American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO v. Glickman, 215 F.3d 7 (D.C. Cir. 2000).

American Federation of Government Employees entails a challenge FSIS's move to the HACCP model. 1. Text. The court holds that relying on establishment personnel rather than government employees to inspect poultry violates the text of the PPIA. The statutory text says that the Secretary shall cause to be made by inspectors appointed for that purpose a post-mortem examination and inspection of the carcasses and parts thereof of all [livestock] to be prepared at any slaughtering, ... or similar establishment....” 21 U.S.C. § 604). For poultry, § 455(b) of the PPIA states: “[t]he Secretary, whenever processing operations are being conducted, shall cause to be made by inspectors post mortem inspection of the carcass of each bird processed....” 21 U.S.C. § 455(b). Is the text of the statute so clear that an "inspector" must be a government employee? 2. Text and Purpose. Would it matter to the court if it could be definitively shown that the new inspection regime was vastly superior to the old in terms of avoiding adulteration? 3. Umpires and Pitchers. The court notes that the government believes an inspector can perform an inspection by watching another person perform an inspection. On this logic, urges the court, an umpire is a pitcher because an umpire watches a pitcher pitch. Does this metaphor seem on point? Surely an inspector could watch her own employees perform tasks like testing or observing chickens and still be performing the role of inspecting. Nevertheless, a unanimous panel held that the task of inspection could not be delegated to private employees without running afoul of the FMIA and the PPIA.