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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Cargill Incorporated v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Cargill Deicing Technology
Cargill Incorporated v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2022-0285): Nitrogen dioxide escapeway citation vacated
MSHA cited Cargill after nitrogen dioxide in a return-air route used as the Cleveland salt mine's secondary escapeway measured above 5 parts per million. The judge held that the Secretary had not shown the measured gas levels made the route unsafe or untravelable under the escapeway standard. He…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. MOsenecaManufacturer LLC dba American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0251): Backpay stay denied during appeal
An ALJ found that American Tripoli discriminated against miner representative Robert Baumann and ordered $10,552 in backpay plus interest, along with civil penalties. The operator appealed and sought to stay the backpay award after MSHA warned that nonpayment could lead to enforcement action. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Mid-States Materials, LLC
Unexplained delays barred reopening with prejudice
Mid-States paid three penalties and emailed MSHA to contest seven others, but the email was sent 28 days after the assessment had already become final. The company did not explain why the contest was late. It also filed its reopening motion more than a month after the delinquency notice without…
MFA Enterprises Inc., dba West Central Agri Services
Willful railcar fall-protection violation affirmed
MFA Enterprises operated a grain-storage and railcar-loading facility in Adrian, Missouri. Employees regularly walked on top of railcars about 15 feet above the ground without using the installed fall-protection system, including an employee who was on a railcar when a grain-elevator explosion…
U.S. Postal Service
Repeat blocked-exit violation affirmed
After a roof collapse closed another New Jersey processing center, the Postal Service rerouted a large volume of packages to its Teterboro plant. OSHA found pallets, boxes, mail, and processing materials obstructing an exit route and found access to fire extinguishers obstructed during two…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 25 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration
AFGE Local 25 and Veterans Benefits Administration (FLRA 0-AR-5959): Authority upholds reprimand
The Veterans Benefits Administration reprimanded an employee after she failed to complete an assigned case recertification despite a reminder and a commitment to finish it. An arbitrator found just cause, declined to mitigate the discipline, and denied the grievance in full. The union argued that…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 228 and United States Small Business Administration
AFGE Local 228 and Small Business Administration (FLRA 0-AR-5954): Authority dismisses preparation-time exception
The Small Business Administration approved official time for a union representative to attend a joint performance-systems committee meeting but denied an additional hour to prepare. An arbitrator found that the proposed coordinated preparation with other union representatives was internal union…
Secretary of Labor v. GCC Dacotah, Inc.
Repeated email-address errors barred reopening
GCC Dacotah failed to file two penalty contests because employees typed MSHA's contest email address incorrectly. The same mistake had already caused another missed contest, after which the company said it circulated a preventive memorandum. The Commission found that GCC Dacotah made the same error…
Secretary of Labor v. CalPortland
Business-day deadline mistake excused
CalPortland misread the 30-day contest deadline as 30 business days. It filed its reopening motion on the thirtieth business day after receiving the assessment, which was 12 days after the assessment became final. The Commission found that timing consistent with the company's explanation and that…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Southeast Mining, LLC
Mine-fire report ordered produced with redactions
After a fire at Peabody's Shoal Creek Mine, the Secretary sought the company's internal investigation report in discovery. The judge found that the report was prepared in anticipation of litigation and therefore qualified as work product. She nevertheless held that the Secretary had substantial…
Shanker, Chief, Div. of Enforcement, OLMS, USDOL v. Patent Office Professional Association
Shanker v. Patent Office Professional Association (DOL ARB 2023-0001): Supervised union-election result certified
The Board had found that the Patent Office Professional Association violated federal union-election law and ordered a new presidential election supervised by the Office of Labor-Management Standards. After the original deadline was replaced and then extended, the supervised election was held on…
Secretary of Labor v. C&C Leasing & Excavating, Inc.
Owner's hospitalization justified reopening
C&C's owner normally sent proposed assessments to a safety consultant for review. While the owner was repeatedly hospitalized because of illness, he failed to forward this assessment and the contest deadline passed. The company responded by designating another employee to handle assessments during…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Final penalties mooted order contests
Morton Salt timely contested four MSHA orders but did not separately contest the later proposed penalties tied to those orders. The penalties became final, and the Commission denied with prejudice a separate motion to reopen them. Morton Salt did not appeal that denial or respond to a later…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. Next Level Security Service, LLC
Overtime penalties increased to $124,968.70
Next Level Security Service and related entities operated a security-guard business that willfully underpaid overtime to 73 employees. The Wage and Hour Division originally assessed $151,050 in civil penalties, while an administrative judge reduced that figure to $36,440 based partly on individual…
Bauche v. Masimo Corp.
SOX complaint dismissals affirmed
John Bauche alleged that Masimo retaliated against him under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act through litigation, a criminal referral and press release, blacklisting, and decisions not to rehire him. The Board held that earlier rulings made the civil-lawsuit and criminal-referral claims untimely as discrete…
Secretary of Labor v. Saiia Construction Co., LLC
Headlights alone did not safely illuminate quarry work
Saiia began quarry work before sunrise using only the lights mounted on its haul trucks and excavator. The judge credited testimony that those lights did not adequately reveal the dump edge, berm condition, haul-road turns, or people approaching equipment. He held that the conditions violated the…
Vollendorf v. Blue Northern Distributing
STAA settlement approved
Clifton Vollendorf alleged that Blue Northern Distributing retaliated against him in violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act. An administrative judge ruled for Vollendorf, and the company petitioned the Board for review before the parties settled. The Board reviewed the agreement…
KeHE Distributors, LLC
Forklift aisle-marking citation vacated
KeHE operated a large food-distribution warehouse in Romeoville, Illinois, where pedestrians and forklifts shared much of the work area. An employee walked into the side of a moving forklift in a palletizing area and suffered an injury requiring hospitalization. OSHA cited KeHE for failing to mark…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Twentymile Mining, LLC
Disability and untrained handoff excused
Peabody's safety manager, who normally processed assessments, was unexpectedly absent on short-term disability. The assessment went to an employee taking over compliance duties who had not been told that processing it was his responsibility and had not been trained. Peabody discovered the final…
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2022-0334): Enforcement citations and withdrawal order affirmed
Grimes Rock did not timely pay $12,533.94 in temporary economic reinstatement that an earlier judge had ordered for miner Alvaro Saldivar. MSHA cited the company, issued a section 104(b) withdrawal order when it failed to abate, and issued another citation when mine operations continued despite…
Secretary of Labor v. Brand Industrial Services, LLC
Five-day late contest excused
A Brand employee mistakenly routed the proposed assessment to the wrong department. Brand attempted to contest the assessment five days after the deadline and then promptly filed a reopening motion. The Secretary opposed relief and argued that the company had unreliable procedures. The Commission…
United States Department of the Army, United States Army Garrison, Directorate of Emergency Services, Fort Huachuca, Arizona and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1662
Fort Huachuca and AFGE Local 1662 (FLRA 0-AR-5907): Authority allows firefighter damages process to continue
Fort Huachuca reassigned most firefighters after an earlier arbitration award had required consideration of seniority for those moves. A second arbitrator found that the mass reassignments violated the agreement and prior award and retaliated against employees for the union's first grievance…
Secretary of Labor obo Alvaro Saldivar v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Judge retained jurisdiction after premature appeal
The Commission had remanded Saldivar's discrimination case to the ALJ for additional findings. Before the ALJ ruled on remand, Grimes Rock appealed to the Ninth Circuit. The court dismissed the appeal because a Commission remand order is not a final agency decision and later returned jurisdiction…
Klinger v. BNSF Railway Co.
Injury-report retaliation ruling affirmed
Travis Klinger reported a work-related shoulder injury and took approved medical leave from BNSF Railway. BNSF enrolled him in a nominally voluntary medical-management program, repeatedly sought medical records, and imposed a serious 30-day record suspension after his doctor's office failed to send…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338
John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5937): Authority upholds full-time official-time award
AFGE Local 2338 assigned its chief steward to represent employees at three clinics and added hours from its official-time bank, producing a total request for full-time official time. A VA medical center approved only 25%, citing an internal memorandum and a travel-claims backlog. An arbitrator…
Miller v. Rhino, Inc.
Discovery default and damages vacated
Eugene Mitchell alleged that Rhino fired him in violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, and Rhonda Miller later continued the case on his behalf. After Rhino failed to respond to discovery and several orders, an administrative judge entered default and awarded back pay, interest…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. TAFS Corp.
Wage penalties restored to $45,722.75
Mohammed Tahir operated two Pennsylvania gas stations and convenience stores that repeatedly and willfully violated minimum-wage, overtime, and recordkeeping requirements. The Wage and Hour Division found that 52 employees were owed $39,944.90 after its later investigations and assessed $45,722.75…
Maryland Air National Guard, International Association of Fire Fighters, and Association of Civilian Technicians
Maryland Air National Guard, IAFF, and ACT (FLRA WA-RP-24-0002): Authority remands firefighter representation petition
Maryland Air National Guard firefighters moved from state to Title 5 federal employment, and the International Association of Fire Fighters sought an election to represent them. A regional director treated the firefighters as automatically included in an existing Association of Civilian Technicians…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338
John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5948): Authority dismisses unanswered exceptions
The Department of Veterans Affairs filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2338. The Authority issued a procedural-deficiency order directing the agency to correct its filing and warning that noncompliance could result in dismissal. The…
Wesley Mallery v. El Segundo Coal Company, LLC
Review granted on adverse action and dismissals
The Commission granted Wesley Mallery's request for review on whether the ALJ erred in finding no adverse action. A majority also directed review on whether the ALJ's show-cause orders and later dismissals were contrary to law because no dismissal or summary-decision motion had been filed. The…
Liferafts Incorporated of P.R.
In re Liferafts Incorporated of P.R. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 24-07C): bulk HFC import settlement approved
Liferafts Incorporated of P.R. imported 73 cylinders containing bulk HFCs, including HFC-134a and the blends R-404A, R-407C, and R-407F. EPA alleged that the shipment entered Puerto Rico without the importer expending the required consumption or application-specific allowances and without an EPA…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338
John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5939): Authority upholds accommodation award
A VA medical-center employee with autoimmune gastritis sought full-time telework and a flexible schedule as an interim and permanent reasonable accommodation. An arbitrator found that the agency mishandled the request, failed to use available medical-review resources, discriminated based on…
Secretary of Labor v. Taishan Coal, LLC
Vague process failures and unexplained delays barred reopening
Taishan Coal asked the Commission to reopen three final penalty assessments covering 18 citations and orders with proposed penalties totaling $78,622. The company said it failed to forward the assessments to its third-party safety consultant and that there were miscommunications about which…
Secretary of Labor v. Lopke Quarries, Inc.
Misdirected filings and delay barred reopening
Lopke Quarries said it mailed contest forms with penalty payments to MSHA's payment center and later mistakenly sent its first reopening request to MSHA instead of the Commission. The company received delinquency notices in April and May and a scofflaw letter in July, but did not contact MSHA until…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center, Topeka, Kansas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 906
Colmery-O'Neil VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 906 (FLRA 0-AR-5930): Authority upholds COVID-testing backpay
VA nurses underwent mandatory recurring COVID-19 testing, sometimes outside duty hours, but the medical center did not maintain or provide records showing when individual tests occurred. An arbitrator found that federal law and agency directives required accurate time and testing records and that…
Leary v. Prime Marketing of America
ACA settlement approved and sealing denied
Madeline Leary and two respondents settled an Affordable Care Act retaliation case while the respondents' petition for review was pending. The Board limited its review to the ACA matter within its delegated authority and construed the agreement's Colorado-law clause not to restrict federal…
C & S Technical Resources, Inc.
Forklift certification violation affirmed
C & S Technical Resources used a telehandler and a spotter to stack heavy cut steel transmission-pole segments on a flatbed trailer in Liverpool, New York. Two stacks collapsed during loading, and pole segments knocked the spotter from the trailer and killed him. OSHA alleged a General Duty Clause…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. MOSenecaManufacturer, LLC d/b/a American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0251): Operator's petition for review granted
The Commission granted American Tripoli's petition for discretionary review and combined it with a direction for review issued nine days earlier. It ordered the operator to file an opening brief addressing every issue raised in both review orders. The Secretary was directed to respond 30 days…
Trinity Solar, LLC, as successor to Trinity Solar, Inc.
Head and fall protection penalties reduced
Trinity Solar employees installed solar panels on a residence in Yonkers, New York. OSHA cited a serious head-protection violation for work below solar installers and a repeat fall-protection violation for roof work 25 feet above the ground, proposing $98,216 in total penalties. Trinity withdrew…
Ashley Kjarbo
Authority denies EAJA rule-amendment petition
Ashley Kjarbo asked the Authority to amend its Equal Access to Justice Act rules so individuals could recover fees and so fees could be awarded against federal agencies other than the Authority. The Authority held that its unfair-labor-practice cases are prosecuted by its General Counsel, so a…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 68
Internal Revenue Service and NTEU Chapter 68 (FLRA 0-AR-5702): Authority sets aside higher performance rating
An IRS employee's overall performance rating fell after she received lower scores in two critical elements. An arbitrator found that the agency did not provide the timely, intensive, and tailored counseling required by the agreement and directed it to raise the rating to outstanding with associated…
Matter of H-C-R-C-
Credibility burden and torture standard clarified
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent’s applications for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. It held that applicants bear the burden of establishing their own credibility and that no statute or precedent requires an Immigration Judge to find testimony…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. MOSenecaManufacturer, LLC d/b/a American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0251): Review directed on discrimination and interference law
The Commission directed review on its own initiative of the ALJ's May 23, 2024 decision in Robert Baumann's case against American Tripoli. It identified a possible legal error concerning the meaning and application of the Mine Act's discrimination and interference protections. The review would also…
Mazenko v. Pegasus Aircraft Management, LLC
Aviation-safety complaint remanded
Stirling Mazenko, an experienced pilot, repeatedly told Pegasus Aircraft Management that a Gulfstream aircraft lacked letters of authorization he believed were required for minimum-equipment-list and surveillance operations in foreign airspace. Pegasus terminated him the day after his last message…
Wesley Mallery v. El Segundo Coal Company, LLC
Pro se discrimination complaint dismissed
Wesley Mallery alleged that El Segundo retaliated after he raised concerns about blasting procedures and other workplace issues. The judge found that his January 2023 safety reports qualified as protected activity. She nevertheless concluded that paid administrative leave and disability benefits…
Secretary of Labor v. Ramaco Resources, LLC
Unknown staff-turnover error did not justify reopening
Ramaco Resources sought to reopen 11 citations after a proposed assessment did not reach its vice president of safety for a timely contest. The company pointed to employee turnover, said it could not identify the specific error, and reported that it later trained new employees. The Commission…
Secretary of Labor v. Dyno Nobel
Prompt self-check excused a one-time address lapse
Dyno Nobel did not receive a proposed assessment because it had moved without updating its address of record with MSHA or the Postal Service. The contractor had already contested the underlying citation, later checked why no assessment had arrived, and moved to reopen less than two weeks after…
United Airlines, Inc.
Aircraft towing hazard citation affirmed
United Airlines technicians were moving an aircraft from a hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport when a wheel ran over an employee's foot. The employee sustained crushing injuries, underwent multiple surgeries, and had all five toes amputated. OSHA cited United under the General Duty…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and Clinics and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 0547
James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and AFGE Local 0547 (FLRA 0-AR-5845): Authority upholds corrected performance rating
A VA medical support assistant received a lower rating after the agency treated failure to enter information in a scheduling comment field as an error. An arbitrator found that the agency had never communicated or trained the employee on that rule and had violated agreement provisions requiring…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2342 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Black Hills Health Care System, Fort Meade, South Dakota
AFGE Local 2342 and VA Black Hills Health Care System (FLRA 0-AR-5902): Authority dismisses grade-reduction exceptions
The Department of Veterans Affairs concluded that it had mistakenly hired a chaplain at GS-12, retroactively reduced the position to GS-9 and later GS-11, and rejected the employee for a GS-13 supervisory position for lack of qualifying GS-12 experience. The union grieved both the grade reductions…
Secretary of Labor v. R.J. Valente Gravel, Inc.
Prior contest and prompt follow-up supported reopening
R.J. Valente Gravel failed to forward a proposed assessment to counsel, who discovered it while checking the status of a related citation contest. The prior contest showed that the operator intended to challenge the citation, and it moved to reopen within 30 days after learning of the assessment…
Secretary of Labor v. Holcim-WCR, Inc.
Proactive assessment check supported reopening
Holcim-WCR missed the contest deadline because a proposed assessment was not routed to its regional health and safety manager. The manager found the assessment by checking MSHA's data system seven days after it became final, and Holcim immediately began seeking reopening before MSHA sent any…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company, Roger Peterson, and Matthew Zimmer
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-0248): Court mandate sent flagrant penalty back for reassessment
The Commission had previously upheld reckless-disregard and unwarrantable-failure findings, deleted a flagrant designation, and rejected individual liability for two Northshore Mining employees. The Eighth Circuit reversed the Commission on the flagrant and individual-liability issues. Its mandate…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. The GEO Group
$1.28 million prevailing-wage award affirmed
The GEO Group operated a federal correctional facility in Michigan and paid corrections officers $17 per hour under a collective bargaining agreement used at a Georgia facility. The applicable Michigan prevailing-wage determination set a $26.21 hourly rate. The Board held that the lower…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. Vet Reporting, LLC
Contract withholding allowed pending hearing
Wage and Hour investigators found that Alpha4 Solutions owed $456,483.62 to medical transcriptionists under federal service contracts. After Alpha4 sold contracts to related entities, the Veterans Affairs Department withheld funds from Vet Reporting contracts on the theory that it was the same…
Secretary of Labor v. J.R. Vinagro Corporation
New tracking controls supported reopening
A proposed assessment for one of nine citations issued during a fatality investigation was placed with other investigation papers instead of being sent to J.R. Vinagro's new safety director. The director learned in late February that this and two other assessment forms were delinquent. Vinagro…
Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC
Bare error claim and unexplained delay barred reopening
Pocahontas Coal said an administrative error delayed delivery of a proposed assessment to outside counsel. It did not identify the error, the people involved, or when its safety manager learned that the contest deadline had been missed. The company also filed more than two months after MSHA mailed…
Secretary of Labor v. Ramaco Resources, LLC
Email failure and collection-stage delay barred reopening
Ramaco Resources said an email-system malfunction prevented its vice president of safety from receiving a scanned assessment. MSHA sent a delinquency notice in February and hand-delivered a scofflaw letter in March concerning unpaid penalties, but Ramaco did not move to reopen until May. The…
Robert Lauter d/b/a Prime Cut Paint
In re Robert Lauter d/b/a Prime Cut Paint (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 24-(01)): review declined and initial decision becomes final
The Presiding Officer issued an Initial Decision and Order on Penalty concerning Robert Lauter d/b/a Prime Cut Paint on April 17, 2024. Neither party appealed. The Environmental Appeals Board declined to exercise sua sponte review, so the Initial Decision and Order on Penalty became a final order…
Cole v. CSX Transportation
FRSA appeal dismissed for failure to prosecute
Tristain Cole alleged that CSX Transportation and Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway retaliated against him under the Federal Rail Safety Act. An administrative judge dismissed the complaint as untimely, and Cole petitioned the Board for review. Cole did not file the required opening brief and did not…
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.