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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Grateside Coals, Inc.
Default judgment assesses $2,444 in penalties
Grateside Coals did not answer civil penalty proposals covering 25 citations in two dockets, totaling $2,444. The company also failed to respond to an order to show cause after receiving it. Judge George A. Koutras found the company in default, held that it waived its right to a hearing, and…
Ohio River Collieries
Amended settlement approved at $690
Ohio River Collieries had proposed settlements totaling $690 for violations originally assessed at $1,000. Judge Paul Merlin reopened the earlier settlement decision under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.65(c) because of a clerical error, found that the motion addressed the statutory penalty criteria, and…
Wilmot Mining Company
Training citation vacated, ROPS and brake findings affirmed
Wilmot Mining operated a surface coal mine where a front-end loader overturned and killed superintendent John Schrock. The Commission held that the Secretary did not prove the annual refresher-training violation because the record did not establish the employees' training histories or whether…
Youghiogheny & Ohio Coal Company
Default label rejected, ventilation violations and penalties affirmed
Youghiogheny & Ohio Coal Company operated the underground Nelms No. 2 coal mine in Ohio. MSHA inspectors found air recirculation, coal dust, and methane on two sections and cited violations of the mine ventilation standard. The ALJ found the violations significant and substantial and assessed…
John Ervin Paugh v. Mettiki Coal Corporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed
John Ervin Paugh alleged that Mettiki Coal Corporation discharged him because he raised safety concerns about ventilation and roof-bolting procedures. Mettiki maintained that it discharged him for fighting with another miner underground. Judge George A. Koutras found that management reasonably…
Secretary of Labor v. Triple D Coal Company
Default order assesses $306 penalty
MSHA proposed a $306 civil penalty against Triple D Coal Company. The company did not comply with a prehearing order or a later show-cause order requiring it to confer with MSHA and prepare for the proceeding. The company later reported that it had shut down and described financial difficulties…
Street & Whited Coal Co., Inc.
Settlement approved at $6,300
Street & Whited Coal Co. faced four violations arising from a fatal roof fall, including allegations involving the accident scene, accident notification, miner training, and the approved roof control plan. The parties proposed reducing the total assessment from $10,300 to $6,300. The settlement…
General Motors Corporation, Arlington Plant
Exposure-record item settled and posting item vacated
Employees near a solvent degreaser were exposed to toxic chemicals, but General Motors had not informed them of their right to access exposure-monitoring records and the material safety data sheet. The judge affirmed that information item as nonserious. A second item alleged that the…
Williams Enterprises, Inc.
Willful steel-erection violations affirmed after fatal collapse
Williams erected structural steel for a school addition where part of the framework collapsed, killing one employee and injuring two others. The judge excluded the company's proposed expert witness and affirmed five willful steel-erection items. The Commission held that excluding the witness was…
Midwest Steel Erection, Inc.
Steel-erection settlement approved with remaining rulings final
Three OSHA inspections of Midwest's structural-steel work produced serious, willful, repeat, and other-than-serious citations with $23,200 proposed. The judge affirmed several fall-protection and ladder items, reduced one willful item to serious, affirmed the repeat and other-than-serious…
Utah Power & Light Company (Emery Mining)
Partial settlement vacates two orders and resolves a third
Utah Power & Light Company's Emery Mining division reached a partial settlement covering four enforcement papers in Docket WEST 86-240 as part of a broader 16-docket resolution. The Secretary vacated two withdrawal orders, and the company agreed to pay the original $400 assessment for a third…
Emery Mining Company
And Utah Power & Light Company (FMSHRC WEST 86-217 and related dockets): Settlement vacates, modifies, and dismisses enforcement matters
Emery Mining Company and Utah Power & Light Company's mining division resolved 16 dockets involving 14 citations and orders. The settlement reduced the total penalties from $4,221 to $3,024, vacated two withdrawal orders, modified five withdrawal orders from section 104(d)(1) to section 104(a)…
Secretary of Labor v. Western Avella Contractors, Inc.
Default order assesses $15,770 penalty
The Secretary filed a civil penalty proceeding against Western Avella Contractors concerning alleged Mine Act violations at the Buchanan No. 1 Mine. After the company said financial considerations prevented it from settling or continuing to defend the case, it consented to a default order. Judge…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Ram car permissibility citation affirmed
Jim Walter Resources challenged a citation involving a ram car used at its No. 7 Mine. One battery cell had been bypassed, reducing the battery from 120 cells and 240 volts to 119 cells and 238 volts. Judge Paul Merlin found that the change departed from the equipment's approved permissible…
Mears Enterprises, Inc.
Default order makes $3,500 penalty final
Mears Enterprises failed to comply with a prehearing order in a civil penalty proceeding at the Bear Run No. 1 mine. Judge William Fauver issued a show-cause order, but Mears did not respond by the deadline. The Judge deemed the company in default, found that it waived its right to a hearing, made…
Rushton Mining Company
Roof-control order modified to citation and $750 penalty assessed
Rushton Mining operated an underground bituminous coal mine where an inspector found a roof-control-plan violation after an unintentional roof fall partially covered a continuous miner. Judge James A. Broderick found that the Secretary had not established an intervening clean inspection, so the…
Collier-Keyworth Company
Impulse-noise case remanded for evidence on the standard's intent
Collier-Keyworth manufactured office-chair mechanisms using power presses and lathes that produced high noise levels. The Commission initially held that the permissible-noise table did not cover impulse noise and planned to vacate related citation items unless the Secretary rebutted historical…
Byco-MCS Division of Bywater Sales & Service, and Its Successors
Default order remanded for good-cause review
Byco contested serious and other-than-serious citations but did not answer the Secretary's complaint. It also failed to respond to the judge's show-cause order, so the judge dismissed the contest, affirmed all citation items, and assessed the proposed penalties by default. A new owner then sent an…
Wes Jones & Son Inc.
Default remanded after employer negotiated with OSHA instead of the Commission
Wes Jones contested two serious construction citations but did not certify employee notice or answer the Secretary's complaint. The company communicated with OSHA's attorney while settlement discussions were underway, but it did not respond to the Commission or the judge's order. The judge…
Delo Screw Products Company
Warrant-suppression ruling vacated and remanded
OSHA obtained a warrant for a plant-wide inspection after Delo refused an inspection based on an employee complaint about methylene chloride vapors. The inspection produced citations unrelated to the complaint, and the judge suppressed the evidence and vacated all items. The Commission held that…
Texasgulf, Inc.
Errata corrected terminology in prior decision
The judge issued this errata order to correct wording in an earlier decision involving Texasgulf, Inc. The order changed the phrase “serious and substantial” to “significant and substantial.” It identifies the correction as the author’s error and does not otherwise state a change to the earlier…
Alabama Power Company
Overturning coal-truck citation vacated
An Alabama Power laboratory helper was killed when a coal truck overturned while dumping at the company's generating plant. OSHA alleged that the company had not adequately protected employees who sampled delivered coal. The Commission found that Alabama Power had sufficiently specific rules…
Larry D. Scroggins v. Peabody Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after withdrawal
Larry D. Scroggins brought a discrimination proceeding against Peabody Coal Company. He moved to withdraw his complaint. Judge Roy J. Maurer found good cause and granted the motion. The case was dismissed.
Williams Enterprises, Inc.
Four citation items and $2,300 penalty became final
Williams Enterprises was the steel-erection contractor for a multistory building in Virginia. OSHA cited perimeter fall protection, an improperly positioned and unsecured ladder, an unbarricaded crane swing radius, missing perimeter railings, and gaps in temporary flooring. The judge vacated the…
Skyline Crane Service, Inc.
Steel-erection citations and $780 penalty became final
Skyline Crane Service erected structural steel at a building project where employees worked about 60 feet above the ground. OSHA cited inadequate fall protection, missing perimeter nets, uncovered or unguarded floor openings, and the absence of immediately available fire-extinguishing equipment…
Skyline Crane Service, Inc.
Review of perimeter-net citation vacated
The judge vacated a citation alleging that Skyline failed to provide perimeter nets during structural steel erection. Review focused on whether Skyline had fair notice in 1980 that the general construction safety-net standard applied in addition to the steel-erection rules. Later court decisions…
Secretary of Labor v. Eugene C. McPherson
Individual penalty settlement approved for $100
The Secretary alleged that Eugene C. McPherson, a mine manager, knowingly authorized a front-end loader with inoperative brakes to operate at the Somerset Lime and Stone Mine. The Secretary proposed a $250 individual penalty under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. McPherson no longer contested the…
Pyro Mining Company
Eight violations settled for $15,000
MSHA proposed penalties for eight alleged violations of mandatory safety standards at Pyro Mining Company’s Pyro No. 9 Slope and Palco Mine. The initial assessments totaled $16,300. The parties agreed to settlements totaling $15,000, including reduced amounts for two listed violations. Judge George…
Pyro Mining Company
Settlement amount corrected to $1,600
Judge George A. Koutras had approved a settlement in the proceeding against Pyro Mining Company. The earlier decision stated that Order No. 2513117 was settled for $2,000. The parties later informed the judge that they had agreed to settle the alleged violation for $1,600. After reviewing the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Yale E. Hennessee v. Alamo Cement Company; Alamo Cement Company v. Secretary of Labor
Alamo Cement Company (FMSHRC CENT 87-17-RM, CENT 87-18-RM, CENT 87-19-RM, CENT 87-43-M, CENT 87-44-M, CENT 86-151-DM, CENT 87-16-DM): Settlement approved and proceedings dismissed
Yale E. Hennessee claimed that Alamo Cement discharged him after he refused work he believed could not be performed safely. The parties settled the discrimination claims for a payment of $21,000, with Hennessee giving up his claim for reinstatement. MSHA waived the proposed discrimination penalty…
Formwork Services Inc.
Falling-material citation withdrawn and remaining rulings became final
Formwork Services was a concrete-forming subcontractor on an Atlanta high-rise project where falling lumber struck another contractor's employee, who then fell to his death. The judge found a serious general-duty-clause violation for inadequate protection against falling materials, but reduced its…
Consolidation Coal Company
Roof-bolting settlement approved for $30
Consolidation Coal Company faced a civil penalty proceeding over roof-bolt spacing at its Blacksville No. 1 Mine. The Secretary alleged that four rows of bolts in the P-3 section did not comply with the approved roof-control plan, exposing miners to roof-fall hazards. The parties disputed whether…
Consolidation Coal Company
Ventilation violation affirmed with $700 penalty
MSHA cited Consolidation Coal Company after smoke released near a power center moved toward a track entry instead of directly into the return. The judge found that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.1105, which requires air currents ventilating electrical installations to be coursed directly into…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Electrical-protection order modified and settlements approved
Southern Ohio Coal Company challenged three orders issued at its Martinka No. 1 Mine, and the Secretary proposed penalties totaling $2,200. The parties settled two orders for $500 each. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the remaining order correctly identified inadequate short-circuit protection for a…
Secretary of Labor v. Falcon Explorations
Three citations affirmed with $100 penalty
Falcon Explorations operated a small, three-person heap-leaching mine that used a weak cyanide solution to recover gold and silver. MSHA cited the operator for unlocked transformer enclosures, failure to keep a grounding-system test record available, and failure to provide adequate first-aid…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Andy Brackner v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Reconsideration denied
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. asked the Commission to reconsider its March 20, 1987 order denying the company’s petition for discretionary review in Andy Brackner’s discrimination proceeding. After considering the motion and its earlier order, the Commission denied reconsideration.
Alvin Ritchie v. Kodak Mining Company, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Kodak Mining laid off Alvin Ritchie from his preparation plant operator position and offered him a lower-paying night-watchman job. Ritchie alleged that the action was retaliation for reporting coal dust, broken walkway boards, and other safety concerns, and for an injury from a company pickup…
Kaspar Wire Works, Inc.
Power-press case remanded for unresolved defenses
Kaspar Wire Works challenged citations arising from an OSHA inspection of its manufacturing plant. The judge affirmed a serious item alleging that a mechanical power press was operated without using its point-of-operation protection and assessed $160. He also affirmed, without a penalty, an item…
All Purpose Crane, Inc.
Broken-wire citation vacated for insufficient proof
All Purpose Crane operated a crane whose boom rope broke and whose boom collapsed at a Florida construction site, killing three workers. OSHA cited the company for several crane, wire-rope, recordkeeping, and fire-extinguisher conditions. The judge affirmed serious items for overloading the crane…
Consolidation Coal Company
Part 50 settlements approved for $2,000
Consolidation Coal Company faced four alleged violations of the Mine Act's accident and injury reporting requirements at the Blacksville No. 1 and No. 2 Mines. The citations concerned reports for injuries involving restricted duty, lost workdays, and a worker's return after an eye injury. The…
Sulphur Springs Stone Company
26 citations affirmed and $1,530 assessed
Sulphur Springs Stone Company operated a small stone mine in Kentucky with five employees. After the company did not appear at the hearing, Judge James A. Broderick reviewed the Secretary's evidence concerning 26 alleged violations found during an October 8, 1985 inspection. The violations included…
Consolidation Coal Company
Corrected settlement approved for $1,075
Consolidation Coal Company faced three contest proceedings and two related civil penalty proceedings concerning conditions at the Humphrey No. 7 Mine. The corrected decision states that three violations were originally assessed at $2,000 total and that the parties agreed to a $1,075 settlement. One…
Emery Mining Corporation
Roof-control penalties assessed at $2,000
Emery Mining Corporation faced two roof-control citations at the Deer Creek Mine. The parties stipulated that the underlying violations had already been decided in related contest proceedings, so Judge John J. Morris addressed the civil penalties and applied the statutory penalty factors. The…
United Minerals, Inc.
Eight-citation settlement approved for $405
United Minerals, Inc. faced eight violations at the Black Mountain Pit Mine. The original penalties totaled $469, but the Secretary proposed settlements totaling $405 after discovering that the Office of Assessments had calculated the penalties using an estimated 200,000 tons of coal production…
Rushton Mining Company
One order vacated and $100 settlement approved
Rushton Mining Company faced a civil penalty proceeding and two related contest proceedings concerning the Rushton Mine. The parties submitted a settlement for approval under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. Judge William Fauver vacated Order No. 2690105, approved a $100 penalty for Order No…
Reading Anthracite Company
$3,600 settlement approved
Reading Anthracite Company faced a civil penalty proceeding concerning the New St. Nicholas Breaker. The Secretary filed a motion to approve a settlement, and the company agreed to pay the proposed penalty of $3,600 in full. Judge Avram Weisberger reviewed the parties' representations and…
Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company
Discrimination decision reaffirmed and attorney fees ordered
Larry Brian Anderson brought a discrimination proceeding against Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company concerning the removal of his employment application from consideration. In an earlier decision, Judge James A. Broderick found that the company violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act and ordered it…
Keco Industries, Inc.
Record-access and blasting-respirator violations affirmed
Keco Industries manufactured military and aerospace equipment and performed abrasive blasting in an enclosed facility at its Ohio plant. The Commission affirmed a willful record-access violation because Keco refused repeated requests for prior injury and illness logs even after OSHA presented an…
Equitable Shipyards, Inc.
Welding-fume items vacated for unreliable sampling
Equitable Shipyards built ships and barges at a Louisiana facility where OSHA sampled welders' exposure to welding fumes. OSHA attached sampling cassettes to the workers' shirt collars, but its own industrial-hygiene guidance and other technical authorities called for placing welding-fume cassettes…
United States Steel Mining Company, Incorporated
Welding safety order modified and penalty assessed
At United States Steel Mining's Morton Mine, a miner welded on a continuous mining machine without continuously testing for methane, making a diligent fire search, or having rock dust or a fire extinguisher immediately available. Judge Avram Weisberger found violations of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1106 and…
Doug Connelly Sand & Gravel
Default order vacated and case remanded
Doug Connelly Sand & Gravel was found in default after it did not respond to a Commission show cause order, and the ALJ assessed $2,179 in civil penalties. The operator's attorney had prepared an answer and mailed it to the Secretary's counsel instead of filing it with the Commission. The…
Crockett Coal Company, Inc.
Default liability confirmed and damages ordered
Crockett Coal was held in default on liability in Gary K. Ratcliff's discrimination proceeding. Ratcliff submitted a statement of costs and damages, and Crockett did not contest it. Judge Gary Melick ordered Crockett to pay $10,043 plus interest within 30 days, subject to the amounts authorized…
J.W. Bill Christie, Inc.
Confined-space citations settled for $240
J.W. Bill Christie repaired natural-gas pipelines and was cited after a gas release in a below-ground manhole overcame two employees, who died. OSHA alleged that employees lacked adequate confined-space hazard instruction, training, and respiratory protection. The judge affirmed two serious…
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.
Carbon-monoxide case resolved by settlement
A failed water seal released a large amount of carbon monoxide in and around Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel's boiler house, injuring ten company employees and five subcontractor employees. The judge found serious and willful violations involving inspection and alarm precautions, emergency planning…
Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company
Commission approves withdrawal of all citations
OSHA cited Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company for numerous conditions at its Arkansas furniture plant after an inspection conducted under a warrant. The earlier litigation addressed whether evidence from a plant-wide inspection should be suppressed when the warrant application was based on…
Rushton Minning Company
Wire-rope order partly affirmed and penalties assessed
At Rushton Mine, an inspector found that a mantrip hoist rope had more than 15 percent broken wires in one strand. Judge James A. Broderick found a violation and unwarrantable failure because Rushton's inspection procedure assigned one person too many tasks and failed to detect clearly visible…
Puskarich Limestone Company
Discrimination proceeding dismissed after settlement
Ricky Vernon Hein and Puskarich Limestone Company asked the judge to approve a settlement and dismiss the discrimination proceeding. Judge William Fauver granted the motion for good cause shown. The parties were ordered to comply with the settlement agreement filed on March 9, 1987, and confirmed…
Emerson Electric Company, Electronics & Space Division
Injury-record citation vacated
During an employee-complaint inspection, Emerson Electric allowed OSHA to inspect the stated complaint items but refused access to its injury and illness forms without a warrant or administrative subpoena. OSHA used neither form of legal process and issued a no-penalty citation for refusing the…
A.B. Chance Company
Record-access citation vacated for lack of legal process
A.B. Chance consented to an OSHA inspection limited to employee-complaint items but refused to provide its OSHA injury and illness forms without a warrant. OSHA did not obtain a warrant or issue an administrative subpoena and instead cited the company for denying access to the records. The judge…
Kings Island, Division of Taft Broadcasting Company
Warrantless injury-record citation vacated
OSHA sought three years of Kings Island's injury and illness logs during an inspection prompted by a complaint about theatrical fog. Kings Island offered access limited to the complaint but refused the broader records request unless OSHA obtained a warrant or used other legal process. OSHA instead…
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.