On December 9, Western North Carolina Workers’ Center, along with five other NC-based worker advocacy organizations, filed a lawsuit in NC Superior Court against the North Carolina Department of Labor. In November, the NC Department of Labor rejected a rule-making petition submitted by Western NC Workers’ Center in October to create an emergency workplace health and safety standard to protect workers in NC against COVID-19 in the workplace. The lawsuit seeks to force the NC Department of Labor to implement the emergency rule.