United Food and Commercial Workers Union v. Quality Pork Processors, Inc., No. 21-2220 (8th Cir. 2022)
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The United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) adopted a rule eliminating processing-line-speed limits in pork plants. Unions representing pork-processing-plant workers sued to vacate the rule as arbitrary and capricious. The district court granted summary judgment for the unions and vacated the rule. Two months later, Appellants—pork-processing companies affected by the rule and vacatur—moved to intervene. The district court denied the motion as untimely, noting that Appellants had participated in the summary judgment briefing eight months earlier.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court explained to assess the timeliness of a motion to intervene courts consider four factors: “(1) the extent the litigation has progressed at the time of the motion to intervene; (2) the prospective intervenor’s knowledge of the litigation; (3) the reason for the delay in seeking intervention; and (4) whether the delay in seeking intervention may prejudice the existing parties.”
Here, Appellants sought to intervene over a month after the court entered summary judgment and the full vacatur the unions had sought. Next, Appellants had knowledge of the case and proposed relief well before the court entered summary judgment. Appellants’ reason for delay is unpersuasive. Their proffered reason—that USDA’s interests in defending NSIS aligned with theirs—fails because USDA’s interests did not align. Appellants’ core concern is having the district court return them to the HIMP waiver system. But neither the unions nor the USDA ever pursued this. Appellants suffered little prejudice because all four of their relevant plants received line-speed permits. This factor also weighed against intervention.
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Gruender and Benton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil Procedure. The union challenged the USDA's adoption of a rule eliminating processing-line speeds in pork plants, alleging the rule was arbitrary and capricious, and the district court granted its motion for summary judgment, concluding the agency had acted without considering worker safety. The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the appellant meat packers' motion for leave to intervene in the action, as the case was in its final stages when the motion was filed, and appellants were aware of the case and the relief sought by the union long before they moved to intervene; further, appellants offered no persuasive reason for their delay, and the district court did not err in determining that the late intervention would frustrate the USDA's ability to manage the regulation.
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