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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Juan G. Quevedo-Garcia
Corporate veil pierced for OSHA penalties
Five consolidated cases involved 33 construction violations issued to BB Frame LLC and its owner, Juan G. Quevedo-Garcia, including serious, repeat, and willful violations involving fall protection, eye and head protection, and stairways and ladders. BB Frame withdrew its contests, leaving only…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5718): Authority keeps accessibility grievance in arbitration
NTEU filed a national grievance alleging that IRS systems failed to provide adequate access and accommodations for visually disabled employees. An arbitrator found the grievance substantively and procedurally arbitrable, and the IRS sought interlocutory review before a merits hearing. The Authority…
New River Electrical Corporation
Case remanded after court reversal
An administrative law judge had affirmed an OSHA citation against New River Electrical Corporation, and that decision became a final Commission order. The Fourth Circuit reversed the judge's decision and returned the case to the Commission by mandate. The Commission then remanded the matter to the…
Secretary of Labor v. KC Transport, Inc.
MSHA lacked jurisdiction at offsite truck facility
KC Transport is an independent trucking company that maintained coal-haul and non-mining trucks at an offsite West Virginia facility. MSHA cited two trucks there because they were not blocked against motion while raised for repair. A Commission majority reversed the judge and held that neither the…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, USDOL v. C.S. Lawn & Landscape, Inc.
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. C.S. Lawn & Landscape, Inc. (DOL ARB 2020-0005): H-2B violations affirmed and penalties modified
C.S. Lawn & Landscape used the H-2B program for seasonal landscaping workers in 2013 through 2015. The Board affirmed findings that the company advertised less favorable wages to U.S. workers in 2014, overstated its worker need by including two people it knew would not work in 2014 and 2015…
Framing Specialist, Inc.
Five residential-construction items affirmed
Two inspections of Framing Specialist residential projects found employees working without eye protection, using an access ladder that extended only two feet above the landing, standing on the top of a stepladder, and working at heights of 8 to 25 feet without effective fall protection. The judge…
AJM Packaging Corporation
Lockout/tagout instance vacated
An AJM Packaging adjuster suffered a partial finger amputation when a raised scrap chute fell while he was clearing a paper jam from a paper-product machine. OSHA alleged that lockout/tagout procedures were required to control the chute's stored gravitational energy. The Commission agreed that the…
Henry Klein v. Bank of America
Appeal dismissed after missed briefing deadline
Henry Klein asked the Board to review his Sarbanes-Oxley Act retaliation claim against Bank of America. After Klein did not file his opening brief on time, the Board ordered him to explain why the appeal should not be dismissed. Klein responded before the show-cause deadline but did not address why…
Federal Education Association, Stateside Region and United States Department of Defense, Education Activity, Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools
DOD Education Activity and Federal Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-5738): Authority finds no reduction in force
DOD Education Activity increased class sizes, ended an elementary foreign-language program, and reassigned teachers after enough employees accepted voluntary separation incentives. The Federal Education Association alleged that the agency failed to follow reduction-in-force and vacancy-notice…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Unguarded belt drive citation affirmed as S&S
CONSOL Pennsylvania Coal Company operates the Harvey Mine, an underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. MSHA cited the company after an inspector found that a moving belt drive roller beside a narrow wooden walkway had no guard in front of it. Judge Alan G. Paez found that miners could use the walkway…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Damaged power cable violation affirmed as S&S
MSHA cited Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company after an inspector found a damaged 480-volt power cable supplying a rib bolter at the Enlow Fork Mine. Judge John Kent Lewis found that damage to the outer jacket and inner insulation exposed bare conductor wires in a main travelway and violated the…
Matter of Kwok S. WONG
New Jersey disorderly persons offense counts as a conviction
The Board reconsidered whether a New Jersey disorderly persons theft offense qualified as a conviction for immigration purposes. It held that a finding of guilt is a conviction when the proceeding provides all constitutional criminal-procedure rights that apply without limitation and that have been…
Department of Defense, Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico and Antilles Consolidated Education Association
DOD schools Fort Buchanan and Antilles Education Association (FLRA BN-CA-17-0170): Authority dismisses late reconsideration
In 2019, the Authority found unfair labor practices and ordered DOD schools and the Antilles Consolidated Education Association to resume bargaining over work hours and compensation. A federal appeals court later set aside one negotiability determination but denied the petition in all other…
Petitt v. Delta Airlines, Inc.
AIR21 liability affirmed and damages remanded
Karlene Petitt, a Delta first officer, alleged that the airline retaliated after she raised aviation-safety concerns by placing her in a compulsory medical-evaluation process. The Board affirmed that her email and safety report were protected activity and that the 21-month evaluation process was an…
United States Department of the Air Force, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2924
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2924 (FLRA 0-AR-5637): Authority upholds negotiated official time
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base denied official-time requests after applying a 2018 executive order instead of conflicting provisions in its collective-bargaining agreement. The parties had executed that agreement while a federal court injunction blocked the executive order's official-time provisions…
Chewy, Inc.
Forklift under-ride hazard citation affirmed
A Chewy warehouse employee was crushed and killed when his stand-up forklift passed beneath a low horizontal storage-rack beam and the beam entered the unguarded operator compartment. Five months earlier, another employee had suffered broken ribs in a similar under-ride incident at the same…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 720, Council of Prison Locals 33
Federal Correctional Complex Terre Haute and AFGE Local 720 (FLRA 0-AR-5707): Authority vacates late roster grievance
Federal Correctional Complex Terre Haute assigned a non-unit Public Health Service officer to a post and removed that post from the roster used by bargaining-unit nurses. AFGE Local 720 filed a grievance fifty days after the roster change, although the agreement required filing within forty days of…
Priddle v. United Airlines, Inc.
Discovery-sanctions appeal denied as premature
Soma Priddle alleged that United Airlines retaliated after she reported aircraft safety and maintenance problems. During discovery, the ALJ sanctioned United over its production of maintenance records and limited evidence that the airline could present about some safety reports. United sought…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2119 and United States Department of the Army, Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island Joint Manufacturing Center and AFGE Local 2119 (FLRA 0-NG-3498): Authority splits negotiability ruling
The Army disapproved several provisions of a new collective-bargaining agreement at the agency-head review stage. After later executive orders were revoked, the Army withdrew most of its objections and the Authority dismissed those provisions without prejudice. The Authority found negotiable a…
Matter of Valentine C. MORGAN
Connecticut larceny was not an aggravated felony theft offense
The Board reviewed a Jamaican lawful permanent resident's removability based in part on a Connecticut conviction for attempted third-degree larceny. It held that Connecticut's broad larceny definition included both nonconsensual theft and property obtained through fraud, and that the alternatives…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2324 and United States Department of the Army, Directorate of Public Works, Fort Riley, Kansas
Fort Riley Public Works and AFGE Local 2324 (FLRA 0-AR-5741): Authority dismisses removal exceptions
Fort Riley removed a maintenance worker for conduct unbecoming a federal employee, including misleading leave requests and inaccurate information during a management inquiry. An arbitrator found the grievance arbitrable, held a merits hearing, and sustained the removal. AFGE Local 2324 filed…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company
Missed electrical grounding tests draw $530 penalty
Northshore Mining Company processes taconite into iron pellets at its Minnesota mine site. MSHA cited Northshore because it had not performed required annual continuity and resistance tests on the grounding systems for six conveyors, two surface water pumps, and two counterweight hoists. Judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Shield-pin and mine-map citations modified
CONSOL Pennsylvania Coal Company operates the Enlow Fork underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. The company conceded that four longwall shields were missing keeper pins, but Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck found that the Secretary did not prove the missing pins were reasonably likely to let…
Hall v. CVS Health, CVS Health Corporation, Caremark, LLC, and CVS Pharmacy, Inc.
Hall v. CVS Health (DOL ARB 2022-0003): FSMA summary dismissal affirmed
Chloris Hall alleged that Caremark unlawfully ended her employment as a sterile-compounding pharmacy technician after protected activity under the Food Safety Modernization Act. The Board agreed that CVS Health, Caremark, and CVS Health Corporation were not covered employers because undisputed…
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 290, Bremerton Metal Trades Council and United States Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Boilermakers Local 290 (FLRA 0-AR-5729): Authority upholds overtime ineligibility
A Puget Sound Naval Shipyard employee signed up for weekend overtime, then took unscheduled leave on the Thursday when the Shipyard selected employees for the assignment. The supervisor approved the leave the following Monday. An arbitrator found that the overtime agreement excluded employees…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5736): Authority upholds annual-leave bargaining award
The IRS and NTEU bargained for two years over changes to annual-leave procedures without reaching agreement. After the Union withdrew from bargaining and the parties carried the existing leave article into a new national agreement, the IRS unilaterally implemented a standardized solicitation…
United States Department of the Air Force, 11th Wing, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1092
Joint Base Andrews and AFGE Local 1092 (FLRA 0-AR-5724): Authority upholds uniform-expense backpay
Joint Base Andrews required dual-status Air Reserve Technicians to wear military uniforms during civilian duties and implemented the policy before completing bargaining. An arbitrator found a statutory and contractual bargaining violation and found that employees spent their own money on required…
Matter of M-M-A-
Frivolous-asylum issue requires findings
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of adjustment of status and a waiver of inadmissibility. DHS argued that the respondent's asylum application was frivolous and triggered the permanent bar in section 208(d)(6) of the Immigration and…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. Hearn's Enterprises, LLC
Administrator v. Hearn's Enterprises, LLC (DOL ARB 2020-0050): SCA liability and debarment affirmed with benefit correction
Hearn's Enterprises hauled U.S. mail under two federal contracts, and the Wage and Hour Division alleged that the company underpaid wages and health-and-welfare benefits. The Board affirmed findings that Hearn's Enterprises and Nick and Elena Hearn were responsible for the violations, but credited…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338
John J. Pershing VAMC and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5646): Authority rejects exception to arbitrator's letter
AFGE Local 2338 pursued a grievance concerning workplace conditions at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center after withdrawing a related unfair-labor-practice charge. The Center asked the arbitrator to dismiss the grievance under statutory election-of-forum rules. The arbitrator acknowledged the…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, Kentucky and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1286, Council of Prison Locals 33
FCI Ashland and AFGE Local 1286 (FLRA 0-AR-5719): Authority remands attorney-fee amount
An arbitrator found FCI Ashland liable under the Fair Labor Standards Act and retained jurisdiction over implementation and attorney fees. The Union filed its fee petition one day after the arbitrator's deadline while the parties had been discussing settlement. The arbitrator excused the delay and…
UHS of Westwood Pembroke, Inc. and UHS of Delaware, Inc.
Repeat workplace-violence citation affirmed
Employees at Pembroke Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric facility, were exposed to physical assaults by patients while providing care and responding to crises. The Commission found that the hospital owner and its management company operated as a single employer because they shared the worksite…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Hospital Medical Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 0789
VA Hospital Medical Center and AFGE Local 0789 (FLRA 0-AR-5593): Authority upholds performance-case attorney fees
An arbitrator found that a VA medical center improperly lowered an employee's performance rating and ordered the rating changed to excellent. The Center then paid the $1,000 performance award associated with that rating, and the arbitrator later awarded $30,387.50 in attorney fees. The Authority…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Tara Otten v. Continental Cement Company, LLC
Walkaround representative awarded lost upgrade pay
Tara Otten was a laborer and miners' representative at Continental Cement's Hannibal Underground Mine. While she accompanied MSHA inspectors, the company paid her regular laborer rate instead of the higher mobile-equipment rate she would have received under its seniority practices if she had…
United States Department of the Air Force v. Administrator, Wage and Hour Division
United States Department of the Air Force v. Administrator (DOL ARB 2021-0071 and 2022-0001): training contract held subject to SCA
The Air Force contracted with FlightSafety Defense Corporation to develop and manufacture KC-46 training equipment and to provide classroom instruction, simulator training, maintenance, and related services. The Wage and Hour Administrator found that the hybrid contract's principal purpose was…
Figgins v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad Co.
Suspension and discharge affirmed
Grand Trunk Western Railroad suspended conductor Scott Figgins for 30 days after repeated absences and later discharged him following a workplace remark about killing someone. The ALJ found that some activity was protected or assumed it was protected, but also found that the railroad proved it…
Miller Insulation Co., Inc.
Mezzanine fall citation vacated
A Miller Insulation employee fell from an unprotected mezzanine edge onto the floor below and later died. OSHA cited the company under a general-industry fall standard and, in the alternative, a construction fall-protection standard. The judge found that the general-industry standard did not apply…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2119 and United States Department of the Army, Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island Joint Manufacturing Center and AFGE Local 2119 (FLRA 0-AR-5717): Authority upholds weekend tool-crib practice
The Army stopped routinely scheduling weekend overtime for tool-crib attendants when there was too little crib work to justify the assignment. Production employees already working overtime instead retrieved their own needed parts, while attendants were still scheduled when sufficient crib work…
United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Dental Activity, Fort Jackson, South Carolina and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1214
Fort Jackson Dental Activity and NFFE Local 1214 (FLRA 0-AR-5659): Authority bars institutional pay grievance
NFFE Local 1214 filed a grievance seeking FLSA redesignations, backpay, overtime, and liquidated damages for groups of current and former Fort Jackson Dental Activity employees. An arbitrator found the matter arbitrable under the contract's institutional union-grievance procedure. The Authority…
Matter of T-C-A-
Terminated asylee status barred adjustment under section 209(b)
The Board reviewed an Albanian respondent's challenge after the Department of Homeland Security terminated his asylee status based on aggravated-felony convictions. The Board held that an applicant for adjustment under section 209(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act must still possess asylee…
84 Lumber Company, dba 84 Lumber Company, a Limited Partnership
Suspended-load citation vacated
An 84 Lumber forklift operator was repositioning a suspended bundle of wood when a contract truck driver unexpectedly ran beneath it. The bundle became unstable, fell, and killed the driver. OSHA cited 84 Lumber under a standard stating that no person may be allowed to stand or pass beneath the…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Breaker label and flooded bleeder citations upheld
CONSOL Pennsylvania Coal Company operates the Enlow Fork underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. MSHA cited the mine because two adjacent high-voltage circuit breakers carried the same equipment label, creating a risk that a miner could deenergize the wrong continuous miner before working on…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Juan Smitherman v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC
Retaliatory discharge finding requires reinstatement
Juan Smitherman was a senior roof bolter at Warrior Met's Mine No. 4, a mine subject to frequent methane spot inspections. He raised repeated safety concerns, including a complaint that roof bolting was about to occur without required ventilation controls, and asked to leave his supervisor's…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Cable violation upheld but S&S designation vacated
MSHA cited CONSOL Pennsylvania Coal Company after an inspector found cuts in an energized feeder cable at the Enlow Fork Mine. The Commission affirmed the judge's finding that the cable was not adequately insulated and fully protected, and it upheld moderate negligence. It vacated the significant…
Lutz v. New Cumberland Hospitality, Inc.
Withdrawn SOX appeal dismissed
An ALJ denied James Lutz's claim under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act's employee-protection provisions. Lutz petitioned the Board for review, then filed a written motion to withdraw that petition. The Board granted the withdrawal and dismissed the appeal. The order did not review the merits of the ALJ's…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3707 and United States Department of the Air Force, Westover Air Reserve Base
Westover Air Reserve Base and AFGE Local 3707 (FLRA 0-AR-5726): Authority upholds late-grievance ruling
Two AFGE Local 3707 representatives requested official time for a labor and firefighter training program. Westover Air Reserve Base informed them on May 6, 2019, that it would approve only part of the requested hours, and they used annual leave for the balance. The Union filed a grievance on June…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338
John J. Pershing VAMC and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5642): Authority bars duplicate proposed-removal grievance
An employee filed an EEO complaint alleging that a proposed removal contributed to a racially hostile work environment. Later that week, AFGE Local 2338 filed a grievance alleging that the same proposed removal was discriminatory bullying and harassment. An arbitrator found the grievance arbitrable…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 21-01): Hybrid PCB disposal approach upheld
EPA Region 1 issued General Electric Company a corrective-action permit for polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in the Housatonic River in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The permit used a hybrid disposal approach, sending the most highly contaminated waste off site and allowing less-contaminated…
Bishop v. United Parcel Service, Inc.
STAA claim denial affirmed after driving accident
UPS feeder driver Timothy Bishop had previously won a STAA case and returned to work in 2013. In 2019, UPS discharged him after he fell asleep while driving a tractor-trailer, entered the road median, and received a traffic citation. Bishop argued that the earlier protected activity contributed to…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338
John J. Pershing VAMC and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5617): Authority removes whistleblower finding
The John J. Pershing VA Medical Center suspended a union president for five days based on unauthorized disclosure of health information and disparaging comments. An arbitrator rejected the disclosure charge, reduced the discipline to a letter of reprimand, and separately found whistleblower…
Secretary of Labor v. P.W. Gillibrand of Texas, Inc.
Missing fire-warning sign violation affirmed
P.W. Gillibrand of Texas operates the Voca West sand plant in Texas. MSHA cited the mine because its grease station lacked a visible sign prohibiting smoking and open flames. Judge David P. Simonton found a fire hazard because an open drip barrel contained combustible paper and rags beside grease…
3M Company
In re 3M Company (EAB CAA 22-01C): self-disclosed air-pollution violations settled
3M Company conducted a corporate audit of environmental compliance at its manufacturing facilities and voluntarily disclosed violations involving notification, reporting, recordkeeping, inspection, performance testing, monitoring, work practices, and emission standards. The agreement says the…
Matter of F-R-A-
Forfeiture established fraud loss over $10,000
The Board reviewed a Ghanaian lawful permanent resident's removability after his conviction for conspiring to commit wire fraud. It held that a criminal forfeiture amount may establish more than $10,000 in victim loss for the aggravated-felony fraud provision when the amount is traceable and…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3917 and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD and AFGE Local 3917 (FLRA 0-AR-5735): Authority upholds classification bar
A HUD employee performed duties outside a GS-12 position description and sought a new description, promotion, backpay, and other corrective action. An arbitrator found the grievance's essential nature concerned classification and dismissed it under the statute excluding classification disputes that…
Matter of Luk Rial KOAT
Iowa theft statute was divisible
The Board reviewed an Ethiopian and South Sudanese lawful permanent resident's challenge to removability based on Iowa theft and Minnesota aggravated-robbery convictions. It held that Iowa's theft statute is divisible between theft by taking without consent and theft by fraud or deceit, allowing…
National Labor Relations Board and National Labor Relations Board Professional Association
NLRB and NLRB Professional Association (FLRA 0-AR-5577, 0-AR-5620): Authority allows part of detail grievance to proceed
The NLRB ended selected permissive provisions when its agreement with the Professional Association expired, and the Union filed an unfair-labor-practice charge challenging termination of the agreement. It later grieved the agency's failure to offer employee details and timely administer the detail…
McFadden v. Deutsche Bank
SOX dismissal reversed for amendment
Tammy McFadden alleged that Deutsche Bank retaliated after she filed a grievance concerning unethical conduct. The bank moved to dismiss, McFadden did not respond, and the ALJ treated the motion as unopposed and found that her informal OSHA complaint did not adequately allege SOX-protected…
Priddle v. United Airlines, Inc.
Safety-report discovery appeal denied
Soma Priddle sought safety reports filed by other United employees that were linked to events described in her own reports, and the ALJ ordered United to produce them under a protective order. United appealed 21 business days after the order and argued that disclosure would harm the Aviation Safety…
Johnson v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
Refusal to return trackman to work affirmed
Union Pacific trackman Terrell Johnson sustained work-related neck, back, shoulder, and elbow injuries and later obtained a FELA damages award based partly on permanent disability and lost future earning capacity. After medical providers cleared him without restrictions, the railroad refused to…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. Deggeller Attractions, Inc.
Administrator v. Deggeller Attractions, Inc. (DOL ARB 2020-0004): H-2B housing and penalty issues remanded
Deggeller Attractions used H-2B workers for its traveling amusement business and deducted $60 per week from workers who stayed in its trailers. The Board affirmed that the company had to pay North Carolina overtime after 45 hours and upheld use of 50 hours per week as the best available estimate…
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.