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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Secretary of Labor v. Knight Hawk Coal, LLC
Accident-reporting citations vacated
A roof rock pinned continuous-miner operator Jonathan Wink and caused fractures to his lower leg and hip. A trained EMT examined him underground for about an hour, finding that he remained alert with normal circulation, no signs of shock, internal bleeding, crush injury, or altered mental status…
Shawn Hirt v. Gary Servaes Enterprises
Criminal-charge threat found unlawful
During settlement discussions in an earlier discrimination case, Gary Servaes Enterprises' attorney emailed that the company might refrain from seeking criminal charges against Shawn Hirt for allegedly false documents if Hirt withdrew his complaint. Judge Margaret A. Miller held that a reasonable…
Justin Holder, Battlefield Automotive, LLC, and Enhanced Alternatives, LLC, d/b/a Battlefield Automotive and Confederate Diesel
In re Justin Holder, Battlefield Automotive, LLC, and Enhanced Alternatives, LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-08C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns Justin Holder, Battlefield Automotive, LLC, and Enhanced Alternatives, LLC, which also did business as Battlefield Automotive and Confederate Diesel. The order does not describe the underlying alleged violations or the specific obligations in the incorporated Consent…
Insulation-N-Coatings d/b/a Force Enterprises
Spoil-pile violation affirmed, duplicate item vacated
Force Enterprises installed sewer pipe in a roughly 10-foot-deep trench while a spoil pile sat at the trench edge instead of at least two feet back. Based on inspection video, photographs, tools and footprints in the trench, and the foreman’s earlier statements, the judge found that employees had…
Matter of German BERMUDEZ-COTA
A later hearing notice completed a notice to appear
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's challenge to removal proceedings after his original notice to appear did not state the time and place of the initial hearing. The Board held that the notice to appear vested the Immigration Judge with jurisdiction and met the statutory notice requirements…
Secretary of Labor v. Panther Creek Mining, LLC
Mishandled assessment reopened
A Panther Creek employee found the proposed assessment in a mine file tray four days after it had already become final. The operator moved to reopen within about two weeks of the final-order date and began changing the service address for assessments from mine post office boxes to the company…
Secretary of Labor v. Rockwell Mining, LLC
One-day-late contest reopened
MSHA mailed Rockwell Mining's proposed assessment to a post office box rather than the operator's address of record. The box was not checked for two weeks, and a newly hired receptionist then handled the assessment. Rockwell filed its contest one day after the assessment became final. The Secretary…
Secretary of Labor v. Essroc Cement Corporation
Default reopening denied
Essroc failed to answer the Secretary's penalty petition and then failed to respond to a Commission show-cause order, causing a default. Its reopening motion initially claimed that the company never received the petition, but delivery records showed an employee signed for it and Essroc later…
Secretary of Labor v. Thomas L. Puckett, employed by Frasure Creek Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Thomas L. Puckett (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-932): No penalty owed after dismissal
Thomas Puckett timely contested an individual civil penalty assessment in 2015, but MSHA did not file the required penalty petition. A show-cause order went unanswered, so the Chief Administrative Law Judge dismissed the case for the Secretary's failure to prosecute. MSHA later incorrectly recorded…
Secretary of Labor v. Chavarria Construction, Inc.
Two penalty contests reopened
Chavarria Construction intended to contest portions of two penalty assessments. It mailed the general notice to MSHA's Arlington office but mistakenly sent the chart identifying the disputed violations with payment for the uncontested penalties, apparently to the St. Louis payment center. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Signal Peak Energy, LLC
Ventilation-plan rejection stands on 2-2 split
Signal Peak proposed replacing its dual-entry tailgate return with a single-entry system to reduce oxygen entering the gob and lessen spontaneous-combustion, roof-control, and material-handling risks. MSHA rejected the plan because it believed the single-entry system could expose miners to noxious…
Secretary of Labor v. Barnette Contractors, Inc.
Misdirected penalty contest reopened
Barnette Contractors mailed its penalty contest before the assessment became final, but sent it to the Commission and an MSHA district office rather than MSHA's Civil Penalty Compliance Office. Postal records confirmed that the Commission received the letter several weeks before the contest…
Secretary of Labor v. Cumberland Contura, LLC
Reopening denied for unreliable contest system
Cumberland Contura said a new parent company and reassigned personnel left it without a reliable penalty-contest system after Alpha Natural Resources emerged from bankruptcy. Although the company completed a contest form, it did not file it, did not act after claiming its new system became…
Secretary of Labor v. M-Class Mining, LLC
Staff-transition default reopened
M-Class Mining reassigned its safety director and gave a new employee responsibility for proposed assessments. The employee had difficulty locating some underlying citations and failed to file the contest on time. M-Class retrained the employee and moved to reopen within 30 days after receiving…
Secretary of Labor v. Southern Aggregates, LLC
Late penalty contest reopened
Southern Aggregates intended to contest penalties for two citations but mistakenly mailed the contest with payment for two uncontested citations to MSHA's payment center rather than its penalty compliance office. MSHA processed the partial payment before the assessment became final, and the…
Secretary of Labor v. Mach Mining, LLC
Chirp-alert citations vacated
MSHA found two inoperative visual and audible chirp alerts on high-voltage longwall equipment and cited Mach Mining under the weekly testing and examination standard. The inspector nevertheless testified that Mach had performed the required tests, and the Secretary offered no examination records or…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
Tie left five special-assessment penalties standing
The American Coal Company challenged five penalties after an ALJ affirmed four roof-and-rib violations and one transportation-safeguard violation, all designated significant and substantial, and assessed $43,200 against MSHA's $69,608 special-assessment proposal. On the case's second Commission…
Matter of J. M. ACOSTA
Conviction finality requires direct appeal rights to be exhausted or waived
The Board reviewed a Dominican Republic respondent's removal order based in part on a New York drug conviction and his request to reopen the record after a state court allowed a late direct appeal. The Board held that a conviction does not become sufficiently final for immigration purposes until…
Secretary of Labor v. R. J. McDonald, Inc.
Interlocutory settlement review denied
A Commission judge denied two proposed settlements because the Secretary had not supplied enough supporting information, then certified those rulings for interlocutory review. The proposed changes would have removed significant-and-substantial and unwarrantable-failure designations from one…
Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC
Appeal dismissed after review direction vacated
Pocahontas Coal petitioned for discretionary review of an ALJ summary decision involving a pattern-of-violations notice and related withdrawal orders at its Affinity Mine. After the Commission granted review, Pocahontas moved to withdraw its appeal and dismiss the proceedings. The Commission…
Nissan North America, Inc.
Conveyor lockout training violation affirmed
Three Nissan maintenance technicians inspected an overhead conveyor while a contract mechanic worked elsewhere and later restarted the conveyor, causing one technician’s hand to be pulled into a belt. The judge vacated a lockout-removal notification item because OSHA did not establish that the…
Secretary of Labor v. Rain for Rent
Contractor truck parking-brake citation affirmed
An MSHA inspector saw a Rain for Rent contractor truck rock after parking in the mine-office lot, opened its door while the driver was signing in, and found that the parking brake was not set. The judge held that the office lot was a mine facility, Rain for Rent was an operator because its…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Delayed fatal-potential injury report affirmed
A contractor miner was crushed between multi-ton machines, could not move or feel one leg, developed abdominal swelling suggesting internal bleeding, and was evacuated by Life Flight. Consol waited roughly two hours after the accident to notify MSHA. The Commission unanimously held that section…
Secretary of Labor v. Beelman Truck Co.
Undelivered assessment never became final
Beelman Truck asked to reopen a penalty assessment that appeared to have become final after no contest was received. The Postal Service had returned the assessment unclaimed, Beelman said it never received it, and the Secretary did not contend that Beelman refused delivery. The Commission held that…
Secretary of Labor v. Duracap Materials, LLC
Timely contest prevented finality
Duracap Materials asked to reopen a penalty assessment that appeared to have become final. A certified-mail receipt and Postal Service records showed that Duracap's contest reached the Arlington post office before the contest deadline, although it was never delivered to the Secretary, and the…
Matter of L-A-B-R- et al.
Continuance requests require a good-cause analysis
The Attorney General addressed how immigration judges should evaluate requests to pause removal proceedings while a respondent pursues relief from another authority, such as a visa petition. The decision held that the good-cause requirement for a continuance is substantive and requires a…
Berwick Electric Company
Heavy-cable training violation affirmed
Berwick electricians pulled a roughly 11,000-pound cable through rollers and sheaves at a power plant, and one employee broke his arm when a suspended section shifted while he tried to move it by hand. The judge found that general warnings about pinch points and using a buddy did not prepare…
Colonial Oil Industries, Inc.
In re Colonial Oil Industries, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-07C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns Colonial Oil Industries, Inc. The two-page release does not describe the underlying alleged violation or the specific obligations in the incorporated Consent Agreement. The Board relied on EPA's Consolidated Rules of Practice and Clean Air Act section 205(c)(1)…
Matter of Julio MEDINA-JIMENEZ
Protection-order conviction barred cancellation of removal
The Board reconsidered a Mexican respondent's eligibility for cancellation of removal after an Oregon court convicted him of violating a protection order. The Board held that the categorical approach does not govern whether a protection-order violation is an offense under the immigration statute…
Matter of Agustin ORTEGA-LOPEZ
Animal fighting conviction barred cancellation of removal
The Board reconsidered a Mexican respondent's eligibility for cancellation of removal after he was convicted under federal law for sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture. The Board held that the offense is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude because it requires…
Secretary of Labor v. The Ohio County Coal Company
Roof-bolter settlement approved on interlocutory review
Ohio County Coal and the Secretary proposed settling five citations for $7,087 instead of $10,075. Four citations and their penalties remained unchanged. For a citation alleging that a miner worked under unsupported roof while one automated temporary roof support pad did not contact the roof, the…
Secretary of Labor v. Rockwell Mining, LLC
Settlement denial vacated under wrong standard
Rockwell Mining and the Secretary proposed settling seven citations by vacating one, leaving three unchanged, and reducing three penalties based on the operator's factual contentions and the Secretary's observations. The judge denied approval because the motion did not state that the contentions…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
Uniform-percentage settlement denial vacated
On a second interlocutory appeal, the Commission reviewed an amended settlement covering 32 citations, keeping every citation as written while reducing each penalty by 30 percent. The judge again denied approval because the submission was not tied rigidly enough to the six statutory penalty…
Excelsior Mining Arizona, Inc.
In re Excelsior Mining Arizona, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal No. 18-03): petition dismissed after withdrawal
Sharon Rock appealed a Class III Underground Injection Control permit issued by EPA Region 9 to Excelsior Mining Arizona, Inc. for the Gunnison Copper Project in Cochise County, Arizona. She later sent a letter seeking to formally rescind the appeal. The Environmental Appeals Board treated that…
Secretary of Labor v. Rain for Rent
Air-tank inspection and fuel-label citations affirmed
MSHA cited Rain for Rent after its mine-service truck carried a compressed-air tank without proof of the required post-installation National Board inspection and a gasoline safety can without a label identifying its contents. The Commission unanimously held that a manufacturer's construction plate…
Texas Management Division, Inc.
Late-contest relief denial remanded
Texas Management Division filed its notice of contest nearly three months late and sought relief from the citation’s final-order status based on mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect. The judge denied relief after a telephonic hearing, relying primarily on competing declarations. The…
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company
Flagrant and unwarrantable designations deleted
Monongalia stipulated to significant-and-substantial violations involving extensive combustible accumulations along a belt and an inadequate preshift examination, but disputed unwarrantable-failure and flagrant designations. Judge Jerold Feldman found high negligence and serious violations, yet…
Caldwell Tanks, Inc.
Welding-ventilation citation withdrawn and vacated
An administrative law judge affirmed a serious ventilation citation after Caldwell Tanks employees welded inside a water-tower access tube and assessed a $3,400 penalty. The case was directed for Commission review. Before the Commission decided the merits, the Secretary withdrew the sole remaining…
Angelica Textile Services, Inc.
Confined-space and lockout items affirmed as serious
Angelica operated interconnected commercial laundry equipment, including large combined batch washers that employees sometimes entered as permit-required confined spaces. The Commission reversed the judge and affirmed violations involving the company’s written lockout and confined-space procedures…
Cumberland Contura, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Imminent-danger rerailing order vacated
An MSHA inspector saw a miner walk between a rib and a derailed 20-ton locomotive while workers were preparing to rerail it, stopped the work, and issued a section 107(a) imminent-danger order within about three minutes. The judge credited the inspector's honest fear but held that the conclusion…
The Doe Run Company v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. The Doe Run Company
Ground-control violations modified and training citation vacated
After a roof fall at Doe Run's underground lead and zinc mine crushed a mechanical scaler and killed its operator, MSHA issued two ground-control citations and a training citation. Judge John Kent Lewis held that the fatal accident itself established strict-liability violations of the…
TMD Staffing
Machine-guarding violations affirmed
TMD Staffing supplied most of the workers at Hightower Metal Works' steel fabrication shop. TMD employees regularly operated an ironworker punch station, two press brakes, and a bending roll without required point-of-operation guards. One employee's finger was crushed while operating the bending…
M-Class Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Terminated accident-control order remained reviewable
MSHA issued a section 103(k) accident-control order after a miner at M-Class Mining's Illinois coal mine was hospitalized with suspected carbon monoxide exposure. The agency later ended its investigation, terminated the order without vacating it, and asked the judge to dismiss M-Class's pending…
Secretary of Labor obo Kelly Rawley v. J.L. Sherman Excavation Co. and Pamela and Jeffrey Sherman
Retaliation settlement approved
The Secretary alleged that J.L. Sherman Excavation and its owners retaliated against miner Kelly Rawley for protected safety activity and interfered with his right to contact MSHA. The dispute followed earlier proceedings that had required Rawley's reinstatement, back pay, advance notice before…
Secretary of Labor v. Canyon Fuel Company, LLC
Separate-assessment confusion supported reopening
Canyon Fuel did not receive or process a proposed penalty assessment before the 30-day contest deadline. The company also mistakenly believed the citation would appear on the same assessment form as another citation from the inspection. When the later form omitted it, counsel checked MSHA's system…
Secretary of Labor v. Mark Augustine, employed by Metzger Removal, Inc.
Individual penalty reopened for settlement
Mark Augustine sought to reopen a final individual penalty assessment issued under section 110(c) for his conduct as an employee of Metzger Removal. The Secretary supported reopening so the assessment could be included in a global settlement of the outstanding matters involving Augustine and the…
Century Communities, Inc., dba Century Communities of GA
Crane power-line violation affirmed
Century Communities was the developer and construction manager for a residential subdivision where subcontractors used a crane to place roof trusses. The crane came within 20 feet of energized overhead lines rated at approximately 119.15 kV, causing an electrical arc that seriously injured one…
Appleton Grp LLC, dba Appleton Group
All citation items vacated
Appleton Group manufactured and tested heating cable systems at its Connecticut facility. OSHA alleged hazards involving extruding-line emergency stops, electrical-panel access, cable-testing work practices and protective equipment, an exit sign, and a portable propane cylinder. The judge found…
RFN Enterprise, Inc.
In re RFN Enterprise, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 18-(02)): Board declines sua sponte review
The Presiding Officer issued an Initial Decision and Default Order for RFN Enterprise, Inc., on May 30, 2018. Neither party appealed. The Environmental Appeals Board declined to review the case on its own initiative. The Initial Decision and Default Order therefore would become a final order on…
Michael Wilson, Justin Greenwell and Brandon Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Brandon Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Justin Greenwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc.
Michael Wilson, Justin Greenwell, and Brandon Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2016-108-D, et al.): Confidential interference settlement approved
Three miners' representatives filed interference complaints against Armstrong Coal. An ALJ found interference in the Wilson, Greenwell, and Shemwell joint case and in Greenwell's separate case, but rejected Shemwell's separate claim, prompting review petitions from Armstrong and Shemwell. After…
Meeks v. Genesis Marine, LLC
Internal safety statements may be protected
Jason Meeks alleged that Genesis Marine fired him after he gave internal investigators information about illegal drug and alcohol use by the vessel captain and other crew members. An ALJ dismissed the Seaman's Protection Act complaint because Meeks did not report to the Coast Guard or another…
Brousil v. BNSF Railway Co.
Dismissal vacated under the clear-and-convincing standard
Michael Brousil alleged that BNSF retaliated against him under the Federal Rail Safety Act after he repeatedly raised concerns about diesel exhaust and train safety. An ALJ found that his protected activity contributed to three record suspensions but also found that BNSF proved it would have…
Riley v. Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corp. d/b/a Canadian Pacific
Late injury-report retaliation ruling affirmed
Mark Riley alleged that Canadian Pacific violated the Federal Rail Safety Act by withholding 47 days of pay after he reported a workplace assault and injury. The Board affirmed the finding that Riley's safety and injury reports were protected and that the late-reporting discipline was inextricably…
Franchini v. Argonne National Laboratory
Nuclear-safety retaliation dismissal affirmed
Felipe Franchini alleged that Argonne National Laboratory terminated him because of workplace safety and radiation complaints protected by the Energy Reorganization Act. The Board concluded that some of his secret recordings also qualified as protected activity because they concerned safety issues…
Micallef v. Harrah's Ricon Casino & Resort
SOX protected-activity claim rejected
Patricia Micallef alleged that Harrah's Rincon Casino and Resort violated Sarbanes-Oxley by firing her after she reported a work injury, fire hazards near oxygen tanks, and alleged misappropriation of employee tips. The Board considered whether those disclosures were protected by the statute. It…
AltairStrickland, LLC
All citation items vacated
AltairStrickland was removing a 24,000-pound heat exchanger at an ExxonMobil refinery when a pipe fell, killing one crew member and injuring the foreman. OSHA alleged that the company failed to provide required training and violated crane and rigging standards. The judge found that OSHA rules did…
KT Performance, Inc.
In re KT Performance, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-06C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns KT Performance, Inc. The two-page release does not describe the underlying alleged violation or the specific obligations in the incorporated Consent Agreement. The Board incorporated the Consent Agreement into its Final Order and ratified it under EPA's Consolidated Rules…
Secretary of Labor v. Oil-Dri Production Company
Housekeeping and equipment citations produced $12,483 penalty
MSHA issued 14 citations at Oil-Dri's Mississippi clay-processing mine, principally for housekeeping accumulations, dust-truck defects, inadequate lighting, and a missed workplace examination. Judge L. Zane Gill vacated the fire-extinguisher-record citation, recorded Oil-Dri's acceptance of a…
Secretary of Labor obo Thomas McGary and Ron Bowersox and United Mine Workers of America International Union v. The Marshall County Coal Co., McElroy Coal Co., Murray American Energy, Inc., and Murray Energy Corp.
Secretary of Labor obo Thomas McGary and Ron Bowersox, et al. v. The Marshall County Coal Co., et al. (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-583-D, et al.): Tie vote denied stay of compelled CEO reading
Murray Energy and related mine operators sought a stay while appealing Commission decisions that found interference with miners' rights to make confidential MSHA complaints. The underlying remedy required rescinding a policy that miners report MSHA complaints to management, posting notice, paying…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Refuge-chamber placement affirmed with $50,000 penalty
Peabody placed one of two refuge chambers in the direct line of sight of the working face, contrary to its approved emergency response plan. Judge David P. Simonton found the violation S&S because an assumed mine emergency could damage or destroy the chamber and leave miners without required refuge…
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.