A Fox Rothschild Labor & Employment Litigation Team led by Francis V. Cook has secured a precedent-setting appellate victory in New Jersey that limits the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) in the construction industry.

Cook, along with Fox attorneys Jonathan D. Ash, Corinne B. DeBerry and Ian Gillen, argued that the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission had exceeded its powers when it mandated the use of a PLA for a major project.

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is a bi-state entity created by an interstate compact with New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In connection with a project to replace Scudder Falls Bridge, the commission mandated all bidding contractors and subcontractors enter a PLA with unions affiliated with the local building and construction trades council.

The Commission sought a declaratory judgment to affirm its use of the PLA, but the Fox team responded with multiple counterclaims on behalf of client George Harms Construction Co., Inc. and a GHCC employee. A Mercer County judge dismissed the counterclaims and later dismissed the entire case.

The Fox team prevailed on appeal. In a published opinion issued on April 4, the New Jersey Appellate Court reversed the decision to dismiss the counterclaims, finding that “the Commission did not have the power to create and authorize use of the mandatory PLA” for its project.

"The Appellate Division correctly found that the commission did not have the authority to approve, use and enforce this PLA — it was unlawful for it to do so — and the court warned that a PLA that eliminates competition is not in the best interest of the public," Cook said in an interview with Law360.

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