING NEWS from The Energy Marketers of America
July 2, 2024

Supreme Court Issues Major Decision That Will Assist Businesses In Challenging Unlawful and Burdensome Federal Rules 

Tuesday, July 2, 2024 - Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a major decision allowing a case challenging the 2011 Federal Reserve’s (“the Fed”) rule capping debit card swipe fees at 21 cents to proceed in court after it was dismissed by a lower court for being filed too late. The Court held that the six-year time limit for challenging federal rules does not begin to run until the plaintiff was injured and not from the date the final rule was issued by the agency. It held that the retailer who brought the case was first injured in 2018, when it accepted its first debit card payment. The plaintiffs, including a North Dakota truck stop and convenience store called Corner Post, as well as two trade groups, the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association and the North Dakota Retail Association, can proceed with their lawsuit arguing that the Fed has set a debit interchange rate too high. Specifically, the Fed capped debit swipe fees at 21 cents, plus 0.05% of the value of the debit transaction, in addition to a one-cent fraud-prevention adjustment. The fee cap applies to banks and financial institutions that issue debit cards and have $10 billion or more in deposits.

The decision will have major and widespread implications for all cases contending that federal agency rules are arbitrary or otherwise illegal by enlarging the time such cases can be brought. For this reason, the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision caused strong dissents from the Court’s liberal wing who claimed it would open the flood gates to lawsuits challenging federal rules, thus increasing the burdens on agencies and the courts. The decision, however, was a major victory for retailers and others who contend that businesses should have wide latitude to challenge regulations they believe are unlawful and burdensome.

Powered By GrowthZone