The NAM has joined with WE CARE, a broad-based coalition of 230 private and public employers and other organizations, to sue the State of Washington over its new ergonomics standards, which are to become effective July 1, 2002. The suit charges that the rule requires "unnecessary, scientifically unsupported and economically irrational modifications" to the workplace, and that the state's actions are unauthorized, procedurally defective and arbitrary and capricious. The suit asks that the rule be declared invalid.Ruling from the bench, the judge threw out a large business coalition suit, including the Association of Washington Business and the NAM, that challenged Washington State's new ergonomics regulation. The court rejected challenges involving cost/benefit analysis, timeliness, statutory authority, the validity of the evidence supporting the rule, and the sufficiency of the implementation plan.