Ezel / Agency Decisions / 76-3399-commission
OSHRC Commission decision Docket 76-3399 Decided December 11, 1978 Mixed result

Material Fabrication Corporation

Mixed ALJ decision affirmed without review

Apply this precedent to your situation

This is citable Commission precedent from 1978, and it may have been appealed since. Ezel checks how it stands today and answers your situation, with citations.

Currency note: this decision dates from 1978
The OSHA standards may have been amended, penalty amounts have been adjusted, and later Commission or court decisions may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current compliance advice. Verify the current standard before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or penalty mentioned here.
Decision of the Commission
This is a decision of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the highest level of agency review, citable as Commission precedent. It may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance; check subsequent history before relying on it. The full text below is from the official OSHRC release.
About this page: The plain-English summary and decision snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official OSHRC release. The full text is the Commission's own document.
Read the official release (oshrc.gov)

Plain-English summary

The judge found Material Fabrication in violation of several OSHA standards and rejected other alleged violations. Commission review was directed only on whether the judge erred in finding no violation of the scaffold standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.28(a)(1). Neither party sought review or submitted a brief on that issue. After examining the record, the Commission found no compelling public interest requiring a decision. It affirmed the judge's mixed disposition without substantive review and gave it only the precedential value of an unreviewed judge's decision.

Decision snapshot

  • Cited standard(s): 29 C.F.R. § 1910.28(a)(1); the other standards are not identified in the order.
  • Outcome: The judge's mixed decision affirming some violations and rejecting others was affirmed without substantive Commission review.
  • Key point: An affirmed ALJ ruling that the Commission declines to review retains only the precedential value of an unreviewed judge's decision.

Full text (OSHRC public release)

Docket No. 76-3399

MATERIAL FABRICATION CORPORATION

OSHRC Docket No. 76-3399

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

December 11, 1978

�
[*1]
�

Before CLEARY, Chairman; BARNAKO and COTTINE, Commissioners.
�

COUNSEL:

Baruch A. Fellner, Office of the Solicitor, USDOL

F. V. LaRuffa, Reg. Sol., USDOL

Howard R. Flaxman, for the employer

OPINION:

DECISION

BY THE COMMISSION:

On May 5, 1977, Judge Henry F. McQuade issued his decision, finding Respondent in violation of several OSHA safety standards but concluding that Respondent did not violate other standards as alleged by Complainant.
�
Review was directed on the question whether the Judge erred in concluding that Respondent did not violate the standard at 29 C.F.R. 1910.28(a)(1).

Neither Complainant nor Respondent petitioned for review of the Judge's decision or briefed the issue directed for review.
�
Thus, no party takes exception to any aspect of the Judge's decision.
�
Moreover, having examined the record, we conclude that there is no compelling public interest requiring the Commission to resolve the issue directed for review.
�
Accordingly, we affirm the Judge's decision without review, according it the precedential value of an unreviewed judge's decision.
�
State, Inc., 76 OSAHRC 134/F7, 4 BNA OSHC 1806, 1976-77 CCH OSHD para. 21,209 [*2]
�
(No. 5740, 1976).
�

Get today's answer for your situation

You just read Commission precedent from 1978. Ezel checks whether it still stands, including any court review since, and answers your specific situation, with citations.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the authority it relies on.