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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Vinnett v. Exelon Generation
Severance waiver barred monetary ERA recovery
William Vinnett, a nuclear-turbine engineer, alleged retaliation after raising safety concerns and later signed a severance agreement releasing monetary claims against Exelon Generation. The Board held that a pre-filing agreement can defend against an ERA recovery when its terms are fair, adequate…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. Washington Farm Labor Association
Joint-employer penalties corrected to $60,487.50
Washington Farm Labor Association filed a master H-2A application as joint employer with Sakuma Brothers Farms and recruited 69 foreign agricultural workers. The Board held that the association's choice and sworn certifications made it a joint employer as a matter of law, and that it could not…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. Azzano Farms, Inc.
Farm association held jointly liable for H-2A violations
Washington Farm Labor Association filed a master application with Azzano Farms and identified itself as a joint H-2A employer. The Board held that this election made the association a joint employer as a matter of law and estopped it from accepting master-application benefits while disclaiming the…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Roseburg Healthcare System and White City SORCC and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1042
VA Roseburg and AFGE Local 1042 (FLRA 0-AR-5818): Authority leaves pandemic leave-restoration award in place
VA Roseburg sent some employees home during the COVID-19 pandemic because of symptoms or possible exposure and charged them sick leave, annual leave, or leave without pay. An arbitrator found that the agreement prohibited charging personal leave when an undiagnosed employee was sent home or…
CentiMark Corporation
Roof-edge assessment was part of roofing work
CentiMark was preparing to replace sections of a commercial roof when OSHA observed a foreman within two feet of a low-slope roof edge 40 feet above the ground without fall protection. The foreman went to the edge to identify a location from which he or another employee could signal the crane…
Fama Construction, LLC
Roofing case remanded for controlling-employer analysis
OSHA cited Fama Construction for inadequate inspections, missing head protection, and missing fall protection at a residential roofing project. An administrative law judge granted summary judgment to the Secretary and affirmed all three violations. The Commission agreed that no material fact was…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. KBR Services, LLC
Premature wage appeal dismissed without prejudice
KBR Services sought two wage tiers for quality-control inspectors working under a United States Army service contract. A Wage and Hour Division section chief established one rate, and an investigator later emailed that the conformance would stand because KBR had not responded by a deadline. KBR…
McDowell v. Eagle Intermodal Inc.
STAA appeal dismissed after renewed briefing deadline missed
Kenneth McDowell appealed an administrative judge's dismissal of his STAA complaint. When he filed no opening brief or show-cause response, the Board initially dismissed the appeal, but later granted reconsideration after he said he had not received the electronic orders. The Board gave him a new…
Palacios Marine & Industrial Coating, Inc.
Six scaffold-related citation items vacated
Palacios Marine employees were erecting a scaffold-based shelter at a Texas petrochemical plant when a wooden plank broke and a scaffold builder fell seven feet, suffering broken bones that required reconstructive surgery. OSHA cited the company for alleged failures involving employer-provided and…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 338 and United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, Glynco, Georgia
NTEU Chapter 338 and Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLRA 0-AR-5837): Authority rejects whistleblower-remedy exception
An arbitrator found that a federal law-enforcement instructor's fourteen-day suspension did not promote the efficiency of the service, rescinded it, and awarded corresponding backpay. The union had also alleged whistleblower retaliation and requested compensatory damages, but the arbitrator…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council 119 and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
AFGE Council 119 and USCIS (FLRA 0-AR-5709): Authority remands official-time dispute under continued agreement
USCIS imposed official-time limits from a presidential executive order while the parties were negotiating a successor agreement and their existing agreement remained in effect under a continuance clause. An arbitrator allowed the change based on then-existing Authority precedent that treated the…
Matter of Jose Antonio GARCIA
Venue determines the controlling circuit law
The Board reviewed a respondent’s appeal from the denial of cancellation of removal. It clarified that the controlling circuit law is the law governing the geographic location of the Immigration Court where venue lies, regardless of where the parties or Immigration Judge are physically located…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Booster-pump guarding citation affirmed
A guard over the Bailey Mine's 960 Booster Pump left a gap near a jagged, keyed shaft approximately 20 inches in diameter that rotated 300 to 900 times per minute. A contract greaser had to climb onto the pump frame and work about five inches from the shaft amid grease and spraying water. Consol…
Elmer W. Davis, Inc.
Roofing fall-protection citation vacated for employee misconduct
Elmer W. Davis assigned two employees to repair a low-slope commercial roof where a safety-monitoring system was permitted as the sole form of fall protection. OSHA observed both employees performing roofing work near an unprotected edge after the designated monitor stopped monitoring and joined…
Secretary of Labor v. Potter South East, LLC
Bare reopening request denied with prejudice
Potter South East sought to reopen five assessments covering 62 citations after MSHA had issued delinquency notices. Its brief filing said the total penalty was a surprise and that the company had implemented corrective procedures, but it did not explain the missed contest deadlines or the later…
Pfeifer v. AM Retail Group, Inc.
SOX dismissal vacated as too severe
An administrative judge dismissed Crystal Pfeifer's SOX complaint after her counsel repeatedly filed amended complaints and summary-decision requests that did not comply with written and verbal directions. The Board agreed that counsel had committed procedural errors and should have requested leave…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 4 and United States Department of the Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
IFPTE Local 4 and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (FLRA 0-AR-5842): Authority upholds untimely disparate-discipline grievance
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard suspended an employee for emailing a link to an inappropriate photograph, while a union president allegedly was not disciplined for later emailing the same image. An arbitrator found the union's disparate-treatment grievance untimely because the union knew of the…
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
COVID-19 respirator citation vacated
The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium co-managed an Anchorage healthcare facility where employees treated patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. OSHA alleged that employees caring for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients were given surgical masks rather than NIOSH-certified respirators…
Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC
Roof-bolter dust settlement approved
One citation concerning a forklift wiring schematic remained unchanged at $133. A second citation found accumulated drill dust behind primary and secondary filters on a roof bolter, with dust visibly suspended during startup and operation and potential for silicosis or coal miners' pneumoconiosis…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 116 and United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection
NTEU Chapter 116 and Customs and Border Protection (FLRA 0-AR-5826): Authority upholds dismissal of probationer grievances
Customs and Border Protection terminated a probationary employee after directing him to apologize for a disparaging remark. The union grieved alleged deception and the agency's refusal to hold a first-step meeting, while seeking reinstatement. An arbitrator found both grievances arose from the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3197 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington
AFGE Local 3197 and VA Puget Sound (FLRA 0-AR-5811): Authority denies reconsideration of untimely exceptions
The union filed no timely exceptions to an arbitrator's attorney-fee award and instead first asked the arbitrator to reconsider it. After the arbitrator denied reconsideration without changing the award, the union filed exceptions that the Authority dismissed as untimely. The union then asked the…
Secretary of Labor v. Genesis Alkali, LLC
Contest sent with payment was reopened
Genesis Alkali mailed both its payment and its notice of contest before the deadline. It mistakenly sent both to the St. Louis penalty payment address instead of sending the contest to MSHA's Civil Penalty Compliance Office in Arlington. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged the operator…
Secretary of Labor v. Sun West Acquisition Corporation
Vague staffing claim and long delay defeated reopening
Sun West said a loss of staff prevented it from receiving or timely contesting a proposed assessment. It did not identify which staffing change occurred or explain how that change caused the missed deadline. The company filed its reopening motion 351 days after the assessment became final and…
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Cement Company, LLC
Timely contest went to payment address
Lehigh Cement mailed its notice of contest well before the deadline. It mistakenly sent the notice to MSHA's St. Louis penalty payment address instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office in Arlington. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged the operator to improve its filing process…
Secretary of Labor v. Omya, Inc.
Mistaken payment did not erase intent to contest
Omya had filed notices contesting the underlying citations before MSHA issued the proposed assessment. A shipping manager later received a combined invoice and mistakenly paid the penalties while believing the earlier notices had preserved the company's contest rights. The Secretary did not oppose…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1237, Council of Prison Locals 33
FCI Mendota and AFGE Local 1237 (FLRA 0-AR-5833): Authority preserves official-time and FLSA remedies
FCI Mendota approved only eight of forty official-time hours requested by the local union president. An arbitrator found the reduction unreasonable and concluded that it caused the employee to perform more than two hours of representational work beyond his paid forty-hour week. The award provided…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3184 and Social Security Administration
AFGE Local 3184 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-AR-5814): Authority remands attorney-fee award
An arbitrator overturned a Social Security Administration employee's three-day suspension and awarded attorney fees, but limited fees to $1,200 based on what he thought was an agency-authorized cap. The record showed that the document was only a purchase order for the arbitrator's services and did…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Robley Rex Medical Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1133
Robley Rex Medical Center and AFGE Local 1133 (FLRA 0-AR-5794): Authority vacates low-hazard microorganism differential
Housekeepers at the Robley Rex Medical Center sought environmental-differential pay for exposure to microorganisms. An arbitrator denied the 8% high-hazard differential after finding that protective equipment and training practically eliminated injury risk, but awarded the 4% low-hazard…
OFCCP, USDOL v. WMS Solutions, LLC
Discrimination relief expanded to back pay, interest, and hiring
WMS Solutions supplied demolition, lead, and asbestos-mitigation labor on a federal construction project. Liability had been established for favoring Hispanic laborers in hiring, discriminating against women and non-Hispanic workers in assignments and pay, and failing to maintain a workplace free…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32 and United States Office of Personnel Management
AFGE Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management (FLRA 0-NG-3611): Authority requires bargaining over interim maximum telework
AFGE Local 32 proposed keeping about 700 Office of Personnel Management employees on maximum telework until the parties completed bargaining over returning to physical worksites. OPM broadly alleged that the proposal was nonnegotiable but filed its detailed statement after the statutory deadline…
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC
Settlement initially denied over missing withdrawal orders
The proposed settlement covered citations involving a CAT loader with nine defects and a CAT truck with nineteen defects, both under a standard requiring safety defects to be corrected before equipment use. Inspectors repeatedly extended abatement deadlines, and section 104(b) withdrawal orders…
Secretary of Labor v. Ironside Stone Works, Inc.
Mine-site delivery delay was excused
MSHA delivered Ironside Stone Works' assessment to the mine site rather than the company office. The mine operator took the assessment home while on compassionate leave, and the document did not reach the office until several weeks later. Ironside filed its contest in mid-March, about two weeks…
Secretary of Labor v. Global Pumice, LLC
Answer sent to MSHA supported vacating default
Global Pumice mailed its answer to MSHA instead of the Commission, believing the filing would be forwarded. The company also said it never received the show-cause order because that order went to the wrong address. It learned of the default through a delinquency notice and moved to reopen shortly…
Department of the Navy, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi and National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-135
Navy Supervisor of Shipbuilding Pascagoula and NAGE Local R5-135 (FLRA AT-CA-20-0136): Authority dismisses probationary-termination complaint
The Navy terminated a probationary quality-assurance specialist several months after he filed a grievance about a testing-certification assignment. The General Counsel alleged that the termination retaliated against protected union activity. An administrative law judge found that management had…
U.S. Forest Service, Collbran Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, Collbran, Colorado and National Federation of Federal Employees, IAMAW, AFL-CIO
Forest Service Collbran Job Corps Center and NFFE (FLRA DE-RP-22-0035): Authority leaves election petition dismissed as untimely
NFFE sought an election to represent employees at the Forest Service's Collbran Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center. A regional director found that an annually renewed agreement already covered the employees through AFGE and dismissed NFFE's petition because it was filed outside the statutory…
UHS of Delaware, Inc. and Premier Behavioral Health Solutions of Florida, Inc. d/b/a Suncoast Behavioral Health Center
Workplace-violence citation affirmed as serious
Suncoast operated a Florida inpatient psychiatric hospital where employees experienced repeated patient assaults that caused serious injuries. OSHA cited Suncoast and its management company, UHS of Delaware, under the General Duty Clause for exposing employees to workplace violence. The Commission…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. Macks USA, Inc.
H-1B benching award and owner liability affirmed
Macks USA sponsored Shaukat Jalal for H-1B computer-programming work but did not assign or pay him for extended periods, leaving him to find projects through another recruiter. The Board held that unpaid benching was a continuing violation through the end of his work authorization, making the…
BMP International, Inc., IGas USA Inc., and Scales N Stuff, Inc.
In re BMP International, Inc., IGas USA Inc., and Scales N Stuff, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 23-03C): greenhouse-gas reporting settlement approved
BMP International, Inc., IGas USA, Inc., and Scales N Stuff, Inc., together with specified affiliated companies, were Florida corporations subject to EPA's greenhouse-gas reporting requirements. EPA alleged that BMP exceeded the 25,000 metric ton carbon-dioxide-equivalent import threshold in 2017…
United States Postal Service
Des Moines heat-hazard case remanded
OSHA cited the Postal Service under the General Duty Clause after two Des Moines letter carriers became ill while delivering mail in hot weather. The administrative law judge vacated the citation after finding that OSHA had not proved an excessive-heat hazard. The Commission reversed that finding…
United States Postal Service
Four heat-hazard citations vacated
OSHA issued General Duty Clause citations after letter carriers became ill while delivering mail during hot summer conditions in San Antonio, Benton, Houston, and Martinsburg. The Commission found that the environmental heat and the physical demands of the routes created a significant…
Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Silica
Staff-routing error supported reopening
U.S. Silica failed to contest a proposed penalty assessment within 30 days after delivery. The company said operations and staffing changes led a new administrative assistant to send the assessment to an interim manager at another office instead of following the proper process. U.S. Silica…
Raziano v. Albertsons, LLC
Attorney-fee settlement approved
Albertsons petitioned for review of an attorney-fee order in four consolidated STAA cases. The company later sought voluntary dismissal after the fee issues were resolved. Because a withdrawal based on settlement requires Board approval, the Board ordered either certification that no settlement…
Link General Contracting Corp.
Scaffold access and fall-protection citations affirmed
Link General Contracting employees performed facade repairs from scaffold platforms at the fifth and sixth floors of a Brooklyn building. OSHA observed an employee using scaffold crossbracing and building formwork to move between platforms more than two feet apart. Employees also wore harnesses but…
Matter of Jorge Alberto DUARTE-GONZALEZ
Unlawful-presence bar does not require residence abroad
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent’s appeal from the denial of adjustment of status. It held that a noncitizen subject to the unlawful-presence inadmissibility period is not required to remain outside the United States during that period before seeking to overcome the bar. Because the…
Morton Salt, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Standalone POV-notice docket dismissed
MSHA issued Morton Salt a pattern-of-violations notice and later nine section 104(e) withdrawal orders. Morton contested the withdrawal orders and referenced the POV notice in each contest but acknowledged that it had not directly contested the notice itself. Under Commission precedent, a POV…
Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Mine-ID petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Cactus Canyon asked the Commission to compel MSHA to issue identification numbers for ten intermittent surface mines, framing its filing as a contest proceeding. The Judge held that Commission contest jurisdiction is limited to specified citations, orders, penalty assessments, abatement periods…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 and United States Department of the Army, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
AFGE Local 1858 and Army Redstone Arsenal (FLRA 0-AR-5847): Authority denies challenge to arbitration award
AFGE Local 1858 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army's Redstone Arsenal. The Authority issued an expedited, abbreviated decision, so the public release does not describe the underlying dispute or the Union's specific argument. After reviewing the record and its precedent, the…
National Treasury Employees Union and United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
NTEU and USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FLRA 0-AR-5804): Authority upholds bargaining-ground-rules award
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service proposed changes to its performance-appraisal system and awards program while negotiating a successor agreement with NTEU. An arbitrator found that the agency violated the agreement and committed an unfair labor practice by notifying the wrong Union official, but…
Secretary of Labor v. Rockwell Mining, LLC
Receptionist error supported reopening
Rockwell Mining failed to contest a proposed penalty assessment within 30 days. A new office manager receptionist received the assessment but did not provide it to the corporate safety director for more than two months. Rockwell said its normal procedure required assessments to be scanned and sent…
Secretary of Labor v. Miller Contracting Services, Inc.
Lost contest supported reopening
Miller Contracting Services said it mailed a penalty contest packet, but MSHA did not receive it. An internal miscommunication caused the company to send the packet without certified-mail tracking, and Miller learned of the problem only after receiving a delinquency notice. The company then updated…
Secretary of Labor v. Specialty Vermiculite, LLC
Mine shutdown disruption supported reopening
Specialty Vermiculite failed to contest a proposed penalty assessment within 30 days. The company said its Enoree Operations mine had ceased operations, most employees had been laid off, and COVID illnesses added to confusion among the remaining staff. The employee responsible for contests worked…
Secretary of Labor v. Iron Cumberland, LLC
Management transition supported reopening
Iron Cumberland failed to contest two proposed penalty assessments within 30 days. The mine changed ownership and management near the end of 2021, including hiring a new safety director, and the transition altered internal processing procedures. Iron Cumberland learned of the missed assessments…
Matter of J- L- L-
Pre-1996 Form I-122 proceedings are outside the Niz-Chavez rule
The Board reviewed an applicant’s motion to reopen a removal case that had been initiated with a Form I-122 before the effective date of the 1996 immigration amendments. It held that the Supreme Court’s decisions concerning notices to appear and the stop-time rule do not apply to those earlier…
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC
Fourteen-citation settlement approved
The settlement resolved fourteen citations at Appalachian Resource's Grapevine South Surface Mine and reduced penalties from $18,550 to $11,000. Three associated section 104(b) withdrawal orders were vacated, three citations were changed from low to no negligence, and one citation was changed from…
National Treasury Employees Union
NTEU petition to amend FLRA policy-statement rule (FLRA 0-MC-0034): Authority preserves broad request access
NTEU asked the Authority to limit which lawful associations may request general policy statements by restricting the rule to associations made up of and serving federal employees. The Authority found that the rule's wording and regulatory history instead showed an intent to allow broad access…
Walmart, Inc.
Unsecured pallet-storage citation affirmed on remand
Walmart stored merchandise pallets on high back-to-back racks at a New York distribution center where forklifts regularly tipped pallets and caused products to fall. An employee suffered neck and spinal injuries when merchandise fell from a pallet dislodged by a forklift. After the Second Circuit…
Onekey, LLC
Judge's decision vacated after contest withdrawn
An administrative law judge had affirmed the citations against Onekey, and the case was directed for Commission review. Onekey later withdrew its notice of contest under the Commission's procedural rules. The Commission therefore vacated the judge's decision and order. This final order does not…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert M. Carlucci v. Spartan Mining Company, LLC
Economic temporary reinstatement granted
Robert Carlucci took a shuttle car out of service after its brakes failed and notified mine management. A section foreman responded that Carlucci would be allowed to operate only a shovel, and an evening-shift foreman warned that traveling to the surface to speak with safety personnel or the…
Knibb v. New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, Inc.
FRSA appeal dismissed for missed briefing orders
Fitz Knibb appealed an administrative judge's dismissal of his FRSA complaint after repeated problems with conferences, discovery, and an ordered amended complaint. The Board set an opening-brief deadline, but Knibb filed no brief. He opposed the railroad's motion to dismiss by citing his…
Shah v. Albert Fried & Co.
Second SOX reconsideration motion denied
The Board had affirmed summary dismissal of Sachin Shah's SOX complaint based on the employer's affirmative defense. Shah's first reconsideration motion exceeded the briefing limits and was denied without prejudice. He then filed a compliant second motion with hundreds of pages of exhibits. The…
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.