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. LM Heavy Civil Construction, LLC
Late penalty contest reopened after correspondence misunderstanding
LM Heavy Civil Construction missed the 30-day deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. LM said it misunderstood correspondence from MSHA in another matter and moved to reopen promptly after receiving a delinquency notice. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Cemex Construction Materials, LP
Late penalty contest reopened after temporary staffing reduction
Cemex Construction Materials missed the 30-day deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. Cemex said a temporary reduction in administrative staff prevented timely processing and that it moved to reopen immediately after discovering…
Secretary of Labor v. Georgetown Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Final assessment reopened after personnel and paperwork problems
Georgetown Sand & Gravel intended to contest an MSHA penalty assessment but missed the 30-day deadline, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The company attributed the missed filing to a series of personnel issues and said it had adopted new office procedures for handling MSHA…
Secretary of Labor v. RiverStone Group, Inc.
One-day-late penalty contest reopened after assessment was misplaced
RiverStone Group misplaced an MSHA proposed penalty assessment and filed its contest one day after the 30-day deadline, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The company promptly moved to reopen the case. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged RiverStone to ensure…
Secretary of Labor v. M-Class Mining, LLC
Three-day-late penalty contest reopened after filing mistake
M-Class Mining missed the 30-day deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The company said it accidentally placed the contest with paperwork for another pending MSHA matter, which made its filing three days late. The Secretary did…
Secretary of Labor v. Buzzi Unicem USA
Penalty contest reopened after mistaken assumption that it was filed
Buzzi Unicem missed the 30-day deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. Buzzi said it mistakenly believed the contest had been filed when it submitted partial payment for the uncontested penalties. The Secretary did not oppose…
Secretary of Labor v. White County Coal, LLC
Six litigated citations affirmed and partial settlement approved
White County Coal operates the Pattiki underground coal mine in Illinois, where MSHA issued citations involving ventilation, roof support, and damaged trailing-cable splices. After the company settled 31 citations, it contested the gravity or negligence findings for six others but conceded the…
Secretary of Labor obo Jeremy Jones v. Kingston Mining, Inc.
Excluded layoff evidence required a new reinstatement hearing
Jeremy Jones, an electrician at Kingston Mining's No. 2 Mine, repeatedly raised safety concerns before he was included in a 23-miner layoff. An ALJ denied temporary reinstatement after finding Jones's discrimination complaint untimely and frivolous, while excluding evidence about how the layoff was…
Secretary of Labor v. Empresas Mundo Real, Inc.
MSHA covered crane work during batch-plant construction
Empresas Mundo Real assigned a quarry mechanic to operate a rented crane while building a concrete batch plant at its Puerto Rico mine, but did not first provide the required task training. The company argued that OSHA, rather than MSHA, controlled the construction site because completed concrete…
Deltech Corporation
In re Deltech Corporation (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 15-00C): $5,400 penalty paid and matter resolved
EPA alleged that Deltech Corporation failed to comply with Toxic Substances Control Act section 12(b) reporting requirements and related regulations. The complaint proposed a $5,400 civil penalty. Deltech paid the full amount. Under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(a)(3), the Board issued a Final Order after…
Secretary of Labor v. CML Metals Corporation
Reopening denied for unreliable penalty processing
CML Metals failed to contest an MSHA penalty assessment within 30 days, so the assessment became a final Commission order. The company sought reopening about nine months later, explaining that it had no designated safety employee and different people handled MSHA matters at different times. The…
R.E. Carroll, Inc.
In re R.E. Carroll, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 15-04C): Consent Agreement ratified
R.E. Carroll, Inc. resolved an EPA matter through a Consent Agreement. The Environmental Appeals Board incorporated the agreement by reference into its Final Order and ratified it under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b)-(c). The Board ordered R.E. Carroll, Inc. to comply with all terms of the Consent Agreement…
G.E.R.I.N. Home Improvements LLC
Contest dismissed after missing stated deadline
OSHA issued G.E.R.I.N. Home Improvements four serious citation items and one willful item with proposed penalties totaling $21,600. The company received the citations and an OSHA assistant director expressly told its owner that the contest deadline was March 11, 2015. Its notice was postmarked…
Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC
Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-395-R, et al.): Affinity Mine pattern notice upheld
MSHA issued a pattern-of-violations notice to Pocahontas Coal's Affinity Mine after a nationwide screening and further review of the mine's enforcement history, injuries, and claimed mitigating circumstances. The final notice relied on 34 significant-and-substantial violations, including recurring…
Sandra G. McDonald v. TMK Enterprises Security
Complaint amendment allowed after Commission remand
Sandra McDonald filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against TMK Enterprises Security over her former mine-site security job. The record showed that West Virginia had terminated TMK's corporate status before McDonald worked there and that George King and Mark Toler continued the security…
Secretary of Labor v. Kopper Glo Mining, LLC
Rib-control violation upheld but unwarrantable finding removed
MSHA cited Kopper Glo Mining after an inspector found rib sloughage and unsupported brows in five working headings at the Double Mountain Mine. Judge Margaret A. Miller held that the mine's roof-control plan clearly treated sloughing as a sign of instability and required fencing, steel supports…
Matter of J-S-S-
Competency must be reevaluated when relief claims are remanded
The Board reviewed a Haitian lawful permanent resident's removal case after controlled-substance convictions and a finding that he was competent to proceed. The Board held that neither party bears a formal burden of proof on competency, but when signs of incompetency are present, the Immigration…
Matsu Alabama, Inc., d/b/a A Division of Matcor Automotive, Inc.
Press-safety and repeat machine-guarding citations largely affirmed
Matsu Alabama assigned a temporary worker hired as a janitor to operate and load a mechanical press without adequate press training or supervision. A bent crowder-bar safeguard failed to keep him within the light curtain, and the press caused severe amputation injuries to both hands and one…
Secretary of Labor v. John Richards Construction
Extinguisher-record and handrail citations affirmed
MSHA cited John Richards Construction at its small Montana sand and gravel pit after the operator could not produce current fire-extinguisher inspection records and an accessible elevated walkway lacked a 23-inch section of handrail. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck denied the operator's recusal request…
Matter of Martin CHAIREZ-Castrejon and Matter of Vera SAMA
Matter of CHAIREZ-Castrejon and SAMA (BIA ID 3852): Attorney General referral stayed Board decisions
The Attorney General referred two Board of Immigration Appeals cases for review of how to determine whether a criminal statute is divisible under Descamps v. United States. The referral order asks whether a statute is divisible for the modified categorical approach only when applicable law requires…
Film Allman, LLC
Willful train-trestle hazard citation affirmed
Film Allman directed twenty to twenty-three employees to film a movie scene on an active railroad trestle. The company knew the railroad had twice denied permission, had no railroad representative controlling train traffic, and did not create a workable emergency exit plan. When a train approached…
Pan Oceanic Engineering Co., Inc.
Willful trench violation affirmed and other items vacated
Pan Oceanic Engineering performed underground sewer repair work in Chicago. An employee entered an approximately 8-foot-10-inch trench without cave-in protection even though hydraulic shoring was beside the trench, and the company had five prior final citations involving the same cave-in protection…
Byrd Telcom, Inc.
Gin-pole rigging hazard citation affirmed
A Byrd Telcom crew was raising a 40-foot, 1,800-pound gin pole on a cellular tower when a carabiner used in the rigging failed. The falling pole and rigging fatally struck two workers. The judge found that industry practice required properly secured rigging with chokers and a shackle, and that the…
Secretary of Labor v. CR Meyer & Sons Company, Inc.
Agitator citation reduced to moderate negligence
CR Meyer sent a foreman and another employee to replace a displaced guard over a rotating agitator shaft at Molycorp's Mountain Pass Mine and Mill. The foreman flipped the guard into place before asking Molycorp to shut down and lock out the operating agitator. Judge Richard W. Manning held that…
Secretary of Labor v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Penalty case stayed pending discrimination liability
The Secretary sought a $12,500 penalty against Dominion Coal based on an earlier ruling that the company interfered with Scott McGlothlin's Mine Act rights when he sought Part 90 protection. In the related discrimination case, McGlothlin and Dominion proposed agreed relief and dismissal, but the…
Moorhead Brothers, Inc.
Backup-alarm citation vacated on evenly balanced evidence
Moorhead Brothers was clearing a utility right-of-way in Ohio when a company truck backed over and killed an employee who was on foot. OSHA cited the site-clearing contractor under the construction vehicle standard that requires either an audible reverse alarm or an observer when the driver's rear…
Secretary of Labor v. Kempton Transport, Inc.
Hauling contractor covered by the Mine Act
Kempton Transport used four trucks to haul sand and gravel from a developing pit to a nearby crusher for M.R. Tanner five days a week over three months. The company argued that it was outside Mine Act jurisdiction because it had no written contract, was performing construction work, and was present…
Secretary of Labor v. Resolution Copper Mining, LLC
Rope-guided personnel conveyance treated as a bucket
Resolution Copper hoisted miners in a personnel conveyance at speeds up to 1,200 feet per minute, while the cited rule limits personnel hoisting in buckets to 500 feet per minute. An ALJ vacated the citation after deciding that the enclosed personnel vessel was not a bucket, relying on a mining…
Secretary of Labor v. Productos de Agregados de Gurabo
Unsafe-access citation lacked reliable proof
MSHA cited Productos de Agregados de Gurabo for allegedly requiring miners to climb a conveyor belt to grease its head pulley. The inspector did not observe anyone climbing the conveyor and relied primarily on his account that an equipment operator admitted using that route. The operator denied…
Matter of Juan Manuel GARCIA-RAMIREZ
Informal return does not end presence without a waived hearing right
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's application for cancellation of removal after he had been returned to Mexico during a 2002 border encounter. The Board held that when an alien had a right to a hearing before an Immigration Judge, a voluntary departure or return does not break continuous…
Matter of Enrique CASTREJON-COLINO
Voluntary return requires proof of hearing-right waiver
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's application for cancellation of removal after he was fingerprinted, photographed, and voluntarily returned to Mexico following a brief border encounter. The Board held that when a person had a right to a hearing before an Immigration Judge, photographs and…
Lawrence Pendley v. Highland Mining Co. and James Creighton
Discrimination penalties set at $19,750
An earlier decision found that Highland Mining and James Creighton discriminated against miners' representative Lawrence Pendley by interfering with his protected rights. The Secretary proposed a $19,500 penalty against Highland and $500 against Creighton. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews assessed the full…
Alro Steel Corporation
Band-saw lockout citation vacated
OSHA cited Alro Steel after inspecting two band saws at its Toledo, Ohio facility. Employees changing blades turned off the saw, locked a cover over the start button, and kept the key, but did not isolate the machines at the main electrical disconnect. The Secretary argued that relying on control…
Sandra G. McDonald v. TMK Enterprises Security
Noncorporate security business remained a respondent
Sandra McDonald filed a discrimination complaint against the mine-site security business she identified as TMK Enterprise Security. An ALJ dismissed after finding that a similarly named corporation had lost its corporate status before McDonald's 2011 to 2013 employment. The Commission held that the…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Buchanan Mining Company, LLC
Stockpile jurisdiction and methane-recirculation citations affirmed
Consol Buchanan used a site listed as abandoned to store excess clean coal and challenged MSHA's authority over an upper-gate guard house and a bulldozer kept there. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that the stockpile remained a mine because storing and loading coal are part of coal preparation, the…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Three violations affirmed with two S&S designations removed
At Buchanan Mine No. 1, eight clogged water sprays on a continuous miner violated the ventilation plan and contributed to an actual methane ignition while the machine cut sandstone. Judge Priscilla M. Rae affirmed that citation as S&S and moderately negligent, with a $1,203 penalty. She also…
Alpha Highwall Mining, LLC and Revelation Energy, LLC, successor in interest v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Alpha Highwall Mining, LLC and Revelation Energy, LLC, successor in interest
Alpha Highwall Mining, LLC and Revelation Energy, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC KENT 2012-1207-R, et al.): $5,000 settlement followed safety upgrades
Alpha Highwall Mining and its successor, Revelation Energy, proposed settling two citations by reducing a $90,000 penalty to $5,000 and changing both from section 104(d)(1) enforcement actions to section 104(a) citations without unwarrantable failure. Revelation also agreed to spend at least…
Scott D. McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Dismissal denied because settlement erased liability
An earlier liability ruling found that Dominion Coal interfered with Scott McGlothlin's Part 90 pay-protection rights by reducing his pay after he sought protected status. The parties then agreed on compensation and attorney fees but asked to dismiss all claims with prejudice under a general…
Basic Energy Services
Well-rig stair and guardrail violations affirmed
Basic Energy Services provided well-servicing work at an oil and gas well near Hawkins, Texas. OSHA observed employees working on an elevated rig platform where stairs between platform levels were broken and replaced with a box, and a roughly six-foot section of guardrail was missing. The judge…
Hunter Sand & Gravel, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Hunter Sand & Gravel, LLC
Hunter Sand & Gravel, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC KENT 2014-391-RM, et al.): Jurisdiction resolved but snow-clearing claim required hearing
Five citations and orders followed a fatal accident in which a dredge hand slipped from a snow- and ice-covered barge walkway into the water. Hunter Sand & Gravel initially disputed MSHA jurisdiction but withdrew that challenge before the summary-decision ruling. Judge David F. Barbour therefore…
Matthew A. Varady v. Veris Gold USA, Inc.
Damage claims required documentation and limited relief
Matthew Varady had already proven that Veris Gold fired him because of safety and health complaints and then submitted a wide-ranging request for damages and other relief. Judge William B. Moran required an affidavit identifying when Varady returned to work and any unemployment compensation, plus…
Daniel B. Lowe v. Veris Gold USA, Inc.
Defaulted employer found liable for safety-complaint firing
Daniel Lowe, Veris Gold's safety and regulatory compliance manager, complained about mercury contamination and contaminated clothing in mine lunchrooms. Veris fired him days later, and its human-resources manager told witnesses that the company would think of a reason for the termination. Veris…
Secretary of Labor v. Traylor Mining, LLC
Excavator right-of-way citation reduced to moderate negligence
A Traylor Mining supervisor walked in front of a Bobcat excavator's blade while the machine was backing away from the face, and an accidentally activated boom struck and seriously injured him. Traylor conceded the violation of its right-of-way rule, the S&S designation, and the gravity findings…
Secretary of Labor v. Jeppesen Gravel
Entry interference and withdrawal-order violations affirmed
Jeppesen Gravel delayed an MSHA inspection, asked a deputy sheriff to arrest the inspectors, and continued confrontational conduct during the inspection despite a federal consent judgment requiring unobstructed entry. Judge Priscilla M. Rae found intentional and reckless interference with MSHA's…
Meadows Construction Company LLC
Roof-anchor and unattended-telehandler violations affirmed
Meadows Construction was replacing shingles on a two-story police station in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Six employees worked on a steep roof about 25 feet above the ground, and one employee connected his fall-arrest system to a reusable roof anchor secured by only one of its two flanges. The…
American Recycling & Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Broad safety violations affirmed after amputation inspection
American Recycling & Manufacturing produced wood packaging materials and pallets at a Rochester, New York facility. OSHA opened a safety inspection after a twenty-year-old employee's left hand was amputated when a coworker accidentally activated a pop-up saw, then opened a related health inspection…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Jeremy Jones v. Kingston Mining, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement initially denied
Jeremy Jones, an underground electrician, reported covered roof-bolter lights, damaged trailing cables, trash, and improperly discarded dust bags before Kingston Mining included him in a layoff. Judge William B. Moran found that Jones's nearly four-month delay in filing his discrimination complaint…
Richard Hargrove d/b/a R. H. Construction
Five repeat construction items vacated for lack of employer coverage
OSHA cited R. H. Construction after observing framing work from a narrow, unsecured forklift-supported platform nearly ten feet above the ground. The workers also lacked cited head, eye, and fall protection, and OSHA alleged that one worker had not received required scaffold training. All five…
Secretary of Labor v. Coeur Alaska, Inc.
Special-assessment review forms ordered disclosed
Coeur Alaska sought MSHA's special-assessment review forms for six citations, while the Secretary asserted that the forms were protected by the deliberative-process privilege. After reviewing the documents privately, Judge David P. Simonton found that they contained factual summaries and brief…
Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor; Secretary of Labor v. Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC; United Steelworkers, Local 235A, Intervenor
Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC CENT 2015-0151-RM, et al.): Locked-out miners retained walkaround representation
Sherwin Alumina locked out about 450 union-represented miners and temporarily replaced them, then barred their designated miners' representative from accompanying MSHA inspections. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy distinguished Commission precedent involving economic strikers because locked-out employees…
Spartan Mining Company v. Secretary of Labor
Imminent-danger order upheld for miner in red zone
An MSHA inspector saw a continuous-miner operator standing beside an energized machine while it trammed forward and backward in the prohibited red zone. The inspector immediately flashed his cap lamp to remove the miner, then notified nearby foremen within a minute that he had issued an…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane imminent-danger order affirmed
An MSHA inspector measured more than five percent methane in a roof cavity at Jim Walter Resources' No. 7 Mine and issued an imminent-danger withdrawal order. A Commission majority affirmed the ALJ because substantial evidence supported the inspector's conclusion that a nearby mobile…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane withdrawal order and evidentiary rulings affirmed
An MSHA inspector found 5.6 percent methane in a roof cavity in an active section of Jim Walter Resources' No. 7 Mine. Nearby roof-bolting work, a continuous miner, energized equipment, cables, and a recent roof fall supplied potential ignition sources. The Commission held that substantial evidence…
Secretary of Labor v. Brody Mining, LLC
POV dismissal vacated and pattern standard defined
An ALJ invalidated Brody Mining's pattern-of-violations notice before taking evidence because the Secretary had not clearly explained how the listed citations formed a pattern. On interlocutory review, the Commission held that the ALJ had jurisdiction because contests of section 104(e) withdrawal…
Secretary of Labor v. Small Mine Development
Refuge required with sole exploration escapeway
Small Mine Development advanced an exploratory decline about 1,000 feet with only one escapeway and had not installed the refuge chamber positioned outside the portal. A Commission majority held that 30 C.F.R. § 57.11050(a) is ambiguous about refuge requirements when exploration or development…
General Electric Aviation
In re General Electric Aviation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 14-03): petition dismissed after settlement
General Electric Aviation sought review of an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region 1. The company moved to dismiss its petition on September 24, 2015. It reported that the parties had reached a settlement and resolved all pending issues through a permit modification proceeding. The Environmental…
Michael K. McNary v. Alcoa World Alumina, Inc.
Summary dismissal for no adverse action
Michael McNary, an Alcoa employee and miners' representative, raised concerns during an emergency involving hot slurry and alleged that his supervisor threatened to remove him as a representative, from the department, and from the plant. Judge William B. Moran excused McNary's late filing because…
Secretary of Labor v. Warrior Investments Company, Inc.
Defective scoop parking brake citation affirmed
An unloaded scoop at Warrior Investments' low-coal mine rolled several feet after its parking brake was applied and stopped only when the operator lowered the bucket. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that the brake failed to hold the machine stationary and that normal practices of leaving scoops…
Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor; Secretary of Labor v. Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC; United Steelworkers, Local 235A, Intervenor
Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC CENT 2015-151-RM, et al.): Original lockout walkaround decision superseded
Sherwin Alumina locked out about 450 union-represented miners and barred their designated miners' representative from accompanying MSHA inspections. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that locked-out miners who cannot be permanently replaced remain miners for section 103(f) walkaround purposes because…
Tom Reed Contracting
Default set aside for reconsideration of medical circumstances
An administrative law judge entered a default against Tom Reed Contracting after the company did not file an answer or respond to later orders. The company's owner had timely asked for rescheduling after the first show-cause order because he was receiving treatment for a serious medical condition…
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.