Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Dacotah Cement
Settlement approved after Commission remand
Dacotah Cement’s civil penalty case returned to Judge Irwin Schroeder after a June 9, 2004 Commission decision affirmed part of an earlier ruling and vacated another part. The parties reevaluated the record and proposed a settlement that reduced the violation’s gravity, changed the classification…
Dacotah Cement
Settlement approved after Commission remand
Dacotah Cement’s civil penalty case returned to Judge Irwin Schroeder after a June 9, 2004 Commission decision affirmed part of an earlier ruling and vacated another part. The parties reevaluated the record and proposed a settlement that reduced the violation’s gravity, changed the classification…
Martin County Coal Corporation
Impoundment citations partly sustained
Martin County Coal and its engineering consultant GEO/Environmental Associates were cited after the Big Branch refuse impoundment failed and released waste-laden water in October 2000. Judge Irwin Schroeder found that Martin County failed to report unusual South Mains Portal flow changes, that…
Northshore Mining Company
Discrimination petition dismissed
Paul Landreville alleged that Northshore Mining terminated him because he raised electrical and other safety concerns at its Minnesota taconite mine. Northshore said it terminated him for a serious lockout failure, dishonesty, unsafe work, and other performance problems. Judge Irwin Schroeder found…
Secretary of Labor v. Ricky Bryson, Clifford Massie, and Gary Lilly, employed by Elk Run Coal Company
Expert-witness exclusion denied
The Secretary asked the judge to exclude Gary Hartsog’s testimony as a sanction for alleged discovery failures involving the respondents’ expert witness. Judge Irwin Schroeder found that the parties had exchanged answers only 30 days before the hearing and that the expert’s proposed opinions and…
Gulf Transport, L.L.C.
Temporary reinstatement ordered after late hearing request
Gulf Transport, L.L.C. employed Robert C. Gould as a truck driver at the Newmont Gold Quarry operation. After an MSHA investigation of an accident involving a vehicle Gould operated, Gulf terminated his employment, and the Secretary sought his temporary reinstatement under section 105(c) of the…
Martin County Coal Corporation and Geo/Environmental Associates
Citations vacated after slurry-impoundment case
Martin County Coal Corporation and Geo/Environmental Associates faced citations concerning an approved slurry-impoundment plan and a weekly inspection report at the Big Branch impoundment. The Secretary alleged that the operator failed to redirect slurry as required by the approved plan and that…
D.A.S. Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Mine safety violations affirmed and penalties reduced
D.A.S. Sand & Gravel operated a small New York sand and gravel business with front-end loaders, conveyors, and a material sorter. Judge Irwin Schroeder found that the Mine Safety and Health Administration had jurisdiction even though the company sold its products within New York, because Congress…
Secretary of Labor v. Branham and Baker Coal Company, Inc.
Respirable-dust petitions dismissed for lack of fair notice
Branham and Baker operated Kentucky surface mines subject to MSHA respirable-dust monitoring rules. The dispute concerned whether a designated work position continued when the mining equipment tied to that position left the mine, requiring the operator to take samples from substitute equipment…
Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Incorporated
Settlement approved
The Secretary of Labor sought $1,800 in penalties for three alleged mine-safety violations at Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Incorporated. At the hearing, the parties agreed to modify the allegations and keep the proposed penalties at $400, $500, and $900. Judge Irwin Schroeder found the…
Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Incorporated
Interlocutory appeal certification denied
Cactus Canyon Quarries asked the ALJ to certify procedural and discovery issues for immediate Commission review before a hearing on the alleged safety violations. Judge Irwin Schroeder declined because the requested appeal would not materially advance final disposition and the issues included…
Jordan Construction
Two auger-mining violations affirmed
Jordan Construction operated a small auger-mining business with two employees. The ALJ found an overhang above the work area and found that the operator failed to follow its approved ground control plan by leaving inadequate web material between auger holes. The Secretary did not prove a violation…
Day Mining Incorporated
Electrical-work and hard-hat violations affirmed
Day Mining operated a coal mine where a transformer was being prepared for removal from an energized substation. The ALJ found that the work and inspection activities inside the substation were electrical work requiring a qualified person, and that the people entering the area were also required to…
Lattimore Materials Co., L.P.
Safe-access citation sustained with reduced penalty
Lattimore Materials operated a sand and gravel processing plant near Cleburne, Texas. Employees lubricated elevated conveyor pulleys by walking on steel beams inside a tower while using both hands on a grease gun and relying on a safety harness and lanyard. The ALJ found that this arrangement did…
Dacotah Cement
Task-training petition dismissed
Dacotah Cement operated a portland cement plant where two maintenance employees were injured while replacing a high-pressure hydraulic hose on a mill. The Secretary alleged that the employees had not received the task training required by 30 C.F.R. § 46.7. Judge Irwin Schroeder found that the…
Felix Maurice Sykes v. Har-Lee Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after complainant missed hearing
Felix Maurice Sykes, a miner and roof bolter operator, alleged that Har-Lee Coal Company discriminated against him for raising safety concerns. Sykes did not appear at the scheduled hearing, did not request a continuance, and did not explain his absence. Based on the respondent's uncontested offer…
Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Incorporated
Motions to dismiss denied
Cactus Canyon operates a small quarry in the Texas Hill Country. The company asked the judge to dismiss seven civil penalty proceedings because MSHA took too long to assess penalties and file petitions. Judge Irwin Schroeder found that the delays were not so long or prejudicial as to bar hearings…
Coalfield Services
Temporary reinstatement granted
William Denny Griffitts, a welder and maintenance worker for Coalfield Services, reported that he was exposed to a serious safety hazard while working inside a coal chute. He reported the incident to company officials and to MSHA, and the company later issued a suspension notice with the intention…
San Juan Coal Company
Settlement approved with $23,500 penalty
San Juan Coal Company agreed to resolve five alleged mine-safety violations, including one citation and four orders. The Secretary reduced the proposed special-assessment penalty from $36,000 to $23,500 after the parties agreed that the orders should be modified to citations and that mitigating…
Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Inc.
Interlocutory review denied
Cactus Canyon Quarries asked the Commission to review an administrative law judge's ruling allowing the Secretary to file penalty petitions after the 45-day period in Rule 28(a). Judge Irwin Schroeder denied certification because the issue involved factual discretion rather than a controlling…
C C Coal Company
Discovery motion partly granted and partly denied
C C Coal Company asked the Administrative Law Judge to compel the Secretary to provide records about the proposed civil penalty and documents gathered during the investigation of an alleged mine safety violation. Judge Irwin Schroeder held that the Secretary's deliberative process privilege…
Shamrock Enterprises
Settlement approved, penalty reduced to $11,117
Shamrock operated a sand and gravel facility in Minnesota where the Secretary alleged violations involving two orders and seven citations. The parties negotiated a settlement that reduced the proposed civil penalty from $24,326 to $11,117. Shamrock also agreed to conduct an eight-hour safety…
The Ohio Valley Coal Co.
Settlement approval put to show cause
The Secretary proposed a $1,270 civil penalty for an alleged violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.220(a)(1), and the parties jointly asked the Judge to approve a $765 settlement. The Judge questioned whether the settlement improperly counted the operator's prompt abatement twice when calculating the…
Decker Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed with leave to amend
The Secretary filed a discrimination complaint on behalf of Steven Feagins and other Decker Coal miners, alleging that a bonus plan tied to accident experience discouraged reporting injuries and hazards. Judge Irwin Schroeder held that the complaint did not allege enough facts to show that the plan…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.