Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company (Commission decision, July 10, 1978)

Plain-English summary

This is a one paragraph housekeeping order. On July 10, 1978 the Commission dissolved a stay it had entered on September 6, 1977, which put its decision of August 3, 1977 back into effect.

The attached stay order supplies the history. The case had already been through a long route. In November 1974 the Commission held that Seaboard was not exempted from the Act by section 4(b)(1), the provision that steps aside where another federal agency exercises authority over the same working conditions, and remanded for a hearing on the merits. Judge Paul L. Brady heard the case and found a violation of the abrasive blasting standard at 29 C.F.R. 1910.94(b)(2)(i). The Commission affirmed him on August 3, 1977.

Seaboard had meanwhile petitioned the Fifth Circuit to review the 1974 jurisdictional ruling. The stay order notes that the company at one point moved to halt the proceedings before Judge Brady and then withdrew the motion, asking instead for a prompt decision on remand, and that it petitioned the Commission for review of the judge's decision before the Fifth Circuit had ruled. The Fifth Circuit denied the petition on September 22, 1976.

By letter of August 12, 1977 Seaboard advised the Commission that it had sought certiorari and that the Fifth Circuit had stayed its mandate pending the Supreme Court's action. Seaboard asked for nothing. The Commission stayed its own order anyway, on its own view that a stay was appropriate while the Supreme Court considered the petition. The July 10, 1978 order lifts that stay without stating what became of the certiorari petition.

One note on the extracted text. The July 10, 1978 order is the first substantive paragraph. Everything from the line reading ORDER OF STAY onward is the attached copy of the September 6, 1977 stay order, which is why the text ends with a 1977 date.

Decision snapshot

• Cited standard(s): 29 C.F.R. § 1910.94(b)(2)(i), the abrasive blasting standard found violated in the underlying August 3, 1977 decision.
• Outcome: Procedural. The Order of Stay of September 6, 1977 is dissolved, which reinstates the Commission's decision of August 3, 1977.
• Key point: A Commission order stayed pending Supreme Court review is not vacated by the stay. Dissolving the stay restores the original decision in full without any fresh ruling on the merits.
• Also decided: The stay order records that the Commission stayed its own order on its own motion, Seaboard having asked only that the Commission be advised of the certiorari petition and the Fifth Circuit's stay of its mandate.

Full text (OSHRC public release)

Docket No. 2802

SEABOARD COAST LINE RAILROAD COMPANY

OSHRC Docket No. 2802

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

July 10, 1978

COUNSEL:

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Baruch A. Fellner, Office of the Solicitor, USDOL

George D. Palmer, Associate Regional Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor

F. Saunders Aldridge, III, for the employer

OPINION:

ORDER

The Commission's Order of Stay issued on September 6, 1977 (copy attached), is hereby dissolved.
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This dissolution of stay thus reinstates the Commission Decision issued on August 3, 1977 (copy attached).

Before CLEARY, Chairman; and BARNAKO, Commissioner.

ORDER OF STAY

BY THE COMMISSION:

On August 3, 1977, the Commission issued a decision finding Seaboard in violation of the safety standard at 29 C.F.R. 1910.94(b)(2)(i).
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We affirmed a decision of Administrative Law Judge Paul L. Brady to whom we had remanded the case for a hearing on the merits after our decision of November 18, 1974 holding that Seaboard was not exempted from compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act by Section 4(b)(1).

During the pendency of the case before Judge Brady, Seaboard petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to review our decision of November 18, 1974.
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The Fifth Circuit denied that petition on September 22, 1976.
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The Court was still considering Seaboard's petition, however,
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before Judge Brady rendered his decision on the merits.
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Both Seaboard and the Fifth Circuit were aware of the proceedings before Judge Brady.
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Although Seaboard at one time moved for the proceedings before Judge Brady to be stayed, it later withdrew its motion stating, "Respondent prays that a decision on remand be rendered at the earliest practicable date." Furthermore, after the judge rendered his decision and before the Fifth Circuit had denied Seaboard's petition to that Court, Seaboard petitioned the Commission for review of the judge's decision and review was directed.

By Letter dated August 12, 1977, Seaboard advises that it has petitioned for a writ of certiorari from the Supreme Court and that the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has stayed its mandate pending action on the petition.
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Seaboard does not request that we stay, vacate, or otherwise take any action with respect to our order of August 3, 1977.
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However, we deem it appropriate to stay our order pending action by the Supreme Court on the petition.
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So ordered.

FOR THE COMMISSION

DATE: SEP 6 1977