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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Gary J. Klinefelter
Request to reopen remanded to an ALJ
Gary J. Klinefelter asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after he said he did not receive the proposed assessment until months after it was issued. The record showed that MSHA sent the assessment by certified mail to his correct address, but service was not successfully completed…
Ambrosia Coal & Construction Company
Company penalty affirmed, individual penalty remanded
Ambrosia Coal operated a tipple where a highlift had defective service and parking brakes for weeks. The Commission had previously affirmed the violation and held that foreman Wayne Steen could be liable under section 110(c), but sent the penalties back for reassessment. On remand, the Commission…
Meer Corporation
Process-safety citations vacated, shaft guard item affirmed
Meer Corporation used large quantities of methanol and ethanol while manufacturing botanical products. OSHA alleged numerous process safety management violations, arguing that atmospheric storage tanks were connected to the production process. The judge found that OSHA's witnesses gave inconsistent…
White Chemical Corporation Superfund Site
In re White Chemical Corporation Superfund Site (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition Nos. 94-16, 94-17, and 94-18): petitions dismissed with prejudice
Monsanto Company, PPG Industries, Inc., and Rhone-Poulenc, Inc. had filed petitions seeking reimbursement connected to the White Chemical Corporation Superfund Site. The petitioners later agreed in a consent decree approved by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on or…
All American Asphalt
Show-cause request denied
All American Asphalt asked the Commission to issue a show-cause order and dismiss a remanded discrimination proceeding, arguing that the Secretary had not complied with two ALJ orders about a supplemental brief. The Commission denied the request because the case and related motions remained with…
United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Gallup, New Mexico and Indian Educators Federation, Local 4524
BIA Crystal Boarding School and educators' union (FLRA DA-CA-40306): Reduced hours and pay reversed
The Bureau of Indian Affairs faced a budget shortfall at Crystal Boarding School and asked employees to vote on possible responses without working through their union. It then reduced teachers' workday and pay from eight hours to seven without giving the union prior notice and a chance to bargain…
Harold Moody, employed by Grand River Quarry, Inc.
Individual liability reversed and remanded
Grand River Quarry used a modified Caterpillar 631 scraper on an elevated roadway whose berm was below the required mid-axle height. The Commission held that general manager Harold Moody had reason to know the berm was inadequate because he controlled quarry operations, visited the quarry daily…
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and National Treasury Employees Union
PBGC and NTEU (FLRA 3-CA-90456): Union retaliation complaint dismissed after court remand
The National Treasury Employees Union alleged that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation fired attorney and union chapter president David Power because of protected union activity. The Authority had previously found unlawful retaliation, but a federal appeals court sent the case back for a…
Alabama Association of Civilian Technicians and United States Department of Defense, Alabama State Military Department, Alabama National Guard
Alabama National Guard and civilian technicians' union (FLRA 0-AR-2917): Attorney fee request returned to arbitrator
An arbitrator upheld a civilian technician's grievance about inadequate compensation but declined to consider the union's later request for attorney fees. The Alabama Association of Civilian Technicians challenged that refusal. The Authority held that the Back Pay Act allowed the arbitrator to…
National Association of Government Employees and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital
Bedford VA hospital and NAGE (FLRA 0-AR-2904): Confidentiality suspension upheld
A payroll technician at the Bedford VA hospital told a friend that an employee had changed a beneficiary designation, although the technician had no permission to disclose it. The hospital suspended the technician for ten days, and an arbitrator upheld the penalty as warranted by the breach of…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3723 and United States Department of the Navy, Naval Air Station Miramar
Naval Air Station Miramar and AFGE Local 3723 (FLRA 0-AR-2835): Arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 3723 challenged an arbitration award involving Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego. The Authority reviewed the record under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and found no ground to set the award aside. It denied the union's exceptions. The short public decision does not describe the grievance, the…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R2-98 and United States Department of the Army, Watervliet Arsenal
Watervliet Arsenal and NAGE Local R2-98 (FLRA 0-AR-2797): Reduction-in-force grievance denied
NAGE Local R2-98 grieved the Watervliet Arsenal's refusal to give an employee bump and retreat rights during a 1994 reduction in force. The union said an earlier agency regulation granting those rights remained part of the parties' agreement. An arbitrator found that the agreement incorporated…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 940 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia VA and AFGE Local 940 (FLRA 0-AR-2776): Performance-weighting dispute remanded
AFGE Local 940 challenged the Philadelphia VA's implementation of new performance standards and its change to the weighting of existing standards. An arbitrator denied the grievance. The Authority rejected the union's challenges to the agency's handling of disputed proposals and implementation…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1827 and United States Department of Defense, Defense Mapping Agency, Aerospace Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Defense Mapping Agency and NFFE Local 1827 (FLRA 0-AR-2773): Retroactive classification pay denied
Seven cartographic clerks at the Defense Mapping Agency's St. Louis center were later reclassified from GS-5 to GS-6 library technicians. NFFE Local 1827 sought back pay for the period before the change, arguing that the employees had effectively held higher-graded temporary assignments. An…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 168 and United States Department of the Treasury, United States Customs Service, New Orleans District
New Orleans Customs Service and NTEU Chapter 168 (FLRA 0-AR-2751): Retaliation challenges rejected
The Customs Service involuntarily reassigned an employee from Lake Charles to New Orleans after a breakdown in the employee's working relationship with a supervisor. An arbitrator found that the agency had used the reassignment as discipline without following the labor agreement, and ordered the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1770 and United States Department of the Army, Headquarters XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg and AFGE Local 1770 (FLRA 0-AR-2899): Contracting-out grievance remains barred
The Army decided to contract out language instruction at Fort Bragg after a study under OMB Circular A-76. AFGE Local 1770 challenged the decision through an agency appeal and then a grievance, arguing that the Army had not followed the Circular. An arbitrator held that a grievance seeking to…
Kawaihae Cogeneration Project
In re Kawaihae Cogeneration Project (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 96-9, 96-10, 96-11, 96-14, and 96-16): permit review denied
The Hawaii Department of Health issued a PSD permit and approval to construct a 58-megawatt cogeneration power plant near Kawaihae Harbor. The Environmental Appeals Board considered petitions from Hawaii Electric Light Company and nearby residents challenging the permit's selective catalytic…
Robert Herold v. Stevedoring Services of America and Homeport Insurance Company
Herold v. Stevedoring Services of America (BRB 96-1080): municipal port found to be employer
Robert Herold was injured while helping tie up a vessel at the Port of Astoria. He sought Longshore Act benefits from Stevedoring Services of America, which processed the linesmen's pay under an arrangement with the Port. The judge found that the Port, an Oregon municipal corporation, was Herold's…
Pepperidge Farm, Inc.
Recordkeeping and lifting violations affirmed, repetitive-motion items vacated
OSHA cited Pepperidge Farm for 176 recordkeeping violations, 21 lifting allegations, and 175 repetitive-motion allegations at a cookie and baked-goods plant. The Commission affirmed the recordkeeping violations as willful and assessed instance-by-instance penalties totaling $289,603. It held that…
Midwest Materials Company
Settlement approved for $15,000
Midwest Materials Company faced a civil penalty proceeding at its Lacon Plant. The judge approved the parties' settlement after finding it consistent with the Mine Act's penalty criteria. The company was ordered to pay $15,000, including $1,500 already received and a $13,500 balance in 12 monthly…
In re Julio Augusto Fuentes-Martinez, Respondent
In re Julio Augusto Fuentes-Martinez (BIA ID 3316): derivative citizenship terminated deportation proceedings
The Board reviewed a Honduran respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him deportable based on a cocaine conviction and denied his section 212(c) waiver. The respondent argued that he had acquired United States citizenship through his mother's naturalization while he was under 18 and a…
Freddie Greenhouse v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Greenhouse v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 96-1002): final attorney fee order remains closed
Freddie Greenhouse's counsel sought to reopen an attorney fee award after an earlier Board decision affirmed a reduction of that fee. Counsel alleged that the employer's affidavits used in the earlier fee decision were false or misleading. The judge dismissed the request for lack of authority to…
George Campbell Painting Corp.
Scaffold-transfer violation affirmed as serious
George Campbell Painting used suspended swing scaffolds while repainting a bridge cable. A painter died after falling more than 300 feet while repositioning a scaffold in the air even though a closed traffic lane was available below. The serious general-duty violation itself was not under review…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 1 and United States Department of the Navy, Nuclear Business Office, Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and IFPTE Local 1 (FLRA 0-NG-2279): Job classification proposal dismissed
The Navy planned to use nuclear engineers for liaison work at Norfolk Naval Shipyard after production controllers retired. IFPTE Local 1 proposed that the parties jointly write the replacement position description and agree on its title, series, and grade before changing the existing…
Consol of Kentucky, Inc.
Settled proceedings dismissed
Consol of Kentucky and Norman Blankenship faced a temporary-reinstatement proceeding and a related discrimination proceeding involving Dewey Runyon. After the parties reached a settlement, the Secretary requested permission to withdraw both the application and complaint. Judge Gary Melick approved…
Apex Minerals, Inc.
Water-outburst citation vacated
Apex Minerals contested a citation issued after a water outburst from old mine workings near its Apex No. 1 Mine. The ALJ found that the outburst occurred in Eastern Mine No. 7, outside Apex's sealed mining area, and that Apex had no physical connection or legal responsibility for that mine after…
Unique Electric
Grounding citation modified and penalty reduced
Unique Electric, a small electrical contractor and sole proprietorship, installed electrical equipment for an underground gold mine in California. After the mine's general manager died while moving an energized pump in flooded workings, MSHA alleged that the pump circuit was not properly grounded…
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local Lodge 2333 and Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
IAM Local Lodge 2333 and Wright-Patterson exchange service (FLRA 0-AR-2901): Union's arbitration exception denied
IAM Local Lodge 2333 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army and Air Force Exchange Service at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Authority reviewed the record under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and found no ground to set the award aside. It denied the union's exception. The short public…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987 and United States Department of the Air Force, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center
AFGE Local 987 and Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (FLRA 0-AR-2774): Union's arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 987 challenged an arbitration award involving the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base. The Authority reviewed the record under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and found no ground to set the award aside. It denied the union's exceptions. The short public decision does not…
Bruce Young and Yogo, Inc.
Attorney-fee payment order after settlement
Andy Howard, Jr. brought a discrimination proceeding against Bruce Young and Yogo, Inc. The parties had previously reached a settlement, but Howard later sought payment of the settlement and related attorney fees. After an earlier order required payment, Howard moved again to compel payment of…
Foit-Albert Associates, Architects & Engineers, P.C.
Concrete citations vacated for inspection-only engineer
Foit-Albert provided engineering inspection services at a university construction project where concrete collapsed from one floor onto another. OSHA cited the firm under cast-in-place concrete standards. The Commission found that Foit-Albert's contract limited it to inspecting work for compliance…
Enlow Fork Mining Company
Accumulation violation found S&S and unwarrantable on remand
Enlow Fork Mining Company was ordered to reconsider a coal-dust, loose-coal, and oil accumulation violation after the Commission rejected parts of the judge's earlier analysis. On remand, Judge Avram Weisberger found that methane could be present in explosive concentrations and that continued…
IBP, Inc.
Contractor lockout violations affirmed as serious
IBP hired a sanitation contractor to clean meat-processing machinery each night. Contractor employees repeatedly worked on moving or unlocked equipment, and one employee was killed while removing debris from an energized machine. The Commission held IBP responsible even though only contractor…
Fluor Constructors International, Inc.
Scaffold grounding requirement affirmed
Fluor employees performed arc cutting and welding from wire-suspended scaffolds inside a boiler renovation project. Two scaffolds fell after electrical current reached and severed their suspension cables, injuring employees despite fall-arrest equipment. Fluor tried to isolate the scaffolds with…
Dean Heyward Addison
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Dean Heyward Addison asked the Commission to reopen an individual penalty assessment that had become final because he did not timely request a hearing. Addison said he misunderstood that the individual assessment would be combined with a separate assessment against his employer. The Commission…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed after refusal of task training
Marvin E. Carmichael claimed that Jim Walter Resources suspended him after he refused task training to operate a scoop because of safety concerns. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the refusal was not protected activity because the training was intended to teach safe operation, the miners did not…
Spitzer Great Lakes Ltd. Co.
In re Spitzer Great Lakes Ltd. Co. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 97-4): appeal dismissed as untimely
Spitzer Great Lakes, Ltd. appealed an initial decision assessing a $165,000 penalty for violations involving the use and storage of PCBs and PCB items. The initial decision was served on February 3, 1997, and the EAB held that an appeal had to be filed within 20 days after service, with five…
Douglas Lewis v. Sunnen Crane Service, Incorporated
Lewis v. Sunnen Crane Service (BRB 96-0910): crane operator covered by Longshore Act
Douglas Lewis was injured while operating a crane that moved cargo from a pier trailer onto a railcar at the Port of Tacoma. The judge denied Longshore Act benefits, reasoning that unloading had ended when the cargo was left on the pier and that Lewis's maritime assignments were too infrequent. The…
Kenny Niles, d/b/a Kenny Niles Construction & Trucking Company
Business closure did not moot OSHA penalties
OSHA cited Kenny Niles for two willful and nine serious violations after a trench collapse injured an employee. The ALJ dismissed the case as moot after Niles closed his excavation and trucking businesses, sold equipment, and no longer employed anyone. Reconsidering its prior precedent, the…
J.V. Peters and Company, David B. Shillman, and Dorothy L. Brueggemeyer
In re J.V. Peters and Company, David B. Shillman, and Dorothy L. Brueggemeyer (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 95-2): liability and penalty affirmed
J.V. Peters and Company operated a hazardous-waste storage and reclamation facility in Ohio, where an EPA inspection in December 1980 identified numerous violations of RCRA requirements. After multiple rounds of administrative and judicial proceedings, the Presiding Officer found the partnership…
United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Northern Region, Twin Cities, Minnesota and National Border Patrol Council, American Federation of Government Employees
Twin Cities INS and Border Patrol Council (FLRA 7-CA-10373): Agency's reconsideration request denied
The Border Patrol Council sought agency records to help represent an employee responding to a proposed removal. In an earlier decision on remand, the Authority found a particularized need for some disciplinary records and sustained an unfair labor practice finding for the agency's failure to say…
East Coast Limestone, Inc.
Mixed citation results with $785 penalty
East Coast Limestone operated a limestone quarry in North Carolina where it drilled and blasted limestone, hauled it by truck, and processed it at a crushing plant. Judge Jerold Feldman affirmed five citations, modified two citations by removing their significant-and-substantial designations, and…
Broken Hill Mining Company
Eight serious mine-safety orders affirmed after failure to appear
Broken Hill Mining operated Mine No. 3, and the operator did not appear at a scheduled hearing after receiving notice. Judge Paul Merlin stated that default would have been proper, but because the prior judge had taken evidence, he made merits findings from inspector testimony on each violation and…
Hospitality Management, Inc., d/b/a Executive Inn
Serious electrical violation affirmed after a maintenance worker was electrocuted
Hospitality Management ran the Executive Inn hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. OSHA inspected after a referral from the Fulton County Fire Department and cited the company for a serious violation of the electrical safety standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.333(a)(1), which requires live parts to be deenergized…
Alan Gregor, d/b/a Gregor Construction Company
Missing-safety-program citation affirmed against a metal-framing subcontractor
OSHA inspected a community-college construction site in Niceville, Florida, after a worker fell 85 feet to his death from a scaffold. That worker did not work for Gregor Construction, the metal-framing subcontractor, but the inspection led OSHA to cite Gregor for three serious violations. After the…
Broken Hill Mining Company
Commission affirms $1,000 penalty
After inspectors found a cigarette lighter in a miner's lunch bucket underground, MSHA cited Broken Hill Mining for an inadequate smoking-material search program. The judge found a violation; the Commission reviewed only the penalty. The Commission affirmed a $1,000 penalty after finding that the…
EcoEléctrica, L.P.
In re EcoEléctrica, L.P. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 96-8 and 96-13): permit review denied
EPA Region II issued a PSD permit for EcoEléctrica, L.P. to build and operate a 461-megawatt cogeneration plant and a liquefied natural gas marine terminal in Puerto Rico. Two petitioners challenged the permit based on preconstruction air-quality monitoring, multi-source modeling, environmental…
James Fork Mining Company
Mine Act jurisdiction found and citations affirmed
James Fork Mining worked on a 20-acre Arkansas site containing a sealed underground coal mine. The operator said its grading, reclamation, and related work were intended to remove hazards and prepare the property for sale, not to prepare a mine. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the work, combined…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
$7,500 penalty assessed after fatal crusher accident
Walker Stone operated an open-pit limestone quarry. After a crusher became clogged, miners entered the crusher and worked around its rotor while the power remained available. The rotor was jogged while Danny Boisclair was still inside, and he was fatally injured. On remand from the Commission…
Basin Resources, Incorporated
37 of 42 alleged violations sustained; $32,600 assessed
Basin Resources operated the Golden Eagle underground coal mine in Colorado, which later closed. Judge Richard W. Manning denied the Secretary's motion to add Basin's parent companies as respondents, incorporating his reasoning from a separate decision in WEST 95-104. Across six consolidated…
Basin Resources, Incorporated
Respiratory dust order affirmed with $5,000 penalty
Basin Resources operated the underground Golden Eagle coal mine in Colorado, which later closed. Judge Richard W. Manning denied the Secretary's motion to add Basin's parent companies as mine operators because the evidence did not show that they controlled or supervised the mine's day-to-day…
M & Y Services, Inc.
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
M & Y Services asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not timely request a hearing. The company said it had repeatedly sought information from MSHA and reached an MSHA representative only just before the deadline, according to the company…
Daanen and Janssen, Inc.
Motion to strike denied
Daanen and Janssen challenged the Secretary's request for more time to file a brief in a consolidated Mine Act case involving allegations that a front-end loader was not properly controlled or maintained after a fatal accident. The Secretary's counsel told the Commission that opposing counsel did…
Robert E. Goody v. Thames Valley Steel Corporation and Hartford Insurance Group
Goody v. Thames Valley Steel (BRB 96-0863): pulmonary benefits award affirmed
Robert Goody had separate workplace exposures to asbestos at Electric Boat and to pulmonary irritants at Thames Valley Steel. He obtained third-party settlements over the asbestos exposure with Electric Boat's written approval, while seeking disability benefits from Thames Valley Steel for chronic…
In re Air India Flight No. 101
Unexplained carrier fine decision required remand
The Board reviewed an airline carrier's appeal from a $3,000 administrative fine imposed after it brought a lawful permanent resident from India without an unexpired visa or reentry permit. The carrier argued that a later visa waiver eliminated its liability. The Board did not decide that issue…
Lion Mining Company
Gob storage order vacated and settlements approved
Lion Mining Company operated the Grove No. 1 coal mine. MSHA sought penalties for alleged violations involving coal dust and other material in the mine, including a $1,200 penalty for gob piles stored in unused crosscuts. Judge Jerold Feldman approved settlements totaling $733 in docket PENN 96-248…
Consolidation Coal Company
Commission directs review of penalty decision
This discrimination proceeding involved miners who refused work and later sought back pay and other relief. The Commission had already reversed the judge's earlier determination that the refusal was unreasonable and unprotected, then remanded for back-pay and penalty proceedings. The Commission…
Consolidation Coal Co.
Remand penalty set at $30
Consolidation Coal Company was ordered to pay back pay and interest to three miners whose protected work refusals had resulted in discipline, along with a civil penalty. On remand from the Commission, Judge Gary Melick found that the record supported only the operator's negligence and the gravity…
AKZO Nobel Salt, Inc.
Work discrimination complaint dismissed
James C. Tysar, a laborer and safety committeeman at AKZO Nobel Salt's Cleveland Mine, was suspended for refusing an assignment to clean salt from a conveyor belt. He said the work was unsafe because a forklift and worker in a raised basket could be struck by vehicles using a nearby elevator. Judge…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Penalty vacated for reassessment
Jim Walter Resources operated the No. 7 underground coal mine in Alabama. MSHA cited the mine for extensive combustible accumulations around a belt line, and the ALJ assessed a $15,000 penalty after finding the violation significant and substantial and the result of unwarrantable failure. The…
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.