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.
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Eastern Ridge Lime Company, L.P.
S&S findings and penalties remanded
Eastern Ridge operated an underground limestone mine where a roof collapse killed one miner and seriously injured another during work in an area with known ground-control concerns. An ALJ found violations of the ground-support and scaling-location standards, designated both violations significant…
New England Synthetic Systems, Inc.
Scaffold and electrical violations affirmed for $30,000
New England Synthetic Systems replaced exterior walls at an apartment complex in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Judge Robert A. Yetman affirmed violations involving unprotected temporary electrical wiring, lifelines tied to vent curbing and exposed to sharp edges, incomplete scaffold planking, unsafe…
Armando V. Ramirez v. Sea-Land Services, Incorporated
Ramirez v. Sea-Land Services (BRB 98-1184): total disability issue required notice
Checker Armando Ramirez sought benefits after a cargo chassis struck him at work. The parties presented the case as a dispute over permanent partial disability and lost earning capacity, but the administrative law judge awarded permanent total disability benefits beginning in 1995. The Board held…
New Age, Inc.
Mandatory $500 penalty assessed for scaffold fall hazard
New Age performed masonry work from a four-tier scaffold at a construction site in New Braunfels, Texas. Five to seven employees were finishing masonry work or preparing to dismantle the scaffold while required guardrails were missing or replaced by loose, incomplete cables. The administrative law…
K.R. Wilson Contracting, Inc.
Four citations affirmed, one vacated, and penalties assessed at $40,688
K.R. Wilson Contracting operated a limestone quarry where a worker died after a raised loader fender fell during repairs. The judge affirmed two accident-related citations, finding that the fender was not mechanically secured and that the worker was not wearing a hard hat, while vacating a citation…
In re L-S-
This alien-smuggling conviction was not particularly serious
The Board reviewed the case of a lawful permanent resident from Laos who was convicted of bringing an undocumented person into the United States and sentenced to about three and a half months in prison. The Board held that deciding whether an aggravated felony with a sentence under five years is a…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
Air Force Materiel Command (FLRA CH-RP-70058): bargaining unit consolidation sent back for findings
AFGE sought to add six local bargaining units to an existing nationwide Air Force Materiel Command unit. A regional director dismissed the petition, finding that the proposed consolidated unit was inappropriate. The Authority found sufficient commonality of agency mission and personnel policies and…
The Ryan Company, Inc.
Excavation and sling citations vacated
The Ryan Company installed utility lines in an excavation at the Philadelphia Naval Base. OSHA alleged that employees worked in an excavation more than five feet deep without a protective system. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found no proof that employees entered the 5-foot-2-inch area and found the…
Fleming Construction, Inc.
Construction-manager citations vacated for lack of supervisory control
Fleming Construction provided construction-management services for a bank project in Durango, Colorado, where an employee of the steel contractor fell about 25 feet. OSHA cited Fleming for inadequate safety instruction and failure to provide fall protection under construction standards. The…
River Point Processing Inc.
Reopening request denied as moot and case dismissed
River Point Processing asked the Commission to reopen a $55 penalty assessment that had become final after the operator did not contest it within 30 days. The company said its facility had shut down and asked that the penalty be waived because it had dissolved in bankruptcy court. The Department of…
Lynwood Utility Corporation
In re Lynwood Utility Corporation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 99-3): appeal dismissed for lack of authority
Lumsden Bend Community Group challenged EPA Region IV's decision not to object to a modified NPDES permit for the Lynwood Utility Corporation sewage treatment plant. The group relied on an informal appeal procedure for requests to modify, revoke, reissue, or terminate an existing permit. The…
In re Sergio Nolasco-Tofino
Stop-time rule applied to suspension case
The Board reviewed a Mexican national’s appeal after an Immigration Judge pretermitted his application for suspension of deportation and granted voluntary departure. The Board held that, for this type of eligibility decision, continuous physical presence ended when the Order to Show Cause was…
Clara Sue Hughes v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Hughes v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 97-0492): Survivor award returned for fresh disease findings
Clara Sue Hughes sought survivor benefits after her husband's death. A judge treated an earlier finding that the miner had pneumoconiosis as binding, even though his own benefit claim had ultimately been denied. The Board held that the disease finding was not necessary to that earlier denial, so…
Sierra Resources, Inc.
Nine serious lead violations affirmed
Sierra Resources removed and replaced bridge bearing assemblies in Blue Island, Illinois, using torch cutting on paint that testing showed contained 50 percent lead. OSHA sampling measured one employee's exposure at 119.7 micrograms per cubic meter, more than twice the permissible limit, and…
Metro Steel Construction Co.
Two fall-protection items vacated for insufficient proof
Metro Steel erected structural steel for a shopping mall in Westbury, New York. OSHA alleged two instances in which employees walked exterior beams about 40 feet above the ground without fall protection. For the first item, the Commission found critical ambiguity because Metro's witnesses testified…
Stevedoring Services of America
Container fall-protection citation vacated
Two Stevedoring Services of America employees worked on top of cargo containers about 16 feet above a ship's deck after their usual fall-protection system malfunctioned. Their hatch boss knew the system had failed and allowed the work to continue. Judge Michael H. Schoenfeld applied Fourth Circuit…
Northwestern Resources
Seven citations produce a mixed result and $378 penalty
MSHA alleged seven safety violations at Northwestern Resources' Jewett Mine and proposed a total penalty of $734. The judge affirmed two citations involving a bulldozer fire-suppression system and diesel accumulation on a light plant, affirmed one citation through settlement, modified an…
Patterson Materials Corporation
Late penalty petition accepted
MSHA filed a civil penalty petition against Patterson Materials Corporation seven days late after the Solicitor confused this case with another docket involving the same operator. Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Merlin found that the short delay and the Solicitor's prompt discovery of the…
In re Sara Ofelia Rosas-Ramirez
Adjustment of status counted as admission
The Board reviewed the Immigration Judge’s order terminating removal proceedings against a woman who entered the United States without inspection and later adjusted her status to lawful permanent resident under section 245A. After that adjustment, she was convicted in California of transporting a…
L. R. Willson and Sons, Inc.
On remand, Commission vacates a steel-erection fall-protection citation for lack of proof the supervisor's misconduct was foreseeable
L. R. Willson and Sons is a steel erection contractor. OSHA cited it for a violation of the fall protection standard for steel erection at 29 C.F.R. § 1926.750(b)(1)(ii). Earlier in the case the Commission had affirmed the violation as serious, imputing a supervisor's acts and knowledge to the…
Thoroughgood, Inc., d/b/a Azalea Court
Most bloodborne pathogen and vermin citations affirmed at a personal care home
Thoroughgood, Inc., doing business as Azalea Court, runs a residential personal care home in downtown Philadelphia that housed about 70 to 80 residents. After a September 1996 inspection, OSHA cited the home for failing to control rodents and insects and for ten separate violations of the…
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Northeast Region, New York, New York and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 68
IRS Northeast Region and NTEU Chapter 68 (FLRA 0-AR-2892): mileage award returned for clarification
IRS employees who had worked in both Methuen and Andover, Massachusetts, sought mileage reimbursement after being detailed to Andover. An arbitrator awarded mileage and interest, treating Methuen as their official duty station, but did not identify the law, rule, or contract term that the IRS…
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation
Damaged passageway floor violated aisle-repair rule
Pilgrim's Pride operated a chicken-processing plant where employees pushed wheeled carts through a hallway to a freezer. The hallway floor had numerous shallow depressions where its asphalt-like covering had cracked and flaked away. Judge Ken S. Welsch found that the alternative floor-cleaning…
Grayhawk of America, Inc.
Four construction safety violations affirmed after employer failed to appear
OSHA cited Grayhawk of America for four serious construction safety violations involving head protection, eye and face protection, unprotected deck edges, and unguarded floor openings. The employer received notice of the hearing but did not appear or request a postponement. The compliance officer…
Ruscilli Construction Co., Inc.
Steel-erection citation split and penalties reduced on reconsideration
Ruscilli Construction erected steel for a large warehouse project in Ohio. OSHA issued seven serious citation items involving jobsite inspections, fall protection, compressed-air hoses, and aerial lifts. Judge Ken S. Welsch affirmed the inspection-program item because the designated competent…
Atlas Central Corporation
Bridge-painting citations split over dust, lead, and cadmium controls
Atlas Central Corporation removed paint from a Cleveland bridge by abrasive blasting inside a ventilated containment. OSHA cited employee exposure to lead, total dust, and cadmium, along with deficiencies in exposure controls, monitoring, written programs, housekeeping, and training. Judge Ken S…
Mike Sumptor, employed by United States Mining Company
Mike Sumptor and Danny Joe Cook (FMSHRC SE 98-146, SE 98-147): Individual penalty cases dismissed
MSHA sought individual civil penalties against Mike Sumptor and Danny Joe Cook, managers at United States Steel Mining Company's Oak Grove Mine, after a roof-bolting crew worked under unsupported roof while an automatic temporary roof support system did not reach the roof. The operator did not…
Collie Coal Company
Coal-recovery operation held subject to MSHA jurisdiction
Collie Coal Company recovered coal fines from an abandoned mine site in Indiana, screened them to remove dirt and other material, dried and stored them, and sold them to power and mining customers. The company argued that it was not a coal mine because it did not prepare coal within the meaning of…
Katania Shipping Company & Umpire Investment Corporation
In re Katania Shipping Company & Umpire Investment Corporation (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 98-1): reimbursement petition dismissed
Katania Shipping Company and Umpire Investment Corporation sought reimbursement of approximately $1.7 million in response costs from a hazardous-substance cleanup aboard the M/V Katania after a fire involving sodium cyanide cargo. The United States Coast Guard directed cleanup-related actions, but…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1617 and U.S. Department of the Air Force, San Antonio Air Logistics Center, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas
AFGE Local 1617 and Kelly Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-3068): temporary promotion grievance remanded
An Air Force employee sought a temporary promotion for higher-graded duties allegedly performed during a detail. An arbitrator dismissed the grievance as a position-classification matter and because she found the employee was outside the bargaining unit. The Authority held that a claim for…
Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Falls Church, Virginia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3615
SSA Office of Hearings and Appeals (FLRA 0-AR-3044): home-work award loses FLSA damages
An SSA employee sought to join a work-at-home pilot project that continued in practice after its written term expired. An arbitrator found that SSA violated its agreement by denying her request while allowing similarly situated employees to continue working at home. The Authority upheld that…
Mountain Top Trucking Company, Inc., Elmo Mayes, William David Riley, Anthony Curtis Mayes, and Mayes Trucking Company, Inc.
Mountain Top Trucking Company, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 95-604-D, KENT 95-605-D, KENT 95-613-D): Constructive discharges found and cases remanded
Three truck drivers alleged that Mountain Top Trucking and related operators discriminated against them after they complained about excessively long work hours and unsafe truck conditions. The Commission reversed the judge's findings that Lonnie Bowling and Everett Darrell Ball were not…
Britton Construction Co., BIC Investments, Inc., and William and Mary Hammond
In re Britton Construction Co., BIC Investments, Inc., and William and Mary Hammond (EAB CWA Appeal Nos. 97-5 and 97-8): $2,000 penalty affirmed
William and Mary Hammond owned wetlands on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, and entered an agreement with Raymond Britton to develop housing on the property. Britton filled about 31,000 square feet of wetlands without a Clean Water Act section 404 permit, and BIC Investments later built three…
Propellex Corporation
Open flames and smoking near explosives were serious violations
Propellex manufactured munitions and used a crew to destroy defective primers containing black powder. An explosion injured five employees after spilled powder was placed in a burn barrel near the work area. The Commission found that the explosives standard applied to the burn barrel, a lighter…
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Indian Education Programs, Rapid City, South Dakota and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 150
Bureau of Indian Affairs and NFFE Local 150 (FLRA 0-AR-3067): teacher contract renewal ordered
The Bureau of Indian Affairs declined to renew a teacher's contract after several student complaints and investigations. An arbitrator found that the agency had not established cause by substantial evidence because the complaints had not produced reliable findings of misconduct. The Authority…
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Loretta, Pennsylvania and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3951
Bureau of Prisons and AFGE Local 3951 (FLRA 0-AR-3028): acting manager pay award remanded
A Bureau of Prisons safety specialist served as acting safety manager for several months and sought higher-grade pay. An arbitrator ordered compensation at the GS-8 level, but the safety manager position existed only at GS-7, GS-9, and GS-11. The Authority set aside the GS-8 remedy because it…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Pacific Region and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 212
FDA Pacific Region and NTEU Chapter 212 (FLRA 0-AR-2905): reorganization remedy upheld
An FDA reorganization transferred six employees out of a small represented office and effectively removed them from NTEU Chapter 212's bargaining unit. An arbitrator found that the agency had failed to bargain before implementing the transfer and had separately interfered with employee rights. The…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-6 and U.S. Department of the Army, Army Transportation Center, Fort Eustis, Virginia
NAGE Local R4-6 and Fort Eustis (FLRA 0-AR-3147): arbitration award upheld
NAGE Local R4-6 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army Transportation Center at Fort Eustis. The Authority reviewed the union's exceptions under the statutory standard for setting aside an award and found no qualifying defect. It denied the exceptions, leaving the arbitration award in…
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, D.C. and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
FAA and NATCA (FLRA 0-AR-3035): union meeting official time returned for findings
The FAA changed several practices that had allowed NATCA representatives official time beyond the written agreement. An arbitrator found the changes violated the agreement and ordered restoration and make-whole relief for most of the practices, but concluded that official time for union executive…
Encogen Cogeneration Facility
In re Encogen Cogeneration Facility (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 98-22 through 98-24): permit review denied
Encogen Hawaii, L.P. received a Hawaii Department of Health permit to construct a 65-megawatt cogeneration facility on the Big Island of Hawaii. Three petitioners challenged permit conditions involving future fuel changes, fuel-use notice, nitrogen oxide controls, lead emissions, background…
In re Henry Stowers
Waiver application required Service review
The Board reviewed cross-appeals involving a New Zealand citizen whose conditional permanent resident status had been terminated after his marriage ended. The Board held that a person whose conditional status was terminated before the petitioning period may still apply for a statutory waiver based…
Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc.
In re Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal Nos. 97-11 and 97-12): one count reversed and $7,000 penalty assessed
Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc. operated a pesticide supply business in southeastern Michigan. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the company produced pesticides when it repackaged and relabeled them at its facilities, so those establishments had to be…
Ronald Buchanan v. International Transportation Services, Metropolitan Stevedore Company, and Kaiser Permanente Medical Group
Buchanan v. International Transportation Services (BRB 98-0973): later employer owed medical costs
Longshore worker Ronald Buchanan experienced back pain while working for Metropolitan Stevedore and worsened after a later shift for International Transportation Services. His benefits claim against the later employer was settled, but Kaiser Permanente still sought reimbursement for medical care…
Venango Environmental, Inc.
Willful loader hazards affirmed after fatal overturn
Venango Environmental used a front-end loader with defective brakes and steering at a wastewater-treatment construction project. A foreman operating the loader died from injuries sustained when it overturned. Judge Michael H. Schoenfeld vacated the brake-performance item because the Secretary did…
Equipment Holding, Inc., and its successors
Three longshoring crane violations affirmed
Equipment Holding leased cranes and operators for longshoring work at the Port of Houston. After an accident involving one of its cranes, OSHA cited missing or incomplete load information, an excess counterweight, the absence of a load-indicating device, and inadequate maritime certification. Judge…
Social Security Administration, Southeastern Program Service Center, Birmingham, Alabama and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2206
SSA Birmingham Service Center (FLRA 0-AR-3030): overtime scheduling award vacated
An arbitrator found that SSA violated its labor agreement by barring employees from working part of scheduled overtime before their regular shift. The arbitrator read the agreement and past practice to permit employees to split overtime between hours before and after the shift. The Authority held…
Arizona Municipal Storm Water NPDES Permits for City of Tucson, Pima County, City of Phoenix, City of Mesa, and City of Tempe
In re Arizona Municipal Storm Water NPDES Permits (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 98-5): petition dismissed after remand
Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club challenged modified stormwater permits for municipal separate storm sewer systems serving Tucson, Pima County, Phoenix, Mesa, and Tempe, Arizona. The parties entered a consent agreement under which EPA Region IX would evaluate pollution-reduction estimates…
In re L-V-C-
Currency structuring was not a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed whether a Mexican citizen seeking entry as a nonimmigrant visitor had been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. His convictions involved causing a financial institution not to file currency transaction reports and structuring transactions to avoid those reporting…
In re N-B-
In absentia exclusion reopening had no time limit
The Board reviewed a Moroccan citizen’s motion to reopen exclusion proceedings that had been conducted in absentia. The applicant said that a serious illness and related surgeries prevented her from attending the hearing. The Board held that the regulation addressing motions to reopen in absentia…
Catalina Yachts, Inc.
In re Catalina Yachts, Inc. (EAB EPCRA Appeal Nos. 98-2 and 98-5): penalty increased to $108,792
Catalina Yachts, Inc. failed to timely report acetone used and styrene processed at its facility between 1988 and 1992, resulting in seven violations of EPCRA section 313 reporting requirements. The presiding officer assessed a $39,792 civil penalty, and both EPA Region IX and Catalina appealed the…
Jim Walter Resources Incorporated
One discrimination claim denied and one affirmed
Bennard Smith, a longwall helper at Jim Walter Resources' No. 3 Mine, alleged that two transfers from a producing longwall to an idle longwall were retaliation for safety complaints. Judge Gary Melick excused Smith's late filing of the first complaint because he had only recently learned about the…
Armco, Inc.
Settlement approved over union lockout-procedure objection
The Secretary and Armco submitted a settlement agreement, but the authorized employee representative objected that plant foremen were being allowed to omit or alter existing lockout procedures. Judge Covette Rooney reviewed the objection after a Commission direction for review and remand. She…
Mass. Electric Construction Co.
Energized-panel violation affirmed after electrical flash
Mass. Electric employees worked on an energized 480-volt distribution panel without effective insulation or other protection. An electrical flash burned the job foreman while he attempted to remove tape from energized busbars. The company argued that the foreman acted contrary to its safety rules…
Reading Anthracite Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Leonard M. Bernardyn, a haul-truck driver at Reading Anthracite Company's Wadesville Pit, was fired after he complained that slippery road conditions made it unsafe to drive at his normal speed. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the Secretary's discrimination complaint was not clearly without…
Hibbing Taconite Company
Sixty-seven citations vacated and one affirmed
MSHA cited Hibbing Taconite Company and USX Corporation for failing to perform or document annual grounding tests on power cables, extension cords, and cords supplying tools and mobile equipment. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held that MSHA had substantively expanded 30 C.F.R. § 56.12028 through a program…
Husky Coal Company, Inc.
Discrimination settlement accepted
Darrell M. Perry alleged that Husky Coal Company discriminated against him in violation of section 105 of the Mine Act. The case was partly heard before the parties reached a settlement during a recess. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the settlement was fair and consistent with the Mine Act…
James M. Ray, employed by Journagan Construction Company, Inc.
James M. Ray (FMSHRC EAJ 96-4): EAJA settlement approved
James M. Ray sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing against MSHA in an individual civil-penalty proceeding. The Commission had ruled that the Secretary's position was not substantially justified as to one citation and remanded the fee case so the…
Island Creek Mining Company
Coal accumulation citation affirmed with reduced penalty
MSHA cited Island Creek Mining Company after finding loose coal accumulated beneath and alongside a conveyor belt at the VP No. 8 Mine. The judge found that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.400 and that the follow-up order was valid because the condition had not been fully abated within the…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-143 and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Yuma Area Office, Yuma, Arizona
NAGE Local R14-143 and Bureau of Reclamation (FLRA 0-AR-3050): reassignment grievance denial upheld
The Bureau of Reclamation reassigned an employee to a new shift engineer and dredgehand position during a cost-cutting reorganization. NAGE Local R14-143 claimed the agency had failed to bargain over the change, but an arbitrator found no proven violation of the agreement after months of…
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, D.C. and U.S. Ranger Alliance, with intervening labor organizations
National Park Service and U.S. Ranger Alliance (FLRA WA-RP-60057): nationwide ranger unit petition remains dismissed
The U.S. Ranger Alliance sought a nationwide bargaining unit for unrepresented law enforcement park rangers, investigators, and correctional officers. A regional director found the proposed unit inappropriate and dismissed the petition. The Authority found no established legal or serious factual…
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.