Law360 Quotes Brian Patterson on Alleged Dominican Republic Labor Abuses

For its article "Dems Push Probe of Dominican Republic's Sugar Workers," on claims by Democratic members of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee that labor laws are being violated in the Dominican Republic's sugar industry, Law360 quoted Akin Gump labor and employment partner Brian Patterson.

The article notes that the House members urged the U.S. Trade Representative, the Labor Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to investigate jointly whether recent reports constitute a violation of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

Patterson, who successfully represented Guatemala in the only enforcement effort made under CAFTA-DR's labor provision, said of that experience, "What we learned from the dispute between the U.S. and Guatemala is that proving a violation of the labor provisions is extraordinarily difficult because of the high standards. I think that the most difficult portion of that standard to satisfy is the portion which requires us to demonstrate that failure to enforce is labor laws affected trade between the parties."