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. United Salt Corporation
Verbal predicate citation sustained section 104(d) chain
Two MSHA inspectors verbally issued a section 104(d)(1) predicate citation and a later withdrawal order during the same inspection, then reduced both to writing and delivered them the next morning. United Salt argued that the predicate citation had to be written and physically served before the…
Lake Erie Construction Co.
Vehicle-standard coverage made location-specific and case remanded
A Lake Erie Construction crew was removing highway guardrail posts when a truck-mounted attachment contacted or came close enough to an overhead power line for electricity to travel through the equipment and fatally injure an employee holding a chain. OSHA cited the company for willfully failing to…
Richard Kaposy d/b/a Treeman Landscaping
Case remanded after court vacated Rule 60 relief
An administrative law judge had granted Richard Kaposy relief from a final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6). The judge found that the self-represented employer had mistakenly understood the consequences of withdrawing its notice of contest after a mandatory settlement…
Lawrence Pendley v. Highland Mining Co. and James Creighton
Remedies and $84,125 in attorney awards granted
After finding that Highland Mining and James Creighton discriminated against miners' representative Lawrence Pendley, Judge Kenneth R. Andrews addressed remedies and attorney fees. Because the Highland 9 Mine had closed, the Judge ordered that any reopening must include 60 days of posting the…
Secretary of Labor v. West Alabama Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Unwarrantable-failure summary ruling vacated
A truck driver climbed onto his truck without fall protection at West Alabama Sand & Gravel's mine. The ALJ affirmed the violation and S&S designation but treated the operator's opposition as a cross-motion for summary decision, removed unwarrantable failure, reduced negligence from high to…
Secretary of Labor v. Bardo Mining, LLC
Roof, dust-control, and guarding citations affirmed
MSHA cited Bardo Mining for loose and deteriorating roof, failure to set automatic temporary roof supports firmly against the roof, inadequate dust-control examinations and water sprays, and exposed moving machine parts. Judge Richard L. Sippel affirmed all nine litigated citations and their S&S…
Secretary of Labor v. Wade Sand & Gravel Company
Independent $1,026 guarding penalty affirmed
Wade Sand & Gravel admitted a machine-guarding violation but disputed how MSHA calculated its history-of-violations points under 30 C.F.R. § 100.3(c). The Commission majority declined to decide the regulatory interpretation because the ALJ had independently considered all six Mine Act penalty…
Secretary of Labor v. Randall H. Fleming, employed by Conshor Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Randall H. Fleming (FMSHRC KENT 2009-189): Personal-liability case dismissed after underlying order was vacated
MSHA sought a $5,000 personal penalty against Randall H. Fleming under section 110(c), alleging that he knowingly authorized, ordered, or carried out unsafe roof-support conditions while employed by Conshor Mining. The underlying order against Conshor had already been vacated after the company was…
Secretary of Labor v. Trapper Mining, Inc.
Three electrical, dust, and dragline citations affirmed
MSHA cited Trapper Mining for lacking insulating material at a pond's power-control switch, allowing drill dust to escape through a raised curtain, and performing work on a dragline while its bucket remained suspended. Judge Richard W. Manning affirmed all three violations. He held that the…
Secretary of Labor v. Staker & Parson Companies
Late injury-reporting citation affirmed
A haul-truck driver reported pain and tingling after being jostled by a bad seat and rough mine roads, received medical treatment, and later obtained a state workers' compensation ruling that part of her injury was work-related. Staker & Parson did not submit an MSHA injury report until after an…
Secretary of Labor v. Big Laurel Mining Corporation
Bankruptcy notice did not establish grounds for review
An ALJ assessed $252,304 in penalties against Big Laurel Mining, after which the operator notified the Commission that its corporate family had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and invoked the automatic stay. The Commission explained that Mine Act enforcement is an exercise of the government's…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Leonard Madrid v. American Mining & Tunneling, LLC and Chris Corley
Discrimination summary-decision motion denied
American Mining & Tunneling and Chris Corley sought summary decision on Leonard Madrid's discrimination claim, arguing that they did not know he had complained to MSHA before his termination. Judge William B. Moran held that the argument addressed only one of Madrid's alleged protected activities…
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
In re Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 15-02C): Consent Agreement ratified
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. resolved an EPA Clean Air Act 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). In ratifying the penalty assessment for recordkeeping…
Secretary of Labor v. American Colloid Company
Fall-protection violations affirmed and chocking citations vacated
MSHA cited American Colloid for two unchocked trucks on slight grades and for two truck drivers working atop loads without fall protection. Judge L. Zane Gill vacated both chocking actions because professional surveys showed grades of only 1.0 and 1.2 percent, and the Secretary did not prove that…
Secretary of Labor v. Harry Crooker & Sons, Inc.
Disputed penalty contest reopened
A proposed MSHA penalty assessment became a final Commission order after MSHA recorded no timely contest from Harry Crooker & Sons. The operator asserted that it mailed a signed contest form within the deadline, but it had no certified-mail proof of delivery. Because the Secretary did not oppose…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Matthew G. Totten and Joseph A. Whipkey v. TK Mining Services, LLC and The Marshall County Coal Company
Temporary reinstatement continued
Matthew Totten and Joseph Whipkey received temporary economic reinstatement after alleging that TK Mining Services and Marshall County Coal discriminated against them. Marshall sought to end its payment obligation because its parent stopped using TK and replaced it with a less expensive contractor…
Secretary of Labor v. Emerald Coal Resources, LP
Final penalty assessment reopened after safety director's medical leave
Emerald Coal missed the 30-day deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment while its safety director was on extended medical leave, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The Commission majority reopened the matter in the interest of justice because the Secretary did not…
Secretary of Labor v. Wm. J. Clark Trucking Service, Inc.
Mechanic required comprehensive new-miner training
Wm. J. Clark Trucking used an independent mechanic to repair mobile and stationary mining equipment at its sand and gravel pit, but provided him no mine-safety training. Judge Margaret A. Miller held that the mechanic was a miner under Part 46 because he worked at the mine intermittently and…
Secretary of Labor v. Wolf Mountain Coal, Inc.
Conveyor pull-cord violation affirmed with no negligence
A conveyor stopped when its pull cord was activated but unexpectedly restarted as soon as the switch was reset, rather than requiring a separate restart from the control panel. Judge Richard W. Manning held that the malfunction violated the electrical-maintenance standard and was S&S because a…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Section 103(k) ignition order and mine-wide training upheld
After a welding ignition at Jim Walter Resources' methane-liberating No. 7 Mine, MSHA issued a telephone section 103(j) order, converted it to a section 103(k) order when an inspector arrived, and required all miners to complete one hour of ignition training. The Commission vacated the section…
Secretary of Labor v. Big Ridge, Inc.
Section 103(k) control order and violation upheld
A roof fall struck and injured a Big Ridge mechanic, after which MSHA issued a telephone section 103(j) control order and converted it to a section 103(k) order when inspectors arrived. Big Ridge later mined in the affected area without approval and destroyed potential accident evidence. The…
Matter of R-K-K-
Credibility concerns require notice and a chance to explain
The Board reviewed an Indian respondent's applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture after an Immigration Judge found that his account closely resembled his brother's earlier asylum application. The Board held that an Immigration Judge may…
OMG Americas, Inc. Westlake, Ohio
In re OMG Americas, Inc. Westlake, Ohio (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 15-01C): Consent Agreement ratified
OMG Americas, Inc. Westlake, Ohio resolved an EPA Toxic Substances Control Act 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 the respondent to comply…
Matthew A. Varady v. Veris Gold USA, Inc.
Ammonia-safety complaints caused unlawful firing
Matthew Varady became ill after repeated ammonia exposure while working in Veris Gold's carbon-in-leach circuit, raised safety and health concerns, and was fired less than two months later. Veris claimed that it fired him solely for a Facebook post criticizing a supervisor for sleeping in a company…
Secretary of Labor v. Big Laurel Mining Corporation
Seven mine-safety violations affirmed with $252,304 penalty
Big Laurel operated a room-and-pillar coal mine in Wise County, Virginia, where MSHA issued seven citations and orders after repeated roof failures and an inspection of the mine's intake, return, and escapeway entries. Judge Alan G. Paez affirmed all seven violations, including failures to support…
Secretary of Labor v. Beverly Materials, LLC
Intermittent scraper horn violated maintenance standard
An MSHA inspector found that a scraper's manually operated horn sometimes sounded but repeatedly failed during testing, and Beverly Materials later replaced it as unreliable. The ALJ vacated the citation because the horn worked at the start of the shift and functioned intermittently afterward. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Yenter Companies
Blast-site order vacated and post-blast citation reduced
Yenter Companies performed blasting work at Mountain Cement's Wyoming quarry and contested two enforcement actions arising from a January 2014 blast. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated the blast-site barricade order because the standard offered alternative compliance methods and Yenter attended the…
Secretary of Labor v. RPC Contracting, Inc.
Late penalty contest reopened after medical leave
RPC Contracting missed the 30-day deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The company explained that its chief financial officer, who handled MSHA matters, had been on medical leave and that counsel was unavailable when the…
Affordable Roofing and Exteriors, Inc.
Ladder and repeat roofing violations affirmed by default
OSHA observed eleven Affordable Roofing and Exteriors employees working on a steep gas-station roof in Trenton, Illinois without conventional fall protection. The access ladder did not extend three feet above the roof, the company had stopped conducting required safety inspections, and a one-foot…
Secretary of Labor v. Steve B. Rees, employed by Prairie State Generating Company, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Michael Welch, employed by Prairie State Generating Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Steve B. Rees and Secretary of Labor v. Michael Welch (FMSHRC LAKE 2015-144, LAKE 2015-130): Delay did not require dismissal of individual penalties
MSHA sought individual penalties against Prairie State employees Steve Rees and Michael Welch for allegedly knowingly authorizing, ordering, or carrying out a mine-safety violation. They moved to dismiss because MSHA waited about 28 months after the underlying inspection to issue the assessments…
Secretary of Labor v. Brody Mining, LLC
Seven safety findings vacated for reconsideration
MSHA challenged an ALJ's reduced gravity, negligence, and unwarrantable-failure findings for seven orders issued at Brody Mine No. 1 involving coal accumulations, ventilation, a preshift examination, a flooded escapeway, and an unguarded shuttle-car opening. The Commission vacated the challenged…
Secretary of Labor v. John Richards Construction
Mine-entry refusal affirmed with $1,000 penalty
An MSHA inspector arrived unannounced at John Richards Construction's Montana sand and gravel mine, but the owner repeatedly said the inspector could not enter until the owner returned several hours later and directed staff to lock the gate. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck held that the verbal refusal…
Secretary of Labor v. Kenamerican Resources, Inc.
Ambiguous mine call did not prove advance notice
MSHA inspectors investigating a hazard complaint overheard an underground miner ask the dispatcher whether there was "company outside," and the dispatcher replied, "yeah, I think there is." MSHA cited Kenamerican Resources for giving prohibited advance notice of an inspection. Judge L. Zane Gill…
Lammon Brothers, LLC
Reverse-alarm citation vacated for lack of audibility proof
Lammon Brothers delivered concrete to an Ohio freeway-repaving project where one of its backing dump trucks struck and killed an employee of the general contractor. The truck's reverse alarm was operating and sounding at the time. OSHA later measured traffic noise and the alarm at different…
Secretary of Labor v. Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
Highwall orders split with $51,484 total penalty
Nally & Hamilton contested highwall and examination citations at its Kentucky surface coal operations, while resolving several other citations by settlement. Judge John Kent Lewis affirmed two early violations involving loose material and an inadequate examination, but reduced each to non-S&S, low…
Matter of M-A-F- et al.
Later asylum application date controls
The Board reviewed a Pakistani respondent's asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture claims after he filed one asylum application in 2003 and a substantially different one in 2006. The Board held that a later asylum filing is a new application when it presents a new or…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Co. and McElroy Coal Co.
$3.31 million global settlement approved
This global settlement covered 1,753 citations and orders in 132 civil-penalty dockets from five northern West Virginia underground coal mines acquired by Murray Energy from CONSOL Energy in December 2013. The citations had proposed penalties totaling $5,097,611 and addressed common…
Secretary of Labor v. Black River Coal, LLC
Evidence challenge deferred to reinstatement hearing
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for miner Raymond McKinney and moved to exclude his personnel file, equipment checklists, and testimony from five proposed company witnesses before the hearing. Judge Jerold Feldman recognized that a temporary-reinstatement hearing is limited to whether…
U.S. Silica Company v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Silica Company
Highwall violations affirmed with $22,248 penalty
A large slope failure at U.S. Silica's West Virginia surface mine covered a bench and the only access road into the pit, yet the company cleared the road and resumed work without maintaining the highwall or preventing another slide. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed an S&S highwall-maintenance…
Secretary of Labor v. Empire Iron Mining Partnership
Eighteen citations settled and continuity-testing citation vacated
Empire Iron Mining's docket contained 19 citations with proposed penalties of $19,031, including a continuity-testing citation that had remained stayed for years while similar litigation proceeded. Judge Jerold Feldman vacated that $176 citation without prejudice because it had been promptly…
Georgia Carolina Stucco, Inc.
Three repeat scaffold violations affirmed
Georgia Carolina Stucco used another contractor's scaffolds while applying stucco to an assisted-living facility in Evans, Georgia. Three employees, including the company's foreman and competent person, worked as high as 20 feet 9 inches on platforms that were not fully planked and had no…
Secretary of Labor v. Conshor Mining, LLC
Bankruptcy and dissolution made penalty cases moot
Seven dockets involving 16 citations and proposed penalties of $1,193,659 had remained stayed while the Commission considered unresolved questions about repeated flagrant violations. During the delay, Conshor Mining completed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, dissolved under Kentucky law, and had nearly all of…
Secretary of Labor v. TXI Operations, LP
Settlement denied for unsupported guarding reductions
The Secretary proposed resolving a seven-citation docket by vacating three citations, settling two at their original amounts, and reducing the penalties and findings on two machine-guarding citations. Judge William B. Moran held that the motion merely repeated TXI Operations' assertions and did not…
Spartan Mining Company v. Secretary of Labor
More facts required for imminent-danger ruling
Spartan Mining and the Secretary asked the Judge to resolve an imminent-danger order through cross-motions for summary decision after settling a related citation. Their stipulations did not establish the size of the danger area, how many people were withdrawn, the timing between the inspector's…
Secretary of Labor v. MaRyan Mining, LLC
Two S&S violations reduced to $1,000 total
Four contractor employees entered a worked-out panel during an unexpected shift without a required preshift examination, and an inspector later found two loose ribs and a damaged roof bolt in the area. Judge Priscilla M. Rae affirmed both the preshift-examination and roof-and-rib-control violations…
Matter of D-M-C-P-
Biometrics notice is required before abandonment
The Board reviewed an Argentine applicant's asylum-only proceedings after an Immigration Judge ruled that he had abandoned his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection because his fingerprints were taken only four days before the hearing. The Board…
Secretary of Labor v. Concrete Mobility, LLC
Unexplained delay barred reopening defaults
Concrete Mobility defaulted after failing to answer two penalty petitions and related show-cause orders. The company later said its mine personnel did not understand MSHA procedures and asked the Commission to reopen the cases, while the Secretary opposed because collection activity had already…
Local 5929, United Mine Workers of America v. Big Ridge, Inc.
Unanswered motion ended miner compensation claim
After a roof fall idled the Willow Lake Mine under a section 103(k) order, the union sought one week's compensation for 142 miners and argued that MSHA should have used a section 107(a) withdrawal order. Big Ridge moved for summary decision, contending that section 111 compensation did not apply to…
Secretary of Labor v. Kentucky Fuel Corporation
Unsupported 97% flyrock settlement reduction denied
Kentucky Fuel was cited for failing to follow its ground-control plan's flyrock precautions when it drilled seven rows of blast holes where the plan allowed no more than four. The Secretary proposed reducing the specially assessed $30,200 penalty to $1,000 and changing the citation from S&S, highly…
Secretary of Labor v. CAM Mining, LLC
Repeated-flagrant designation removed in $4,000 settlement
A single order against CAM Mining carried a repeated-flagrant designation and a proposed $140,000 penalty. The parties disputed the belt's condition, how long the condition existed, and whether the Secretary's predicate violations were sufficiently similar to support the repeated-flagrant finding…
Secretary of Labor v. CAM Mining, LLC
Float-coal-dust order settled for $40,000
CAM Mining received a repeated-flagrant order for accumulations of float coal dust in a power box, carrying a proposed $144,300 penalty. The parties agreed that the cited predicate violations did not involve power-box accumulations and that the mine adopted a power-box cleaning program in 2009…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Bleeder-water violations affirmed with $29,116 penalty
Consol Pennsylvania Coal allowed water 12 to 42 inches deep to cover about 2,250 feet of an Enlow Fork Mine bleeder system, hiding uneven floor conditions and debris from examiners who traveled the route alone. The mine's ventilation plan required pumps to keep the bleeders safe for travel, and…
Amanda Bent Bolt Co.
Failure to abate press-wiring violation affirmed
Amanda Bent Bolt manufactured automotive parts with mechanical power presses at its Logan, Ohio facility. A prior settlement required permanent presses that were not frequently moved to be hardwired within 180 days, but a follow-up inspection found that presses still used flexible cords after the…
Star Sewer and Water District Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re Star Sewer and Water District Wastewater Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 15-07): petition dismissed as moot
Star Sewer and Water District petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board over NPDES Permit No. ID0023591 for its wastewater treatment plant. The petition challenged effluent limits for ammonia and chlorine and a task in the chlorine compliance schedule. EPA Region 10 notified the Board that it…
Secretary of Labor v. Ellis & Eastern Company
Railroad repair shop fell outside MSHA jurisdiction
MSHA cited Ellis & Eastern for failing to set a truck's parking brake inside its Sioux Falls railroad maintenance shop, which serviced locomotives used to transport quarry products. Judge L. Zane Gill held that the shop was physically separate from the quarry, repaired transportation equipment…
International Shipbreaking Limited, LLC
Electrical citations vacated under equitable estoppel
International Shipbreaking operated at the Port of Brownsville, Texas. In a written settlement resolving earlier cases, OSHA withdrew the prior citations and gave the company sixty days to implement a comprehensive electrical safety and assured-equipment-grounding program. About two weeks after…
Matter of Marcos Victor ORDAZ-Gonzalez
Unused notice does not stop continuous presence
The Board reconsidered a Mexican respondent's eligibility for cancellation of removal after the Ninth Circuit remanded the case. The respondent had been served with a 1998 notice to appear, but removal proceedings never began on the basis of that document, and proceedings later began under a second…
Mill Branch Coal Corporation v. Secretary of Labor
Imminent-danger order affirmed and examination findings remanded
Severe floor heave, deteriorating ribs, displaced roof-support jacks, blocked doors, and an obstructed primary escapeway developed while miners retrieved equipment from Mill Branch's Low Splint A Mine. The Commission affirmed the imminent-danger withdrawal order because the inspector reasonably…
Secretary of Labor v. Remington, LLC
Inspection citation vacated and maintenance penalty paid
A loaded contractor truck lost power on a steep mine haul road, rolled backward, overturned, and caused a lost-time injury to its driver. MSHA found that six of the truck's ten brakes did not work properly and that the seat-belt tether was disconnected, issuing separate citations for inadequate…
Mark L. Lujan v. Signal Peak Energy, LLC
Miner could not file his own reinstatement application
Mark Lujan filed an individual Mine Act discrimination case after MSHA found insufficient evidence to pursue his discharge complaint. While that case awaited decision after a hearing, he separately asked the Commission for temporary reinstatement. Judge David F. Barbour held that section 105(c)(2)…
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.