The legal saga of Rhea Lana Riner of Conway thankfully grinds on after the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia voted to dismiss her lawsuit against the federal Department of Labor's onerous actions against her.
Thank goodness, since continuing this mother's legal struggle is a vital act for our economic freedoms.
Readers likely recall that Mrs. Riner 16 years ago founded her children's consignment company with semiannual sales events staffed by volunteers who are rewarded for their time and efforts with first-shopper rights on the used kids' clothing submitted for sale.
Today her expanding and innovative franchise system (rhealana.com) has swelled to 69 locations in 23 states.
Things were going fine until the Department of Labor claimed Riner couldn't use the willing volunteers in her enterprise. Huh? Talk about an illogical, bully-boy governmental overreach. So the mother filed suit against the agency.
"As a company that engages moms in the community to buy children's clothes and toys at a deep discount and profit from selling their own children's items, we have never faced complaints from our consignor-volunteers, and we just don't think it's fair for the Department of Labor to come after us like this," said Riner. "The government is essentially telling you that you can't have your friends help out at a garage sale without the fear that a federal agency will be looking over your shoulder waiting to fine you. That's why we feel so strongly about fighting back: so our freedom as entrepreneurs and neighbors can remain intact."
The company's attorneys at Cause of Action say they will appeal the District Court's recent dismissal of her case to the D.C. Circuit Court.
In its dismissal, the District Court sympathized with Mrs. Riner's plight, describing it as a "predicament" arising when the Labor Department issued a rule saying Americans can't volunteer at for-profit enterprises. The agency, says Cause of Action, "pursued this matter by sending a warning letter to Rhea Lana that, in the court's view, had a 'coercive effect,' essentially telling the company that it could face severe fines for not classifying its consignor-volunteers as employees."
Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein said of the dismissal: "As the District Court recognized, agencies should not be able to avoid judicial review by hiding behind form letters that essentially demand the recipient comply or face stiff penalties." That's exactly why his nonpartisan, nonprofit government accountability firm that fights to protect the little guys is appealing the case.
As I've written previously, Americans who elect their government to serve them in a society built upon individual liberties, free enterprise and freedom of choice should rail at every opportunity against any agency's attempt to nullify those precious qualities. So you go, Cause of Action. Keep on fighting and appealing if necessary for our freedoms in the face of oppressive bureaucracies.
By the way, anyone seen our elected federal officials stepping up to help this besieged Arkansan mom? Isn't it well past time for them to speak and be counted?
To vote Dec. 9
Speaking of needless government overreach, consider this a gently sincere reminder to Fayetteville citizens to set aside a few minutes on Dec. 9 to cast your vote in the special election called by voters to repeal the city's poorly worded, ill-conceived new "Civil Rights Ordinance."
For reasons I'm still trying to comprehend, the majority of council members voted to enact this intrusive and unnecessary ordinance even though a single example of a business violating a person's civil rights in Fayetteville couldn't be cited.
I've always seen this needless ordinance from the time it reared its head as nothing more than a screw in the machinery of a national movement to extend one group's radical political agenda to extend its social-engineering tentacles into America's heartland communities.
The Chamber of Commerce rightly opposes this bad idea as do many businesses, churches and their congregations. Thousands out there clearly do.
Petitions circulated in the city that resulted in this special election contained more than 5,700 signatures. Only 4,095 were necessary to subject this defective and unnecessary ordinance to a public referendum. But now the voters need to turn out to make their voices heard a week from Tuesday.
Under this local law, imagine that you as a businessperson, landlord or whomever winds up as a front-page headline after being accused by a disgruntled customer or client (or other) who simply files a complaint of bias against you, thus placing you under the glare and consequences of sustained public humiliation, even though the complaint is later officially determined to be unjustified. Just thinking out loud, valued readers.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 11/30/2014