Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Empire Iron Mining Partnership
Mistaken penalty payment sent for good-cause review
Empire Iron Mining Partnership timely contested an MSHA citation and took that contest to a hearing before a judge. When the related penalty assessment arrived, however, the company paid it by mistake after a change in the personnel who handled penalty matters. Empire asked to reopen the assessment…
Cargill Deicing Technology
Unmailed contest sent for good-cause review
Cargill Deicing Technology timely contested two MSHA citations and two orders, but its related penalty contest form was never mailed. A new operations coordinator marked the items to contest and passed the form to payroll, believing payroll would mail it, while payroll believed he would do so…
Smithville Sand & Gravel
Reopening requests sent for detailed good-cause review
Smithville Sand & Gravel did not timely contest two MSHA penalty assessments and later received delinquency notices. The company's general manager asked to reopen the assessments, saying Smithville was a new company, did not understand the rules, and had been misdirected. The Secretary asked for a…
Manganas Painting Co., Inc.
Lead-control citations partly affirmed with $383,590 assessed
Manganas used abrasive blasting to remove lead-based paint from an interstate highway bridge. OSHA cited the company shortly after a new lead-in-construction standard took effect, proposing more than $1.3 million in penalties. The Commission upheld the standard's validity and found OSHA's sampling…
Eric Dubois d/b/a Precision Home Builders and Finish Carpentry
Default leaves nine-item citation final
OSHA issued Precision Home Builders and Finish Carpentry a nine-item citation after an August 2006 inspection. After filing a notice of contest, the employer did not participate in the scheduled pretrial conference, did not respond to the Secretary's attempts to discuss the case, and did not…
In re Roman KOTLIAR
Mandatory detention applies after criminal release
The Board reviewed a Russian lawful permanent resident's appeal from the denial of bond redetermination after he was apprehended at home while on probation. He had convictions for false identification, petty theft, burglary, and cable television theft, and the Notice to Appear charged only that he…
In re W-C-B-
Immigration Judges cannot reinstate prior removal orders
The Board reviewed a Honduran respondent’s appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated new removal proceedings because a prior deportation order already existed. The respondent had been deported in 1992, later reentered the United States, and was placed in new proceedings in 2005. The Board held…
San Juan Coal Company
Unwarrantable-failure analysis remanded for all relevant factors
MSHA cited San Juan Coal Company after an inspector found extensive loose coal and coal dust accumulations across about 230 feet of a longwall. The judge affirmed the violation and its significant-and-substantial designation but found no unwarrantable failure, even though he described the operator…
In re Boris Izraylovich GERTSENSHTEYN
Commercial advantage could be shown beyond the conviction record
The Board reconsidered a removal case after a federal appellate court remanded it to address how to determine whether a prostitution-related offense was committed for “commercial advantage.” The respondent had been convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(a), and the Department of Homeland Security charged…
W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Co., Inc., Hvy. Div.
Supervisor-knowledge issue remanded
Yates employees installed grass matting on a slope above a 65-foot drop. The foreman worked without fall protection, while two crew members wore their harnesses backward with the foreman's permission. The judge affirmed two serious fall-protection items and assessed $9,000 in total penalties. The…
A.E.Y. Enterprises, Inc.
Inadequate trench shoring results in $100 penalty
A.E.Y. installed a shoring system in a University of Rochester excavation before two employees of another contractor entered to repair a pipe. On remand from the Commission, the judge found the excavation was about six and a half feet deep and rejected A.E.Y.'s claim that it qualified for the…
Lehigh Cement Company and Gary Strunk
Summary decision denied despite late discovery responses
The Secretary sought penalties against Lehigh Cement Company and assistant plant manager Gary Strunk over an alleged locomotive oil leak and moved for summary decision after Lehigh missed deadlines to answer discovery. Judge David F. Barbour denied the motion against Strunk because the Secretary…
In re Victor ACOSTA HIDALGO
DHS communication was required before terminating removal proceedings
The Board reconsidered whether an Immigration Judge could terminate removal proceedings so that a respondent could pursue naturalization. The respondent argued that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision on his naturalization application, including its merits adjudication and acceptance of…
Clayton's Calcium, Inc.
Mixed ruling on guarding, access, protective equipment, and dust
MSHA issued 18 citations at Clayton's Calcium's small Idaho mill involving guarding, berms, safe access, housekeeping, protective equipment, workplace examinations, and dust controls. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated two guarding citations and portions of others where contact was not reasonably…
Dix River Stone Inc.
Mixed ruling on guards, truck brakes, and passageway hazards
MSHA sought $1,220 for eight alleged safety violations at Dix River Stone's small surface mine. Judge David F. Barbour vacated a citation alleging that a crusher guard was missing during operation because the evidence supported the company's explanation that the guard was removed for testing and…
In re William Osmin BARRIENTOS
TPS eligibility could be asserted in removal proceedings
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent’s appeal after an Immigration Judge declined to consider his application for Temporary Protected Status and ordered him removed. The respondent had previously been denied TPS by the Administrative Appeals Unit, and the Immigration Judge concluded that this…
Advanced Packaging & Products, Inc.
In re Advanced Packaging & Products, Inc. (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Appeal No. 07-01): reimbursement petition dismissed
PJH Brands, identified in the caption as Advanced Packaging & Products, Inc., had a CERCLA section 106(b) petition for reimbursement before the Environmental Appeals Board. Counsel filed a letter withdrawing the petition on February 28, 2007. The Board dismissed the petition in accordance with that…
Performance Site Management
Excavation violations result in $4,000 penalty
Performance Site Management placed an employee in an excavation to remove a water-main cap while spoil and an eight-foot pile of ground asphalt stood at the excavation edges. The excavation exceeded five feet, and its narrow benches did not meet the dimensions required for Class B soil. The judge…
In re Mahesh Nenumal TEJWANI
New York money laundering was a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed an Indian lawful permanent resident's appeal after an Immigration Judge found that his New York money-laundering conviction involved moral turpitude and ordered him removed. The Board held that money laundering under New York Penal Law § 470.10(1) is categorically a crime…
Animal Feeding Operations
In re Animal Feeding Operations (EAB CAA, CERCLA, and EPCRA 06-2468C through 06-2618C): responsibility transferred
EPA asked the Environmental Appeals Board to transfer responsibility in six consent agreements involving animal feeding operations after the farms were sold. The Board found the supporting documentation acceptable and amended the agreements and Final Orders to identify the new responsible owners…
In re Bozena ZMIJEWSKA
Involuntary failure to depart avoids the voluntary-departure penalty
The Board reconsidered the case of a Polish respondent who missed a voluntary-departure deadline after her accredited representative failed to tell her about the Board's order. The Board held that it lacks authority to create a broad equitable exception to the statutory penalties for failing to…
ICG, Eastern, LLC
Unforwarded penalty assessment sent for good-cause review
ICG, Eastern timely contested three MSHA citations, and those proceedings were stayed while the related penalties were assessed. After the penalty assessment arrived, an ICG official apparently failed to forward it to outside counsel, so none of the penalties were timely contested. ICG asked to…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Five missed penalty contests sent for good-cause review
MSHA assessed penalties for 25 citations against Wolf Run Mining Company. Wolf Run intended to pay 20 penalties and contest five, but inadvertence and miscommunication with its accounting office caused the five contests to be missed. The Secretary did not oppose reopening those five penalties. The…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Contest form sent to payment office was remanded
Wolf Run Mining Company received an assessment covering eight citations and orders. It paid six penalties, marked the other two for contest, and sent the form with its payment to MSHA's penalty-payment office. The contest form should have gone to a different MSHA office, so the two penalties became…
Billie Gowans, dba Billy G's
Contradictory payment schedule sends settlement back
An employee fatality led OSHA to inspect Billy G's and issue serious and willful lockout/tagout citations with $27,100 in proposed penalties. The parties settled for $16,200, but their written agreement described 36 monthly payments while also referring to only 10 payments over five years. After…
Seyforth Roofing Co., Inc.
Attorney failures did not justify reopening default
Seyforth Roofing initially contested a serious item and a repeat item but repeatedly failed to answer pleadings, respond to discovery, or comply with show-cause orders. After a default judgment became final, the company argued that its former attorney had misled it and sought relief under Federal…
Joseph Watson, d/b/a Joseph Watson Masonry
Employer receives $11,275 EAJA fee award
Joseph Watson Masonry sought attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing on parts of an OSHA case involving scaffold, fall-protection, training, and recordkeeping citations. The Commission had ruled that the Secretary lacked substantial justification only for one ladder…
In re Rodolfo AVILA-PEREZ
CSPA age-out protection applied to a previously approved visa petition
The Board reviewed a respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him ineligible for adjustment of status because he had turned 21 before his application was filed and an immigrant visa was not immediately available. The Board held that the Child Status Protection Act applies to a…
Lawrence L. Pendley v. Highland Mining Company, Inc.
Miner complaint dismissed while MSHA investigation remained open
Lawrence L. Pendley filed his own Mine Act discrimination complaint after MSHA initially found no discrimination. MSHA later reopened its investigation, and Highland Mining moved to dismiss Pendley's Commission complaint as premature. Judge Jerold Feldman held that a miner may proceed independently…
Jimerson Underground
Construction-standard allegations remanded for decision
A fatal manhole accident involving Jimerson and subcontractor employees led OSHA to issue citations under general industry standards. The Secretary later added alternative allegations under construction standards and the general duty clause. The Commission had already held that Jimerson's work was…
Chestnut Coal
Duplicate contest cases dismissed after Commission remand
Chestnut Coal filed 14 contests of citations and orders, then separately contested the related penalty assessments. The judge initially dismissed the contest cases without prejudice, but the Commission vacated that order and remanded because it did not explain why dismissal was preferable to…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Duplicate contest cases dismissed after Commission remand
Spartan Mining filed 12 contests of citations and later contested the related penalty assessments in separate proceedings. The judge initially dismissed the contest cases without prejudice, but the Commission vacated that order and remanded because it did not explain why dismissal was preferable to…
Y H America, Inc.
In re Y H America, Inc. (EAB TSCA 07-01C): Consent Agreement ratified with $15,895 penalty
The Environmental Protection Agency and Y H America, Inc. signed a Consent Agreement resolving the TSCA matter. The Environmental Appeals Board incorporated that agreement into its Final Order and ordered the company to comply with all of its terms. The Board assessed a civil penalty of $15,895 and…
Chestnut Coal
Duplicate contest cases dismissed after Commission remand
Chestnut Coal filed five contests of citations and orders, then separately contested the related penalty assessments. The judge initially dismissed the contest cases without prejudice, but the Commission vacated that order and remanded because it did not explain why dismissal was preferable to…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Twenty-one duplicate contest cases dismissed after remand
Spartan Mining filed 21 contests of citations and later contested the related penalty assessments in separate proceedings. The judge initially dismissed the contest cases without prejudice, but the Commission vacated that order and remanded because it did not explain why dismissal was preferable to…
The Barbosa Group, Inc. d/b/a Executive Security
Bloodborne-pathogen items affirmed with reduced penalty
Barbosa supplied security personnel to a federal immigration detention facility where their duties exposed them to blood and other bodily fluids. The Commission held that Barbosa remained their employer because it hired, paid, scheduled, supervised, and disciplined them, even though the federal…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Four duplicate contest cases dismissed after remand
Spartan Mining filed four contests of citations and orders, then separately contested the related penalty assessments. The judge initially dismissed the contest cases without prejudice, but the Commission vacated that order and remanded because it did not explain why dismissal was preferable to…
Grangeville Transit Mix, Inc.
Four assessments sent for good-cause review
Grangeville Transit Mix failed to timely contest four separate MSHA penalty assessments issued during 2006. It first explained that one contest form had been mailed to the wrong address, then said its foreman had not received some citations and proposed penalties and that the company misunderstood…
In re A-M-E & J-G-U-
Affluent Guatemalans were not a particular social group
The Board reconsidered whether a married Guatemalan couple who reported threats and extortion could qualify for asylum or withholding of removal as members of a particular social group of affluent Guatemalans. The Board held that wealth did not give the proposed group sufficient social visibility…
Michael Sonney v. Alamo Cement Co., Ltd.
Miner ordered to clarify discrimination claim
Michael Sonney alleged that Alamo Cement discharged him after he reported unsafe actions that injured him and another employee. Alamo moved to compel discovery, but Judge Jerold Feldman found that Sonney's complaint did not clearly identify his protected activity, the adverse action, the connection…
Greenleaf Motor Express
Confined-space items affirmed with willful classifications reduced
Greenleaf employees entered tanker trailers to pressure-wash them after transporting titanium dioxide slurry. An employee died inside a tanker whose oxygen level measured 11 percent after nitrogen had been used to pressurize it during unloading. The Commission held that Greenleaf should have asked…
Pinnacle Mining Company, LLC
Inadvertent penalty payment sent for factual review
Pinnacle Mining timely contested an MSHA citation, but later paid the related penalty assessment. The payment led the judge to dismiss the stayed citation contest after Pinnacle did not respond to notice of the payment. Pinnacle then sought reopening and submitted an affidavit stating only that its…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Misfiled citation and mistaken payment remanded
Jim Walter Resources intended to contest an MSHA citation but misfiled it. The filing error later caused the company to pay the related penalty inadvertently instead of contesting it. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission remanded the request for a judge to determine whether the…
United Taconite LLC
Responsibility misunderstanding sent for good-cause review
United Taconite received an assessment covering 76 citations and orders and intended to contest some of the proposed penalties. A misunderstanding over which company official would send the assessment sheet caused the contest deadline to be missed. MSHA later sent a delinquency letter, but the…
In re Luis Fernando MONCADA-Servellon
Prison marijuana possession was outside the personal-use exception
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Honduran lawful permanent resident with convictions for vehicle theft and possession of marijuana in prison. The Board held that the statutory exception for a single…
Mammoth Coal Company
Unexplained contest dismissal vacated and remanded
Mammoth Coal filed a citation contest and later contested the related penalty assessment in a separate civil-penalty case. The judge dismissed the citation contest without prejudice because the penalty case would resolve the same issues. The Commission held that the order did not explain why…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Twelve unexplained contest dismissals vacated
Spartan Mining filed 12 citation contests and later contested the related penalty assessments in two civil-penalty cases. The judge dismissed the citation contests without prejudice because the penalty cases would resolve the same issues. The Commission held that the order did not explain why…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Unexplained contest dismissals vacated
Spartan Mining filed four citation contests and later contested the related penalty assessments in a separate civil-penalty case. The judge dismissed the citation contests without prejudice because the penalty case would resolve the same issues. The Commission held that the order did not explain…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Twenty-one unexplained contest dismissals vacated
Spartan Mining filed 21 citation contests and later contested the related penalty assessments in two civil-penalty cases. The judge dismissed the citation contests without prejudice because the penalty cases would resolve the same issues. The Commission held that the order did not explain why…
Chestnut Coal
Fourteen unexplained contest dismissals vacated
Chestnut Coal filed 14 citation contests and later contested the related penalty assessments in a separate civil-penalty case. The judge dismissed the citation contests without prejudice because the penalty case would resolve the same issues. The Commission held that the order did not explain why…
Chestnut Coal
Unexplained contest dismissals vacated
Chestnut Coal filed five citation contests and later contested the related penalty assessments in a separate civil-penalty case. The judge dismissed the citation contests without prejudice because the penalty case would resolve the same issues. The Commission held that the order did not explain why…
Highland Mining Company, LLC
Ten contest dismissals vacated
Highland Mining filed ten citation contests that were stayed while related penalties were assessed. After Highland contested the penalties, the judge lifted the stays and dismissed the citation contests as moot. The Commission held that the order did not explain why dismissal was chosen instead of…
Fisher Sand & Gravel Company
Pro se contest misunderstanding remanded
Fisher Sand & Gravel, then acting without counsel, timely contested three underlying MSHA citations. When the related penalty assessment arrived, Fisher believed those earlier citation contests also counted as contests of the proposed penalties. The penalty assessment therefore became final, and…
Chestnut Coal
Five contest cases dismissed in favor of the penalty proceeding
Chestnut Coal filed five contests involving citations and orders issued at its No. 10 Slope mine. The Secretary later proposed civil penalties for the alleged violations, and Chestnut Coal contested those penalties in a separate proceeding. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found that the penalty case…
Syngenta Seeds, Inc.
In re Syngenta Seeds, Inc. (EAB FIFRA 06-01C): Bt10 violations settled with $1,517,875 penalty
Syngenta Seeds, Inc. resolved a FIFRA enforcement matter involving distribution, sale, importation, and exportation of the unregistered Bt10 plant-incorporated protectant. The Consent Agreement states that Syngenta distributed or sold Bt10 on 1,037 occasions, imported it on seven occasions without…
Animal Feeding Operations
In re Animal Feeding Operations (EAB CAA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, CERCLA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, and EPCRA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C): supporting documentation requested
EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance asked the Environmental Appeals Board to transfer responsibility in six previously ratified animal feeding operations consent agreements after the farms were sold. EPA represented that the new owners wanted to assume responsibility, but the Board…
Animal Feeding Operations
In re Animal Feeding Operations (EAB CAA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, CERCLA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, and EPCRA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C): penalty amounts amended and respondent names and addresses corrected in ratified consent agreements
EPA ran a nationwide program letting animal feeding operations sign standard consent agreements to settle possible air and emergency-reporting liability. By December 2006 the Environmental Appeals Board had ratified 2,568 of those agreements across six batches. EPA's Office of Enforcement and…
Hanson Aggregates New York, Inc.
Crane citation remanded for an evidentiary hearing
Hanson Aggregates was cited under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14211(c) after a crane's hoist ball and hook fell during setup and fatally struck a crew supervisor. The judge granted summary decision to the Secretary, affirmed the citation, and assessed a $9,100 penalty after inferring that the crane's…
Highland Mining Company, LLC
Stays lifted and ten contest cases dismissed
Highland Mining filed ten contests involving citations issued at its Highland 9 Mine. The judge stayed the cases while the corresponding civil penalty proceedings were being filed. Once those penalty cases were pending, Judge T. Todd Hodgdon lifted the stays and concluded that the separate contest…
Animal Feeding Operations
In re Animal Feeding Operations (EAB CAA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, CERCLA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, and EPCRA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C): nine ratified consent agreements vacated after farms sold or shut down
EPA ran a nationwide program letting animal feeding operations sign standard consent agreements to settle possible air and emergency-reporting liability. By December 2006 the Environmental Appeals Board had ratified 2,568 of them across six batches. EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.