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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Matter of Calka
Refugee parole date controlled permanent-residence eligibility
The Regional Commissioner reviewed a Polish applicant's request for permanent resident status under a law for refugees paroled into the United States. The applicant had been present in the country before he was paroled as a refugee, but he had not spent two years in the United States after that…
Automatic Sprinkler Corporation of America
Mobile-scaffold penalty reduced to $750
An Automatic Sprinkler employee worked on an unguarded mobile scaffold with a platform only 6.5 feet above its base. Because the scaffold was placed beside lower concrete walkways, an employee falling from two sides could drop 12.5 or 14.5 feet. The Commission held that the guardrail standard…
American Can Company
Noise citation reinstated for protected expert discovery
OSHA alleged that excessive noise at American Can's North Kansas City plant required feasible controls and an effective hearing-conservation program. To develop evidence about engineering feasibility, the Secretary sought a discovery inspection by an outside acoustical expert. The judge denied that…
Dick Corporation
Cross-bracing is not a guardrail, but a standard about attaching a tool to its hose says nothing about joining one hose to another
Dick Corporation was the general contractor on work at Langley High School in Pittsburgh. Two compliance officers found a tubular welded frame scaffold against the north wall with a single plank at the 23-foot level and no guardrails. Nobody was on it during the inspection, but employee Joseph…
Pass and Seymour, Inc.
Molding-machine guarding violation affirmed
Pass and Seymour operated 24 automatic molding machines whose heated dies closed under high pressure. Employees could reach between the dies while open or through side openings during the operating cycle, particularly while clearing a malfunction. The company relied on training, warning plates…
American Airlines, Inc.
Before ordering steel-toed shoes for everyone, the judge has to weigh what the airline was already doing
Cargo handlers at American's Kennedy Airport terminal risked foot injuries from dropped freight containers and container doors. Judge Abraham Gold affirmed a citation under the general personal protective equipment standard, and in 1977 the Commission affirmed and ordered that all such employees…
Witco Chemical Corporation
TDI violations reclassified and penalty reduced
Witco Chemical Corporation manufactured components for foam systems at its New Castle, Delaware plant. OSHA cited the company after monitoring showed two employees were exposed to toluene diisocyanate above the permissible ceiling while filling drums, without respirators and with potentially…
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation
Docket number corrected
The Commission reviewed an Administrative Law Judge's October 17, 1979 order involving Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation. The judge's order incorrectly listed the docket as 79-1468. The Commission corrected the docket number to 76-1468 and affirmed the order as modified. This procedural…
Chobee Steel Erectors, Inc.
The Secretary withdraws the petition that brought the case up, and the judge's decision stands without becoming precedent
A one-paragraph order. The Secretary of Labor had petitioned for discretionary review of the administrative law judge's decision, then moved on March 27, 1978 to withdraw that petition. The Commission grants the motion. With the petition gone, there is nothing left for the Commission to review. The…
Chrysler Casting Corp. - Fostoria Foundry
Nonserious violation and $75 penalty affirmed
An Administrative Law Judge affirmed a citation against Chrysler's Fostoria Foundry under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.178(p)(1). The judge reduced the violation from willful to nonserious and assessed $75 instead of the proposed $4,500 penalty. Neither the Secretary nor Chrysler sought review, and both…
Matter of Elly Velez Pamatong
Permission to represent persons denied
The Board considered a Philippine national and refugee's application for permission to represent people before the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Board. The applicant was a graduate of the University of the Philippines Law Program and wanted to practice for compensation. The Board…
Matter of Giannoutsos
Motion to reopen rescission proceeding denied
The Board reviewed a former permanent resident's motion to reopen proceedings that had rescinded his permanent resident status because the immigrant visa classification used to admit him was not available to him. The Board held that when a respondent claims another numerical visa classification was…
Matter of Salazar
Exclusion order terminated for lack of revocation notice
The Board reviewed the exclusion of a Peruvian applicant who had been admitted as a lawful permanent resident after receiving a visa based on a visa petition that his wife later withdrew. The Board held that his five-month trip through several countries meaningfully interrupted his residence and…
American Cyanamid Company
Settlement order corrected and affirmed
American Cyanamid Company and the Secretary reached a settlement agreement covering multiple citation items. The Commission found that the Administrative Law Judge's order did not accurately reflect that agreement. It modified the order to affirm specified serious, nonserious, and de minimis items…
Matter of Guiragossian
Refugee adjustment reopening denied
The Board reviewed a Bulgarian respondent's motion to reopen deportation proceedings so he could seek adjustment of status as a refugee. It held that the District Director had exclusive authority to decide the refugee-classification application, while an immigration judge or the Board could decide…
Laclede Gas Company
Lifeline violation and $100 penalty affirmed
Laclede Gas Company employees painted a gas holding tank about 100 feet above the ground, and at least two employees working from boatswain's chairs were not tied to the available lifelines. The Commission affirmed a serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.28(j)(4) and a $100 penalty. It held that…
Stearns-Roger, Incorporated
Four violations upheld and cylinder item vacated
Stearns-Roger was the general contractor building an addition to a New Mexico power plant. On review, the Commission upheld violations involving inadequate eye protection, unguarded floor holes, construction housekeeping, and welding hoses and cables in passageways. It affirmed the housekeeping and…
Gold Kist, Inc.
Exit citation reinstated and remanded
OSHA cited Gold Kist's animal-feed facility for allegedly failing to provide adequate exits from its Main Mill Building under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.36(b)(3). An Administrative Law Judge dismissed the case before a hearing, finding that the citation lacked particularity and that the standard was vague on…
Hurlock Roofing Company
An engineer's own testimony showed a workable lifeline mast, which sank both the impossibility and the greater-hazard defense
Five roofers spent seven days putting a built-up roof on a one-story masonry building in Wilmington, Delaware, 16 to 20 feet above the ground. For 15 to 20 percent of that time they worked within one foot of the edge, laying roofing and flashing. Nobody wore a safety belt, and there was no lifeline…
Matter of Yodying
Adjustment application treated as timely filed
The Board reviewed a Thai respondent's application for adjustment of status after she filed it at the same time as a visa petition based on an approved labor certification. The immigration judge treated the adjustment application as ineffective because the visa petition had not yet been approved…
Rodney E. Fossett d/b/a Southern Lightweight Concrete
Scaffold ruling modified
Fossett's employees applied stucco from a tubular scaffold about twelve feet above the ground. The citation used the wrong scaffold-plank provision, but the hearing evidence addressed the correct requirement that planks extend at least six inches over their end supports. The Commission held that…
Williams Enterprises of Georgia, Inc.
Setting concrete modules on a steel frame is not steel erection, and empty gas cylinders are presumed to hold enough residual gas to matter
Williams was a subcontractor building the control tower at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. Judge John S. Patton affirmed three citations, and the Commission affirms all three. The stairwell wall openings. At five stairwell landings between 30 and 135 feet up, the wall openings had top…
Matter of Kong
Terminated adoption ended sibling visa relationship
The Board reviewed a United States citizen's visa petition seeking preference status for her former adoptive brother. The petitioner had been adopted by the beneficiary's parents, but that adoption was formally terminated so her natural mother could petition for her to enter the United States. The…
PPG Industries
The interlocutory appeal is dismissed and the case goes back to the judge
A single-sentence order. PPG had taken an interlocutory appeal, meaning it asked the Commission to review a ruling before the administrative law judge finished the case. The Commission dismisses the appeal and sends the case back to the judge to continue. The order gives no reasons, does not…
Seattle Crescent Container Service
Years of not enforcing a standard is not an interpretation of it, and a cargo container is an extension of the cargo inside
Two longshoremen were standing on top of a stack of three 8-foot cargo containers, securing them to the deck of the S/S Hawaiian at Pier 18 in Seattle. The containers sat on a three-foot coaming, so the men were 27 feet above the deck. There was no net. Safety belts and lanyards were provided and…
Cargill, Inc.
General duty citations remain vacated
An Administrative Law Judge vacated general duty clause citations against Cargill after finding that the Secretary failed to prove the alleged violations. Review was directed on the proper use of the general duty clause and on alleged grain-elevator hazards involving bearings, stairways, dust…
Matter of "Beechcraft B-95, #N21JC"
Fine canceled after interview request was denied
The Board reviewed a $500 administrative fine imposed on a pilot whose aircraft arrived at San Diego's Lindbergh Field from Mexico without completing the required immigration inspection. It found that official records showed no clearance, the telephone number the pilot called belonged to a port of…
Harry Pepper & Associates, Inc.
Power utility allowed to intervene
Following a fatal electrical accident, OSHA cited Harry Pepper & Associates under the general duty clause for operating a backhoe within ten feet of energized power lines without adequate protection. Florida Power & Light owned the lines and sought to intervene, but the Administrative Law Judge…
Matter of Saekow
Unauthorized employment barred adjustment of status
The Board reviewed a Thai respondent's appeal after an immigration judge found him deportable for overstaying and denied his applications for suspension of deportation and adjustment of status. The respondent had received a labor certification in 1976 but continued working without authorization…
Matter of Newton
Seven-year domicile rule reaffirmed for section 212(c) relief
The Board reviewed a St. Kitts respondent's appeal from a deportability finding based on a grand-larceny conviction. He sought a waiver under section 212(c), arguing that his earlier period of lawful domicile as an H-2 nonimmigrant should count toward the seven-year requirement. The Board…
Matter of Bautista
Paternity acknowledgment supported children's visa petitions
The Board reviewed a father's appeals from denials of visa petitions filed for his two children born out of wedlock. He had acknowledged both children shortly after their births and had legal custody of them. Applying Puerto Rico law, the Board held that a child born out of wedlock becomes…
Matter of Chambers
Maryland acknowledgment legitimated child for visa petition
The Board reviewed a father's appeal from the denial of a visa petition for his daughter, who was born out of wedlock in Jamaica. The father had acknowledged her in writing, openly recognized her, and provided her home and support, while her mother later relinquished custody so she could live with…
The Evening & Sunday Bulletin
A one-sentence order approving a stipulated settlement, with Cottine explaining what makes one approvable
This is a settlement approval, and the operative order is a single sentence: the parties' Stipulation and Settlement Agreement dated August 1, 1979 is approved. The Commission decided no contested question, interpreted no standard, and assessed no penalty of its own. The citation and penalty in the…
Horn & Gladden Lint Cleaner Co., Inc.
Machine-guarding citations remain vacated
OSHA cited Horn & Gladden Lint Cleaners for repeated and nonserious machine-guarding violations involving belts, shafts, and a fan. The Administrative Law Judge vacated all three citations because the Secretary did not prove that employees were exposed to the alleged hazards. Neither party sought…
Service Specialty, Inc.
Nobody found out what happened to the certified mailing, so the Commission cannot tell whether it has a case
Review was directed on whether a failure-to-correct notification can be affirmed against Service Specialty when the original citation went to a differently named but related company, Southland Drapery and Interiors, both owned by the same person. The Commission never reaches that question, because…
Improved Construction Methods, Inc.
Nobody objected to the judge's decision, so the Commission leaves it alone
A member of the Commission directed this case for review on his own motion. Neither side then objected to the administrative law judge's decision, by petition or in response to the review order. With no appeal and no expression of dissatisfaction from anyone, the Commission declines to pass on…
Royal Logging Company
There is no greater hazards defense under the general duty clause, because a dangerous cure is simply an infeasible one
A Montana logging company cut and hauled timber with crawler tractors, called cats, plus cranes, hydraulic loaders and front-end loaders. All the cats had rollover protective structures and some had seat belts. An operator died on August 25, 1975 when his cat rolled on a 35 to 40 percent grade and…
Matter of Kim
Robbery conviction barred waiver and voluntary departure
The Board reviewed a Korean respondent's appeal from a deportability finding based on a California robbery conviction. It held that robbery was a crime involving moral turpitude and that the respondent had not maintained the seven years of lawful unrelinquished domicile required for section 212(c)…
Matter of Magana
Annulment did not cure visa misrepresentation
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal after finding that he had concealed a prior marriage when he obtained an immigrant visa through a later marriage to a United States citizen. It held that a Washington decree declaring the prior marriage invalid from its inception did not relate back…
Matter of Ruiz-Campuzano
Interlocutory venue appeal dismissed
The Board reviewed a Colombian respondent's appeal from an immigration judge's denial of her request to move a deportation hearing from New York to Miami. The Board held that venue questions belong to the immigration judge once a deportation hearing has begun, and that the Board generally does not…
Matter of Rodriguez-Vera
Motion to reopen denied without unusual equities
The Board considered a Mexican respondent's motion to reopen deportation proceedings so he could seek section 212(c) relief after a murder conviction and a 15-year-and-6-month prison sentence. It held that eligibility for discretionary relief alone does not require reopening, and that a motion must…
Ralston Purina Company
Time spent trying to settle is not undue delay, so shutting off the Secretary's expert inspection and then dismissing for failure to prosecute was an abuse of discretion
The Secretary cited the Sparks, Nevada plant in December 1977 under the noise standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.95(b)(1). Three compliance officers and a Solicitor's Office attorney made a discovery inspection in March 1978. The parties then jointly asked for a continuance so an engineering feasibility…
Edison Lamp Works
A hazard has to be proved, not described, so an ungauged chuck key and an unlikely oxygen spill are not violations
Judge Richard De Benedetto affirmed two nonserious items and the Commission vacates both for failure of proof. A third item under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.213(h)(4), affirmed with a $100 penalty, drew no exception and is left alone, which means it is not Commission precedent. Item 6a charged unguarded…
Austin Bridge Company
Where a standard applies whenever a condition exists, the Secretary need not prove the condition was dangerous, because that judgment was made when the standard was written
Austin Bridge Company dug a large cavity and put four employees to work in it for twenty to thirty minutes. The sides were neither sloped above the five foot level nor shored or otherwise supported. Administrative Law Judge David G. Oringer found that this violated the trenching standard at 29…
H.S. Holtze Construction Co.
An employer must guard the floor edge while building the wall that will replace the guardrail, and belts bridge the gap where the standard itself cannot be met
Three employees built exterior wall sections on the unguarded third floor of an apartment building in North Platte, Nebraska, 19 and one-half feet above the ground. Judge John A. Carlson vacated the perimeter guarding item and affirmed a second item about stairwell railings. The Commission reverses…
Gardinier, Inc. & International Chemical Workers
Settlement approved after union participation
OSHA issued Gardinier two citations containing multiple serious and nonserious items and proposed $900 in total penalties. Gardinier contested most of the items, and the company and Secretary later reached a settlement. International Chemical Workers Union Local 439 had requested participation and…
Pennsylvania Truck Lines
Conrail permitted to intervene
OSHA issued Pennsylvania Truck Lines twelve serious and two nonserious citations at its South Kearny, New Jersey yard. The employer argued that Federal Railroad Administration regulation preempted OSHA jurisdiction and that it did not create or control conditions located on Conrail property…
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club, Inc.
Four safety items affirmed without penalties
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club was a nonprofit boating club with one paid employee, a fuel pump, boat storage, and docks on the Hudson River. An Administrative Law Judge affirmed four items involving fire-extinguisher tags, a no-smoking sign, gangway guarding, and ladder rungs, classifying the gangway…
Voegele Company, Inc.
Roof fall-protection violation affirmed
Voegele employees installed a composition roof and worked near edges ranging from 14 to 35 feet above the ground without safety belts or perimeter guarding. The roof included steep side slopes, narrow gutters, and low parapets that increased the fall hazard. The Commission applied a…
Matter of Jean
Late asylum filing did not justify reopening
The Board reviewed a Haitian respondent's appeal from the denial of a motion to reopen deportation proceedings so he could pursue asylum and withholding of deportation. The immigration judge had given him more than five months to file the applications, but he did not do so before a final…
Meadows Industries, Inc.
Noise citation reinstated and remanded
OSHA cited Meadows Industries' yarn twisting plant for failing to use feasible controls against excessive noise in its primary and secondary twisting areas. An Administrative Law Judge dismissed the citation because it did not state the measured noise levels or more exact locations. The Commission…
J. W. Conway, Inc.
A compliance officer who has rigged the system he recommends can prove it is feasible, and impossibility of meeting the lifeline standard is no defense to the belt standard
Two roofers installed flashing on an 18-inch flat strip at the edge of a Washington, D.C. roof, 40 feet above the ground, behind an 8-inch parapet, moving up and down a steep slope to carry materials. They had no fall protection of any kind. Judge Henry K. Osterman found a serious violation of 29…
Pennstar Painting Corp.
Settlement penalty corrected to $180
Pennstar Painting Corp. and the Secretary entered into a settlement agreement. The Administrative Law Judge's order did not correctly state the agreed penalty for Citation 1, Item 1. The Commission modified the order to affirm a $180 penalty for that item, as provided in the settlement. It then…
Cutler Metal Product Co.
Settlement penalties corrected to $900
Cutler Metal Products Co. and the Secretary entered into a settlement agreement. The Administrative Law Judge's order did not correctly state the agreed penalties for two citation items. The Commission modified paragraph 2 to assess $450 for Citation 1, Item 2 and $450 for Citation 1, Item 3…
United Parcel Service of Ohio, Inc.
Foot-protection remedy remanded
UPS unloaders and sorters at a Missouri package-handling facility were exposed to foot injuries from falling packages. A court of appeals upheld the violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a) but found it unreasonable to require every affected employee to wear steel-toed shoes. On remand, the Commission…
Harvey Workover, Inc.
Sealed-compartment oxygen-testing violation affirmed
Harvey Workover drilled and reworked oil wells from a barge in inland waters. OSHA cited the company after a sealed compartment was opened and entered without first testing its oxygen level. A welder drowned in the compartment, and three employees who attempted a rescue lost consciousness and were…
Miller Ceramics, Inc.
Case severed from its companions and the ALJ decision affirmed as an unreviewed judge's decision
This is a short Commission order, not a full merits decision. The Commission severed Miller Ceramics from its companion cases, Hull Pottery (No. 78-555) and Baldwin Industries (No. 78-741). It then affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision but accorded it only the precedential value of an…
Matter of Sandoval
Exclusionary rule rejected for deportation evidence
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal from a deportability finding based on entry without inspection and considered whether evidence obtained during an apartment search had to be excluded. The majority held that the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule did not apply to these deportation…
D. Fortunato, Inc.
Mixed result on garage fall-protection, housekeeping, and fire-alarm citations
D. Fortunato, Inc. was the general contractor building a parking garage at New York City's La Guardia Airport, and OSHA cited it for fall-protection, housekeeping, and fire-alarm violations. An Administrative Law Judge affirmed most items, and the Commission reviewed and reached a mixed result. It…
Matter of San Juan
Puerto Rican divorce decree recognized
The Board reviewed the revocation of a visa petition filed by a petitioner who had married a Colombian beneficiary after obtaining a divorce in Puerto Rico. Although the petitioner conceded that she had not met Puerto Rico's jurisdictional requirements for the divorce, the Board held that 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.