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, Federal Prison Council 33 and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons
AFGE Federal Prison Council 33 and Bureau of Prisons (FLRA 0-NG-2218): Four investigation proposals negotiable
AFGE Federal Prison Council 33 proposed five changes to the Bureau of Prisons' instructions for employee misconduct investigations. The Authority found that a proposal requiring investigators to give a warning form to all interviewees interfered with management's right to set internal security…
EL-O Electric, Inc.
Unguarded live breaker panel affirmed serious, $400
EL-O Electric was the electrical subcontractor on a school renovation and expansion in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. During a complaint inspection, an OSHA compliance officer found an open circuit-breaker panel energized at 208 volts on the boiler-room wall. EL-O's electricians had removed the screwed-on…
Alabama River Pulp Co., Inc.
Floor-opening, manlift, and lockout/tagout violations affirmed, penalties reduced to $1,000
Alabama River Pulp runs a large pulp mill in Perdue Hill, Alabama. During the plant's annual maintenance outage in April 1995, a subcontractor employee fell at a manlift in the digester building and died; the parties stipulated that the death was not caused by any of the violations later cited…
Doss Fork Coal Company, Inc.
Three orders affirmed after remand
Doss Fork Coal Company was ordered to pay civil penalties after MSHA found loose coal accumulations, inadequate roof support, and failures to record hazardous conditions at the Seminole Mine. On remand, Judge Gary Melick found that the first violation resulted from unwarrantable failure and high…
City of Fort Worth, Texas
In re City of Fort Worth, Texas (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 95-8): review denied
The City of Arlington, Texas challenged the renewal of an NPDES permit for the Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. Arlington sought a permit condition requiring Fort Worth to continue serving western Arlington after the cities' contract…
Consolidation Coal Company
Miners held entitled to compensation after withdrawal order
About 35 day-shift miners at Consolidation Coal Company's Humphrey No. 7 Mine were waiting at a portal after an elevator malfunctioned. MSHA later issued an oral section 103(k) withdrawal order barring anyone from using the elevator, and the company sent the miners home. Judge William Fauver found…
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, San Diego and American Federation of Government Employees, National Immigration and Naturalization Service Council
INS San Diego and AFGE National INS Council (FLRA 0-AR-2683): Sunday inspection overtime award upheld
Senior Immigration Inspectors in San Diego performed inspections on Sunday, January 17, 1993, after the agency changed their basic workweek to include Sunday. They were not paid the Sunday inspection overtime provided by 8 U.S.C. § 1353a. An arbitrator found that the schedule change violated the…
Wallace Brothers, Inc.
Penalty assessments vacated and remanded for statutory findings
Wallace Brothers conceded two guarding violations involving a portable crusher, but challenged the $1,300 penalty assessed for each citation. The Commission held that the administrative law judge had not addressed all six statutory penalty criteria in section 110(i) of the Mine Act. It vacated both…
Power Operating Company, Inc.
Remand penalty set at $500 after S&S finding
The Commission had reversed the judge's original finding that Power Operating Company committed a non-significant-and-substantial violation of 30 C.F.R. § 1710(e) and sent the case back for a new penalty assessment. On remand, Judge Avram Weisberger continued to find that the operator's negligence…
Amax Coal Company
Failure-to-abate order vacated
MSHA cited Amax Coal Company for coal and coal-dust accumulations around a conveyor belt at the Wabash Mine and later issued a failure-to-abate order under section 104(b). Judge Gary Melick found that Amax had cleaned the original accumulation before the later order was issued. Because the…
Freeman United Coal Mining
Walkway citation affirmed after collapse injured four workers
Freeman United operated the Orient No. 6 coal mine, where an elevated walkway in an old preparation plant collapsed and four men fell about 17 feet onto a concrete floor and were severely injured. The judge found that the walkway was not maintained in good repair as required by 30 C.F.R. § 77.200…
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Western Currency Facility and Ray E. Midder
Western Currency Facility and Ray Midder (FLRA DA-CA-30545): Discharge claim dismissed, organizing threats barred
Ray Midder, a probationary police officer at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's Western Currency Facility, claimed he was discharged for helping organize a union. An administrative law judge found that the agency had a legitimate basis for the discharge and would have taken the same action…
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, New England Region, Bradley Air Traffic Control Tower and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Y90 Local
FAA Bradley Tower and NATCA Y90 Local (FLRA 1-CA-10350, 1-CA-10351): Award data ordered disclosed
NATCA's Y90 Local requested unsanitized performance appraisals and award information while examining whether air traffic control employees were treated differently. The Authority held that the FAA could withhold the appraisals because releasing them would violate employee privacy. It reached a…
Federal Aviation Administration, Little Rock Air Traffic Control Tower and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, MEBA/AFL-CIO
FAA Little Rock Tower and NATCA (FLRA 0-AR-2696): Compressed-schedule overtime award set aside
Air traffic controllers at Little Rock Tower worked a compressed schedule with nine-hour shifts and one eight-hour shift in each two-week period. An arbitrator awarded overtime for the first hour of a midnight shift when it followed a nine-hour shift on the same calendar day. The Authority set…
U.S. Government Printing Office and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 121
Government Printing Office and IBEW Local 121 (FLRA 0-AR-2647): Holiday scheduling award set aside
The Government Printing Office changed a power plant engineer's days off around a holiday to avoid overtime. IBEW Local 121 argued that a federal workweek rule barred the change, and an arbitrator held that the rule applied to the covered employees. The Authority set aside the award. It held that 5…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1941 and U.S. Department of the Army, U.S. Army Chemical and Military Police Centers and Fort McClellan
AFGE Local 1941 and Fort McClellan (FLRA 0-AR-2591): Promotion selection rerun upheld
Fort McClellan filled four dental assistant vacancies from six qualified candidates. Two employees who were not selected grieved, and an arbitrator found that the interview questions and scoring tainted the selection process. The arbitrator ordered the Army to rerun the selection, without ordering…
Matter of Phong Nguyen TRAN
Willful family abuse was moral turpitude
The Board reviewed the Immigration and Naturalization Service's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision terminating deportation proceedings. The respondent had convictions for burglary and for willfully inflicting corporal injury on the mother of his child under California Penal Code section…
Matter of B-
Second-degree rape treated as a crime of violence
The Board dismissed the respondent’s appeal from an Immigration Judge’s decision finding him deportable and ineligible for relief. The respondent had been convicted of second-degree rape under Maryland law and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The Board held that this statutory rape offense is a…
LAC Bullfrog Incorporated
Blast-area citation affirmed and one personal case dismissed
A blast at LAC Bullfrog's underground gold mine was followed by a 40 to 50 ton ground fall in an adjacent drift where three supervisors were present. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company failed to clear the drift before blasting, in violation of the warning and blast-area restriction…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Southern California TRACON
NATCA and Southern California TRACON (FLRA 0-AR-2755): Retention allowance grievance denied
The FAA paid retention allowances to employees in designated jobs at selected hard-to-staff air traffic facilities. It stopped the payments when employees from two covered facilities transferred to the newly created Southern California TRACON, which the project did not cover. An arbitrator denied…
Federal Aviation Administration, Northwest Mountain Region, Renton, Washington and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
FAA Northwest Mountain Region and NATCA (FLRA DE-CA-30588): Witness travel complaint dismissed
An FAA employee was subpoenaed by the Authority's General Counsel to testify at an unfair labor practice hearing in Denver. The FAA refused to pay his travel and per diem expenses, and the union filed a charge. On stipulated facts, the Authority dismissed the resulting complaint. It held that the…
Montana Sulphur and Chemical Co.
March 26 dismissal order with the full ALJ decision vacating both hydrogen-sulfide items
Montana Sulphur and Chemical Company makes chemicals, including liquefied hydrogen sulfide, at a plant in Billings, Montana. After a 1994 inspection, OSHA and the company settled every citation item except two serious ones: that loading-crew employees did not wear supplied-air respirators when…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Audit Resolution and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 229
HHS Audit Resolution and NTEU Chapter 229 (FLRA 0-AR-2612): Promotion ruling left in place
The Authority had previously upheld an arbitrator's award sustaining grievances from three HHS employees denied career ladder promotions. HHS sought reconsideration, arguing that the promotions lacked enough higher-level work and conflicted with classification law and management rights. The…
Tide Creek Rock, Inc.
Mixed result on 33 mine-safety violations
Tide Creek Rock operated a very small crushed-stone mine in Oregon with a pit and crusher and usually three employees. MSHA alleged 33 violations involving electrical equipment, guarding, fire hazards, housekeeping, berms, quarry-wall conditions, reporting, and inspection requirements. Judge…
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply, Incorporated
Frame grounding citation vacated
Contractors Sand & Gravel operated two small portable sand and gravel surface mines in California. MSHA cited the company and its manager after finding that motors were grounded through the crusher and stacker frames rather than through separate visible grounding conductors. Judge Cetti held that…
Micronutrients International, Inc.
In re Micronutrients International, Inc. (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition Nos. 94-1, 94-2, 94-3, and 94-4): reimbursement denied
Seven petitioners sought reimbursement for cleanup costs at the Micronutrients International Superfund Site in Tooele County, Utah. They had transferred electric arc furnace dust to the site operators, who allegedly intended to use it in a fertilizer additive, but large quantities were left in…
Anthony Esposito v. Bay Container Repair Company
Esposito v. Bay Container Repair (BRB 93-0658): Special Fund liability remanded
Anthony Esposito received permanent total disability benefits after a back injury while working for Bay Container Repair. The employer sought to shift payment responsibility to the Longshore Act's Special Fund after 104 weeks, citing an earlier back condition. The Board upheld the judge's finding…
E & R Erectors, Inc.
Steel-erection fall-protection and crane items affirmed against E & R, related companies dismissed, $3,000
OSHA inspected the steel erection at the ASTM International Headquarters construction site in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and cited E & R Erectors, Inc. E & R claimed it was not on the site that day, so the Secretary amended the complaint to add two related companies, Samuel Grossi and Sons…
Wiley Organics, Inc.
Commission affirms general-duty and emergency-response citations after a fatal chemical reactor explosion
Wiley Organics, doing business as Organic Technologies, ran a chemical manufacturing plant in Newark, Ohio, making a chemical called R-Glycidol under contract for ARCO Chemical. On April 24, 1991, a reactor vessel exploded during a distillation step and killed the reactor operator, Steven Wears…
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine Program, Seattle, Washington and National Association of Agriculture Employees
USDA plant quarantine officers (FLRA 0-AR-2621): Backpay for shortened Sunday shifts set aside
Two USDA plant quarantine officers were sent home before their scheduled Sunday overtime shifts ended because there was no more inspection work. An arbitrator ordered pay for the unused hours, finding that the agency had not followed scheduling requirements. The Authority set the award aside…
Paul E. Eneberg v. Todd Pacific Shipyards
Eneberg v. Todd Pacific Shipyards (BRB 95-0748): employer's hearing request must be addressed
Paul Eneberg filed a Longshore Act claim based on asbestos exposure while working at Todd Pacific Shipyards, but neither side pursued a benefits hearing for several years. The employer asked the district director to refer the claim to an administrative law judge, seeking a ruling on third-party…
Peck and Hiller Company
Loose concrete-form guardrail affirmed serious, penalty cut to $450
Peck and Hiller was the concrete form-shoring subcontractor on a Navy bachelor enlisted quarters project at the Everett Naval Station in Washington. Responding to an employee complaint, an OSHA compliance officer inspected the site and found that a wire-rope guardrail Peck had installed on the…
General Road Trucking Corporation
Default penalty ordered
General Road Trucking Corporation failed to respond to a September 14, 1995 order to show cause and later failed to respond to a January 25, 1996 order seeking information and another explanation. The judge found the operator in default after the file showed that it had received both orders. The…
Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated
Safeguard contests dismissed
Jim Walter Resources contested two safeguards issued at its No. 4 Mine. The Secretary moved to dismiss because the Commission has statutory authority to review citations, orders, and proposed penalty assessments, but not safeguard notices themselves. Judge Merlin held that safeguards have the…
REB Enterprises, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
The Commission reviewed a default order against REB Enterprises and two employees, Harold Miller and Richard E. Berry, that imposed civil penalties totaling $10,350. The Secretary alleged that all three respondents failed to answer a prehearing order, while Miller and Berry also failed to answer…
Power Operating Company, Inc.
Eye-protection violation held S&S
During an inspection of Power Operating Company’s Pennsylvania mine, an MSHA inspector saw a miner steam-cleaning a rock truck with high-pressure steam and water without goggles or a face shield. The company conceded the violation but disputed whether it was significant and substantial. The…
National Association of Government Employees/Service Employees International Union, Local 5000 and Service Employees International Union and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
NAGE, SEIU and VA (FLRA WA-AC-50071): Further briefs sought on San Diego bargaining unit transfer
NAGE and SEIU jointly sought to move about 900 employees at a VA medical center in San Diego from SEIU's nationwide bargaining unit to NAGE's nationwide unit. A regional director dismissed their petition for lack of unusual circumstances supporting separation from the existing unit. The Authority…
Reading Anthracite Company
Damages award remanded for allocation clarification
An administrative law judge had previously found that Reading Anthracite Company violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act when it transferred William Kaczmarczyk from light duty to workers’ compensation status. The parties agreed that Kaczmarczyk was owed $5,098.42 in economic loss and travel…
W.A. Morris Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Jurisdiction issue accepted for review, stay denied
W.A. Morris Sand and Gravel petitioned for review of an ALJ’s orders granting temporary reinstatement and denying motions to dismiss in a discrimination case brought on behalf of Ramon S. Franco. Morris asked the Commission to stay the temporary reinstatement order. The Commission granted review on…
Samuel B. and Nancy Sanders, on behalf of Joseph Martin Sanders
Complaint dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Samuel and Nancy Sanders asked the Commission to review MSHA’s decision to vacate citations after their deceased son suffered fatal injuries at the Smokey Valley Common Operation. They also asked the Commission to verify a citation and address an alleged unsafe water-truck transmission. Judge Paul…
Secretary of Labor v. Faith Coal Co.
Commission ordered Faith Coal to show cause
The Commission had granted Faith Coal's petition for discretionary review, but Faith did not file the required opening brief or designate its petition as its brief. The Secretary moved to dismiss the appeal for failure to prosecute. The Commission ordered Faith to show cause within 14 days why the…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Inc.
Show-cause order issued for failure to file brief
Broken Hill Mining Company filed a petition for discretionary review, but it did not file the required opening brief. The Secretary of Labor moved to dismiss the appeal, and Broken Hill did not oppose the motion. The Commission ordered Broken Hill to show cause within 14 days why the appeal should…
L & J Energy Company, Inc.
Remand decision explains credibility findings
Judge Avram Weisberger issued this decision after the Commission and the D.C. Circuit required a new determination based on the full record in L & J Energy’s civil penalty proceeding. The remand required an explanation for discounting eyewitness testimony and required the judge to address the…
Mclaughlin Gormley King Co.
In re Mclaughlin Gormley King Co. (EAB FIFRA Appeal Nos. 95-2 through 95-7): one violation for the statement concerning this study
Mclaughlin Gormley King Co. and other respondents in six consolidated pesticide enforcement actions submitted a study concerning Piperonyl Butoxide with a statement that the study followed EPA's Good Laboratory Practice standards. EPA alleged that the statement was false because the study deviated…
A&W Smelters and Refiners, Inc.
In re A&W Smelters and Refiners, Inc. (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition Nos. 94-14 and 94-15): reimbursement petitions denied
A&W Smelters and Refiners agreed to sell material from a California smelting operation to a Mexican company that planned to recover gold and silver. The material also contained lead, and shipments were detained, diverted, or placed on a residential lot in Nevada. After A&W completed cleanup work…
REB Enterprises, Incorporated
Default order affirmed and penalties ordered
Judge Avram Weisberger granted the Secretary’s motion for default after the respondents failed to respond to the prehearing order and, for two respondents, failed to answer the penalty petitions. The judge affirmed the citations and associated penalties. REB Enterprises was ordered to pay $7,550…
Industrial Steel Enterprises, Inc.
Commission sets aside default sanctions and remands so a pro se employer can be heard
Industrial Steel Enterprises contested OSHA citations carrying $23,000 in proposed penalties but, representing itself, did not file an answer or respond to the Chief Administrative Law Judge's order to show cause. As a sanction, the judge dismissed the notice of contest and affirmed the citations…
Conagra Poultry Company
Commission approves a revised ergonomics failure-to-abate settlement after the union drops its objection
ConAgra Poultry Company, also styled ConAgra Broiler Company, ran a poultry processing operation subject to a 1992 Corporate Settlement Agreement (an Ergonomic and Recordkeeping Agreement, or CSA) that set ergonomic-hazard abatement and documentation duties. In April 1994, OSHA issued a…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dallas, Texas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2437
Dallas VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2437 (FLRA 6-CA-11025): Privacy Act bars requested investigation files
AFGE Local 2437 requested investigation records concerning alleged patient abuse at the Dallas VA Medical Center while representing an employee facing a proposed suspension. An administrative law judge found that refusing the records violated the agency's duty to furnish information. The Authority…
Consolidation Coal Company
Accident-evidence citation vacated
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after company officials entered a damaged vehicle at the Blacksville No. 1 Mine during an investigation of a fatal methane explosion. The Secretary alleged that the officials altered evidence in violation of section 103(j) of the Mine Act. Judge Gary Melick…
Consolidation Coal Company
Methane-testing order vacated
Consolidation Coal Company was charged with failing to conduct methane tests during cleaning work in a raw coal silo at the Blacksville No. 1 Mine. The Secretary sought a $12,000 penalty under 30 C.F.R. § 77.201-1. Judge Gary Melick found that the evidence raised suspicions but did not prove that…
J B D Mining Company, Inc.
Three citations affirmed
J B D Mining Company received three citations at its Harlan No. 1 Mine. The first involved travel under unsupported roof, the second involved smoking materials found underground, and the third involved missing site-specific training for a contractor employee. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found all three…
Department of the Army, III Corps and Fort Hood, Fort Hood, Texas and National Federation of Federal Employees and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1920
Fort Hood, NFFE and AFGE Local 1920 (FLRA DA-RO-50007): Election petition barred by same-day contract
NFFE filed an election petition for Fort Hood employees on the same day that the Army and incumbent union AFGE executed a collective bargaining agreement. A regional director dismissed the petition as barred by the agreement, and the Authority affirmed. The Authority held that an executed agreement…
Harry Fiocchi & Associates, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed
Harry Fiocchi & Associates is a New Jersey general construction, design-build, and project-management firm with about 10 employees. OSHA mailed the company a citation by certified mail on March 31, 1995, and it was received on April 4, 1995. Under the OSH Act an employer has 15 working days to file…
Ikerd-Bandy Co., d/b/a Cockrell's Fork Mining
Discrimination case dismissed
Ronnie Gay alleged that Ikerd-Bandy refused to hire him because he had reported safety problems while working for the predecessor operator, Whitaker Coal Company. Judge Gary Melick excused Gay's late filing because he did not learn of his rights under the Mine Act until shortly before filing. The…
Matter of Felipe GARCIA-Linares
Nunc pro tunc permission could not cure remaining deportability
The Board dismissed the respondent’s appeal from an Immigration Judge’s decision finding him deportable and denying his requests for retroactive permission to reapply for admission and a section 212(c) waiver. The respondent had reentered the United States with an immigrant visa after a prior…
R & R Pipeline, Inc.
Trench spoil-pile and repeat cave-in items affirmed, inspection item vacated, penalties cut
R & R Pipeline is a Colorado utilities contractor. During a December 1994 inspection of a trenching job in Littleton, an OSHA compliance officer found a worker in a trench about 10 to 11 feet deep with no shoring in place, a spoil pile of excavated dirt piled less than two feet from the trench…
The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company
Settlement approved
The parties asked Judge Gary Melick to approve a settlement in two civil-penalty proceedings. The settlement removed the Significant and Substantial designation from Citation No. 4061992 and reduced a proposed penalty from $228 to $51. The judge found the settlement acceptable under the Mine Act's…
Narrows Branch Coal Inc.
Default decision assesses $33,947
Narrows Branch Coal did not comply with an order requiring it either to show good cause why it should not be held in default or to file the original joint settlement motion. Judge Avram Weisberger entered default and ordered the company to pay the total civil penalty sought in the four proceedings…
Matter of Fructoso LUVIANO-Rodriguez
Expunged firearms conviction required remand
The respondent appealed a finding that he was deportable because of a California firearms conviction. While the appeal was pending, a California court set aside his plea and dismissed the concealed-weapons complaint under California Penal Code section 1203.4. The Board held that an expunged…
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.