Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Higman Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Mine-entry citation vacated
Higman Sand & Gravel operated several sand and gravel pits, including the HM-2 Crusher Mine in South Dakota. An MSHA inspector alleged that the company denied him access by failing to identify a machine called the HM-2 Crusher and issued a citation under section 103(a) of the Mine Act. Judge August…
A & W Construction Services, Inc.
Willful scaffold fall-protection citation affirmed at $20,000
A & W Construction, a Florida stucco and drywall contractor, was inspected while its crew did stucco work from a four-tier scaffold on a Daytona Beach building. Two 10-foot center sections at the second and third tiers, roughly 12 and 20 feet up, had no guardrails, and five employees worked there…
Reynolds, Inc.
Three excavation violations affirmed
Reynolds was installing sewer lines in Ohio when employees, including the foreman, worked in a trench more than six feet deep without sloping, shoring, or a trench box. Excavated material was piled at the trench edge, and the foreman did not complete the required competent-person inspection before…
Darcon Construction, Inc.
Settlement reduces penalties to $30,000
OSHA cited Darcon Construction after inspecting its stucco worksite in New Rochelle, New York. The citations alleged willful, repeated, and serious construction-safety violations with $108,100 in proposed penalties. Under the settlement, two Citation 2 items were reclassified as serious and the…
Georges Colliers, Incorporated
Penalty assessments remanded for financial review
Georges Colliers, Incorporated contested penalties for 28 citations and one section 104(b) order across two dockets. After the Secretary reduced the proposed assessments, the Administrative Law Judge assessed a total of $3,713 but did not consider the company's financial evidence because of the…
R.G. Bigelow Electrical Company, Inc.
Electrical and aerial-lift violations affirmed
A Bigelow electrician was assigned to tighten a connection on an energized 480-volt circuit from an aerial lift at a Connecticut printing company. The supervisor rejected the employee's suggestion to de-energize the box and did not provide insulated tools, electrical protective equipment, or…
Baker Slate, Inc.
Untimely penalty contest remanded for relief review
Baker Slate failed to submit a timely hearing request after receiving a proposed penalty assessment, so the assessment became a final Commission order. The company said it first tried to reach an MSHA official. It then declined to send a note and documents as MSHA suggested because it feared they…
Black Gold Trucking Company
Reopening request denied as moot
Black Gold Trucking Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final under section 105(a) of the Mine Act. The Secretary told the Commission that Black Gold had been cited in error and that the proceeding against the company had already been terminated. Because the…
Shirley Land Development Inc.
Reopening request remanded for a good-cause determination
Shirley Land Development Inc. is a mine operator that received two citations for violations of 30 C.F.R. § 56.14107(a). The company asked the Commission to reopen the penalty assessment, stating that it never received notice of the proposed penalties and did not timely request a hearing. The…
Cantera Bravo Inc.
Pro se reopening request remanded for relief review
Cantera Bravo asked to reopen a penalty assessment arising from four citations and asked that the penalties be dropped. The company, appearing without counsel, did not explain why it failed to file a timely hearing request. The Commission remanded the matter to a judge to determine whether Cantera…
Carri Scharf Materials, Company
Nonreceipt claim remanded for penalty relief review
Carri Scharf Materials asked to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not file a timely hearing request. The company said it never received the proposed assessment and submitted a returned certified-mail receipt supporting that claim. It also challenged the…
San Juan Coal Company
Default order vacated and remanded for relief review
San Juan Coal contested five proposed violations but did not answer the Secretary's penalty petition, and an ALJ entered a default order requiring payment of $36,000. The company said the petition and show-cause order were sent to other personnel instead of its designated in-house counsel, so the…
Alvin W. Sowers, Jr. v. Metro Machine Corporation
Sowers v. Metro Machine (BRB 00-1141): denial of Longshore coverage at fabrication site affirmed
Alvin Sowers hurt his knee while working at Metro Machine's Mid-Atlantic facility beside the Elizabeth River. The facility made components for ships repaired at a separate shipyard, and five percent of those components traveled between the sites by barge. The Board's majority held that the…
Perry J. Moon v. Tidewater Construction Company
Moon v. Tidewater Construction (BRB 00-1138): warehouse construction outside Longshore coverage
Perry Moon was injured while building a warehouse at the Norfolk Naval Base for Tidewater Construction. The Navy planned to use the finished building to store spent fuel removed from submarines and ships, and the worksite qualified as a covered location under the Longshore Act. The Board held that…
Henry K. Hoffman v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Hoffman v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 00-1133): total disability denied after voluntary retirement
Henry Hoffman hurt his knee while working as a shipyard welder, then returned to light duty work before accepting an early retirement package. The employer paid scheduled benefits for the permanent leg impairment and covered related medical expenses. After knee surgery and a replacement, Hoffman…
Chehalis Generating Facility
In re Chehalis Generating Facility (EAB PSD Appeal No. 01-06): permit review denied
Chehalis Power Generating, Limited Partnership received an amended PSD permit for a 520-megawatt power facility near Chehalis, Washington. Rebound challenged the permit, arguing that the permitting authorities should have performed a new best available control technology analysis, reopened public…
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
IRS and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-3351): Increased commute-time compensation award upheld
The IRS temporarily assigned Revenue Officers and Revenue Agents from nearby offices to Seattle headquarters, increasing some employees' commuting time. An Arbitrator found that the agreement required compensation for that increased travel and sustained the Union's grievance. The Authority denied…
Hard Rock Mining Company of Olympia, Inc.
Default decision lifts stay and assesses $35,314 in penalties
Hard Rock Mining Company of Olympia, Inc. operated the Hard Rock Pit and was involved in six civil penalty proceedings covering 42 alleged violations of the Secretary's health and safety standards. The proceedings had been stayed, and the Secretary sought to lift the stays after the company stopped…
Virginia Slate Company
Unwarrantable-failure findings rejected and $4,400 penalty set on remand
Virginia Slate Company operated a mine where the Secretary alleged safety violations involving conveyor belts, a hopper, and preshift examinations. On remand from the Commission, Judge George A. Weisberger found that the Secretary had not shown aggravated conduct for the unwarrantable-failure…
Virginia Slate Company
Settlement approved for abandoned mine
MSHA sought a $600 civil penalty from Virginia Slate Company for an alleged violation involving section 56.9315. Before the hearing, the parties agreed to settle for $150 because the mine had been permanently abandoned and the company did not intend to resume operations. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck…
Rodriquez Cornice Construction Co., and its successors
Five construction violations affirmed
Rodriquez Cornice contested OSHA's citation but did not appear for the scheduled hearing. OSHA's compliance officer testified that employees installing cornice worked about 21 feet above the ground without guardrails or personal fall arrest systems and had not received scaffold training. The…
Douglas R. Rushford Trucking
Penalty vacated and remanded after fatal tire-inflation incident
A Rushford employee was fatally injured while inflating a fuel-truck tire without using a stand-off inflation device. The Commission had already affirmed the violation and its significant-and-substantial and unwarrantable-failure findings, but reviewed the judge's $4,000 penalty assessment. It held…
Metcalf Energy Center
In re Metcalf Energy Center (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 01-07 and 01-08): permit review denied
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a PSD permit for Calpine Corporation and Bechtel Enterprises to build a 600-megawatt combined-cycle power plant in San Jose, California. The City of Morgan Hill, the Santa Teresa Citizen Action Group, DemandCleanAir, and Californians for Renewable…
Harriman Coal Corporation
Settlement motion held for supporting documentation
Harriman Coal Corporation faced three alleged violations of mandatory safety standards in Part 77, with proposed penalties totaling $150,000. The parties asked to settle for $40,000, citing confidential financial information, serious financial difficulty, and the company's claim that it was no…
Ernest Bock & Sons, Inc.
Aerial-lift citations withdrawn and vacated
The case involved subcontractor employees working from aerial lifts without required fall protection at a Pennsylvania construction project. The administrative law judge had treated Bock Construction's site superintendent as Ernest Bock & Sons' agent under the multi-employer worksite doctrine and…
City of Marlborough Department of Public Works
In re City of Marlborough Department of Public Works (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-04): petition withdrawn after settlement
The City of Marlborough Department of Public Works and EPA Region I reported that they had reached a settlement on all disputed issues in the NPDES permit appeal. The City withdrew its petition in its entirety. The Environmental Appeals Board granted the joint motion and dismissed the petition with…
Grafton Water Pollution Control Facility
In re Grafton Water Pollution Control Facility (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-5): remand granted and review denied in part
The Town of Grafton Board of Sewer Commissioners challenged limitations and conditions in an NPDES permit for its publicly owned treatment works discharging to the Blackstone River. Grafton agreed to withdraw three issues, and EPA agreed to withdraw specified permit terms and seek a remand. The…
Sylvia Loyd, administratrix of the estate of Steve Loyd v. RAM Industries, Incorporated
Loyd v. RAM Industries (BRB 00-1089): dredge pipeline work covered by Longshore Act
Steve Loyd maintained the shore section of a pipeline carrying material from a dredge working in the Bayou La Batre Ship Channel to a disposal pit. He was injured while working for RAM Industries, and an administrative law judge awarded temporary total disability benefits until his death in 1999…
Daniel C. Howell v. Capitol Cement Corporation
Discrimination complaint allowed to proceed after filing delay
Daniel C. Howell filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Capitol Cement Corporation almost four months after the 60-day filing period had expired. Howell said he did not know how to file the complaint, sought information without success, and learned that MSHA was the proper agency only…
Vermont Unfading Green Slate Company, Inc.
Proceedings reopened after review petition mishandled
Vermont Unfading Green Slate Company challenged an ALJ decision that had vacated, modified, and affirmed various citations in two civil penalty proceedings. The company said it had faxed its petition for discretionary review on time, but the Commission did not act on it within the statutory period…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement approved on remand
The Commission had remanded Consolidation Coal Company's case after finding unwarrantable failure involving combustible coal dust accumulations and an inadequate preshift examination. On remand, the parties settled the remaining issues. Consolidation agreed to pay $9,000 for Order No. 4889944 and…
Contractors Sand & Gravel, Incorporated
Seven-docket settlement approved
Contractors Sand & Gravel faced seven civil penalty petitions involving citations at the Montague Plant and Scott River Plant. The petitions arose after proposed assessments became final orders when the respondent did not timely request hearings or answer the Secretary's petitions. The Commission…
U.S. Steel Mining Company, LLC
Noise citation affirmed with reduced penalty
MSHA cited U.S. Steel Mining Company after a noise survey at its Oak Grove Mine found that a longwall shearer operator's noise exposure exceeded the applicable limit without hearing protection. Judge Michael E. Zielinski credited the inspector's testimony that the miner was not wearing ear plugs…
Danis Shook Joint Venture, XXV
Basin-hazard training and PPE violations affirmed
Danis Shook was building wastewater equalization basins where accumulated water was held above a 42-inch drain by a plywood plug. A pipefitter foreman entered the water without protective equipment, the plug dislodged, and the draining water pulled him into the pipe, where he drowned. The…
S & G Packaging Company, L.L.C.
Bag-machine guarding violation affirmed
S&G employees adjusted a paper bag machine's paste knob and nozzle while working near two unguarded drive rollers. An employee's hair became entangled in the rollers, causing a severe scalp injury that required several surgeries. The Commission held that the injury established an actual…
Lopke Quarries, Inc.
Three violations affirmed, two orders vacated
Lopke Quarries operated portable rock crushing plants, including the Low Moor Mine in Virginia. The Commission upheld three citations and orders for miners walking up conveyor belts without fall protection, finding violations of the safe-access standard that were significant and substantial and…
U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12 (Union)
Department of Labor and AFGE Local 12 (FLRA 0-AR-3420): Contract-interpretation exception denied
The Department of Labor filed an exception to an arbitration award in a dispute with AFGE Local 12. The Authority denied the exception, finding that the award was not deficient on the asserted grounds. It cited the deferential standard for reviewing whether an award draws its essence from the…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of EEOC Locals 216 (Union) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
AFGE National Council of EEOC Locals 216 and EEOC (FLRA 0-AR-3417): Procedural-arbitrability exception denied
AFGE National Council of EEOC Locals 216 challenged an arbitration award in a dispute with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Authority denied the Union's exception, finding no defect on the grounds raised. It cited the rule that an arbitrator's procedural-arbitrability determination…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Eastern Kansas Health Care System (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1765 (Union)
VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System and NFFE Local 1765 (FLRA 0-AR-3366): Supplemental fee-reallocation award set aside
After sustaining a grievance, an Arbitrator billed the Agency and Union equally for his services. The Union did not pay and later cited an agreement provision requiring proportional assessment based on the outcome, prompting a supplemental award assigning the original fee entirely to the Agency…
Kinder Morgan Operating LTD
Untimely contest cases dismissed
Kinder Morgan filed notices contesting seven citations more than 30 days after the citations were issued. The company said an on-site manager had failed to forward the citations to management or counsel and had mistakenly believed they were covered by a stay involving other citations. Judge T. Todd…
Don Davis, d/b/a Davis Ditching & Davis Ditching, Inc.
Trench citations vacated for lack of employees
Don Davis contracted to install utility lines at a Colorado industrial park, where OSHA observed three people working around an unprotected trench. Two were unpaid brothers of the property developer who helped when they chose, and the third was a self-employed truck driver hired and paid by the…
CDK Contracting Company
Alternative safety-standard amendment allowed
CDK Contracting opposed the Secretary's request to amend a citation and penalty petition to allege, in the alternative, violations of two safety standards. The underlying citation involved an employee injured by a descending elevator while helping install a handrail. Judge Richard W. Manning held…
City of Moscow, Idaho
In re City of Moscow, Idaho (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-10): permit review denied
The City of Moscow operated a public wastewater treatment plant that discharged treated water into Paradise Creek near the Idaho-Washington border. Moscow challenged permit conditions governing mass-load calculations, compliance schedules, phosphorus limits, temperature and dissolved-oxygen…
Royal Cement Company, Inc.
Fatal-accident citation affirmed with reduced penalty
Royal Cement operated a quarry and cement plant that had been shut down and was being rebuilt when an electrician was electrocuted while replacing a transformer. MSHA cited Royal for failing to correct a defect in a switch, which allowed power to reach the transformer. Judge Richard W. Manning held…
U.S. Steel Mining Company, LLC
Roof-control citation vacated
MSHA cited U.S. Steel Mining Company for allegedly failing to follow its approved roof control plan because many cribs in a longwall mine entry were not tight against the roof. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found that the Secretary did not identify the locations of the deficient cribs in the critical…
Town of Hampton, New Hampshire
In re Town of Hampton, New Hampshire (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-15): petition denied as untimely
EPA Region I issued the Town of Hampton a permit for its municipal wastewater discharge. The Region's notice told the Town that it had 30 days from receiving the notice to seek review. The Town filed its petition four days after the applicable deadline and argued that extra mailing time should be…
Town of Ipswich Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re Town of Ipswich Wastewater Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-19): review denied
The Town of Ipswich challenged copper and fecal-coliform effluent limits in its NPDES permit for a wastewater treatment plant discharging to Greenwood Creek, a tributary of the Ipswich River. The Environmental Appeals Board found that the Town did not show the copper limit was clearly erroneous, an…
Asarco Incorporated
Motion to dismiss denied
Asarco asked the ALJ to dismiss two penalty cases, arguing that the Secretary could not assess penalties for imminent-danger orders issued under section 107(a). The Secretary responded that the combined documents also contained section 104(a) citations alleging violations of a safety standard, and…
Durbin Coal, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
The Secretary alleged that Durbin Coal discriminated against miners William Jenkins and Michael Mahon because it suspected they had made confidential safety complaints to MSHA. The miners left work after management questioned them about mine supplies found in a truck, and the Secretary also argued…
In re Jesus Enrique Rodriguez-Tejedor, Respondent
Amended citizenship law did not apply retroactively
The Board reviewed a claim of derivative citizenship by a respondent who had lived in the United States as a lawful permanent resident with United States citizen adoptive parents while under age 18. He was over 18 on the effective date of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. The Board held that the…
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, Marine Operations Center, Virginia (Agency) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 80 (Union)
NOAA Marine Operations Center and IBEW Local 80 (FLRA 0-AR-3329): Overtime remedy issues remanded
A NOAA Lead Electronic Technician challenged his exemption from Fair Labor Standards Act overtime coverage. The Arbitrator found his actual work predominantly nonexempt and awarded overtime, but denied liquidated damages and interest and awarded attorney fees without explaining their basis. The…
Edward Siminiski v. Ceres Marine Terminals and I.T.O. Corporation of Baltimore
Siminiski v. Ceres Marine Terminals (BRB 00-1029): one-time buyout removed from wage calculation
Edward Siminiski injured his knee, shoulder, and neck while driving equipment for Ceres Marine Terminals. His knee buckled on his first day back while he was assigned to another employer, I.T.O. Corporation. The Board upheld the judge's finding that this was a consequence of the original injury…
Mica Corporation, and its successors
Power-line crane citations affirmed after a fatal electrocution
Mica Corporation was moving concrete traffic barriers along Interstate 35 near Hillsboro, Texas, using a leased crane. The crane cable came within a few inches of a 14,400 volt overhead power line and made contact. Two workers, the leased crane operator and a Mica foreman, were electrocuted and…
National Association of Agricultural Employees, Branch 11 (Union) and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Services, Plant Protection Quarantine, Honolulu International Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii (Agency) and National Association of Agricultural Employees, Branch 17 (Union) and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Services, Chicago, Illinois (Agency) and National Association of Agricultural Employees, Branch 7 (Union) and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Services, Plant Protection Quarantine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Agency)
NAAE Branches 11, 17, and 7 and USDA APHIS (FLRA 0-NG-2576, 0-NG-2588, 0-NG-2590): Lunch-period proposals electively negotiable in part
Three Union branches proposed maintaining tours of duty without unpaid lunch periods after USDA APHIS decided to introduce thirty-minute unpaid lunches. The Authority found the status-quo proposals negotiable at the Agency's election because they established staffing on particular tours of duty…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 73 (Union) and United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Cincinnati Service Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 73 and IRS Cincinnati Service Center (FLRA 0-AR-3390): Higher-grade-duty grievance denial upheld
GS-4 Central Authorization File clerks at the IRS Cincinnati Service Center sought temporary promotions under a contract provision governing performance of higher-graded duties. They compared their work with a GS-5 position at the Austin Service Center, but the Arbitrator found insufficient…
Professional Airways Systems Specialists (Union) and United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Fort Worth, Texas (Agency)
PASS and FAA Fort Worth (FLRA 0-AR-3361): Employment-status grievance remanded for merits decision
An FAA employee nearing retirement requested verification of his service computation date, and the Agency removed about seven and one-half years after treating earlier service as intermittent employment. The Union challenged whether he should instead have been designated a part-time employee. The…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, Indian Head, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union)
Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-3285): Attorney-fee amount remanded with arbitrator-selection option
A Navy employee pursued a grievance after a within-grade increase was delayed, and the Agency eventually agreed to backpay and interest while denying attorney fees. The Arbitrator found fees warranted in the interest of justice because the Agency initially failed to award interest required by the…
North Landing Line Construction Co.
Willful high-voltage substation violation affirmed
North Landing Line was modifying a switch carrying up to 34,500 volts at a Navy electrical substation. Its job superintendent and a backhoe operator held a steel bracket near energized parts, and the operator contacted an energized insulator, suffered electrical and thermal burns, and later died…
RWS Building Company
Citation vacated after the government failed to appear at the hearing
OSHA inspected an RWS Building Company construction site in Columbus, Ohio, and issued a four-item citation for alleged construction safety violations. RWS contested and a hearing was set for June 4, 2001. The employer's counsel appeared, but no one from the Secretary of Labor's side showed up…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, Georgia (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, Local 1145 (Union)
Bureau of Prisons Atlanta and AFGE Local 1145 (FLRA 0-AR-3369): Limits on vacating correctional posts upheld
An Arbitrator found that the Atlanta penitentiary violated its safety agreement by leaving correctional posts vacant and ordered it to stop doing so for routine administrative convenience. The award permitted vacancies for good reason and where a post made no contribution to safety. The Authority…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and 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.