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.

16,281 decisions and counting · Latest decision September 10, 2026
16,281 decisions

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COMM

Meyco Products, Inc.

Withdrawal denied for missing employee service

Meyco Products moved to withdraw its contest after correcting the violations, promising future compliance, and tendering the $25 proposed penalty. The company said it sent the motion to the parties, but the record did not show service on affected employees. It also had not responded to two earlier…

May 5, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

J. R. Steel, Inc., a Subsidiary of American Agencies Co., Inc.

Default affirmed with amended $753 penalty

OSHA issued J. R. Steel serious and non-serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $955. The Secretary later amended the non-serious citation by deleting several items and reduced the total penalty by $202 to $753. The company did not answer the complaint, amended complaint, or the…

May 4, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

Hamilton Metal Products, Inc.

Default affirmed after repeated filing failures

Hamilton Metal Products timely contested but initially failed to serve affected employees. After receiving repeated instructions, it eventually documented service of the contest, but it did not file a proper answer to the complaint. Its later letters argued that the violations were minor and…

April 10, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

Modern Marble, Inc.

Ten-item amended citation and $118 affirmed

OSHA initially cited Modern Marble for 14 items and proposed $218 in penalties. The Secretary's complaint omitted items 1, 4, 6, and 7, each carrying $25, which amended both the citation and the penalty total. The judge corrected the penalty to $118 but still referred to all 14 citation items. The…

April 6, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

Dale M. Madden Construction, Inc.

Crane power-line citation and $650 penalty affirmed

Madden Construction operated a crane near a 55,000-volt overhead line while leveling the equipment for pile-driving work. An employee at an outrigger received an electrical shock and was injured. The judge dismissed the case because he found the Secretary's accident investigation weak and concluded…

March 30, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

New York Packaging Corporation

Citation and penalty affirmed by default

New York Packaging did not answer the Secretary's complaint. The judge refused to affirm the citation and penalty without more factual information about jurisdiction, violation classification, and penalty factors, and denied the Secretary's request for reconsideration. The Commission treated the…

March 17, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

Exacto Products Corporation

Withdrawal approved and $93.75 penalty affirmed

Exacto Products and the Secretary agreed that the company should withdraw its contest to four non-serious citations carrying $93.75 in proposed penalties. The record showed abatement, a promise of continuing compliance, tender of the penalty, and an opportunity for affected employees to…

March 17, 1972 ·OSHRC
Settled
COMM

Suddath of South Florida

Withdrawal settlement approved with one item removed

OSHA issued Suddath two non-serious citations containing nine items. The parties stipulated that six pleaded items had been and would remain corrected, the company had paid $62.50, one item should be withdrawn because the alleged facts were not a violation, and employees had notice through…

March 17, 1972 ·OSHRC
Settled
COMM

American Home Products

Press-guarding settlement and $770 penalty approved

OSHA cited American Home Products after finding numerous inadequately guarded punch presses and foot-operated press pedals at its Ekco Housewares division. The record stated that press conditions had caused multiple employee amputations before inspection. The company represented that it had fully…

February 28, 1972 ·OSHRC
Settled
COMM

Sharp and Parrott, Inc.

No-penalty withdrawal settlement approved

OSHA cited Sharp and Parrott for conditions under standards that had not yet taken effect, proposed no penalty, and the parties agreed to treat the citation as arising under the general duty clause. The company represented that the conditions had been corrected, promised continuing compliance…

February 23, 1972 ·OSHRC
Settled
COMM

Dawson Brothers Mechanical Contractors

Withdrawal remanded for settlement evidence

Dawson Brothers and the Secretary stipulated to withdrawal of the company's contest, and the judge proposed making the citation and penalty final. The Commission found that the record did not show when abatement was or would be completed, whether the employer promised continuing compliance, whether…

February 22, 1972 ·OSHRC
Remanded
COMM

Arthur G. McKee & Company

Serious-citation withdrawal and $700 penalty approved

Arthur G. McKee & Company moved to withdraw its contest to a serious citation. The company represented that it had fully corrected the violation, paid the $700 proposed penalty, and would continue to comply. Affected employees and the Secretary consented, and the motion was served on the…

February 15, 1972 ·OSHRC
Settled
COMM

S & H Riggers & Erectors, Inc.

Serious-citation withdrawal and $750 penalty approved

S & H Riggers & Erectors moved to withdraw its contest to a serious citation. The company represented that it had fully corrected the violation, paid the $750 proposed penalty, and would continue to comply. Affected employees and the Secretary consented, and the motion was served on the Secretary's…

February 15, 1972 ·OSHRC
Settled
COMM

Gifford-Hill Pre-Stress

Concrete-lifting settlement and $700 penalty approved

OSHA cited Gifford-Hill, a general contractor, and an erection subcontractor over allegedly unsafe lifting attachments on prestressed concrete slabs. Gifford-Hill moved to withdraw its contest, represented that the condition was corrected, paid the $700 proposed penalty, and promised continuing…

February 15, 1972 ·OSHRC
Settled
COMM

Hidden Valley Corporation of Virginia

Trench citation affirmed and penalty raised to $1,000

Hidden Valley required employees to work in an approximately nine-foot-deep sewer trench whose sides were neither shored nor sloped. The trench collapsed and killed an employee and another person. Because the specific construction standard was not yet applicable to this employer, OSHA cited the…

February 8, 1972 ·OSHRC
Modified
COMM

Nacirema Operating Company, Inc.

Forklift penalty reduced and reporting item left unpenalized

Nacirema used a forklift without an overhead guard to move heavy boxes in a ship's hold. A box fell onto the operator, causing a spinal fracture and hospitalization, and the company also failed to report the hospitalization within 48 hours. The employer admitted both violations and disputed the…

February 7, 1972 ·OSHRC
Modified
COMM

Southeastern Maritime Company

Safety-net citation and $26.49 penalty affirmed

Southeastern Maritime assigned two gangs to load flour sacks at different levels in the same ship hold. One gang worked on a cargo stack about 11 feet above employees below, but the company did not rig the safety net required to prevent workers or cargo from falling. The company did not dispute…

February 7, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

Puget Sound Power & Light Co.

Disputed settlement set aside and hearing ordered

OSHA cited Puget Sound Power & Light under the general duty clause and proposed a $600 penalty. The parties stipulated that the case involved legitimate factual and legal disputes, the company would withdraw its contest, and it would pay $550 without admitting a violation. The judge approved the…

January 28, 1972 ·OSHRC
Remanded
COMM

McCloskey & Company

Contest dismissed for missing service certification

The Commission dismissed McCloskey's contest because the company did not certify service of the contest on other parties as required by Commission rules. The citation and proposed penalties were affirmed in full. Commissioner Van Namee dissented because the compliance warning had been sent to the…

January 14, 1972 ·OSHRC
Citations affirmed
COMM

Matter of Campuzano

Ecuador legitimation appendix

The official DOJ release for BIA ID 2940 is headed “Appendix A, Legitimation, Ecuador” and identifies a report on Ecuadorian legitimation requirements from 1936 to the present. It surveys Civil Code provisions, constitutional changes, and the 1970 Civil Code amendments affecting children born out…


Other
COMM

Matter of Ord

Temporary engineering work qualified for H-1 classification

The Regional Commissioner reconsidered a petition by an engineering staffing company seeking to classify a United Kingdom aeronautical engineer as an H-1 temporary worker. The company supplied engineers to aerospace clients and showed that this beneficiary would be hired for a specific project and…


Citations affirmed

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.