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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Jordan v. DynCorp International, LLC
Sanctions and attorney fees affirmed
Jack Jordan brought a Sarbanes-Oxley retaliation complaint based on attorneys seeking a protective order and administrative law judges declining to release two emails in other litigation. The ALJ dismissed the complaint, concluded that Jordan's litigation-related claims against the attorneys and…
Jordan v. DynCorp International, LLC
SOX complaint dismissed for inadequate allegations
Jack Jordan alleged that DynCorp International and several individuals retaliated against him in violation of Sarbanes-Oxley. The ALJ dismissed the complaint because Jordan did not provide definite information identifying the required elements of a claim. The Board explained that a whistleblower…
Budri v. FirstFleet Inc.
Review denied in sixth STAA complaint
Adriano Budri filed a sixth Surface Transportation Assistance Act complaint against FirstFleet after several earlier complaints concerning his termination and employment-reporting information. The ALJ denied the latest complaint because it raised no issue that had not already been fully considered…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div. v. Ten West Cattle, Inc.
Interlocutory review denied
The Wage and Hour Division charged Ten West Cattle with seven H-2A program violations involving workers who held J-1 exchange visas. Before a merits hearing, the ALJ ruled that a J-1 visa holder could qualify as a worker in corresponding employment under H-2A regulations, while leaving the…
Magers v. Seneca Re-Ad Industries, Inc.
Minimum-wage damages order adopted
Seneca Re-Ad Industries employed three workers with disabilities under a federal certificate authorizing special wage rates and paid them as little as $2.00 per hour. An earlier Board decision held that the workers were not impaired for the jobs they performed, so Seneca Re-Ad could not pay them…
Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Justice Center Complex
Mechanical-insulator wage rate affirmed
Insulation Sales & Service asked to add mechanical insulators to the wage determination for a federally assisted juvenile justice construction project at $12.58 per hour with no fringe benefits. The Wage and Hour Administrator classified the work as skilled and instead approved $22.96 per hour plus…
MPLX
In re MPLX (EAB CAA Appeal No. 20-01): Title V permit review denied
MPLX challenged EPA Region 8's renewed Clean Air Act Title V permit for its Wonsits Valley natural gas compressor station in Utah. The dispute concerned whether the station's backup combustor, Unit C-2, had to comply with the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for oil and…
McKinney v. Medpace Holdings, Inc.
Appeal dismissed for failure to prosecute
The Board ordered Bradley McKinney to explain why his Sarbanes-Oxley appeal should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute. McKinney did not respond by the August 17, 2020 deadline and did not file a brief under the Board's schedule. The Board dismissed the case.
Bondurant v. Southwest Airlines, Inc.
Airline whistleblower dismissal affirmed
Southwest Airlines terminated cargo manager Jeffrey Bondurant after concluding that he violated a last-chance agreement by misusing travel passes and giving incomplete explanations of his whereabouts. Bondurant alleged that the airline acted because he reported failures to notify the Federal…
Secretary of Labor v. Knight Hawk Coal, LLC
Stay of ventilation-plan ruling denied
The Secretary asked the Commission to stay its earlier ruling that vacated MSHA's revocation of Knight Hawk Coal's long-approved ventilation plan for perimeter mining. The majority found no supported scenario showing irreparable harm from continued use of the plan, which had operated for 12 years…
Matter of R-C-R-
Missed deadlines and unproven video prejudice defeated the appeal
The Board reviewed a Guatemalan respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge ordered his removal when he did not file applications for asylum, withholding of removal, or Convention Against Torture protection by a clearly stated deadline. The Board held that an Immigration Judge may deem those…
Secretary of Labor v. Hopedale Mining, LLC
Four-citation ventilation settlement approved
MSHA cited four significant-and-substantial failures to follow Hopedale Mining's ventilation plan, including inadequate airflow, a misplaced curtain, plugged water sprays, and insufficient roof-bolter vacuum. The parties proposed reducing the total penalties from $18,093 to $3,339 after lowering…
Secretary of Labor v. American Aggregates of Michigan, Inc.
New-miner training settlement approved
MSHA issued a withdrawal order after a driller's helper had not completed every topic required during the first four hours of new-miner training. The parties agreed to keep the violation but remove the significant-and-substantial designation, reduce negligence and gravity, and lower the proposed…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div. v. Volt Management Corp.
H-1B wage investigation remanded
An H-1B employee complained that staffing agency Volt Management failed to pay him during a period without assigned work. The Wage and Hour Division expanded its investigation and sought $298,413.78 in back wages for alleged nonproductive-time violations affecting 74 employees. The ALJ ruled that…
Petitt v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Protective-order appeal denied
Delta Air Lines asked the Board to immediately review an ALJ's refusal to prohibit online publication of video depositions given by two company executives. The written transcripts had been admitted into evidence after Delta requested deposition testimony in place of live testimony, and the ALJ…
Secretary of Labor v. The Doe Run Company
Fatal roof-fall citations vacated
A roof fall at Doe Run's underground Missouri metal mine crushed a scaling machine and killed its operator. MSHA cited Doe Run for inadequate ground support and for scaling from a location exposed to falling material. The Commission majority held that the broadly worded standards required the…
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company
Unwarrantable-failure settlement approved
The Commission had granted review of findings involving combustible belt-line accumulations and a related preshift-examination violation at Monongalia County Coal's underground mine. The parties settled by reinstating unwarrantable-failure designations on both orders while the Secretary abandoned…
Nguyens Goal, Inc.
Business held responsible as employer for four safety violations
Nguyens Goal owned properties and was remodeling an apartment when a worker fell more than eight feet from an attic while installing insulation without fall protection. The worker sustained a serious injury and was hospitalized, but the company did not report the hospitalization to OSHA. The…
Timberline Hardwood Floors LLC
Most violations affirmed with $166,265 in penalties
Timberline manufactured hardwood flooring with woodworking machinery at the same facility used by a predecessor company under the same manager. OSHA cited extensive deficiencies involving hearing conservation, hazard communication, exits, fire-extinguisher training, machine guarding, compressed…
Poulter v. Central Cal Transportation, LLC
Truck driver's retaliation award vacated
Truck driver Bernadine Poulter reported that a sealed tire load placed 34,600 pounds on the rear tandem axle, 600 pounds above the legal limit. Her dispatcher told her not to drive the overweight load and instructed her to try a standard braking maneuver to shift its weight, but she refused and was…
Secretary of Labor v. M-Class Mining, LLC
Unsupported accident order vacated
MSHA issued a section 103(k) control order after receiving a doctor's report that a miner had suffered carbon-monoxide poisoning underground. The inspector found no elevated carbon monoxide, no affected coworkers, and no mine condition or equipment source connected to the miner's symptoms. The…
Budri v. FirstFleet, Inc.
Review denied in fifth STAA complaint
Adriano Budri alleged in a fifth Surface Transportation Assistance Act complaint that FirstFleet retaliated when the driver-data company Tenstreet maintained or republished negative information originally provided by FirstFleet. Four earlier complaints had already litigated his termination and the…
Secretary of Labor v. James C. Scott and Donnie B. Thomas, employed by Mill Branch Coal Corp.
Secretary of Labor v. James C. Scott and Donnie B. Thomas (FMSHRC VA 2018-0103, VA 2018-0104): Delayed agent-penalty cases remanded
MSHA sought individual penalties against a mine superintendent and shift foreman for allegedly failing to report a dangerous water inundation within 15 minutes. The agency proposed penalties of $4,000 and $3,500 about three years after the event, but only eight days after its special investigations…
New York State Department of Transportation
In re New York State Department of Transportation (EAB CWA Appeal No. 20-(01)): corrected Initial Decision becomes final
Chief Administrative Law Judge Susan L. Biro issued an Initial Decision and Order involving the New York State Department of Transportation and later issued a corrected version on July 14, 2020. Neither party appealed. The Environmental Appeals Board declined to review the case on its own…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Refuge-chamber penalty reduced on remand
Peabody Midwest violated its emergency response plan by placing one refuge chamber in the direct line of sight of the working face. On review of an earlier ALJ ruling, the Commission removed the significant-and-substantial designation because more than 15 miners were present only during shift…
Reyes Construction, Inc.
Four trench-protection violations affirmed
Reyes Construction excavated around a leaking water pipe in an eight-foot-deep trench with vertical walls and Type B or C soil. One trench box had an open end next to a vertical soil wall and large gaps that allowed hazardous movement, while another lacked protection along the bottom four and…
Secretary of Labor v. KenAmerican Resources, Inc.
Advance-notice penalty assessed
During an MSHA complaint inspection, an underground miner asked a dispatcher whether “company” was outside, and the dispatcher confirmed that inspectors were present. The Commission had already held on review that this exchange violated the Mine Act's ban on advance notice and remanded only for a…
Matter of Jorge Vicente NIVELO CARDENAS
Matter of Nivelo Cardenas (BIA ID 3993): address duties control constructive notice of an in absentia hearing
The Board reviewed an Ecuadorian respondent's appeal from the denial of his motion to reopen an in absentia removal order entered after he did not appear for a scheduled hearing. The respondent argued that a spelling error in the town name meant he did not receive notice, but the Board held that he…
Secretary of Labor obo William R. Whitmore v. Yager Materials Corp.
Safety manager temporarily reinstated
William Whitmore, Yager Materials' maintenance manager, alleged that he reported training problems, COVID-19 protocol concerns, a haul-truck near miss, and equipment safety defects. Yager suspended and fired him soon afterward, stating that he made inappropriate comments about extending a new…
Theodore Oesau v. Rogers Group, Inc.
Harassment finding defeated retaliation claim
Theodore Oesau alleged that Rogers Group fired him after he raised numerous equipment and workplace safety concerns at its Arkansas quarry. Judge David Simonton found that the complaints were protected and that management knowledge, possible hostility, and close timing supported an initial…
Aluminum Shapes, LLC
Nonfinal judge decision remanded for further proceedings
The Commission had previously remanded cross-motions for summary judgment involving Aluminum Shapes' equitable-estoppel defenses. The judge then issued a remand decision that left factual disputes for hearing and denied the parties' relevant summary-judgment requests. Because that decision did not…
Matter of Onesta REYES
Matter of Reyes (BIA ID 3992): alternative aggravated-felony categories can establish removability
The Attorney General reviewed a case involving an Italian lawful permanent resident convicted in New York of second-degree grand larceny. The decision held that a conviction qualifies as an aggravated felony when all of the statute's means of committing the crime correspond to one or more…
Vudhamari v. Advent Global Solutions
H-1B wage case remanded for proper notice
H-1B systems analyst Naveen Vudhamari challenged a Wage and Hour Division determination awarding him $2,463.97 in back wages from Advent Global Solutions. Advent moved to dismiss, and both sides submitted evidence outside the pleadings. The ALJ treated the request as a motion for summary decision…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div. v. Wyrick & Sons Pine Straw
Four worker-protection penalties reversed and one remanded
Wyrick & Sons used contractor-supplied laborers to rake, bale, and load pine straw after the company prepared the fields. The Board agreed that cultivated pine straw is an agricultural commodity, but held that field work is not automatically seasonal work under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural…
Randall Mechanical, Inc.
Late-contest case remanded for an excusable-neglect hearing
OSHA issued Randall Mechanical a serious citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.350(a)(10), but the company filed its notice of contest after the statutory deadline. After an earlier appeal, the judge dismissed the case on the ground that the Commission lacked jurisdiction to grant relief from the final…
Asmore v. Amtrak
Railroad whistleblower settlement approved
An ALJ found that Amtrak violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act's whistleblower provisions, and Amtrak appealed. While the appeal was pending, Tracy Asmore and Amtrak reached a confidential settlement and asked the Board to approve it. The Board limited its review to the federal railroad claim…
U.S. Postal Service
Injury-reporting retaliation case remanded for credibility findings
OSHA cited the U.S. Postal Service under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.35(b)(1)(iv) for allegedly retaliating against two mail carriers who reported work-related injuries. USPS issued each carrier a seven-day working suspension, later rescinded, and OSHA proposed a $5,432 penalty. The judge vacated the citation…
Angel Brothers Enterprises, Ltd.
Willful cave-in protection violation affirmed
Angel Brothers installed drainage pipe in Type C soil and initially protected workers by benching the excavation walls. A safety manager told the foreman that a trench box would be required the next day because the work was approaching an intersection. The foreman knowingly allowed an employee to…
The Lane Construction Corp.
Pile-driving citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement proof
A Lane Construction employee was fatally struck by a 90-pound pile cushion that was ejected during a bridge pile-driving dry run. OSHA cited the general duty clause for exposing employees to struck-by hazards near the hammer and proposed a $6,300 penalty. The Secretary proposed keeping workers at…
Clean Fuels of Indiana, Inc.
General-industry items vacated because tank cleaning was construction work
Clean Fuels prepared newly installed underground tanks for a gas station that was still under construction. During the work, an employee was found unresponsive in a turbine-pump well and later died from gasoline inhalation. OSHA cited manhole, respiratory-protection, and permit-required…
Tutor Perini Building Corp.
Scaffold guardrail citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
Tutor Perini was the general contractor for a casino expansion where OSHA found guardrails missing from two upper scaffold platforms. The condition was unrelated to the fatal roof fall that prompted the inspection. OSHA cited Tutor Perini as the controlling employer under 29 C.F.R. §…
Angelica Textile Services, Inc.
Case dismissed as moot after bankruptcy
Angelica Textile Services filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while the case was pending before the Commission. The Secretary did not file a proof of claim before the deadline for government claims, and the company did not appear through counsel on appeal. The Second Circuit therefore dismissed the…
Secretary of Labor obo William R. Whitmore v. Yager Materials Corp.
Limited prehearing disclosure ordered
Before William Whitmore's temporary-reinstatement hearing, Yager Materials sought interview statements, management-witness materials, hearing exhibits, and documents used by MSHA's investigator. Judge William Moran held that fairness required the Secretary to provide Whitmore's own interview…
Secretary of Labor obo James McGaughran v. Lehigh Cement Company, LLC (Corrected)
Secretary of Labor obo James McGaughran v. Lehigh Cement Company, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2019-0144 DM): Corrected reinstatement-tolling decision
This corrected release addresses James McGaughran's economic temporary reinstatement while his discrimination case against Lehigh Cement proceeded. When COVID-19 delayed the scheduled merits hearing, the Judge suspended Lehigh's payment obligation. The Commission held that a procedural delay beyond…
Secretary of Labor obo James McGoughran v. Lehigh Cement Company, LLC
Pandemic delay did not toll reinstatement
Lehigh Cement and James McGoughran had agreed to economic temporary reinstatement while his discrimination case proceeded. When COVID-19 delayed the scheduled merits hearing and the Secretary declined a video hearing, the Judge suspended Lehigh's payment obligation. The Commission held that a…
Matter of P-B-B-
Drug identity can make an Arizona statute divisible
The Board reviewed a Jamaican lawful permanent resident's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him removable based on Arizona convictions involving possession of dangerous and narcotic drugs. The Board held that Arizona's dangerous-drug statute is divisible by the identity of the drug because…
Dick v. United Services Automobile Association
Partial-dismissal appeal rejected as interlocutory
An ALJ dismissed Curtis Dick's Surface Transportation Assistance Act claim against United Services Automobile Association but left his claim against Contracted Driver Services pending. Dick appealed the partial dismissal before the ALJ had issued a final decision on the entire case. He did not ask…
Kiewit Power Constructors Co.
Quick-drenching citation remanded for a decision on the merits
OSHA cited Kiewit Power Constructors under the construction quick-drenching provision, 29 C.F.R. § 1926.50(g). An administrative law judge and then the Commission vacated the citation after concluding that the provision had not been validly promulgated for construction work. The D.C. Circuit…
Towe v. Autobahn Freight Lines, Ltd.
Late appeal dismissed
The Board ordered Jackie Towe to explain why his petition for review should not be dismissed because it was filed late. Towe did not respond to the show-cause order. The Board dismissed the appeal without addressing the merits of the underlying dispute.
Davenport v. LTI Trucking Services Inc.
No discharge or blacklisting proved
Truck driver Wyatt Davenport reported physical symptoms that he believed came from a problem with his truck, and a cracked battery was later found. LTI Trucking sent him home until he could obtain medical clearance to drive, but he never asked to return. The Board upheld the ALJs' findings that LTI…
Johnson v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc.
Partial-dismissal appeal voluntarily dismissed
Mark Johnson alleged that FedEx Ground, OSD Transport, and Steve Olson terminated him after he refused to drive in dangerous weather. The ALJ granted summary decision for FedEx but left Johnson's claims against OSD and Olson pending. Johnson petitioned for review in an effort to preserve his appeal…
Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C.
In re Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 19-01): Title V permit review denied
The American Bottom Conservancy challenged EPA Region 5's Title V permit for Veolia's hazardous waste incinerator in Sauget, Illinois. It argued that the permit should require a twelve-month metals-monitoring program and stricter analysis of waste feedstreams that Veolia could classify as…
Secretary of Labor obo James McGaughran v. Lehigh Cement Company, LLC
Incentive-payment enforcement denied
The Secretary asked the Judge to enforce James McGaughran's economic-reinstatement order by requiring Lehigh Cement to pay another $12,000 under its annual incentive plan. The request was filed in the discrimination merits docket rather than the separate temporary-reinstatement docket. The…
Matter of O-F-A-S-
The CAT uses one under-color-of-law standard
The Attorney General reviewed the Board's decision on a Guatemalan respondent's claim that he would be tortured by men wearing police uniforms who invaded his home, assaulted him, and threatened him. The decision held that the Convention Against Torture's requirement that an act be committed by a…
Matter of M-D-C-V-
Arriving aliens near the border may be returned to a contiguous country
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent's appeal after the Department of Homeland Security returned her to Mexico under the Migrant Protection Protocols and an Immigration Judge denied her applications for asylum and withholding of removal. The Board held that an alien apprehended just inside…
Varess v. Persian Broadcast Service Global, Inc.
$183,794 E-3 wage award affirmed
Persian Broadcast Service Global sponsored Majid Varess for two periods of E-3 employment but did not pay the required wages throughout those labor-condition-application periods. The employer argued that Varess filed too late and voluntarily placed himself in nonproductive status. The Board held…
Cole v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.
Union dispute did not establish rail retaliation
Norfolk Southern fired conductor and union official Scott Cole after finding that he made misrepresentations and threatened to publicly disparage a customer during a dispute about using Ohio-based train crews. Cole argued that his call to the customer was protected because he raised safety concerns…
Matter of Bay Area Legal Services, Inc.
Amicus requests for clarification denied
The Office of Legal Access Programs recognized Bay Area Legal Services, Inc., approved extension offices, and partially accredited Carlos Betancourt, but denied his request for full accreditation. After the Director affirmed the denial of reconsideration, an organization acting as a putative amicus…
Budri v. FirstFleet, Inc.
Review denied in fourth STAA complaint
Adriano Budri filed a fourth Surface Transportation Assistance Act complaint against FirstFleet based on negative driving-history information the company had provided to the driver-data service Tenstreet in 2017. Budri argued that learning in 2019 that the information would remain on his report…
City of Lowell
In re City of Lowell (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 19-03): NPDES permit review denied
The City of Lowell, Massachusetts, challenged its renewed NPDES permit for wastewater and combined sewer overflow discharges into the Merrimack River and nearby tributaries. The challenge covered phosphorus, flow, and E. coli limits, long-term control planning, bypass and water-quality…
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.