Question: The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division audited an employer and determined that the company had committed violations of the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The company wished to appeal this determination. The firm's human resources director called the main number of the Department of Labor's offices in the corporation's home city. She was put through to an official in the OSHA office in the local federal building. This OSHA official, responding to the human resources director's inquiry, advised her that she need not count weekends and holidays when calculating the deadline date for filing her company's appeal.
It turned out that this information was incorrect, and as a result, the appeal was dismissed by the Wage and Hour Division's appellate office as untimely. Should a court order the Department of Labor to honor the appeal, since one of its agencies gave the human resources manager the incorrect information upon which her company relied to its detriment? What are the policy considerations pro and con regarding such a ruling? Is there a constitutional issue involved in this case? See Atlantic Adjustment Co. v. U.S. Dept. of Labor [90 F. Supp.2d 627 (E.D. Pa. 2000)].