Cleveland Steel Container Corp.

Plain-English summary

OSHA inspected Cleveland Steel Container's Illinois facility and issued a citation and proposed penalty. The company and OSHA then signed an informal settlement agreement resolving the citation. Cleveland Steel Container soon sought to rescind the agreement and filed a notice of contest, leading to a hearing limited to whether rescission should be allowed. Before post-hearing briefs were due, the company withdrew its rescission motion. The judge granted that withdrawal and dismissed the notice of contest.

Decision snapshot

• Cited standard(s): None identified in the decision.
• Outcome: Procedural. The motion challenging the settlement was withdrawn, and the notice of contest was dismissed.
• Key point: Withdrawing a motion to rescind an executed settlement leaves no basis for the related notice of contest to proceed.

Full text (OSHRC public release)

                                United States of America
               OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
                           1120 20th Street, N.W., Ninth Floor
                              Washington, DC 20036-3419




                                              :
SECRETARY OF LABOR,                           :
                                              :
                 Complainant,                 :
                                              :
          v.                                  :               OSHRC DOCKET NO. 99-1546
                                              :
CLEVELAND STEEL CONTAINER                     :
 CORPORATION,                                 :
                                              :
                 Respondent.                  :
                                              :

Appearances:

                 Kevin Koplin, Esquire                        James D. Dykes
                 Chicago, Illinois                            Colorado Springs, Colorado
                 For the Complainant.                         For the Respondent.

Before:          Chief Judge Irving Sommer

                                    DECISION AND ORDER

          This proceeding is before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (“the
Commission”) pursuant to section 10(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29
U.S.C. § 651 et seq. (“the Act”). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”)
conducted an inspection of Respondent’s facility in Peotone, Illinois in July of 1999. As a result of
the inspection, OSHA issued Respondent a citation and notification of penalty. After an informal
settlement conference held on July 29, 1999, an official of OSHA and an official of Respondent
signed an informal settlement agreement resolving the citation.1 However, on August 4, 1999,
Respondent notified both OSHA and the Commission in writing that it wished to rescind the


          1
         Although the settlement agreement is dated July 13, 1999, testimony adduced at the hearing
in this matter established that C-1, the agreement, was actually executed on July 29, 1999.
                                                  2

settlement agreement and that it was contesting the citation and notification of penalty, and on
August 5, 1999, Respondent filed its motion to rescind the settlement agreement. On September 7,
1999, the Secretary filed her response, in which she objected to the motion to rescind and moved to
dismiss Respondent’s notice of contest.2 The case was assigned to the undersigned, and on December
16, 1999, a hearing was held in Chicago, Illinois, for the sole purpose of deciding whether
Respondent’s motion to rescind should be granted.
                                             Discussion
       At the conclusion of the hearing, the parties were afforded the opportunity to file post-hearing
briefs setting out their respective positions in this matter. However, prior to the due date for filing
its brief, Respondent on February 5, 2000, filed a motion to withdraw its motion to rescind. The
Secretary has filed no response to the motion. Respondent’s motion to withdraw is accordingly
GRANTED, and its notice of contest is DISMISSED.
       So ORDERED.




                                                       Irving Sommer
                                                       Chief Judge

Date: 9 MAR 2000




       2
       The Secretary filed her complaint on August 30, 1999, and Respondent filed its answer on
September 1, 1999.