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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American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2302 and United States Department of Defense, Army and Air Force Exchange Service
AFGE Local 2302 and Army and Air Force Exchange Service (FLRA 0-AR-2897): Union's arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 2302 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. 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…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Remand penalties set at $70
MSHA cited Buffalo Crushed Stone for a slack emergency-stop cord on a conveyor and an elevated walkway without required cleats. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the stop-cord violation was not significant and substantial because the Secretary did not show that a miner was reasonably likely to fall…
Kellys Creek Resources, Inc.
Remand penalty set at $500
The Commission had found that Kellys Creek Resources' conceded violation was significant and substantial and resulted from unwarrantable failure, then remanded the case for penalty reassessment. Judge Avram Weisberger found more than ordinary negligence and very high gravity, while reducing the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1945 and United States Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot
AFGE Local 1945 and Anniston Army Depot (FLRA 0-AR-2742): Union's arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1945 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army's Anniston Army Depot. 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…
Harmon Electronics, Inc.
In re Harmon Electronics, Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 94-4): liability and $586,716 penalty affirmed
Harmon Electronics, Inc. operated a railroad-signal equipment facility in Missouri where employees disposed of organic solvents on the ground from 1973 through 1987. After the practice was reported, EPA alleged that Harmon operated a hazardous-waste landfill without a permit, lacked required…
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc.
Back-pay information order
The consolidated proceedings concerned discrimination claims by miners at the Huff Creek Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman had already found that Walter Jackson's discharge violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act and needed information to calculate his relief. The judge ordered Jackson to provide details…
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc.
Back-pay information order
The consolidated proceedings concerned discrimination claims by miners at the Huff Creek Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman had already found that Walter Jackson's discharge violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act and needed information to calculate his relief. The judge ordered Jackson to provide details…
Pitt-Des Moines, Inc.
Citation dismissal reversed during criminal investigation
Two workers were killed and five injured when a beam support failed during structural-steel construction and part of a building collapsed. OSHA issued two willful and one serious citation with $147,000 in proposed penalties. While the Justice Department considered criminal charges, the ALJ…
Tidewater Pacific, Inc.
OSHA jurisdiction upheld on uninspected tugboat
OSHA cited working conditions on an uninspected tugboat operating within Alaska's three-mile territorial waters. The Commission held that a vessel in those waters is a workplace in a state under the OSH Act. Coast Guard regulation did not preempt OSHA's confined-space, machine-guarding…
Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc.
Citations reinstated and remanded after court rejected mootness
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a judge's second dismissal of the Jacksonville Shipyards case as moot. The court held that the case remained live because the Secretary continued to seek civil penalties for alleged past violations even though the company no longer had employees. The court's ruling…
Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc.
Citations reinstated after mootness reversal
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a second dismissal of this case and held that it was not moot because OSHA continued to seek civil penalties for alleged past violations. The court's ruling reinstated four citations classified as serious, willful, repeated, and other-than-serious, with $692,000 in…
Advance Stone Incorporated
Settlement approved for $229
Advance Stone Incorporated faced three civil penalty citations at its New Milford Plant. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck approved a settlement reducing the proposed total from $554 to $229, after considering the Mine Act penalty criteria. The judge ordered payment within 30 days and dismissed the case…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Settlement enforcement motions denied
Eastern Associated Coal asked the ALJ to enforce an alleged agreement to vacate a citation, dismiss the case, and postpone the proceeding. Judge Gary Melick found that the company had not identified consideration supporting the alleged promise and that no enforceable settlement agreement could be…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3529 and United States Department of Defense, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Central Region
AFGE Local 3529 and Defense Contract Audit Agency (FLRA 0-AR-2781): Specialist position grievance remains denied
The Defense Contract Audit Agency planned three GS-13 Technical Specialist positions for employees affected by a reduction in force. AFGE Local 3529 grieved, arguing that the agency implemented the plan without bargaining as required by the parties' agreements. An arbitrator denied the grievance…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Eastern Associated Coal said it missed the 30-day penalty contest deadline because a substitute mailroom employee did not refer the proposed assessment to its legal department. The Commission found that the existing record was insufficient to decide whether the company qualified for relief from the…
James W. Barker v. Bath Iron Works Corporation
Barker v. Bath Iron Works (BRB 96-0443): request to extend pending appeals denied
James Barker asked the Board to keep two consolidated appeals on its docket for another 60 days. The Board said an earlier appropriations law allowed that election, but the fiscal 1997 law did not retain the extension. It denied the motion and explained that the one-year period for consolidated…
Whayne Supply Company
Remand dismissal
Whayne Supply Company contested an MSHA order. On remand, Judge Gary Melick found the proceeding moot because the Secretary had not timely sought Commission review and the earlier ALJ decision vacating the underlying order was final. The judge dismissed the case.
Whayne Supply Company
Remand dismissal
Whayne Supply Company contested an MSHA order. On remand, Judge Gary Melick found the proceeding moot because the Secretary had not timely sought Commission review and the earlier ALJ decision vacating the underlying order was final. The judge dismissed the case.
Bob Bak Construction
Mine safety violations affirmed with penalties reduced
Bob Bak Construction operated a sand and gravel mine in South Dakota. After three inspections, MSHA issued 24 citations and orders involving defective mobile equipment, missing guards and electrical protections, inadequate emergency facilities, and violations of closure and imminent-danger orders…
Karen A. Plappert v. Marine Corps Exchange
Plappert v. Marine Corps Exchange (BRB 96-0776): disability award upheld, two bills excluded
Karen Plappert sought benefits for a later period of neck disability linked in part to an earlier injury while working for the Marine Corps Exchange. The Board upheld the judge's finding that the earlier injury contributed to her disability and that the employer owed temporary total disability…
Alexander Sanders v. Marine Terminals Corporation and Majestic Insurance Company
Sanders v. Marine Terminals Corporation (BRB 95-1796): medical care dispute properly heard by judge
Alexander Sanders sought housekeeping assistance as medical care for a work-related back condition. A labor judge initially awarded eight hours per week, then ended that assistance after a later medical report indicated it was no longer needed. The Labor Department's Director argued that only the…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Belt and coal-dust findings remanded or reversed
MSHA issued five orders to Jim Walter Resources for conveyor-belt maintenance and coal-dust accumulations at its No. 7 Mine in Alabama. The Commission held that the ALJ used an incorrect test for deciding whether the two belt violations involved unwarrantable failure, so it vacated those findings…
Turner Construction Co.
Citation vacated as a sanction for the Secretary's repeated failure to file a complaint on time
OSHA issued a citation to Turner Construction Co. on September 26, 1996. Instead of filing its complaint on time, the Secretary of Labor asked the judge for extensions three separate times, each time to "more fully analyze the issues." Chief Judge Irving Sommer had granted the first two requests…
Sebco, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation stands
Sebco, Inc., a general contracting and construction management firm, received an OSHA citation and proposed penalties by certified mail on May 15, 1996. Employers have 15 working days to file a notice of contest, or the citation becomes a final order automatically. Sebco did not respond until July…
National Treasury Employees Union and United States Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office
NTEU and Patent and Trademark Office (FLRA 0-NG-2159): Bargaining ordered on some contract terms
NTEU challenged the Patent and Trademark Office's refusal to bargain over proposed contract terms and its disapproval of negotiated provisions. The Authority found two proposals unlawful because they would let certain employees arbitrate performance and adverse actions after one year of service…
U.S. Department of Justice and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3719
Justice Department and AFSCME Local 3719 (FLRA WA-CU-20211, WA-CU-20401): Criminal Division staff excluded from bargaining unit
AFSCME Local 3719 challenged the exclusion of 84 Justice Department Criminal Division employees from its bargaining unit. The regional director had found that their security work directly affected national security. The Authority held that national-security work under the bargaining-unit rule can…
General Services Administration, Region 9, San Francisco, California and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 81
GSA Region 9 and NFFE Local 81 (FLRA SF-CA-31276): temporary office move required no bargaining
GSA temporarily moved a Tucson property disposal technician to another building after she raised concerns about privacy while preparing for an EEO hearing. NFFE Local 81 requested bargaining over the move and the changes to her work area. An administrative law judge found that GSA's refusal to…
U.S. Border Patrol, Tucson Sector and Immigration and Naturalization Service, Western Regional Office and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2544
Border Patrol and INS Western Region (FLRA SA-CA-20236): Disciplinary record complaints dismissed
AFGE Local 2544 requested disciplinary letters from the Border Patrol and INS Western Region while representing employees facing discipline. The agencies refused to provide records from across the region, and an administrative law judge found that the refusals violated the federal labor statute…
Secretary of Labor v. Broken Hill Mining Company
Default decision remanded for findings
Broken Hill Mining Company did not appear at a January 1997 hearing on eight alleged safety violations. The ALJ found the company in default and ordered it to pay the proposed civil penalty of $26,300. The Commission reviewed the decision on its own motion because the ALJ's order did not state the…
In re E-P-, Applicant
In re E-P- (BIA ID 3311): credible testimony did not establish asylum eligibility after Haiti conditions changed
The Board reviewed an asylum applicant's appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of asylum and withholding of exclusion and deportation to Haiti. The applicant gave credible testimony about violence against relatives and surveillance of her church, but the Board found her account vague, found no…
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Penitentiary Marion and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2343
Marion prison and AFGE Local 2343 (FLRA CH-CA-30849): Investigation records need not be disclosed
AFGE Local 2343 requested internal investigation records while preparing a safety grievance at the Marion federal penitentiary for arbitration. The grievance challenged the prison's decision to release an inmate into the recreation area; the requested records concerned a later investigation of a…
Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, New York Region and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3369
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 3369 (FLRA BY-CA-30748, BY-CA-40496): awards data withheld, unanswered request unlawful
AFGE Local 3369 asked the Social Security Administration's New York region for employees' names alongside award information for the 1992 and 1993 rating periods. The Authority held that releasing names for the 1992 performance awards would reveal employee ratings and was barred by the Privacy Act…
National Association of Government Employees/Service Employees International Union, Local 5000 and Service Employees International Union and Department of Veterans Affairs
VA San Diego center and NAGE/SEIU (FLRA WA-AC-50071): union agreement cannot transfer bargaining unit
Two affiliated unions asked to move about 900 employees at a VA medical center in San Diego from SEIU's nationwide bargaining unit into NAGE's unit. The unions agreed and the VA did not object, but only five union members had voted at a meeting about the change. The Authority held that the unions'…
Social Security Administration, Valdosta District Office and American Federation of Government Employees
SSA Valdosta District and AFGE (FLRA WA-AC-40108, WA-CU-40109): district joins nationwide union unit
An SSA reorganization moved 21 union-represented employees from the Thomasville and Moultrie offices into the Valdosta District, which already had 15 unrepresented employees. A regional director treated the existing Valdosta office as unable to be a successor and removed the transferred employees…
In re P-L-P-, Respondent
In re P-L-P- (BIA ID 3314): service of charging document gave Immigration Judge asylum jurisdiction
The Board reviewed the government's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated deportation proceedings involving an Indian respondent who had filed an asylum application. The Board held that the asylum office initially had jurisdiction before service of the charging document, but service of the…
In re N-K- & V-S-, Applicants
In re N-K- & V-S- (BIA ID 3312): ineffective assistance supported reopening of in absentia exclusion proceedings
The Board reviewed N-K- and V-S-'s motion to reopen exclusion proceedings after an Immigration Judge ordered them excluded in an in absentia hearing. The applicants said they did not know about the hearing because their former counsel had been retained to arrange their release from custody and had…
S & M Construction Inc.
Mixed citation results and $7,020 penalty
S & M Construction operated mining equipment at the Coal Creek Mine. Judge Avram Weisberger dismissed a citation alleging that a baghouse was not maintained in safe operating condition because the Secretary did not prove the underlying equipment condition with competent evidence. The judge affirmed…
Secretary of Labor v. Kellys Creek Resources, Inc.
Borehole violation classified as S&S and unwarrantable
Kellys Creek Resources operated a coal mine in Tennessee. The company cut through into a sealed mine area while mining within 200 feet of an area that had not been accurately surveyed, without drilling the required boreholes. The cut-through released air with dangerously low oxygen, and the…
Secretary of Labor v. AMAX Coal Company
Methane citation remanded for penalty proceedings
AMAX Coal Company was cited after a methane reading in an above-ground structure exceeded 1 percent. The ALJ had vacated the citation, but the Commission held that 30 C.F.R. § 77.201 clearly prohibits methane concentrations at or above 1 percent in the covered structure. The Commission reversed and…
Del Rio, Inc.
Late penalty contest request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Del Rio, Inc. mailed its request to contest an MSHA penalty one week late after the form was misfiled in its accounts-payable records. The penalty had already become a final Commission order because the company did not notify the Secretary within 30 days. The Commission remanded the matter to a…
Steve Napier v. Bledsoe Coal Corp., f/k/a Bituminous-Laurel Mining, Inc.
Steve Napier v. Bledsoe Coal Corp. (FMSHRC KENT 96-269-D): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Steve Napier alleged that Bledsoe Coal Corporation discriminated against him in violation of section 105 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. Napier said he had raised safety concerns about drawrock, the removal of a bolter canopy, and deep cuts at Bledsoe's underground No. 4 Mine. Judge…
Sterling Plumbing Group, Inc.
Lead-inspection warrant and citations upheld
A state health department referred reports that Sterling employees had blood-lead levels above OSHA's medical-removal threshold. After Sterling denied entry, OSHA obtained a warrant and cited lead-standard and recordkeeping violations. The Commission held that the warrant application contained…
L.R. Willson and Sons, Inc.
Fall-protection citation vacated on court remand
A supervisor and crew member performed steel-erection work without the required safety cables. The Commission had previously affirmed the violation as serious, but the Fourth Circuit held that OSHA bore the burden of proving the supervisor's conduct was foreseeable or preventable. On remand, the…
Regional Scaffolding & Hoisting Co., Inc.
Off-site surveillance challenge rejected
An OSHA compliance officer observed and videotaped employees dismantling an exterior hoist without fall protection, first from a public plaza and then from a federal courthouse roof. Regional Scaffolding argued that the surveillance violated the Fourth Amendment and the OSH Act's credential and…
Secretary of Labor v. Southern Refractories, Inc.
Mixed results and $181 penalty
Southern Refractories removes and replaces refractory material in preheaters and kilns. The judge vacated one hose-connection citation, approved settlements for two other citations, and affirmed a safe-access citation after deleting two alleged conditions and the significant-and-substantial…
CBI Na-Con, Inc.
"shall be provided" does not require the employer to pay for welding gloves
CBI Na-Con, a construction contractor and subsidiary of Chicago Bridge & Iron, ran a site in Geismar, Louisiana where it employed over 50 welders and required them to wear welding gloves. OSHA cited the company for an other-than-serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.95(a), the construction personal…
Secretary of Labor v. Capitol Cement Corp.
Lockout and fall-protection violations affirmed
Capitol Cement operated a cement plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The judge affirmed a citation for failing to de-energize and lock out a 480-volt overhead crane hot rail before work, and an order for failing to use a safety belt while working about 50 feet above the ground. The judge also…
Capitol Cement Corp.
Safety violations affirmed after disabling electrical injury
Capitol Cement challenged citations and a withdrawal order issued after a shift supervisor suffered disabling electrical burns while working near an energized overhead crane rail without de-energizing and locking out the power. The case also involved the failure to wear a safety belt and line while…
Secretary of Labor v. Whayne Supply Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding remanded
Whayne Supply Company services Caterpillar machinery at coal mines. During a bulldozer repair, a field technician was killed when a raised belly pan was not securely blocked before work was performed underneath it. The ALJ found that the technician's conduct could be considered in evaluating…
In re Otoniel VILLALBA-Sinaloa, Respondent
In re Otoniel VILLALBA-Sinaloa (BIA ID 3310): address notice supported an in absentia proceeding
The Board reviewed the government's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated deportation proceedings against Otoniel Villalba-Sinaloa. The respondent had been served with an Order to Show Cause but did not provide an address, so he did not receive notice of the hearing and did not appear. The…
In re V-T-S-, Respondent
In re V-T-S- (BIA ID 3308): ransom kidnapping did not establish persecution without a protected-ground motive
The Board reviewed a Filipino respondent's appeal from the denial of asylum and withholding of deportation. The respondent argued that his political activity caused the Moro National Liberation Front to threaten him and kidnap two of his siblings. The Board held that kidnapping is serious but does…
Green Thumb Nursery, Inc.
In re Green Thumb Nursery, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 95-4a): $3,000 penalty upheld
Green Thumb Nursery, Inc., a retail establishment in Canton, Ohio, sold a 12% sodium hypochlorite solution under its own label for swimming pools, lawns, and gardens. The Environmental Appeals Board held that Green Thumb had sold or distributed an unregistered pesticide in violation of FIFRA, and…
Secretary of Labor v. New Mexico Potash Corporation
Electrical-safety citations affirmed after fatal electrocution
New Mexico Potash operated an underground potash mine in New Mexico. After a miner died while handling an energized power cable with a damaged outer jacket, the judge found violations for failing to protect electrical conductors from mechanical damage and for manually moving an energized cable…
R. P. Carbone Construction Co.
General contractor liable for subcontractor's exposed fall hazard
R. P. Carbone Construction Company was the general contractor on a recreation-center project in Cleveland, Ohio, and subcontracted the steel erection to CommSteel. During a July 1996 inspection prompted by a complaint, an OSHA compliance officer saw two CommSteel ironworkers installing bridging…
Donald Braasch Construction, Inc.
Informer-privilege sanctions reversed
After a crane operator was seriously injured, the employer sought any statement he may have given OSHA. The ALJ found the informer privilege waived, ordered disclosure, barred the Secretary from calling the operator, and dismissed a willful item carrying a proposed $49,000 penalty when the…
Tops Markets, Inc.
Cord-and-plug lockout violations affirmed
A bakery employee seriously injured a finger when a roll machine started unexpectedly while he changed a die without unplugging it. Employees also cleared jams from another plugged-in machine that could crush or lacerate their hands. Tops argued that cord-and-plug equipment was exempt from…
Anthony Crane Rental, Inc.
Crane inspection and repair violations affirmed
Anthony Crane Rental leased a truck crane whose boom later collapsed at an airport construction site, killing the lessee's crane oiler. On court remand, the issue was whether Anthony Crane's own employees were exposed to hazards from missing inspection records, improperly adjusted components, and…
Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1482
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow and AFGE Local 1482 (FLRA SF-CA-50392): union notice required at EEO settlement meeting
A Marine Corps base in Barstow met with an employee to settle his formal EEO complaint after two earlier meetings that included AFGE Local 1482. The base did not notify the union about the final meeting, where the employee signed a settlement agreement. The Authority agreed with the administrative…
Secretary of Labor v. Sunny Ridge Mining Company, Inc.
Mixed rulings on raised equipment and highwall violations
Sunny Ridge Mining operated a surface coal mine in Kentucky. The Commission vacated and remanded the finding that miners worked under an unsecured raised truck bed because the ALJ did not explain the factual basis and the record was incomplete. It affirmed three highwall violations and the…
Department of the Air Force, Washington, D.C.; Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; and American Federation of Government Employees
Air Force Logistics Command and AFGE (FLRA CH-CA-20193, CH-CA-20459): inspector general reports need not be disclosed
After a 1989 B-52 explosion at Kelly Air Force Base killed one employee and wounded several others, AFGE requested two later inspector general reports on safety practices at Air Force logistics centers. The union said it needed the reports to consider grievances and prepare contract proposals. 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.