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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Tishman Realty & Construction Company, Inc.
High-rise perimeter and debris citations affirmed
Tishman was the general contractor for a New York high-rise construction project. Multiple floors had no perimeter protection or lacked midrails and toeboards, including open sections near material and concrete hoists, and the twelfth and thirteenth floors contained accumulated construction waste…
Gressani-Gysel Construction, Inc.
Stairwell-opening citation vacated because no floor was proved
Gressani-Gysel was cited after a steel beam fell through an open stairwell or chimney-like area while employees worked above and a subcontractor's employees worked below. One subcontractor employee died, and the record showed a recognized falling-material hazard. OSHA charged the company under a…
B. Heckerman Iron Works, Inc.
Helmet item affirmed and opening citations vacated
B. Heckerman Iron Works employees worked in a stairwell area where materials could fall from above. The administrative law judge vacated the serious floor-opening citation and its $500 penalty because OSHA did not prove that a floor existed at the third-story elevation, making the cited…
Brisk Waterproofing Company, Inc.
Scaffold access charge amended and $1,200 assessed
Brisk employees performed caulking work from two suspended scaffolds 18 stories above the ground. An employee moved between them around a pylon and across an open gap without a safety belt, and three employees occupied a scaffold rated for no more than two workers. The Commission held that OSHA…
Matter of Khan
Mistaken admission did not prevent deportation
A Pakistani citizen entered as the accompanying son of a fifth preference immigrant, but that principal beneficiary had died before he arrived. The Board had already dismissed his appeal from a deportation order. On reconsideration, he argued that the government could not deport him because an…
Clover Beef Company
Portable-saw grounding item affirmed and fixed-equipment item vacated
Clover Beef processed and packed meat using several fixed electrical machines and a portable hand-held saw. OSHA cited the company because the exposed metal parts of the equipment were not grounded. The Commission vacated the fixed-equipment item because the cited rule required grounding only under…
Portland Stevedoring Company
Unsecured hatch-beam violation classified as serious
Portland Stevedoring employees unloaded cargo from a ship while an unsecured hatch beam remained above the working hold. The beam was about 30 feet long, weighed 900 to 1,200 pounds, and was positioned roughly 40 feet above at least three employees. The Commission held the violation serious because…
Smith and Company, Inc.
Seven non-serious items and $95 penalty affirmed
Smith and Company manufactured clothing at a plant with about 162 employees. It admitted non-serious violations involving an elevated and unmarked exit, fire extinguishers mounted too high, inadequately guarded fans, a bench grinder lacking complete guarding and a work rest, and flexible cord used…
Winslow Crane Service, Inc.
Brace and power-line citations vacated
Winslow owned and operated a crane used near an energized power line during pipeline work. A worker employed by another company was electrocuted when the crane equipment contacted the line, but the administrative law judge vacated Winslow's serious citation because Winslow had a stricter 15-foot…
Oak Lane Diner
Five safety items affirmed and posting item vacated
Oak Lane Diner was cited for a broken stepladder, overdue fire-extinguisher inspections, an ungrounded food mixer, a spliced meat-saw cord, failure to post the OSHA employee notice, and an ungrounded bench grinder. The administrative law judge found all six non-serious violations but vacated the…
Automatic Elevator Corporation
Elevator-shaft scaffold violation classified as serious
An Automatic Elevator foreman worked in an elevator shaft on a platform made from two two-by-four boards about 20 feet above a concrete floor. The platform lacked required guardrails and overhead protection, and open shaft entrances lacked toeboards; the foreman also wore a bump cap instead of…
Greenfield and Associates, a Joint Venture
Tunnel citations settled for $16,000
Greenfield constructed a Lake Huron water-intake tunnel where an explosion killed 22 employees and seriously injured many others. OSHA issued nine citations concerning atmospheric testing, methane and communication hazards, ventilation, fire and explosion controls, evacuation planning…
Matter of Guiot
Planned teaching assignment abroad did not bar reentry permit
A permanent resident planned to teach in Canada for somewhat less than two years, taking his family and possessions with him. The district director had denied his reentry permit application because his principal home would be in Canada during that period. On remand, the director reconsidered and…
The Verne-Woodrow Company
Access citation affirmed and safety-net item vacated
Verne-Woodrow employees erected steel framing and installed roof-truss bracing about 28 feet above ground and over a concrete pit. They used no safety nets, scaffolds, catch platforms, temporary floors, safety lines, or safety belts. The administrative law judge nevertheless vacated the safety-net…
Matter of Souqi
Reentry permit granted for temporary return to Kuwait
A recently admitted permanent resident sought a reentry permit so he could return to Kuwait for about two years to sell his home and business and arrange immigration for his wife and children. The district director denied the application because the applicant had spent little time in the United…
American Motors Corporation
Welding-ventilation item vacated and $254 assessed
OSHA cited American Motors for 29 non-serious conditions at its Milwaukee automobile plant. After withdrawals, admissions, and a hearing, the administrative law judge affirmed 17 items, vacated 12, and assessed $279. Commission review focused on a welding station where no mechanical ventilation was…
Matter of Castaneda
Permission to reapply after deportation denied
A Mexican citizen who had been deported sought permission to apply again for admission so she could raise her two U.S. born sons in the United States. The regional commissioner considered that family connection but found it outweighed by her conduct in immigration proceedings. She had repeatedly…
Aire-Lite Industries, Inc.
Flammable-liquid item vacated and $120 assessed
Aire-Lite manufactured aluminum screens, doors, and related products. The contested items involved flammable-liquid storage near a spray area, non-explosion-proof lighting and fans, blocked and overdue fire extinguishers, and table saws without required guards, spreaders, or anti-kickback devices…
Grayson Lumber Company, Inc.
Water-barrel item vacated and $150 penalties retained
Grayson Lumber operated a building-supply, lumber-processing, and concrete business. The administrative law judge affirmed eight non-serious items, vacated three, and assessed $150 total penalties. On review, the Commission vacated an additional fire-protection item because partially filled water…
Frankford Woolen Mills, Inc.
Tenant floor-load item vacated and $335 assessed
Frankford Woolen Mills was cited for 24 non-serious conditions involving housekeeping, stairs, ladders, exits, eye protection, fire extinguishers, machinery, compressed air, welding equipment, electrical grounding, and aisles. The administrative law judge affirmed 19 items, vacated five, and…
Plawner Toy Manufacturing Corporation
Extinguisher item vacated and exit item affirmed
Plawner Toy Manufacturing Corporation operated a small New Jersey plant that made plastic objects. OSHA cited the company for an air nozzle that allegedly exceeded the pressure limit, two unmounted fire extinguishers, and blocked exits, with proposed penalties totaling $140. The judge vacated the…
Custom Painting Company
Respiratory violations affirmed without penalties
Custom Painting Company performed painting work at a sewage treatment plant in Alaska. An employee was asphyxiated while using paint containing perchlorethylene in an atmosphere with a high concentration of that toxic substance. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide suitable respirators…
Matter of Ambrosio
Appeal from denial of reopening dismissed
A married couple from the Philippines conceded that they had overstayed their nonimmigrant visitor admissions and waived appeal from their deportation orders. They later sought to reopen proceedings to apply for relief under former INA § 241(f), claiming they might have entered with a preconceived…
B & J Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
Guardrail item affirmed and safety-net item vacated
B & J Mechanical Contractors installed plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning equipment at a construction project in Alabama. OSHA cited the company after one employee worked about 30 feet above the ground without fall protection and another worked from a 13-foot-high platform without guardrails…
Matter of Lo
Visa petition denial upheld for lack of legitimation proof
A permanent resident petitioned to classify a man born in China as his unmarried son for an immigrant visa preference. The District Director denied the petition because the father had not established that the beneficiary was his legitimate child. The Board found no evidence that the father had…
Matter of Rapacon
Permission to reapply after deportation granted
A nurse from the Philippines sought permission to reapply for admission after he had departed under an outstanding deportation order and later returned as a temporary worker. The District Director denied the request based on his false statements about prior employment in Canada and a finding that…
Matter of Tin
Denial of permission to reapply upheld
A Chinese citizen sought permission to reapply for admission after deportation. He had returned to the United States after that deportation by being smuggled across the Canadian border and had worked without lawful status. The Regional Commissioner considered his voluntary surrender and departure…
Matter of Accardi
Exclusion ruling upheld after parole for prosecution
An Italian native who had been denaturalized was brought to the United States under an extradition warrant and paroled for prosecution. After his prison release, he said he did not want to return to Italy. The Board held that parole had not admitted him to the United States and that exclusion…
Matter of Andrade
Deportation appeal dismissed after state expungement
A Mexican citizen appealed a deportation ruling based on a California marijuana possession conviction and the denial of suspension of deportation and voluntary departure. He argued that the conviction's expungement under California law should remove the immigration consequences. The Board held that…
Apex Building Cleaning Corp.
Powered-platform citation vacated
Apex Building Cleaning Corp. used a powered roof car and suspended scaffold to wash windows on a New York City building. OSHA inspected after an employee was found dead and the roof car was found tipped over. The Secretary alleged that the equipment violated a rule requiring electrical contacts to…
Matter of Chim
Repeat immigration violations support denial of permission to reapply
A Chinese citizen sought permission to reapply for admission after deportation. He had twice deserted vessels in the United States and had reentered at least three times after deportation without the Attorney General's consent. He argued that an approved visa petition for work as a cook showed a…
Clavier Corporation
Ten safety items affirmed and two vacated
Clavier Corporation researched, developed, and manufactured electrical equipment in New York. OSHA issued a 12-item citation covering conditions that included compressed-gas cylinders, machine guarding, first-aid readiness, compressed-air cleaning, flammable-liquid containers, and electrical…
City Wide Tuckpointing Service Company
Scaffold penalty reduced to $280
City Wide Tuckpointing Service Company performed masonry repair from a suspended scaffold about 65 feet above a Milwaukee sidewalk. OSHA cited six scaffold conditions, including unsafe footing, missing guardrails and toeboards, unsafe access, no protective screen, improper anchoring to a station…
Mitchellace, Inc.
Withdrawal of contest affirmed
Mitchellace moved to withdraw its notice of contest and tendered $175 as full payment of the proposed penalty. The company also agreed to comply with the Act and standards, submit a compliance plan, immediately implement a personal protective equipment plan, and post and serve the case documents…
Matter of Vargas
Former diplomat qualifies for residence adjustment despite later lawful status
A Costa Rican former diplomat applied to become a permanent resident under section 13 of the Act of September 11, 1957. After his embassy service ended, he obtained a different lawful nonimmigrant classification while working for the Organization of American States. The District Director denied his…
Matter of Acosta
Permission to reapply after deportation granted
A Uruguayan citizen applied for permission to reapply for admission after a prior deportation. The District Director recounted his crewman desertions, unauthorized work, and earlier denied applications. The director also found that the applicant had maintained a lawful marriage with a permanent…
Matter of Ko
Shoe store investor's adjustment application returned for further consideration
An applicant invested $18,000 in a California shoe store that he managed full time and where he also worked as cashier. The District Director and Regional Commissioner denied his permanent residence application because he lacked a labor certification. The Deputy Associate Commissioner held that an…
Matter of Perez-Echeverria
Fraudulent citizenship claim bars former deportation waiver
A Mexican citizen entered the United States by presenting his deceased brother's U.S. birth certificate and claiming to be a citizen. An immigration judge found him deportable but allowed voluntary departure. On appeal, he sought relief under former INA § 241(f), pointing to his U.S. citizen spouse…
Buhls Laundry & Dry Cleaning, Inc.
Stairway and electrical penalties imposed
Buhls Laundry & Dry Cleaning operated a small laundry business in South Dakota. OSHA issued a 15-item nonserious citation covering housekeeping, stairs and floor openings, fire extinguishers, laundry equipment, electrical conditions, and recordkeeping. The judge vacated the incorrectly cited…
Matter of Hsu
Business visitor denied change to student status
A Chinese citizen entered the United States on a business visitor visa limited to two months and soon applied to change to student status for a three-year course. The District Director denied the application over concern that he lacked enough funds. On appeal, the Regional Commissioner acknowledged…
Matter of Donoso
Ecuadorian children ineligible for former preference classification
A lawful permanent resident sought visa preference classification for his three unmarried children, all born in Ecuador. The District Director denied the petitions because the children were natives of an independent Western Hemisphere country under the law then in force. The Board held that the…
Matt J. Zaich Construction Co.
Settlement approval vacated and remanded
Matt J. Zaich Construction and the Secretary submitted a settlement that would affirm a citation and $125 penalty while stating that the employer did not admit a violation or liability. The judge approved the agreement. The Commission set that approval aside because the agreement's ambiguous…
Standard Glass & Supply Co.
Serious scaffold citation affirmed with low penalty
Standard Glass & Supply installed exterior glass and metal panels at a two-story building in Tennessee. OSHA found one employee briefly working about 20 feet above the ground on a scaffold without guardrails or toeboards and with nonconforming planking and bracing, while two employees lacked…
Natkin & Co., Mechanical Contractors
Serious material-hoist citation affirmed
Natkin used a material hoist to move sheet-metal ductwork and other materials at a multistory construction project in Virginia. The hoist lacked required overhead covering, full side enclosures, and access gates. An employee died in a fall that prompted the inspection, although the record showed…
W. J. Lazynski, Inc.
Crane swing-radius penalty reduced to $360
W. J. Lazynski performed sewer construction from a narrow highway median in Wisconsin. An employee was fatally crushed between a rotating crane counterweight and stacked steel liner plates in an accessible swing-radius area that had not been barricaded. The company had been permitted to close only…
CECO Corp.
Concrete-shoring citation vacated
CECO Corp. was a concrete subcontractor on a hospital construction project in Alabama. OSHA cited the company for allegedly unstable single-post shores used to support concrete work, proposing a $30 penalty. The record showed horizontal and transverse bracing at the top of the shores and diagonal…
J.L. Mabry Grading, Inc.
Backing-alarm amendment allowed on remand
OSHA cited J.L. Mabry Grading for operating dump trucks with obstructed rear vision without backing alarms or a signalman and proposed a $600 serious penalty. The citation identified a regulatory subsection that was not in effect when the alleged violation occurred. The judge denied the Secretary's…
Ira Holliday Logging Co., Inc.
Serious log-binder citation vacated
Ira Holliday Logging delivered timber to a sawmill where the mill controlled the unloading process. An employee was fatally struck by a log after releasing all three load binders before the unloading machine secured the load. The Commission held that the sawmill unloading rule applied to the…
Tilo Company, Inc.
Vague roofing-bracket item vacated
Tilo Company performed reroofing work on a private home in New York. OSHA issued five nonserious items for failing to provide roofing brackets, a catch platform or personal fall protection, first-aid arrangements, toilet facilities, and a secured access ladder. The Commission vacated the…
Kawecki-Berylco Industries
Beryllium-abatement settlement remanded
OSHA cited Kawecki-Berylco Industries for failing to implement feasible controls to reduce employee exposure to beryllium and required a detailed long-term abatement plan, but proposed no penalty. The employees' union contested the abatement period, and the employer separately contested the…
Karl Kehm Construction Co.
Filing-error dismissal reversed
Karl Kehm Construction received two citations and submitted two notices of contest that arrived at OSHA on the same day and were nearly identical. The Area Director timely forwarded one notice but mistakenly treated the other as a duplicate, causing missed filing deadlines. The judge granted the…
Stevens Equipment Co.
Old power-press guarding item vacated
Stevens Equipment fabricated and sold metal products at an Oregon plant. OSHA cited an unguarded mechanical power press and an unguarded chain-and-sprocket drive as serious, along with eight other conditions that the company admitted. The Commission agreed that the press lacked a point-of-operation…
Crescent Wharf & Warehouse Co.
Serious hatch-pontoon violation affirmed
Crescent Wharf & Warehouse employees loaded flour into a ship's hold through a deck hatch in Seattle. Two metal hatch pontoons weighing about two tons each were left unsecured above roughly ten employees working 30 feet below, and the company's walking boss knew of the condition for at least two…
M. A. Swatek & Co.
Maximum penalty assessed for serious trench hazard
M. A. Swatek & Co. excavated a trench in unstable soil for utility work in Oklahoma. The trench was about 17 feet deep, 3 feet wide at the bottom, and 19 feet wide at the top, with no shoring or ladder and sides steeper than the recognized safe angle. A side wall caved in and fatally injured an…
Matter of Oum
Earlier Fulbright travel grant does not trigger exchange visitor residence rule
A Korean couple applied to adjust to permanent resident status during deportation proceedings. The husband had entered as a student with a Fulbright travel grant and changed to exchange visitor status a year later. A special inquiry officer treated the grant as government financing of the exchange…
Matter of Acosta
Firearms purchase false statement is a crime involving moral turpitude
A Mexican permanent resident was found deportable after convictions for transporting a forged security and making a false statement to a licensed firearms dealer. He appealed the ruling that he had committed two separate crimes involving moral turpitude. The Board held that the forged security…
James L. Brussa, Masonry
Dismissal for failure to post citation reversed
OSHA cited James L. Brussa for removing required guardrails from open-sided fourth- and fifth-floor work areas and proposed a $150 penalty. Brussa contested but admitted that he had not posted the citation at or near the worksite. The administrative law judge treated that posting failure as grounds…
Drake-Willamette Joint Ventures
Bridge safety-net citation vacated
Drake-Willamette constructed an approach to the Fremont Bridge in Portland, Oregon. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide safety nets where employees worked more than 25 feet above lower surfaces and proposed a $15 penalty. The Commission read the cited rule to require nets only when listed…
Matter of Dunar
Refugee treaty does not bar deportation for unlawful overstay
A Hungarian citizen who entered as a visitor remained beyond his authorized stay and sought to stop deportation to Hungary. He argued that Article 32 of the Refugee Convention protected him from deportation because he had entered lawfully, and that Article 33 changed the test for withholding…
Vitamin Premixers of Omaha, Inc.
Six safety violations affirmed with $400 penalty
Vitamin Premixers of Omaha produced and distributed premixed animal feed. The company admitted six nonserious violations involving fire extinguishers, unguarded fan blades, emergency drenching or eyewash facilities, a weak stair handrail, compressed-air cleaning, and electrical motors in a…
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.