BACKGROUND: JUDGE SHOPPING CRISIS KEEPS GETTING WORSE: On April 24, the U.S. Chamber filed its suit against the FTC in the Eastern District of Texas – continuing their pattern of judge shopping in courtrooms that fall under the jurisdiction of the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Chamber’s lawyers were no doubt pleased the case went to Judge Barker, who recently sided with them in another challenge against rulemaking from the National Labor Relations Board. Accountable.US has previously documented Judge Barker’s ties to the Leonard Leo network and his history of industry sympathizing and defending. In addition, Accountable.US’ review of a co-plaintiff against the FTC noncompete rule, Ryan LLC, identified conflicts of interest with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and swampy ties with the U.S. Chamber.
Government watchdog Accountable.US had called for the Eastern District of Texas Judge John Campbell Barker’s recusal after discovering Barker owns hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in three of the largest tech companies in the world: Apple, Amazon, and International Business Machines (IBM), the latter two being U.S. Chamber-members, and all of which are notorious for their use of noncompete agreements to prohibit employees from pursuing new opportunities – a lucrative enough practice that the US Chamber opted to sue on behalf of its corporate funders. Judge Barker has since dismissed the challenge to the FTC Noncompete rule without prejudice after the U.S. Chamber and coalition plaintiffs joined the first challenge to the rule from Ryan LLC in the Northern District of Texas.