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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Bremerton Metal Trades Council and United States Department of the Navy, Trident Submarine Refit Facility, Bangor, Washington
Bremerton Metal Trades Council and Trident Refit Facility (FLRA 0-AR-5767): Authority dismisses defective exceptions
The Bremerton Metal Trades Council filed exceptions to an arbitration award but did not serve a complete copy on the Navy's designated representative. The Union then mislabeled a response, omitted the electronic filing form, and failed to include required service statements in later responses…
Gloss v. Tata Chemicals North America
Partial summary ruling not immediately reviewable
Rodney Gloss alleged retaliation under the Clean Air Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The ALJ granted summary decision on the SOX claim and several CAA theories but left CAA claims involving termination and severance for a hearing. Gloss appealed before the ALJ had resolved the entire case and did not…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1748, National Council of Field Labor Locals and United States Department of Labor, Kansas City, Missouri
AFGE Local 1748 and Department of Labor (FLRA 0-NG-3606): Authority rejects geographic claims assignment
AFGE Local 1748 proposed assigning all Department of Labor employee workers' compensation claims to claims staff in the Kansas City commuting area, except claims from that office, and maintaining two claims units plus support staff there. The Union conceded that directing where the claims work…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center
AFGE Local 2338 and Pershing VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-5798): Authority upholds missed-scheduling dismissal
AFGE Local 2338 challenged promotion policies at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, but the parties did not schedule an arbitration hearing within the agreement's six-month deadline. The arbitrator had asked for availability and proposed a remote-hearing planning meeting, but the Union did not…
Lucas Shrewsbury dba Infinite Installation and Repair
Roof fall citations affirmed by default
OSHA cited Infinite Installation and Repair after employees allegedly worked on a 19-foot-high low-slope roof without fall protection and near unprotected skylights. The company contested the citations but repeatedly failed to provide ordered discovery, and the judge first imposed lesser sanctions…
National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D.C. and National Labor Relations Board Professional Association
NLRB and NLRB Professional Association (FLRA 0-AR-5550): Authority credits law-clerk service toward tenure
NLRB attorneys began agency service in law-clerk trainee appointments lasting up to 14 months before conversion to attorney positions with a two-year probationary period. An arbitrator found that the trainee service was time-limited but not temporary under the governing regulation and involved the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of George Rice v. Nally & Hamilton Enterprises
Original temporary reinstatement order later amended
George Rice drove rock trucks for Nally & Hamilton Enterprises and repeatedly reported a broken air conditioner that made one truck dangerously hot. During the shift after an MSHA inspection, he also reported steering and brake problems in another truck and understood his foreman's direction to get…
Ramos v. Globant, S.A.
SOX withdrawal set for delayed effect
Camilo José Sánchez Ramos appealed dismissal of his SOX retaliation complaint, then asked permission to move the claim to federal district court without filing an opening brief. The Board explained that its permission was unnecessary for a qualifying district-court action, but Ramos had not yet…
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 336
National Park Service and NTEU Chapter 336 (FLRA 0-AR-5796): Authority upholds retaliation backpay
A temporary National Park Service maintenance worker questioned why white employees appeared to receive promotions while Black employees were left behind during a planned reorganization. An arbitrator found that the statement was protected equal-employment-opportunity activity and that retaliatory…
Cesar Garcia
Five serious citations affirmed after failure to attend trial
OSHA issued Cesar Garcia five serious citation items after inspecting a worksite in Wichita, Kansas, and proposed penalties totaling $15,214. Because Spanish was Garcia's primary language, the judge ordered subsequent filings translated into Spanish and arranged an interpreter for trial. Garcia did…
Sentinel Systems, LLC
Utility-vehicle training citation vacated
A Sentinel Systems employee died when the utility vehicle he was driving struck an empty flatbed trailer at the American Dream Mall construction project in New Jersey. OSHA cited Sentinel for allegedly failing to instruct operators about driving the vehicle on pavement with tires designed for…
Bremerton Metal Trades Council and United States Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Bremerton Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-5809): Authority upholds one-day suspension
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard held an employee's one-day suspension in abeyance on the condition that the employee avoid further disciplinary offenses for two years. After the employee accepted a separate suspension for later conduct, the agency imposed the suspended day without another notice period…
United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Garrison Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858
Redstone Arsenal and AFGE Local 1858 (FLRA 0-AR-5778): Authority vacates promotion stipend
A Redstone Arsenal security guard regularly performed point-of-contact duties and sought GS-6 compensation and a permanent promotion. An arbitrator found that the agency had failed to bargain over compensation for the extra duties and awarded a weekly stipend. The Authority held that 5 U.S.C. §…
Laborers International Union of North America, Local 1776 and United States Department of the Army, National Guard Bureau, Michigan Army National Guard
Laborers Local 1776 and Michigan Army National Guard (FLRA 0-AR-5732): Authority upholds immediate technician removals
The Michigan Army National Guard adopted a policy requiring immediate removal of dual-status technicians who lost military membership because of a medical disability, even while disability-retirement claims were pending. Laborers Local 1776 argued that the policy repudiated an agreement provision…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Alvaro Saldivar v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Stay of reinstatement-payment enforcement denied
Alvaro Saldivar received temporary economic reinstatement while his discrimination case against Grimes Rock proceeded, with outside earnings offset against the operator's payments. After periods when Saldivar was unavailable for work and later had no outside job, a judge ordered Grimes Rock to pay…
Secretary of Labor v. Espinoza Stone, Inc.
Pandemic strain supported reopening late penalty contest
Espinoza Stone did not contest a proposed penalty within 30 days, so the assessment became a final Commission order in July 2020. The operator said the unprecedented strain of the COVID-19 pandemic caused the missed deadline, that it discovered the lapse in June 2021, and that it moved to reopen 20…
UHS of Centennial Peaks LLC, dba Centennial Peaks Hospital
Psychiatric-hospital workplace violence citation affirmed
UHS of Centennial Peaks operated an inpatient psychiatric hospital where direct-care employees faced threats and assaults by patients. The judge found that the hospital recognized workplace violence as an endemic hazard but relied too heavily on clinical patient care rather than a comprehensive…
United States Department of State, Passport Service and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1998
Passport Service and NFFE Local 1998 (FLRA 0-AR-5805): Authority upholds career-ladder promotion
A Passport Service employee in a career-ladder position was denied promotion from GS-9 to GS-11 even after receiving a fully successful rating and strong production results. An arbitrator found that the employee had demonstrated higher-level ability and that the agency had failed to provide enough…
United States Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3732
Merchant Marine Academy and AFGE Local 3732 (FLRA 0-AR-5750): Authority upholds tuition reimbursements
A Merchant Marine Academy professor submitted nineteen tuition-assistance requests while pursuing a master's degree, but the Academy funded only seven in part. An arbitrator found that the Academy inconsistently administered its program, failed to show funds were unavailable, and wrongly rejected…
Secretary of Labor v. Green Brothers Gravel Company, Inc.
Mistyped email justified reopening default
Green Brothers Gravel did not answer the Secretary's penalty petition, and an order to show cause became a default order after 30 days. The operator said pandemic-era service occurred by email and a typographical error in counsel's email address prevented delivery of both the petition and later…
Secretary of Labor v. Washington County Aggregates, Inc.
Conference request and COVID illness excused late contest
Washington County Aggregates did not contest a proposed penalty within 30 days, so the assessment became a final Commission order in September 2021. The operator said it mistakenly believed that requesting a safety and health conference with the MSHA district office began the citation-contest…
Petroplex Pipe and Construction, Inc.
Commission dismisses lockout case after settlement
The case arose after a fire during maintenance on oil-field equipment in Stanton, Texas, killed two Petroplex employees. OSHA pursued five lockout/tagout items involving equipment-specific procedures, inspections, training, employee lock control, and coordination with the host employer. The…
United States Department of Education, Washington, D.C. and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 252, AFL-CIO
Department of Education and AFGE (FLRA WA-CA-18-0173): Authority upholds remedies for fourteen labor violations
The FLRA General Counsel consolidated fourteen unfair-labor-practice charges against the Department of Education involving bargaining, formal discussions, official time, dues withholding, and other union rights. The Department missed the deadline to answer, so the chief administrative law judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Good-cause inquiry ordered for late contests
Consol missed the 30-day deadline to contest a section 107(a) order because it was trying to resolve the matter through meetings with MSHA officials. It also sought to reopen three related citations, but one had not yet been assessed, another had already been timely contested, and only Citation No…
Secretary of Labor v. Nyrstar Tennessee Mines Gordonsville, LLC
Paid assessment reopened after mistaken abatement belief
Nyrstar paid $12,297 for 24 citations without filing a timely penalty contest. A superintendent stated that he had believed the operator and MSHA had reached an agreement on abating each violation, but no agreement was ultimately reached and citation-termination issues remained open. The Secretary…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Michael Butler
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC and Michael Butler (FMSHRC LAKE 2019-0023): Energized drilling in high methane affirmed
A drill breached old mine workings at Peabody's Francisco Mine, releasing methane that repeatedly exceeded the drill's two-percent shutdown point and registered at least five percent on personal detectors. Mine manager Michael Butler allowed miners to keep an energized drill operating for about…
Secretary of Labor v. Liberty Aggregates LLC
Inadvertent late contest reopened after MSHA inquiries
Liberty Aggregates did not contest a four-citation penalty assessment within 30 days, made a partial payment, and later received a delinquency notice. The operator said it had repeatedly contacted MSHA offices during January and February 2022 to understand the basis for the large assessment. It…
Trivedi v. General Electric and GE Healthcare
Years-late whistleblower complaint dismissed
Madhuri Trivedi alleged that General Electric and GE Healthcare retaliated against her when they ended her employment in May 2013. She filed the complaint before the Board in September 2021, more than eight years after the termination and far beyond the 180-day deadlines under SOX and the Consumer…
United States Agency for Global Media and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1812
U.S. Agency for Global Media and AFGE Local 1812 (FLRA 0-AR-5648): Authority denies debt-waiver reconsideration
AFGE Local 1812 asked the Authority to reconsider an earlier decision that set aside an arbitrator's grant of employee debt waivers. The earlier ruling held that an agency official's decision to grant or deny a waiver under 5 U.S.C. § 5584 is not grievable because agencies have exclusive discretion…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 038, National Citizenship and Immigration Service Council and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
USCIS and AFGE Local 038 (FLRA 0-AR-5801): Authority upholds appraisal grievance denial
USCIS gave an employee an achieved-expectations rating without discussing the appraisal or providing a copy when the employee signed it, contrary to the parties' agreement. An arbitrator found those procedural violations undisputed but concluded that later review corrected them and that no evidence…
Secretary of Labor v. Harman Branch Mining Inc.
Pandemic mail delay excused missing contest
Harman Branch Mining's representative said he prepared a penalty contest and placed it in the mail one day after the operator received the assessment. MSHA did not process a timely contest, and the assessment became a final Commission order. Harman attributed the failure to pandemic-related changes…
Secretary of Labor v. Kanawha Eagle Mining, LLC
Wrong contest box checked by mistake
Kanawha Eagle's safety director timely mailed a penalty-contest form but checked the box for a single $123 citation instead of the adjacent box contesting all $17,385 in penalties. The remaining assessments therefore became a final Commission order, and MSHA later issued a delinquency notice. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Farwest Portable Crushing, Inc.
Documented mailing attempts defeated default
Farwest Portable Crushing was defaulted after the record appeared to show that it had not answered the Secretary's penalty petition or responded to an order to show cause. The operator produced certified-mail receipts showing that it mailed an answer in September 2020 and resent its paperwork in…
Secretary of Labor v. LaFarge Holcim
Missing timely contest treated as mistake
LaFarge Holcim paid one citation in a two-citation assessment and said it timely submitted a contest for Citation No. 9622263 at the same time. MSHA did not receive that contest, and the assessment became a final Commission order. The operator discovered the outstanding balance on January 27, 2022…
Secretary of Labor v. United Taconite LLC
Deleted calendar deadline excused
United Taconite missed a penalty-contest deadline after receiving two proposed assessments close together. Its paralegal confused the two matters and inadvertently deleted the deadline for this assessment after filing the other contest. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged the operator…
Secretary of Labor v. ICG Illinois LLC
Contests sent with payments to lockbox reopened
ICG Illinois intended to contest citations in two assessments but mistakenly sent the contest notices with its payments for uncontested citations to MSHA's St. Louis lockbox. The notices should have been sent separately to MSHA's Arlington office, so both assessments became final Commission orders…
Secretary of Labor v. Bob Bergkamp Construction Company, Inc.
Contest sent to wrong agency reopened
Bob Bergkamp Construction attempted to contest a proposed penalty before the deadline but sent its notice to the Commission instead of MSHA. The operator supplied a confirmation email showing that it uploaded a document to the Commission's electronic case system on March 29, 2022, eight days after…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
New specialist's conference mistake excused
Morton Salt's newly assigned health and safety specialist did not file a penalty contest because he was unfamiliar with the process. He believed no contest was required while the citations were being conferenced and one remained under investigation. The assessment therefore became a final…
Shah v. Albert Fried & Co.
SOX summary dismissal affirmed
Sachin Shah alleged that Albert Fried and TD Securities terminated him for reporting suspected securities violations. The ALJ assumed protected activity but found no evidence that TD Securities knew of it and found clear and convincing evidence that the company would have eliminated Shah's…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, Florida and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3690, Council of Prison Locals 33
FCI Miami and AFGE Local 3690 (FLRA 0-AR-5771): Authority reinstates but denies overtime exceptions
An arbitrator found that FCI Miami misclassified teachers as exempt from federal overtime requirements and later awarded backpay and liquidated damages. The Authority initially dismissed the agency's exceptions after not receiving its response to a show-cause order. Delivery records showed that the…
Riverdale Mills Corporation
Lockout items mostly vacated, health items affirmed
Riverdale Mills manufactures coated wire mesh on a long production line at its Massachusetts facility. After an employee suffered a severe arm injury while adjusting moving mesh, OSHA issued safety and health citations involving lockout/tagout, machine guarding, chemical training, and access to…
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries Inc.
Late-petition dismissal denied after extension was met
Cactus Canyon asked to dismiss its penalty case because the Secretary did not file the petition within the usual 45-day period after the operator's contest. Before the petition was filed, the Chief Judge had found good cause and extended the deadline to January 18, 2022; the Commission declined…
Secretary of Labor v. Covol Fuels No. 3 LLC
Massive roof-fall penalty reduction rejected
MSHA cited Covol Fuels after a roof collapse in the primary escapeway measured about 20 feet wide, 35 feet long, and 9 feet thick. The citation treated the event as having occurred, with fatal gravity and an S&S designation, and proposed a $3,546 penalty. The parties sought to change likelihood to…
Matter of V-A-K-
Attempted burglary conviction barred cancellation of removal
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security’s appeal from a grant of cancellation of removal to a Ukrainian lawful permanent resident. It held that the respondent’s New York conviction for attempted second-degree burglary was an aggravated felony burglary offense under the categorical…
United States Department of Defense, Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools and Federal Education Association, Stateside Region
DOD schools and Federal Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-5590): Authority denies impasse-order reconsideration
The Defense Department and the Federal Education Association reached an impasse while negotiating a successor agreement for stateside schools. An arbitrator later found that the Federal Service Impasses Panel lacked jurisdiction over one provision and that the Department violated bargaining law by…
Walker Industrial, LLC
Scissor-lift capacity violation affirmed, struck-by item vacated
A boom lift backed into an elevated scissor lift at a Texas warehouse project, causing the scissor lift to fall with three Walker Industrial employees in its basket. All three employees were seriously injured and one died. The judge vacated a general duty clause item because OSHA did not prove that…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3627 and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings Operations
SSA Office of Hearings Operations and AFGE Local 3627 (FLRA 0-AR-5803): Authority upholds untimely-grievance ruling
AFGE Local 3627 challenged the Social Security Administration's nonselection of two employees for vacancies. The parties extended the deadline for the Union's step-three grievances to February 12, 2021, and the Union emailed them that day. Their agreement provided that an emailed grievance is…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1998 and United States Department of State, Passport Services
Passport Services and NFFE Local 1998 (FLRA 0-AR-5790): Authority upholds mission-critical return to offices
Passport Services designated employees as mission critical and required them to return to offices during the COVID-19 pandemic because specialists could not access secure passport systems remotely. An arbitrator found that the agency and NFFE Local 1998 bargained over the impact and implementation…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, North Carolina and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2065
Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune and AFGE Local 2065 (FLRA 0-AR-5657): Authority upholds bargaining remedy
AFGE Local 2065 challenged the Naval Medical Center's refusal to recognize its chosen bargaining representative and the Center's unilateral ground rules and term agreement. The arbitrator found that the Center committed unfair labor practices by failing to bargain in good faith and ordered the…
Secretary of Labor v. County Line Stone Co., Inc., et al.
Settlement vacatur issue accepted for interlocutory review
The Secretary sought approval of settlements involving County Line Stone, Consol Pennsylvania Coal, and Ramaco Resources, with each proposal calling for at least one citation to be vacated. The judge asked the Secretary to confirm that each vacatur was independent of the compromise of other…
Matter of Alexandre Ricardo Marcelo FERNANDES
Timely objection to an incomplete notice to appear requires a proper remedy
The Board reviewed a Portuguese respondent’s challenge to a notice to appear that omitted the time and place of the hearing. It held that the time and place requirement is a claim-processing rule, that an objection is generally timely when raised before the close of pleadings, and that a respondent…
Secretary of Labor v. Nevada Ready Mix Corp.
Pandemic-related filing error supported reopening
Nevada Ready Mix Corp. failed to contest a proposed penalty assessment within the Mine Act's 30-day deadline, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The company said it mistakenly marked the contest form, and counsel directed an assistant to correct it. The assistant did not…
Secretary of Labor v. New Point Stone Co., Inc.
Two misaddressed contests reopened
New Point Stone timely prepared notices contesting portions of two proposed penalty assessments. For each assessment, it mistakenly sent the contest notice with a partial payment to MSHA's payment address instead of mailing the notice to the separate contest address. The Secretary did not oppose…
Secretary of Labor v. Harrison Sand & Gravel Co., Inc.
Misaddressed penalty contests reopened
Harrison Sand & Gravel received two proposed penalty assessments and timely prepared notices contesting part of each assessment. It mistakenly mailed both contest notices with the partial payments to MSHA's payment address instead of sending the notices to the separate contest address. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Callender Construction Company, Inc.
Paid penalties prompted show-cause order
Callender Construction moved to reopen a final penalty assessment to contest three citations, but the record indicated that the associated penalties had already been paid. The Commission's acknowledgment letter used the wrong assessment-control number, and the Secretary's unopposed response…
Secretary of Labor v. Table Rock Asphalt Construction, Inc.
Manager turnover excused missed answer
Table Rock failed to answer the Secretary's penalty petition, causing a show-cause order to become a final default order. The operator said its records and filing responsibilities were disrupted when its safety manager was replaced. Its files contained a copy of an answer, but it could not confirm…
Secretary of Labor v. County Line Stone Co., Inc., et al.
Premature settlement-review petition denied
The Secretary sought interlocutory review in three cases after the judge questioned settlement proposals that included vacating citations. The judge had asked whether each vacatur was independent of the compromise of other citations, and the Secretary instead sought certification of the legal issue…
Matter of Ubaldo ORTEGA-QUEZADA
Firearm-disposition conviction was overbroad for removability
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent’s challenge to removability based on a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(d) for unlawfully selling or otherwise disposing of a firearm or ammunition. It held that the federal statute was categorically overbroad and indivisible compared with the firearms…
McCurry v. Kenco Logistic Services, LLC
Disability-benefit retaliation claim denied
Edith McCurry alleged that Kenco retaliated for her support of a former coworker's Food Safety Modernization Act case by temporarily terminating her long-term disability benefits. Hartford, an outside company, administered the disability plan and made the benefit decisions more than two years after…
District Council of Iron Workers of the State of California and Vicinity v. Wage and Hour Division, USDOL
District Council of Iron Workers v. Wage and Hour Division (DOL ARB 2020-0035): rural California wage survey remanded
The Wage and Hour Division surveyed residential construction in rural California but did not publish an ironworker prevailing wage rate after dividing the work into structural, reinforcing, and ornamental subclasses. The survey forms uniformly identified the workers as ironworkers, and 17 of 18…
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.