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 Ahmad
Gasoline station evidence fell short of investor exemption
A Pakistani citizen who ran a gasoline station sought to reopen deportation proceedings to apply for permanent residence. He claimed an investor exemption from the labor certification requirement. The Board held that he had not documented at least $10,000 in qualifying investment or his…
Matter of Kim
General opportunity claims did not establish extreme hardship
A Korean couple who had overstayed their student admissions sought suspension of deportation, citing hardship to themselves and their two U.S. citizen children. The Board agreed that the parents' employment concerns did not show extreme hardship. It also held that general claims of better economic…
Hardy Construction Company
Trench-side item affirmed and bank item vacated
Hardy Construction employees worked in a compact-soil trench that was more than six feet deep, about 34 inches wide, and insufficiently sloped above the five-foot level. The judge found a nonserious violation of the compact-soil trench standard but no substantial probability of death or serious…
Matter of Chung
Birth registration did not establish adoption
A lawful permanent resident petitioned for preference status for a Korean beneficiary as her adopted daughter. The beneficiary had been taken into the petitioner's husband's family as a child, and the petitioner later registered her as their natural child. The Board found no formal adoption…
Matter of Ajaelo
Immigration judge must assess exchange funding independently
A Nigerian couple sought adjustment of status after an immigration judge found them deportable. The husband had previously participated in an exchange visitor program, and the State Department had listed that program as government funded. The immigration judge treated the Department's finding as…
Matter of Moss
More evidence allowed on defector status
A Canadian citizen sought admission to retire in Washington after disclosing his past membership in the Communist Party of Great Britain. The immigration judge found him inadmissible and denied a defector waiver, finding insufficient evidence that he actively opposed communism. The applicant had…
Granite-Seabro Corporation
General construction citations vacated after power-line incident
Granite-Seabro employees remained aloft on an 85-foot power-line structure while supporting poles were moved into a vertical position. One employee died and another was injured. Because specific power-transmission standards had not yet been adopted, OSHA cited general construction provisions…
Rudolph Marossy
Power-line painting violation affirmed with $100 penalty
Rudolph Marossy operated a very small painting business and allowed an employee to spray-paint a silo within roughly three feet of uninsulated power lines carrying 7,000 volts. The lines were not deenergized or grounded, and no effective insulation or other protection was provided. The employee…
Weyerhaeuser Company
Storage item affirmed and noise citation vacated
OSHA cited noise exposure near a corrugator at Weyerhaeuser's Maine fiberboard plant, unstable stacks of corrugated cartons, and allegedly unguarded machine parts. The Commission reviewed the noise item and left the judge's vacation of it in place because the Secretary had not proved excess…
Sierra Pacific Industries, Hayfork Division
Eight sawmill items affirmed with $435 penalties
OSHA cited 11 conditions at Sierra Pacific's California sawmill, including platform railings, guarding around a lift and sawmill machinery, blocked exit access, sanitation, stairs, and crane equipment. The company admitted four items, and the judge affirmed four additional contested items involving…
Matter of Ma
Korean divorce did not establish unmarried status for visa preference
A lawful permanent resident petitioned to classify his son as an unmarried child for a visa preference. The son's Korean family register recorded a marriage and a later divorce agreement signed at the Korean consulate in Honolulu. The Board found the marriage valid under Korean law and considered…
Matter of Laigo
Cemetery plot sales violated treaty investor status
A Philippine citizen held treaty investor status while developing a cultural and trade center in San Francisco. She also sold cemetery plots and received substantial commissions for that work. She argued that her limited hours and community purpose meant the sales did not violate her status. The…
Matthews & Fritts, Inc.
$1,000 failure-to-abate penalty vacated
Matthews & Fritts received a trench citation requiring abatement on the same day the citation was received. OSHA reinspected the next morning while company officials were discussing corrective procedures and proposed an additional $1,000 failure-to-abate penalty. The Commission held that an…
Kemmerlin Meats, Inc.
Seventeen plant violations affirmed with $235 penalties
Kemmerlin Meats admitted 17 violations at its South Carolina meatpacking plant involving compressed-gas cylinders, machine guarding, electrical wiring and grounding, housekeeping, ladders, knives, sanitation, and equipment labeling. Penalties were proposed for six items, including raw wires…
Echo Hotel, Inc.
Serious egress citation withdrawn with prejudice
OSHA cited Echo Hotel for providing only one interior wooden stairway from second-floor employee sleeping quarters that usually housed six workers. The judge read the notice of contest as challenging only the proposed $500 penalty and treated the serious citation as final. The Commission held that…
Matter of Baker
Third degree assault supported deportation order
A British citizen from Montserrat was convicted in the Virgin Islands of third degree assault and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. The immigration judge ordered his deportation because the offense occurred within five years of entry and involved moral turpitude under the immigration law…
International Terminal Operating Company
Four stevedoring items affirmed with $135 penalties
International Terminal Operating Company was cited for conditions during stevedoring work aboard several vessels and on a Brooklyn dock. The judge affirmed an oily deck condition without a penalty, a blocked hatch ladder for $40, an unstable temporary surface under a powered vehicle for $40, and…
Matter of Barragan-Garibay
Prior entry conviction ended exclusion case
A Mexican citizen presented a false registration card at the San Ysidro port of entry and was paroled into the United States for prosecution. He pleaded guilty to illegal entry and served 21 days in prison. In a later exclusion case, the government argued that parole meant he had made no legal…
White Oak Corporation
Crane power-line violations affirmed with $1,355 penalties
White Oak operated a crane near 13,200-volt power lines at a Connecticut highway project. The crane boom and ball contacted the lines, and an oiler at the outrigger controls was electrocuted. The judge found a serious violation for failing to maintain ten feet of clearance and a nonserious…
Daniel Construction Company
Power-plant scaffold violation affirmed
Daniel Construction supplied maintenance employees to a Duke Power steam plant. A Daniel employee and a Duke employee were assigned to repair a boiler throttle valve about 140 feet above the plant floor, where no scaffold was provided and neither worker used a safety belt. Hot water or steam…
Gerstner Electric, Inc.
Serious trench citation amended and affirmed
Gerstner Electric dug a 14-foot-deep, 30-inch-wide trench beside heavily traveled roads in unstable soil that had already caved in several times. Two employees entered the unshored trench to begin installing protection, and a wall collapsed, killing one employee and injuring the other. OSHA cited…
Ed Miller and Sons, Inc.
Demolition-crane penalties reduced to $265
Ed Miller and Sons used a 3,000-pound wrecking ball suspended from a crane loadline by a used truck tire while demolishing Omaha's Union Station. The Commission found a serious violation because the tire was not a positive attachment and the ball could become accidentally disconnected, assessing…
Julius Nasso Concrete Corp.
Flat-roof perimeter allegation remanded
Julius Nasso Concrete Corporation performed concrete work on a 17-story building where OSHA cited unguarded floor perimeters and open shaftways. The judge affirmed serious violations involving open-sided floors from the 13th through 16th floors and unguarded openings on the 13th floor, assessing…
Mangone Shipbuilding Company
Ladder and oxygen-cylinder violations affirmed
Mangone Shipbuilding employees used portable ladders that were not lashed, blocked, held, or otherwise secured against displacement. Some ladders had been moved temporarily, and one worker continued grinding from a ladder after the coworker assigned to steady it left the area. OSHA also found two…
Muriel Manufacturing Company
Penalties for garment-shop violations affirmed
Muriel Manufacturing Company operated a contract garment-sewing shop where OSHA cited housekeeping, stairway, exit, fire-extinguisher, machine-guarding, electrical, posting, and recordkeeping conditions. The employer admitted 12 nonserious violations, while two abrasive-wheel items were vacated by…
Red Diamond Battery Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Abatement petition remanded for further proceedings
Red Diamond Battery Manufacturing repeatedly sought extensions of the deadline for correcting cited conditions, and the Secretary initially agreed to several extensions. When the employer requested another extension, the Secretary asked for a hearing. The administrative law judge dismissed the…
Matter of Onyedibia
New voluntary departure request denied
A Nigerian couple had been granted voluntary departure but did not leave within the permitted period. After an earlier unsuccessful reopening request, they sought a new grant of voluntary departure. The Board held that it had authority to consider a new grant, distinct from an extension of the old…
Fort Worth Enterprises, Inc.
Skylight charge vacated and reporting violation affirmed
Fort Worth Enterprises was constructing an office building through subcontractors, with a project manager as its only employee at the site. The project manager died after falling through a skylight opening, and OSHA cited the company for failing to guard or cover the opening and for failing to…
Lovell Clay Products Company
Unstable brick-storage item reinstated
Lovell Clay Products mined clay and manufactured bricks and tile at its Billings plant. One citation item described unstable brick storage but mistakenly identified the housekeeping subsection, while the complaint identified the secure-storage subsection without changing the underlying facts. The…
Paper Products Company, Inc.
Failure-to-abate charge reversed
Paper Products Company distributed paper products from a multistory building where OSHA had cited inadequate aisle clearance and marking. The employer did not contest the original citation, which required correction by April 17, 1973. After a reinspection two days later, OSHA issued a…
U.S.I. Clearing
Spray-booth settlement affirmed despite service error
U.S.I. Clearing contested a citation item requiring spray-finishing operations to be enclosed in a spray booth or room. The employer and the Secretary settled the item by extending its abatement date to August 15, 1974, with no penalty assessed. Commission rules required the employer to serve the…
Matter of Hoefflin
Michigan marriage decree did not establish visa eligibility
A lawful permanent resident petitioned for a second preference visa for his spouse. His earlier marriage had ended with a Mexican mail order divorce, which Michigan did not recognize. During the appeal, an uncontested Michigan court proceeding produced a decree affirming his new marriage. The Board…
Corporacion Raymond, S.A.
Serious citation settlement affirmed
Corporacion Raymond received one serious citation with an $800 proposed penalty and several nonserious citations carrying $240 in penalties. It contested only the serious citation, then entered a settlement withdrawing that contest and consenting to a final order affirming the citation and penalty…
Otis Elevator Company
Settlement affirmed after union received notice
Otis Elevator Company received a three-item nonserious citation with $155 in proposed penalties. Under a settlement, the Secretary withdrew item 2 and its $35 penalty because he believed the evidence was insufficient. Otis withdrew its contest to item 3, while item 1 had not been contested, leaving…
Dorfman Construction Company, Inc.
Amended settlement affirmed after union service
Dorfman Construction Company settled serious and nonserious citation items carrying $980 in proposed penalties. The agreement reclassified the § 1926.652(c) charge as nonserious and reduced its penalty from $700 to $175. It also withdrew one crane-related item and its $85 penalty, while the…
Matter of Samsen
Prior rescission did not prove marriage fraud
A lawful permanent resident petitioned for immigration preference for her spouse. The district director denied the petition because an earlier marriage had led to rescission of the beneficiary's resident status. The Board held that the earlier finding of a legal impediment to marriage did not…
Kay-Townes, Inc.
Manufacturing violations and penalties affirmed
Kay-Townes manufactured television antennas and masts at a plant where OSHA cited numerous machine-guarding, electrical, exit-marking, and housekeeping conditions. The Secretary withdrew seven point-of-operation items at the hearing. The judge affirmed the remaining 18 nonserious violations…
Savannah Iron and Fence Corporation
Serious circuit-tagging violation affirmed
Savannah Iron and Fence was altering a monorail system while an electrical contractor temporarily connected the monorail circuit to a bridge-crane circuit. The steel contractor's foreman requested that power be shut off but did not ask whether the disconnect had been made inoperative and tagged…
Matter of Lennon
Cannabis resin conviction barred adjustment of status
A United Kingdom citizen remained in the United States after his authorized stay expired. He had pleaded guilty in England to possessing cannabis resin and sought adjustment to permanent resident status. The Board held that the British conviction involved knowing possession of an illicit substance…
Pinter-Zwicker Electrical Company, Inc.
Contest withdrawal granted after posting
Pinter-Zwicker Electrical Company received three nonserious citation items with $80 in proposed penalties and contested item 1. It later moved to withdraw the contest, stating that the conditions had been corrected, the penalty had been paid, the motion had been posted, and the company would…
John F. Beasley Construction Company
Bridge-construction violations affirmed
John F. Beasley Construction erected structural steel for an interstate bridge over the Mississippi River. OSHA cited long single-cleat ladders, uncertified lifting equipment, ironworkers working more than 50 feet above land and water without fall protection, and a girder released from its hoisting…
Cleveland Wrecking Company
Demolition defenses remanded for a hearing
Cleveland Wrecking admitted that it had not demolished a building through the horizontal-leveling method described in the cited rule. It argued that the rule did not apply to its method and that the method it used was safer. The company also admitted that a trailer dump body lacked the required…
Ron M. Fiegen, Inc.
Safety-net citation vacated and crane items affirmed
Ron M. Fiegen performed structural-steel work at a university construction site where an OSHA inspector observed employees on a temporary roof and suspended scaffold. The Commission upheld the inspection because the inspector had presented credentials to the general contractor, viewed the…
Franklin Lumber Co., Inc.
Sawdust failure-to-abate item vacated
Franklin Lumber did not contest an original citation, and OSHA later alleged that five conditions remained uncorrected after their abatement deadlines. The Commission held that, in a failure-to-abate case, an employer may defend on the ground that the originally cited condition was not actually a…
Kesler and Sons Construction Company
Premature failure-to-abate penalties reversed
Kesler and Sons performed sewer construction and received a citation requiring immediate correction of several conditions. OSHA reinspected the site before the employer's 15-working-day period for deciding whether to contest had expired and then issued additional failure-to-abate penalties. The…
Buck Kreihs Co., Inc.
Ship-repair violations and penalties affirmed
Buck Kreihs repaired ships and employed more than 100 workers aboard the Velma Lykes when OSHA inspected the vessel. The company admitted ten nonserious conditions involving sandblasting controls, respiratory protection, compressed-gas cylinders, welding cable, scaffolds, chain falls…
Matter of Del Mar Ben, Inc.
Restaurant companies were not affiliates
A New York restaurant company sought intracompany transferee status for a chef employed by a Japanese restaurant company. The petitioner said it owned 4,000 shares of the Japanese company and that their presidents informally exchanged business favors. The Regional Commissioner held that this…
Matter of Manalo
Departure did not withdraw admission application
An applicant appealed an exclusion order based on findings that he had obtained a visa by misrepresenting material facts and lacked an immigrant visa. While the appeal was pending, he departed the United States and sought to withdraw his application for admission. The Board distinguished…
Healy-Kruse (A Joint Venture)
Contest withdrawal granted after posting
Healy-Kruse received four nonserious citation items with $150 in proposed penalties and filed a notice of contest. It later moved to withdraw the contest, stating that the conditions had been corrected, the penalty had been paid, and it would continue to comply with the Act. The motion initially…
Sequoyah Spinning Mills, Inc.
Plant penalties affirmed and noise penalties vacated
Sequoyah Spinning Mills manufactured carpet yarn at a plant with 246 employees. In docket 1012, the company admitted 16 nonserious conditions involving housekeeping, combustible materials, fire protection, chemical protection, machine guarding, compressed air, welding cylinders, and electrical…
Matter of Mombo
Exchange visitor ineligible for relief
A Liberian citizen entered the United States as an exchange visitor in a program partly financed by the federal government and later overstayed. The Board held that his exchange visitor status barred suspension of deportation and that he had not met the two year foreign residence requirement for…
Elmer Vath, Painting Contractor
Lifeline and fatality-reporting violations affirmed
Elmer Vath hired two painters to paint a building cornice from a two-point suspended scaffold and supplied the scaffold materials. One painter fell about 60 feet and died after a supporting beam slipped; he had removed his safety belt shortly before the incident. The judge found that the painter…
Barnaby Concrete Corporation
High-rise perimeter violation affirmed
Barnaby Concrete poured structural concrete for a high-rise building where portions of the 21st floor and all sides of the 22nd floor lacked required perimeter protection. Employees unloaded reinforcing materials through an unguarded 20-foot opening, and other employees worked on the open floors…
A. Friederich & Sons Company
Backfill excavation violation affirmed
A. Friederich & Sons excavated beside previously filled or backfilled soil while constructing an addition at a laboratory. The excavation face was sloped about 70 to 80 degrees and had no shoring or other support while employees used pneumatic breakers next to it. A section of the face collapsed…
The Austin Co., Inc.
Scaffold and ladder violations affirmed
The Austin Company was constructing a hospital addition where two employees worked from a suspension scaffold without safety belts or lifelines. Two other employees worked on a 12-foot scaffold without guardrails. The judge treated those conditions as a serious violation and assessed $550. He…
Universal Sheet Metal Corp.
Exterior-shaft railing citation vacated
Universal Sheet Metal installed ductwork in exterior shafts of a multistory hospital addition. After an employee fell from the 21st level and died, OSHA cited the company for failing to guard an open-sided triangular floor area at the building corner. The Commission found that a standard railing…
Martin Iron Works, Inc.
Open-floor citation vacated for lack of employee exposure
Martin Iron Works removed a 4-by-8-foot steel plate from a stairway platform about 170 feet above the basement floor at a construction site. The removal left an unguarded opening, and employees of another subcontractor worked nearby. Martin's own employees were not exposed and had no reason to…
VEPCO, Mount Storm Power Station
Mischaracterized abatement petition dismissed
OSHA cited VEPCO's Mount Storm Power Station for employee exposure to dust and requested an abatement plan. VEPCO submitted administrative controls for immediate protection and a longer-term engineering program, while maintaining that the administrative measures already achieved compliance. An OSHA…
Puterbaugh Enterprises, Inc.
Trench and recordkeeping violations affirmed
Puterbaugh Enterprises laid sewer pipe in a trench about ten feet deep and two feet wide with vertical walls and no shoring, bracing, sheeting, or sloping. The trench caved in and killed an employee who had returned to resume pipe-laying work. The Commission affirmed the serious trench violation…
Matter of Hemblen
Immigration judge may hear surveillance suppression claim
A Canadian citizen who was a lawful permanent resident of the United States was found excludable after travel to the Soviet Union and North Vietnam. She claimed that the government's evidence may have come from unlawful electronic surveillance. The Board initially dismissed her appeal, with…
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.