Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Matter of Lui
Conditional plans to invest do not meet the investor rule
A citizen of Tonga who had overstayed his visitor admission sought adjustment of status through an exemption from the labor certification requirement for investors. He operated a landscape service in Hawaii, but the record showed less than $10,000 committed to it. He had additional funds and…
Standard Transformer Co.
Paint-area abatement extension affirmed after deadline
Standard Transformer requested six additional months to correct citation items concerning paint spray areas after completing three of five areas and spending substantial sums on corrective systems. The Secretary did not oppose the request, and the judge extended the abatement date to January 1…
Getty Oil Co.
Untested pressure-vessel citation affirmed
Getty Oil had a fluid-booster pressure vessel fabricated for installation at a Texas oil and gas facility. The experienced field mechanic responsible for the work learned that the vessel had not been pressure-tested but installed it without telling the company. The vessel ruptured immediately after…
Champion International Corp.
Machine-guarding item vacated after employee notice
Champion International contested only item 8 of a 13-item nonserious citation. The Secretary moved to dismiss that item because the facts did not establish a violation of the point-of-operation guarding standard, and the judge vacated it. The Commission reviewed whether affected employees had…
Kit Manufacturing Co.
Eye-protection failure-to-abate penalty vacated
Kit Manufacturing's uncontested original citation required eye protection for employees working around saws and routers that emitted wood chips and sawdust. OSHA later alleged that the company had not corrected the violation and proposed an additional $2,900 penalty. At the reinspection, the…
Matter of McDonald and Brewster
Six marijuana cigarettes did not establish the exclusion charges
Two Canadian citizens attempting to enter the United States for an evening were found with six marijuana cigarettes for personal use. An immigration judge rejected an illicit trafficking charge but found both applicants excludable under a provision addressing activities prejudicial to the United…
Matter of Marques
Claimed financial hardship did not establish eligibility for relief
A Spanish citizen who had entered as a nonimmigrant sheepherder sought suspension of deportation and voluntary departure. At a reopened hearing he disclosed that he had possessed about $54,000 during a traffic stop, but invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about its ownership or source. The Board…
M-CO Equipment Co., Inc.
Crane fire-extinguisher item reinstated
M-CO Equipment was installing a sewer line at an Arizona construction site. A required fire extinguisher for a crane was kept in a pickup truck normally about 150 feet away, and the truck moved around the worksite. The Commission held that this did not make the extinguisher accessible and available…
Oestreichers Prints, Inc.
Citation affirmed after withdrawal of contest
Oestreichers Prints decided to withdraw its notice of contest after correcting the violations and paying the penalty in full. Neither party appeared at the scheduled hearing because the company failed to submit the expected withdrawal motion and the Secretary relied on its assurance that it would…
Matter of Robinson
Guilty plea supported deportability despite civil commitment
A woman pleaded guilty in California to offenses involving heroin sales and possession for sale. Her criminal case was then suspended while she entered proceedings under a state narcotic commitment law, before final sentencing. She argued that the suspended criminal case did not amount to a…
Matter of Hosseinpour
Adjustment application did not end student status, but the stay expired
An Iranian nonimmigrant student applied to adjust his status to permanent residence before his authorized stay expired. An immigration judge found him deportable both for failing to maintain student status and for remaining beyond his permitted stay. The Board held that filing the adjustment…
Jersey Steel Drum MFG. Corp.
Drum-expander guarding citation vacated
Jersey Steel Drum used an automatic drum-hoop expander whose hydraulic rams formed ribs in steel drums. During weekly maintenance, a foreman entered between the rams without locking out the power, accidentally triggered the machine, and was killed. The Commission majority held that the cited…
Matter of Garcia-Quintero
Years living in Mexico broke the required U.S. domicile
A Mexican citizen admitted as a permanent resident was convicted after trying to bring marijuana into the United States. The immigration judge found him excludable and denied a waiver under INA § 212(c). Although he worked in the United States while living in Mexico from 1967 to 1970, the Board…
J. R. Simplot Co.
Swing-saw guarding violation affirmed
J. R. Simplot used a 20-inch metal-cutting swing saw equipped with an adjustable blade guard. The guard could comply when allowed to float on the material, but the judge found that employees normally secured it in a raised position that left the point of operation exposed. The raised guard left…
Matter of Lee
Speculative investment did not establish treaty investor eligibility
A Korean citizen sought E-2 treaty investor status after depositing money toward an interest in a San Francisco restaurant. The Regional Commissioner held that the applicant's Korean nationality, rather than the nationality of the people who owned the enterprise, was the relevant nationality for…
Matter of Arenas
Marriage validity depends on proof of prior divorce and continued cohabitation
A U.S. citizen petitioned for his wife to receive an immigrant visa as an immediate relative. The district director denied the petition because she was still married to someone else when the couple married in Texas. The Board held that Texas law could recognize the later marriage once the first…
Matter of Caralekas
Idle restaurant business did not qualify for investor exemption
A Greek native and Canadian citizen sought adjustment of status based on an $80,000 investment in a restaurant business. The immigration judge granted the application, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service appealed. The Board held that the investor exemption did not apply because the…
Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc.
Toe-protection citation reinstated
Arkansas-Best operated a busy North Carolina freight terminal where dock workers handled freight ranging from light goods to castings, pipes, and 55-gallon drums while forklifts moved throughout the area. Repair-shop employees also handled heavy tools, parts, and large truck tires. The company did…
Underhill Construction Corp. & DIC Concrete Corp, d/b/a DIC Underhill, A Joint Venture
Ninth-floor safety-belt citation affirmed
Employees of the DIC-Underhill joint venture stacked and rigged plywood at the unguarded edge of a building's ninth floor. As a load shifted during hoisting, one employee moved to avoid it, stepped off the edge, and fell to his death. The judge found that perimeter railings could not remain in…
Crescent Wharf & Warehouse Co.
Hazardous-cargo warning violation affirmed
Crescent Wharf employees loaded bags of barium hydroxide monohydrate and insecticide onto a vessel at an Alameda, California, terminal. Some bags leaked, and employees who inhaled or contacted barium hydroxide dust experienced breathing difficulty, coughing, irritation, nausea, and eye symptoms…
Matter of Cessna 180 "N4502B"
Aircraft fine was reduced for one arrival
The pilot of a Cessna 180 arrived in the United States from Mexico without notifying the proper authorities or presenting the aircraft and passengers for inspection. The District Director assessed a $2,000 fine on the theory that each passenger created a separate violation. The Board held that the…
Matter of Lopez
Certified conviction record supported deportability
The Service charged a Mexican citizen with deportability based on a conviction for possessing marijuana. The Board held that certified copies of the charging information and judgment and commitment satisfied the authentication requirements because they bore the deputy clerk's signature and the…
Pyropak Manufacturing, Inc.
One abatement extension approved and three dismissed as late
Pyropak Manufacturing sought additional time to correct four nonserious citation items involving machinery and electrical conditions. The judge found the petition timely only for item 5 and extended that item's deadline to January 6, 1975. He dismissed the extension requests for items 6, 7, and 8…
Eichleay Corp.
Safety-belt violation affirmed and scaffold allegation vacated
Eichleay employees removed temporary boards from inside a vertical power-plant duct about 50 feet above its bottom. A boilermaker foreman and a union steward recognized that the task was hazardous but performed it without available safety belts or lifelines, and the foreman fell to his death. The…
Matter of M/V "Agios Nectarios"
Carrier fine upheld despite defective notice form
The carrier of the M/V "Agios Nectarios" was fined after an alien crewman deserted the vessel and escaped after his conditional landing permit was revoked. The Board found that the carrier received actual notice to detain the crewman even though the Service did not retain the prescribed Form I-259…
Copperweld Steel Co.
Bottomless slag-pot citation affirmed
Copperweld Steel used a bottomless slag pot with a temporary dolomite bottom to handle molten slag at temperatures near 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Employees, union representatives, the safety director, and other company supervisors repeatedly warned management that the pot was unsafe, but the…
Pack River Lumber Co.
Saw-guarding violation classified as serious
Pack River Lumber operated two swing cutoff saws and one radial-arm saw without guards on the lower portions of their blades. It also had numerous unguarded gears, chains, belts, and pulleys that created pinch-point hazards throughout the workplace. The judge affirmed both violations as nonserious…
Consolidated Aluminum Corporation
Coal-tar exposure item vacated
OSHA alleged that a Consolidated Aluminum employee was exposed to coal-tar pitch volatiles above the eight-hour limit. The company contested that item and its proposed $40 penalty. The Secretary later moved to withdraw because the company had made good-faith corrective efforts and the investigative…
Frank Galey, Jr., d/b/a Galey Construction Co.
Ladder item reinstated and trench violation classified as nonserious
Galey Construction installed drain pipe in a long trench that reached approximately 18 feet deep at its western end. The Commission affirmed a trenching violation as nonserious because the hard, compact soil was nearly sloped to the required angle and the record did not establish a substantial…
Western Metal Decorating Company
Stairway item reinstated and respiratory-protection item vacated
Western Metal Decorating Company decorated flat sheets of tin and steel using coating, printing, and baking lines. OSHA issued a 25-item citation covering conditions that included housekeeping, powered industrial trucks, flammable liquids, machinery, electrical equipment, employee eating areas, and…
Wayne Taysom & Eli Taysom, d/b/a Taysom Construction Company
Crane power-line violation affirmed with a $300 penalty
Taysom Construction was building a concrete bank vault and used a crane to move cement from a delivery truck to the vault. The crane boom contacted an energized 12,000-volt power line, and the delivery-truck driver was killed when current traveled through the crane cable and bucket. The judge found…
Matter of Swissair "Flight SR 168"
Matter of Swissair “Flight SR 168” (BIA ID 2403): Visa fines upheld without inspector testimony
Swissair was fined $3,000 after carrying three passengers to the United States without required visas. The airline argued that the fines violated due process because it could not question the immigration inspectors or inspect the passengers' passports in the record. The Board found the official…
Davenport Brothers, Inc.
Trench and head-protection violations affirmed, penalty reduced to $200
Davenport Brothers sent two employees into a trench to repair a broken water line. The judge found that the trench was more than five feet deep and was not shored, braced, or sloped, and that neither employee wore protective headgear. The Commission affirmed the serious trenching violation and the…
Matter of Lehder
Immigration bond request was premature during imprisonment
A federal prisoner asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service to set an immigration bond after it lodged a detainer requesting notice before his release. He said the detainer restricted his participation in prison programs. The Board held that he was still in the correctional institution's…
Carolina Power and Light Company
Settlement approved with surplus order language stricken
OSHA cited Carolina Power and Light Company for allowing fly ash to accumulate on a floor in a load allegedly greater than the structure was designed or approved to support. The parties settled after the company moved to withdraw its notice of contest, represented that the condition had been…
Julius Nasso Concrete Corporation and Beach Concrete Company, Inc., a Joint Venture, d/b/a Nasso Beach Concrete
Citation vacated for lack of reasonable promptness
Nasso Beach Concrete was the concrete subcontractor on a high-rise apartment project. An employee installing perimeter guardrail protection on the sixteenth floor fell and died, and OSHA investigated the next day. The area director decided on December 26, 1972, to issue a citation concerning fall…
Greguson's Nursery, Inc.
Limited contest made power-line citation final, penalty set at $100
Greguson's Nursery performed landscaping work, and one of its employees was electrocuted when the boom he was operating contacted an energized power line while he moved boulders. The employer's notice of contest expressly challenged only OSHA's proposed $600 penalty. The Commission held that the…
Laster and Fingeret, Inc.
Penalties imposed for eight admitted construction violations
Laster and Fingeret was the general contractor at a building project and admitted three serious and five nonserious construction violations. The cited conditions included missing stair and perimeter railings, unguarded floor openings, fire-extinguisher and first-aid deficiencies, unsecured gas…
C. N. Flagg & Company, Inc., d/b/a Northeastern Contracting Company
Serious trench violation affirmed, willful citation vacated
Flagg was installing sewer pipe in a trench more than 15 feet deep. The trench boxes and sheeting did not protect the bottom portion, where employees worked, and the Commission upheld the finding that the soil was unstable. It affirmed a serious trenching violation and its $700 penalty from the…
Carpenter Rigging and Contracting Corporation
Serious fall-protection violation reinstated with a $650 penalty
Carpenter Rigging was a subcontractor constructing an automated container warehouse at John F. Kennedy Airport. Two employees repositioned planking while standing on eight-inch girders about 21 feet above a concrete floor without safety belts or lanyards, and one employee fell and died…
Matter of Lindner
Alleged pardon did not remove narcotics deportability
A German citizen and permanent resident appealed an immigration judge's order deporting him after a Connecticut marijuana possession conviction. He said he had received a full pardon and had sought erasure of his criminal record. The Board held that the statutory pardon provision did not apply to…
Hoffman Construction Co.
Fall-protection violation affirmed, scaffold item vacated
Hoffman Construction employees installing concrete forms at a nuclear power project worked about 40 to 50 feet above the ground while wearing safety belts but not tying off their lanyards. The Commission found that most of the workers were stationary, could feasibly tie off, and faced a serious…
Bay Marina, Inc.
Forklift failure-to-abate penalty set at $315
Bay Marina sold, stored, and repaired boats using a forklift that had an added counterweight without the manufacturer's approval. The company admitted the powered-industrial-truck violations and failed to remove the counterweight by the abatement date, leaving only the additional penalty in…
Todd Shipyards Corp.
Three repeated ship-repair violations affirmed
Todd Shipyards was repairing the S/S OREGON MAIL when OSHA found an unguarded manhole, an obstructed passageway, and an employee working from a scaffold railing without fall protection. The judge found repeated violations of the manhole, housekeeping, and elevated-work standards because earlier…
Underhill Construction Corp.
Open-floor fall hazard affirmed for $700
Underhill Construction employees stripped concrete forms near unguarded perimeters on the 18th through 20th floors of a New York apartment project. The judge vacated the citation because contract negotiations began before the effective dates stated in a Construction Safety Act provision. The…
Dayton Tire & Rubber Co.
Recordkeeping duty covered supplied warehouse workers
Dayton operated a tire warehouse using about 65 workers supplied and paid by Manpower, Inc. Dayton selected the workers, trained and equipped them, controlled their schedules and assignments, supervised them, and could discipline or remove them. The Commission held that economic reality made Dayton…
Matter of Nguyen
Departure bond breach upheld
An obligor posted a $2,500 bond requiring a nonimmigrant visitor to maintain her status and depart within her authorized stay. She remained in the United States for 27 days after her permission expired before applying for permanent residence. The obligor argued that this lapse was not a substantial…
California Rotogravure Co.
Storage-roof violation affirmed without penalty
California Rotogravure operated a printing plant where employees occasionally climbed onto an unguarded office roof to handle stored materials. The Commission held that the roof became a working platform when employees used it and affirmed the guardrail violation without a penalty. It vacated a…
A. B. Hall, d/b/a Dixie Roofing & Metal Co.
Roof citations reduced to nonserious
Dixie Roofing employees installed roofing around 12 unguarded openings and along unguarded edges about 15 to 16 feet above lower surfaces. They also used an unsecured wooden ladder several times each day to reach the roof. The judge affirmed all three violations but reduced the roof-opening and…
Badger Aluminum Extrusion Corp.
Acid-tank platform penalty restored
Badger Aluminum used an unguarded platform above a tank containing a five-foot depth of 15 percent sulfuric acid solution. An employee worked on the platform, creating a risk of falling into the tank. The judge affirmed a nonserious guardrail violation but vacated the proposed penalty because the…
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, A Div. of United Aircraft Corp.
Loading-area general-duty citation vacated
Pratt & Whitney loaded tractor-trailers on a service road near a remote storage building, using forklifts for about 30 minutes at a time. Traffic was infrequent, moved slowly, and consisted mainly of company vehicles, while the forklifts and trucks used warning lights and employees followed safety…
Uriel G. Ashworth
Masonry-wall shoring citation vacated
Ashworth was the masonry subcontractor on a school project where tall block walls remained unbraced before the roof trusses were installed. One wall collapsed during a weekend, and a second wall later collapsed, killing one worker and injuring several others. OSHA cited the masonry contractor under…
Matter of Yacht "Sandpiper"
Civil fine stands despite related criminal plea
A carrier brought five passengers to Miami and incurred a $5,000 administrative fine under section 273 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The carrier had also pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to transporting the same passengers. On appeal, the carrier argued that imposing the civil…
Marine Terminals Corp.
Posted settlement approved without separate service proof
Marine Terminals contested only the two $125 penalties associated with its citation, so the citation itself had already become final. The parties agreed that OSHA would withdraw one proposed penalty and the employer would withdraw its contest to the other. The settlement was posted at the worksite…
Deemer Steel Casting Co.
Grinding-dust abatement stayed for variance review
Deemer Steel used portable grinders to clean castings without hoods or enclosures connected to an exhaust system. The parties agreed that no workable system had been arranged for the varied work positions, and the company began requiring respirators after the citation. The Commission affirmed the…
St. Regis Paper Co.
Noise-abatement extension affirmed after employee notice
St. Regis sought additional time to correct employee noise exposures at its Bucksport, Maine, facility. The judge granted an extension from August 6, 1974, to March 1, 1983, following the timetable in the company's hazard profile study. OSHA did not object and stated that the company had made a…
Structural Steel Erectors, Inc., d/b/a Pecosteel-Arizona
Serious skylight violation affirmed
Pecosteel installed a metal roof with four plastic skylight panels that could not support a 200-pound person. The job foreman initially kept the skylights covered with metal sheets but removed those sheets when other roofing material failed to arrive. The next morning the foreman fell through an…
Traders Oil Mill Co.
Raw-cotton-dust items vacated on summary judgment
OSHA cited Traders Oil Mill for failing to control alleged excessive concentrations of raw cotton dust. The plant superintendent submitted an affidavit stating that the facility processed only cottonseed and did not procure, process, or otherwise handle raw cotton. OSHA did not file a…
James Tice, d/b/a Tice Industries
Swing-saw citation split, penalty cut to $50
Tice Industries used a metal swing saw that could extend beyond the workbench and had a blade guarded only on its upper half. The employer's informal answer timely challenged the allegation that the saw's overtravel exposed the operator's body, and the Commission found OSHA had not proved that…
Peter Bratti Associates, Inc. & D'Adderio Construction Co., Inc.
Cylinder and fire-protection citations vacated
Bratti performed stonework and D'Adderio performed brickwork on a 15-story construction project where compressed-gas cylinders were found lying on their sides without valve caps. OSHA also alleged that required fire extinguishers were missing. The judge found insufficient evidence that either…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and 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.