Former Employees of BMC Software, Inc. v. United States Secretary of Labor

**Former BMC Software Workers Win Trade Benefits Appeal** Former employees of BMC Software sued the U.S. Department of Labor after the agency denied them trade adjustment assistance benefits. Trade adjustment assistance is a federal program that provides financial support and retraining services to workers who lose their jobs due to foreign trade or companies moving operations overseas. The BMC Software workers believed they qualified for these benefits but were turned down by the Labor Department. The court ruled in favor of the former BMC Software employees, finding that the Department of Labor was wrong to deny their benefits. The workers not only won their case but were also awarded $27,208.12 to cover their legal costs and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act, which allows people to recover attorney fees when they successfully challenge incorrect government decisions. This case matters for workers because it shows that employees can successfully fight back when government agencies wrongly deny them benefits they've earned. It also demonstrates that trade adjustment assistance is available to help workers who lose jobs due to international competition, and that workers have legal recourse if these benefits are improperly denied.