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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Industrial Steel Erectors, Inc.
Tie-off citation vacated because compliance increased danger
Industrial Steel Erectors was dismantling a steel structure while two experienced employees removed the last bolts and pins holding a truss 30 to 35 feet above ground. The workers normally used a protected cage and lanyards, but refused to tie off for the final release because the truss could…
Matter of Coker
No proof of parentage for daughter preference
A lawful permanent resident sought immigrant preference status for a woman he described as his daughter. She was born outside marriage in Nigeria, and the petitioner acknowledged that he had never married her mother. The Board found that, under the Nigerian law described in the record, a father…
Matter of Galvan
Commuter could enter after leaving disputed workplace
A Mexican citizen with permanent resident status crossed the border to work for Farah Manufacturing in El Paso after a labor dispute had been declared at its facilities. Officials denied her admission in April 1973, and an immigration judge ordered her admitted. By the time the Board reviewed the…
Matter of Suleiman
Rescission case remanded over missing visa eligibility allegation
The Service sought to rescind a Jordanian man's permanent residence, alleging that his marriage to a United States citizen was a sham. The immigration judge ordered rescission. The Board held that the Service also had to allege and prove that he was ineligible for another available visa…
Lance Roofing Co., Inc.
Roof-edge guarding citation reinstated
Lance Roofing employees were installing a roof on a three-story motel without guardrails or an equivalent means of preventing falls from the edge. The judge vacated that item because he concluded that the open-sided-floor standard did not apply to flat roofs. Applying its decisions in related…
Moser Heating & Roofing Co., Inc.
Official release ends before the disposition
The Commission reviewed a judge's decision vacating an other-than-serious citation under the open-sided-floor standard. The judge had concluded that 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(d)(1) did not apply to flat roofs. The Commission stated that it had reviewed the entire record and was adopting the judge's…
ARO, Inc.
Two confined-space hazards affirmed with $1,500 in penalties
ARO employees entered a pit furnace without testing its atmosphere or disconnecting argon piping, and two employees were overcome and died in the oxygen-deficient space. Other employees immediately attempted rescue, but suitable rescue equipment was not readily available and additional workers were…
Matter of Restubog
Court remand limited to deportation destination
A court of appeals had upheld the respondent's deportability and returned her case only so she could designate the country of deportation. She then sought to reopen the case using evidence that existed before the court's order, including her child's birth and an approved family visa petition. The…
Matter of Flores
Approved visa petition did not extend visitor status
A visitor from the Philippines stayed after her authorized admission expired while waiting for an immigrant visa number. The immigration service had approved a preference petition for her and said it would notify her about her stay, but it gave no further notice before starting deportation…
Santa Fe Trail Transport Co.
Decision amended to state that no penalty was assessed
This short amendment corrects the Commission's decision issued two days earlier. That decision had incorrectly stated that the judge assessed a $50 penalty for violations involving the first-aid standard. The amendment states that the judge assessed no penalty and orders the earlier decision…
Intercounty Construction Corp.
Willful trench violation affirmed and penalty cut to $5,000
Intercounty Construction was installing a sewer line in a trench about 40 feet long and 10 feet deep. The trench was not properly sloped or shored, and the company intermittently removed its portable steel trench shield even after the foreman was told that employees were unprotected without it. The…
Matter of Cruzado
Set-aside drug conviction still supported deportation
An immigration judge ordered a Colombian permanent resident deported after a Louisiana conviction for attempting to possess drugs. A state court later set the conviction aside after probation, and the respondent argued that this removed the basis for deportation. The Board held that the state…
Matter of Fereira
Couple failed to overcome deportability findings
A married couple from Mexico appealed an immigration judge's deportability findings. The wife had entered as a nonimmigrant and stayed beyond her authorized period; the Board held that a waiver provision did not apply to her overstay. The husband said he could not remember how he last entered…
Luther Marvin Robbins d/b/a Robbins Painting Service
$900 aluminum-ladder penalty affirmed
Robbins Painting employees used and moved a 28-foot aluminum extension ladder near an energized 7,620-volt power line while painting an apartment building. The ladder contacted the line, and an employee received a fatal electrical shock. The foreman knew how close the power line was to the building…
Caribtow Corp.
Contest dismissed for refusing employee-participation notice
Caribtow expressly refused to post the Commission notice informing affected employees that they could participate in the case. The judge held that this refusal breached a condition of the company's continued participation and granted the Secretary's motion to dismiss the notice of contest. The…
V. O. Hegsted d/b/a Challenger Supply
Pallet-plant citation resolved with $106 in penalties
Challenger Supply produced wooden pallets at a small Idaho plant and received a 12-item other-than-serious citation. The judge affirmed violations involving washing facilities, housekeeping, an unguarded elevated storage area, forklift controls, missing eye protection, electrical grounding and…
Emory H. Mixon
Logging-truck violation classified as serious with a $100 penalty
Emory Mixon's logging operation used truck stake-release mechanisms that placed the operator on the side where the logs were unloaded. Drivers attached a 30-foot chain to each release, moved to the front or rear of the truck, and pulled it to lower the stake and release the load. The judge found a…
Matter of Wong Kai Yuk
Refugee claim lay outside Board's exclusion appeal jurisdiction
A Chinese citizen sought admission after an earlier deportation without permission to reapply and without an immigrant visa. He conceded both exclusion grounds but argued that he qualified as a refugee under the 1967 Protocol. The Board held that it could review the exclusion case but lacked…
Matter of Annang
Claimed Ghanaian customary marriage lacked proof
A lawful permanent resident sought preference status for a child he said was his unmarried son. He claimed a customary marriage in Ghana to the child's mother made the child legitimate from birth, but his petition listed no earlier marriages and the child's records used the mother's maiden name…
Matter of Kwan
Refugee classification denied after Hong Kong residence
A Chinese man sought refugee classification during deportation proceedings after his immigrant visa was found to rest on a false family relationship. He had lived in Hong Kong for more than 13 years before coming to the United States. The Regional Commissioner treated him as a Hong Kong resident…
Matter of Alzona
Child born in D.C. did not qualify father for waiver
An immigration judge found a Philippine citizen deportable because he obtained an immigrant visa through a marriage while already married to someone else. The respondent sought relief based on his United States citizen child, who was born in the District of Columbia and later moved with him to…
Cable Car Advertisers, Inc.
Ship-repair and posting citations partly affirmed
Cable Car Advertisers was converting the burned-out ferryboat San Leandro into a floating office while it was moored in San Francisco Bay. The Commission held that work on the floating, towable structure was covered by the maritime standards and that maintaining a workplace on navigable waters…
Mississippi Valley Erection Co. of Tennessee
Lifeline item reinstated but final order is missing
Mississippi Valley Erection received multiple citations involving float scaffolds, fall protection, temporary flooring, ladders, ropes, planking, air hoses, welding, and safety nets during structural steel work. The Commission held that an air-hose item had become a final order because the company…
Bi-Co Pavers, Inc.
Trench citation vacated because required slope was provided
Bi-Co Pavers dug a clay-soil trench for a municipal sewer line and sloped its sides at a two-to-one ratio without installing shoring. A portion collapsed after employees undermined a side to tighten pipe bolts, injuring two employees. The Secretary argued that a note in the trenching tables…
Matter of Castro
Six years in Mexico defeated returning resident claim
A Mexican citizen admitted as a permanent resident moved his family to Mexico, bought land, built a house, and worked there for six years while making short business trips to the United States. The Board held that his stay in Mexico was not a temporary visit abroad, so he could not use his resident…
McCrory Sumwalt Construction Co.
Transformer-proximity citation affirmed with a $300 penalty
McCrory Sumwalt built a temporary enclosure around three energized 7,200-volt transformers at a shopping-center project. To reinforce the enclosure for a scaffold, the superintendent directed an employee to measure inside it near a transformer but did not specify how to make the measurement. The…
F.F. Green Construction Co., Inc.
Safety citations affirmed and reporting penalty removed
F.F. Green was laying a water line in Anchorage when a backhoe contacted or came too close to a 115,000-volt transmission line and an employee guiding pipe was electrocuted. The judge affirmed three serious violations involving power-line clearance, spoil piled at the excavation edge, and…
Matter of Anaya
Refusal to depart within 90 days defeated voluntary departure
A married couple from Mexico conceded that they had entered the United States without inspection. They sought voluntary departure extending until their expected visa availability in December 1974, while the immigration judge offered 90 days. The Board held that having United States citizen children…
Southern Soya Corp.
Cottonseed cave-in violation affirmed with a $750 penalty
Southern Soya operated a cottonseed mill with a large storage tank and a steel tunnel that protected employees while seed was removed. Packed cottonseed could form vertical and undercut walls that might collapse if employees left the tunnel before the seed reached a safe level. A foreman…
Remodeling By Oltmann's, Inc.
Amended citation affirmed after contest withdrawal
The Secretary amended Remodeling By Oltmann's citation by deleting several items and reducing the proposed penalties. The parties jointly stipulated to those changes, represented that the remaining conditions had been or would be abated, and requested withdrawal of the employer's contest. The…
Armor Elevator Co., Inc.
Floor-opening violation affirmed and ladder item vacated
Armor Elevator was installing elevators in a New York building where elevator-shaft openings were not protected by compliant railings or secured covers. The judge affirmed a serious floor-opening violation and assessed $500, while vacating a separate item alleging that a wooden ladder was used at…
Blaisdell Manufacturing, Inc.
Settlement disclaimer required revision
Blaisdell Manufacturing entered a settlement covering two serious citations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Commission affirmed the vacation of citation 2 because the Secretary said he could not produce enough evidence to prove it. It set aside approval of citation 1 because the…
Dixie Electric, Inc.
Unguarded-floor penalty increased
Dixie Electric employees performed electrical work close to the unguarded edge of a third floor, 35 feet above the ground, and used stairs without railings. The judge affirmed non-serious violations for the open-sided floor and stairways, assessed penalties of $35 and $25, and vacated an item…
Swan Lake Moulding Co.
Seven violations and $265 penalty affirmed
Swan Lake Moulding operated a cabinet shop and retail building-materials yard where OSHA cited electrical, machine-guarding, housekeeping, and floor hazards. The company contested the penalties for seven items but did not dispute the cited conditions. The judge affirmed those seven violations and…
Harvey Wrecking Co.
Demolition-sequence item vacated
Harvey Wrecking was demolishing a 14-story Chicago building where an employee worked beside an unguarded wall opening and equipment operated near floor openings without curbs or stoplogs. The Commission affirmed those two conditions as serious violations of specific standards under section 5(a)(2)…
Matter of Palma
Departure executed deportation order and ended reopening request
A man under a final deportation order left the United States in April 1973 and returned the same day. An immigration judge initially reopened his deportation case so he could seek suspension of deportation, then vacated that reopening after learning of the departure. The Board held that departure…
Healy-Kruse Company
Serious and non-serious citations withdrawn
OSHA issued Healy-Kruse two citations containing two serious items and five non-serious items, with proposed penalties totaling $1,010. After the company contested them, the Secretary moved to withdraw both citations because he lacked the evidence needed to prove the alleged violations. The…
Matter of Polanco
Marriage before entry invalidated child-based visa status
A Dominican citizen received an immigrant visa because he was classified as an unmarried child of a lawful permanent resident, exempt from the labor certification requirement. He married after the visa was issued but before entering the United States. The Board held that he no longer had the status…
State Sheet Metal & Roofing Co.
Flat-roof citation vacated with prejudice
State Sheet Metal employees installed flashing and guttering at the unguarded edge of a flat roof nearly 25 feet above the ground. The judge vacated the serious citation because he concluded that section 1926.500(d)(1) did not apply to flat roofs. The Commission stated that the standard does apply…
Glen Construction Company, Inc.
Flat-roof guardrail citation affirmed
Glen Construction contested a non-serious citation alleging that an open-sided roof lacked guarding required by section 1926.500(d)(1). The judge granted summary judgment to the company because he concluded that the standard did not apply to flat roofs. The Commission rejected that interpretation…
Mushroom Transportation Company, Inc.
Truck-chocking item preempted by federal motor-carrier rules
Mushroom Transportation was cited for using allegedly inadequate wooden blocks instead of wheel chocks while powered industrial trucks boarded highway trucks at its terminal. The company argued that Department of Transportation motor-carrier rules already regulated the same working condition. The…
Molinos de Puerto Rico, Inc.
Contested citations vacated with prejudice
The judge vacated Molinos de Puerto Rico's amended citations because OSHA issued them 131 days after its inspection and did not explain the delay. On review, the Secretary filed a notice attempting to withdraw every contested citation and penalty but did not state the factual reason for doing so…
Matter of Plata
Deportation recommendation failed for lack of notice
A Mexican permanent resident was convicted of theft and placed on probation after a prison sentence was suspended. His probation order said he “will not be deported,” and he argued that this was a judicial recommendation against deportation under the statute then in force. The Board held that the…
BN Transport, Inc.
Contested citation item affirmed after withdrawal
BN Transport received a four-item non-serious citation and contested only item 3 and its proposed penalty. The company later sought to withdraw that notice of contest, stated that the cited conditions had been corrected, and tendered the proposed penalty. The Commission confirmed that a later…
Kehm Construction Company, Inc.
Scaffold-access items affirmed and ladder-defect item vacated
Kehm Construction was cited at two Nebraska job sites for failing to provide safe ladder access to scaffolds and for using an aluminum ladder with a crimped rung and bent side rail. The Commission affirmed the two scaffold-access violations because employees had to climb the scaffold structure to…
Matter of Butterly
Adult adoption did not establish sibling visa eligibility
A United States citizen petitioned for a preference visa for a man adopted by her mother. He was adopted at age 18. The district director denied the petition because the adoption did not meet the immigration statute's age requirement for an adopted child. The Board held that an adopted sibling must…
Ark Wrecking Co., Inc.
Recordkeeping violation affirmed without penalty
An Ark Wrecking employee was killed when the loader he was operating fell through the second floor of a building being demolished. OSHA alleged that the company failed to conduct the required engineering survey and used equipment on a floor too weak to support it. The Commission agreed with the…
Matter of Maldonado-Sandoval
Exclusion ruling later vacated by a federal court
A Mexican citizen entered the United States with a visa based on his claimed marriage to a U.S. citizen, then sought readmission after a short visit to Mexico. The Board found that he had concealed an earlier marriage and had not lawfully acquired permanent residence through the visa. It held that…
Longview Brass & Aluminum Company
Case reinstated after answer located
A Commission judge dismissed Longview Brass & Aluminum's notice of contest because the company appeared not to have answered the Secretary's complaint. The Commission's file showed that it had received an undated letter intended to serve as the company's answer in both docketed cases. That answer…
Matter of Moncayo
Unrecognized Ecuadorian divorce defeated spouse petition
A U.S. citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for her Ecuadorian husband. To show that his earlier marriage had ended, she submitted an Ecuadorian divorce decree. The Board held that New York, where the later marriage took place, would not recognize that divorce: he had not been present…
Maher Distribution Center
Unguarded-forklift violation affirmed
A Maher Distribution employee operated a forklift without an overhead guard while moving motorcycle crates in a warehouse. His supervisor knew the guard was absent and permitted him to use the truck for transport, although the supervisor instructed him not to stack with it. The employee later…
Brown & Kerr, Inc.
Flat-roof citation vacated with prejudice
Brown & Kerr employees were installing guttering at the outside edge of a flat roof when OSHA issued a serious citation under the open-sided-floor guarding standard. The judge vacated the citation because he concluded that the standard did not apply to flat roofs. The Commission stated that the…
Heyse Sheet Metal & Roofing Co., Inc.
Roof guardrail and access violations affirmed
Heyse Sheet Metal employees installed a virtually flat roof about 30 feet above the ground without perimeter railings and used a material-hoist frame instead of a ladder for access. The judge affirmed the ladder-access violation with a $500 penalty but vacated the roof-edge item. The Commission…
S. D. Mullins Company, Inc. and Diamond Roofing Company, Inc.
Flat-roof guardrail violations affirmed
Employees of S. D. Mullins and Diamond Roofing worked on an unguarded flat roof about 25 feet above the ground. The judge vacated both roof-edge citations because he concluded that the open-sided-floor standard did not cover roofs. The Commission reversed, holding that a flat roof on which…
Hersman Construction Co.
Three guarding violations affirmed and failure-to-abate penalties rejected
Hersman Construction received citations covering fall protection, floor and stair guarding, debris disposal, citation posting, and housekeeping at a building project. The judge found that OSHA proved only two open-sided-floor guarding violations and one inadequately covered floor opening. He…
Rogge Lumber Sales, Inc.
Posting and failure-to-abate penalties affirmed
Rogge Lumber failed to post an earlier uncontested citation and did not timely correct three items involving drinking water, toilet facilities, and a walkway near a gang trimmer. The judge rejected OSHA's mechanically calculated proposals because they imposed fixed minimums without proper…
Gerry Division of Outdoor Sports Industries, Inc.
Machine-guarding items affirmed and rivet-machine item vacated
Gerry manufactured outdoor equipment and apparel using industrial sewing machines, a rivet machine, and an abrasive grinder. The company admitted four items involving compressed-air cleaning, stair railings, fan guarding, and a separate rivet-machine guarding condition, with a single $30 penalty…
Milprint, Inc.
Fixed-stair item vacated for lack of proof
OSHA issued Milprint 13 non-serious citation items covering conditions at its Milwaukee plant. The judge affirmed nine items and vacated four, assessing penalties totaling $280. On review, the Commission reversed the fixed-stair item because OSHA did not prove that employees regularly used the…
Arizona Public Service Co.
Transformer-work citations vacated
Arizona Public Service employees worked around energized lightning arresters while repositioning lifting equipment above a transformer. An experienced journeyman electrician contacted an arrester and was killed after disregarding known clearance rules. The judge found no violation based on his…
Gurney Manufacturing Division, Gurney Industries, Inc.
Withdrawal dispute remanded for further proceedings
Gurney Manufacturing contested a citation under section 1910.93(a)(2) and later moved to withdraw its notice of contest. A judge granted withdrawal, but the employee representative had opposed the motion, and the Commission directed review. After remand, the judge dismissed further proceedings on…
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.