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 Daniel Girmai NEGUSIE
Narrow duress defense recognized for the persecutor bar
The Board reconsidered an Ethiopian and Eritrean applicant's applications for asylum and withholding of removal after he served as an armed prison guard in Eritrea. The Board held that a narrow duress defense is available when an applicant is accused of assisting or participating in persecution…
Secretary of Labor obo Eric Greathouse and United Mine Workers of America International Union v. Monongalia County Coal Co., Consolidation Coal Co., Murray American Energy, Inc., and Murray Energy Corp.
Secretary of Labor obo Eric Greathouse and United Mine Workers of America, et al. v. Monongalia County Coal Co., et al. (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-904-D, et al.): Tie vote left bonus-plan interference findings intact
Six Murray Energy mines implemented production bonus plans that reduced or eliminated crew bonuses after S&S citations, withdrawal orders, lost-time injuries, and time spent accompanying MSHA inspectors. The ALJ found that the plans discouraged safety complaints, injury reporting, walkaround…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
Amended settlement approved after two tie votes
The Commission had twice divided two-to-two on American Coal's proposed settlement, which effectively denied approval and led the operator to seek federal court review. The court held the appeal in abeyance while the parties submitted an amended settlement motion to the Commission. The amended…
Enel Green Power North America, Inc.
In re Enel Green Power North America, Inc. (EAB MM 18-01C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns Enel Green Power North America, Inc. and four consolidated program docket numbers covering the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The two-page release does not describe the…
Secretary of Labor v. Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc.
Portal combustibles and unsafe escapeway violations affirmed
Original Sixteen to One Mine contested two citations involving combustible wood near a mine portal and mud and water in a secondary escapeway. Judge William B. Moran held that the wood violated the limit on storing more than a one-day supply of combustible material within 100 feet of a mine…
Secretary of Labor v. Jamestown Quarries and Secretary of Labor v. Rocky Ridge Custom Crushing, LLC
MSHA jurisdiction covered quarry garage and processing shop
Jamestown Quarries and Rocky Ridge Custom Crushing disputed MSHA's jurisdiction over a garage and stone-processing shop beside an active Tennessee quarry. Judge David P. Simonton held that the garage was a mine facility because it was adjacent to the quarry, stored a service truck and quarry…
Coleman Hammons Construction Co., Inc.
Late contest dismissed
Coleman Hammons Construction did not contest two OSHA citations within the required 15 working days, so they became a final order by operation of law. A corporate officer signed for the citations and left them unopened on the desk of a project superintendent who was away from the office through the…
Matter of A-B-
Private-violence asylum claims require an established group analysis
The Attorney General reviewed an asylum case involving a respondent who reported domestic abuse by her former husband in El Salvador. The decision held that an applicant relying on membership in a particular social group must show a group with a common immutable characteristic, particularity, and…
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc.
Stacked-crate citation vacated
General Dynamics Land Systems stored Stryker vehicle parts in stacked crates at an Alabama warehouse. Seven crates fell from an 11-foot stack while an employee was taking inventory, causing serious injuries. The judge found that the crates were not interlocked and that the stack was not stable and…
Matter of A-C-M-
Forced labor was material support to a terrorist organization
The Board reviewed an El Salvadoran respondent's applications for cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture after guerrillas kidnapped her and forced her to perform cooking, cleaning, and laundry. The Board held that material…
Secretary of Labor v. Rockwell Mining, LLC
Interlocutory review certified over settlement-support standard
After denying a proposed settlement for inadequate factual support, Judge William B. Moran granted the Secretary's request to certify the dispute for interlocutory review. The judge framed the controlling question as whether merely identifying an operator's factual contentions, without…
Secretary of Labor v. The Ohio County Coal Company
Settlement denial certified for interlocutory review
Judge William B. Moran granted the Secretary's motion to certify an earlier settlement denial for interlocutory review. The proposed agreement kept four citations and their penalties unchanged but reduced negligence and the penalty for a citation alleging work under unsupported roof. The appended…
Magnolia Waco Properties, LLC d/b/a Magnolia Homes
In re Magnolia Waco Properties, LLC d/b/a Magnolia Homes (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 18-01C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns Magnolia Waco Properties, LLC, doing business as Magnolia Homes. 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…
Secretary of Labor v. Bradley Pate employed by The American Coal Company
Summary decision denied in section 110(c) case
Bradley Pate sought summary decision in an individual-liability case arising from an allegedly unsecured raised front-end loader. Judge David P. Simonton declined to deem Pate's requests for admission admitted merely because the Secretary answered eight days late. Commission Rule 58 gave the judge…
Prime Pak Foods, Inc.
Late contest dismissed
Prime Pak Foods received a serious OSHA citation by certified mail on November 6, 2017, but did not file its notice of contest by the November 29 deadline. The company argued that OSHA failed to hold a closing conference and should have sent the citation to its counsel. The judge held that service…
Secretary of Labor v. Pennsy Supply, Inc.
Amendments adding unwarrantable-failure allegations allowed
Shortly before hearing, the Secretary moved to amend two citations against Pennsy Supply from section 104(a) citations alleging moderate negligence to section 104(d) citations alleging high negligence and unwarrantable failure. Judge Priscilla M. Rae granted the motion because the amendments were…
West Bay Exploration Co., Haystead #9 SWD
In re West Bay Exploration Co., Haystead #9 SWD (EAB UIC Appeal No. 18-01): motion for clarification denied
Peter Bormuth filed an informal appeal concerning his request that EPA Region 5 terminate an Underground Injection Control permit for a waste disposal well in Jackson County, Michigan. The Board had previously dismissed that appeal as premature because Region 5 had not issued a final response…
Secretary of Labor v. Rock Products, Inc.
Equipment citations assessed at $24,984
Rock Products contested citations from three inspections of its New Mexico sand-and-gravel operation. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed violations involving an unchocked loader, damaged access steps, an unguarded tail pulley, a defective parking brake, oil near loader controls, nonfunctional…
Action Electric Company, Inc.
Lockout citation reinstated on remand
Action Electric employees entered a steel mill's cooling-bed basement to prepare for fan replacement before the required lockout procedure was completed. A counterweight moved to its de-energized position, striking and killing an apprentice and narrowly missing the lead worker. An earlier judge had…
Secretary of Labor v. V-Tech Sand, LLC
Tie vote left penalty orders closed
V-Tech Sand asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments. Acting Chairman William I. Althen and Commissioner Michael G. Young believed no final orders existed, so reopening was unnecessary and V-Tech should be permitted to contest the penalties before a judge. Commissioners Mary Lu Jordan…
Secretary of Labor obo Louis Silva, Jr. v. Aggregate Industries WRC, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement dissolved after discrimination dismissal
Aggregate Industries had been providing Louis Silva temporary economic reinstatement while his Mine Act discrimination case was pending. Judge Richard W. Manning later dismissed Silva's underlying discrimination complaint after an evidentiary hearing. Because no party petitioned for Commission…
Maryland Performance Diesel, LLC
In re Maryland Performance Diesel, LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-05C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns Maryland Performance Diesel, LLC. 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…
Matter of Shuying DING
Keeping a place of prostitution was an aggravated felony
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Chinese lawful permanent resident convicted under Wisconsin law of keeping a place of prostitution. The Board held that prostitution for purposes of the…
Ovation Plumbing, Inc.
Fall-protection citation affirmed with reduced penalty
Ovation Plumbing worked on a multi-unit residential construction project where a foreman and another employee crossed a guardrail onto an unprotected second-floor balcony more than 10 feet above the ground. They entered the balcony area to measure for a future regulator-vent installation. The judge…
Matter of CASTRO-TUM, Respondent
Attorney General limited administrative closure
The Attorney General affirmed the Board’s order and remanded for further proceedings. He held that Immigration Judges and the Board do not have general authority to suspend immigration proceedings indefinitely through administrative closure. Such closure is allowed only when a prior regulation or a…
Randall Mechanical, Inc.
Late contest dismissed on reconsideration
Randall Mechanical received an OSHA citation on July 3, 2017, but filed its notice of contest after the 15-working-day deadline. The judge initially granted relief for excusable neglect. After the Commission emphasized that the reason for delay and whether it was within the employer's control are…
Will Willis v. Jeffrey Tyler for Heart of Nature (NV), LLC
MSHA ordered to produce discrimination complaint and interview
Will Willis brought his own Mine Act discrimination case after MSHA declined to prosecute, but neither Willis nor the court had his original discrimination complaint or his signed MSHA investigator interview. Judge William B. Moran held that those documents were essential because the complaint and…
Jeffrey Pappas v. Calportland Company and Riverside Cement Company
Discrimination dismissal affirmed
Jeffrey Pappas alleged that Riverside Cement gave negative employment references and that CalPortland refused to hire him because of earlier safety complaints and a settled discrimination case. The Commission affirmed dismissal. The judge reasonably credited Riverside's human-resources manager that…
Town of Fairhaven
In re Town of Fairhaven (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 17-08): petition dismissed after settlement
The Town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, asked the Environmental Appeals Board to dismiss its challenge to NPDES Permit No. MA0100765. The Town reported that it had reached a settlement with EPA Region 1 and that the parties had executed an Administrative Order on Consent. The Board granted the motion…
Evans Tuning, LLC
In re Evans Tuning, LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-04C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns Evans Tuning, LLC. The scanned 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…
Secretary of Labor v. American Rock Salt Company, LLC
Penalty contest reopened after processing mistake
American Rock Salt sought to reopen a $7,000 penalty that MSHA's records treated as an uncontested final order. The operator said it had timely contested that penalty while paying the remaining $884 in the assessment, and the Secretary did not dispute either point. After receiving a delinquency…
Secretary of Labor v. Great Northwest, Inc.
Contest sent with payment reopened
Great Northwest intended to contest part of a proposed penalty assessment while paying the uncontested citations. It mistakenly sent both the contest form and payment to MSHA's St. Louis office instead of sending the contest to Arlington. MSHA received the payment, but the contested penalty became…
Secretary of Labor v. Mountain Cement Company
Delayed reopening motion denied
Mountain Cement said it mistakenly mailed a penalty-contest form with payment for an uncontested citation to MSHA's St. Louis office instead of the Arlington contest office. That explained the initial default, but the operator waited 84 days after receiving a delinquency notice before moving to…
Secretary of Labor v. Granite Construction Company
Misdirected penalty contest reopened
Granite Construction timely mailed its penalty-contest form, but administrative staff inadvertently used MSHA's former address. Postal tracking confirmed that a parcel was sent to the wrong location. Granite discovered the mistake while counsel searched for the expected penalty petition and moved…
Secretary of Labor v. Holroyd Co., Inc.
Diligently pursued penalty contest reopened
Holroyd mistakenly sent its penalty-contest form with payment for uncontested citations to MSHA's St. Louis office. After learning of a delinquency, it repeatedly contacted MSHA and understood from a March conversation that the agency was resolving the problem. A later Treasury notice and…
Secretary of Labor v. WESCO
Default caused by office move vacated
WESCO contested a citation but moved offices shortly afterward. Although it said it notified MSHA of the new address, the penalty petition and show-cause order went to its former address, and the unanswered order became a final default. WESCO learned of the result only through collection notices…
Secretary of Labor v. Jay Fulkroad & Sons, Inc.
Separate penalty-contest requirement excused
Jay Fulkroad & Sons contested the underlying citation but did not understand that it also had to contest the later proposed penalty assessment. It made a partial payment and, after receiving a delinquency notice, contacted the Commission the next day for an explanation. The operator had filed no…
Secretary of Labor v. Castillo Ready Mix, Inc.
Timely contest made reopening unnecessary
Castillo Ready Mix believed its intended contest of Citation No. 9355405 had been misplaced while the employee responsible for the paperwork was seriously ill. The Secretary's records instead showed that the assessment was delivered on October 17, the contest was mailed on October 27, and MSHA…
Secretary of Labor v. San Juan Coal Co.
Clerical-error penalty contest reopened
San Juan Coal's safety manager selected four citations for contest and sent that information to accounts payable. A clerical error caused the contest form to be mailed with payment for the uncontested citations to MSHA's St. Louis office rather than to the Arlington contest office. After learning…
Peabody Twentymile Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Twentymile Mining, LLC
Peabody Twentymile Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2017-553, WEST 2017-247 R, WEST 2017-248 R): Feeder fishing violation modified and imminent danger vacated
Peabody Twentymile miners used a long hooked rod to remove wood and metal from a feeder, a decades-old practice called “fishing.” Judge Richard W. Manning held that fishing was preventive maintenance because it kept the feeder, pick breaker, and belt efficient and avoided later shutdowns, so the…
Secretary of Labor v. NALC, LLC
Stairway and falling-rock citations affirmed with reduced negligence
NALC contested two citations at its Indiana quarry. Judge David P. Simonton affirmed an S&S housekeeping violation because loose, slick material covered the bottom two stairway steps and footprints showed miners had crossed it. He reduced negligence to low because management intended to clean the…
Secretary of Labor v. Alcoa World Alumina, LLC
Rank-and-file employee was not Alcoa's agent
A contractor employee was severely burned by caustic liquid while a crew cleared a blocked pipe at Alcoa's alumina plant. Alcoa accepted three S&S violations but disputed high negligence and unwarrantable failure. The Commission affirmed findings that Alcoa employee Steven Alvarado was not acting…
Secretary of Labor v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.
Inadequate preheat-tower examination affirmed after remand
A Sunbelt scaffold erector was injured by material falling inside a cement-plant preheat tower. On remand from an earlier Commission decision, Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that Sunbelt's workplace examination was inadequate because its examiners looked into the vessel only through sixth-floor…
Matter of L-M-P-
DHS may seek reconsideration and asylum was unavailable after removal reinstatement
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's challenge to an Immigration Judge's grant of asylum to a Guatemalan applicant whose prior removal order had been reinstated after an unlawful reentry. The Board held that DHS may file a motion to reconsider in Immigration Court and that an…
West Bay Exploration Co., Haystead #9 SWD
In re West Bay Exploration Co., Haystead #9 SWD (EAB UIC Appeal No. 18-01): informal appeal dismissed as premature
Peter C. Bormuth asked the Environmental Appeals Board to review EPA Region 5's alleged denial of his request to terminate West Bay Exploration Company's UIC permit for the Haystead #9 SWD well in Michigan. Region 5 had not issued a final response, and Bormuth argued that the Region's delay was an…
Secretary of Labor v. Sims Crane
Unnecessary walk under suspended spreader bar violated standard
Sims Crane employees walked beneath a 625-pound spreader bar suspended 25 to 35 feet above the ground while a crane was being prepared for work. The Commission rejected an interpretation that would make necessary crane rigging impossible. Reading the suspended-load and maintenance standards…
AEROTEK
Manlift floor-opening citation vacated
Aerotek supplied temporary employees to a ceramics manufacturing facility where workers used an older belt manlift. An Aerotek employee fell through a manlift floor opening after the lift jerked and sustained serious injuries. OSHA amended its citation from a manlift design standard to the general…
Will Willis v. Jeffrey Tyler for Heart of Nature (NV), LLC
MSHA given one final deadline to address document production
In Will Willis's private Mine Act discrimination case, the court had asked MSHA whether it would provide Willis with his own discrimination complaint and investigator interview. MSHA sought more time, citing the Privacy Act and the need to contact Willis. Judge William B. Moran explained that MSHA…
Southern Hens, Inc.
Lockout and machine-guarding items split
Southern Hens operated a poultry-processing facility where sanitation employees cleaned production machinery during the night shift. An employee's hand was caught in an operating tumbler drive mechanism while she cleaned it, resulting in the permanent loss of part of her thumb. The judge vacated…
Matter of Jorge Isaac SANCHEZ-LOPEZ
California stalking statute was too broad for removal
The Board reconsidered the removal of a Peruvian lawful permanent resident convicted under California's stalking statute. It held that the statute was broader than the generic immigration definition of a crime of stalking because its reference to fear for a person's safety could include nonphysical…
Will Willis v. Jeffrey Tyler for Heart of Nature (NV), LLC
MSHA directed to address access to complaint records
Will Willis filed his own section 105(c)(3) discrimination case after MSHA declined to prosecute, but he lacked copies of both his initiating complaint and his signed investigator interview. Judge William B. Moran explained that those records were central because a private discrimination case is…
Secretary of Labor obo Louis Silva, Jr. v. Aggregate Industries WRC, Inc.
Loader-collision termination was not discriminatory
Aggregate Industries fired quality-control technician Louis Silva after his pickup collided with a front-end loader. Silva alleged retaliation for raising traffic-safety concerns and reporting a concussion. Judge Richard W. Manning assumed the traffic discussions were protected and agreed that…
Secretary of Labor v. Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services
Scaffold-collapse citation vacated
A scaffold erected by Brand Energy inside a cement-plant calciner collapsed while another contractor, K&G, performed refractory removal. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that K&G had substantially and unreasonably overloaded the scaffold with debris. The Secretary did not prove that Brand's Cuplok…
Boston Design & Construction Co., Inc.
In re Boston Design & Construction Co., Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 18-(01)): Board declines sua sponte review
The Presiding Officer issued an Initial Decision and Default Order for Boston Design & Construction Co., Inc., on February 28, 2018. Neither party appealed. The Environmental Appeals Board declined to review the case on its own initiative. The Initial Decision and Default Order therefore became a…
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Shane T. Wetzel, employed by Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Shane T. Wetzel (FMSHRC PENN 2014-108, PENN 2014-109, PENN 2016-135): Reckless-disregard finding required penalty remand
Lehigh foreman Shane Wetzel authorized a miner to enter an open pit twice beneath unstable highwalls and banks to attach chains to a buried dragline bucket. The ALJ found an S&S and unwarrantable violation, held Wetzel individually liable under section 110(c), but classified the operator's and…
New Flyer of America, Inc.
In re New Flyer of America, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-03C): consent agreement ratified
The Environmental Appeals Board issued a Final Order concerning New Flyer of America, Inc. The Board incorporated and ratified the attached Consent Agreement under EPA's Consolidated Rules of Practice. New Flyer was ordered to comply with all terms of the agreement effective immediately. The…
Matter of Jose MARQUEZ CONDE
Merits-based vacatur erased a conviction for immigration purposes
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's eligibility for cancellation of removal after a Texas theft conviction was followed by a new trial and dismissal of the criminal case. It reaffirmed that a conviction vacated because of a procedural or substantive defect is no longer a conviction for…
Calpine Corporation
Unguarded floor-opening citation affirmed
Calpine operated a power plant where a contractor removed platform grates during a turbine overhaul, leaving temporary floor openings more than 17 feet above a concrete floor. Calpine repeatedly assigned its maintenance employees to replace a turbine spark rod, a task that required access to the…
Jody Wilson Construction, Inc.
Fall citation reduced from willful to serious
Jody Wilson Construction installed siding and screen enclosures and agreed to make an additional siding repair from a residential roof more than eight feet above the ground. Two employees worked on the roof without guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems, and the foreman fell and…
Envision Waste Services, LLC
Safety items split and penalties reduced
Envision Waste Services operated a waste-sorting facility where employees separated recyclables from mixed waste that included used needles and other medical waste. The Commission affirmed the requirement for puncture-resistant gloves and violations involving fire-extinguisher, bloodborne-pathogen…
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.