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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U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2718
INS and AFGE Local 2718 (FLRA CH-CA-40010): Cash award ordered and notice modified
An administrative law judge found that the Immigration and Naturalization Service denied a recommended performance cash award to a Chicago employee because of his union activity. The agency did not challenge that finding. The Authority adopted it and ordered the agency to grant the award, up to…
Johnny R. Broussard v. Houma Land & Offshore
Broussard v. Houma Land & Offshore (BRB 92-0971): unapproved third-party settlement bars later benefits
Johnny Broussard filed a Longshore Act claim after an injury while working for Houma Land & Offshore. He later accepted two third-party offers of judgment totaling $20,000, less than the compensation the parties agreed would be due under the Act, without seeking the employer's written approval…
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, D.C. and District of Columbia Nurses Association
VA Medical Center Washington and D.C. Nurses Association (FLRA WA-CA-30584): incentive award claim remanded
A nurse at the VA's Washington medical center sought union help after receiving a counseling letter. Her supervisor later said she would not recommend the nurse for an incentive award because the nurse had gone outside the workplace for help. The Authority left in place the judge's finding that…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts and Fraternal Order of Police
VA Medical Center, Jamaica Plain (FLRA BN-CA-30274): Complaint returned to a different judge
A Veterans Affairs medical center suspended police officer Michael Giannetti for a letter he wrote on behalf of a Fraternal Order of Police lodge. The General Counsel alleged that the suspension punished protected labor activity. On an earlier remand, the administrative law judge found that the…
Ronald Guthrie v. Holmes & Narver, Incorporated
Guthrie v. Holmes & Narver (BRB 93-0624): housing and meals increase disability wage calculation
Ronald Guthrie hurt his back while working as a plumber and repairman for Holmes & Narver on Johnston Atoll, then took a less physical job with a computer chip manufacturer. The judge denied permanent partial disability benefits after calculating Guthrie's earnings before injury as lower than his…
Matter of Cecilia RIVERA-Claros
Appeal kept the in absentia stay in place
The respondent sought an emergency stay of deportation while appealing the denial of a motion to reopen an in absentia deportation hearing. The Board held that section 242B(c)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act automatically stays deportation while the motion to reopen is pending, including…
Terrazas, Incorporated
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Irineo G. Beltran, a laborer working for Terrazas at the Chino copper mine, alleged that he was discharged after objecting to the safety of a Gehl sweeper. Judge George A. Koutras found that MSHA showed the discrimination complaint was not frivolous, while leaving the ultimate merits for a later…
Western Massachusetts Blasting Corporation
Explosives-truck violations modified
Western Massachusetts Blasting Corporation was cited after explosives were loaded in a pickup with exposed steel surfaces and a steel shovel in the cargo bed, and after the parked truck's brake was not set and its wheels were not chocked. Judge Paul Merlin affirmed both violations but removed the…
Berwind Natural Resources, Corp., Kentucky Berwind Land Company, Kyber Coal Company, Jesse Branch Coal Company
Operator status divided among mine-owner and contractor entities
The consolidated cases arose from an explosion at the Elmo No. 5 Mine that killed one miner and involved approximately 225 citations and orders. Judge David F. Barbour held that Berwind Natural Resources, Kentucky Berwind, and Jesse Branch were not operators under the Mine Act, while Kyber was an…
Miniature Nut and Screw Corp.
Hearing-conservation lapses are serious violations, but machine-guarding items fail for lack of employee exposure
Miniature Nut and Screw Corporation is a small family-owned maker of die-cast zinc fasteners in Newington, Connecticut, with about ten employees. After a 1993 OSHA inspection, the company was cited for occupational-noise (hearing conservation) violations and numerous machine-guarding violations…
American Airlines, Inc.
FAA ground-operations manual does not preempt OSHA guardrail and hazard-communication citations after a fatal fall
American Airlines ran an aircraft maintenance and repair facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After a worker fell from the third story of a roughly 27-foot mobile "tail stand" work platform through unguarded floor openings to the ground and died, OSHA inspected and issued citations across two dockets…
Newmont Gold Company
Discriminatory discharge found, relief reserved
Lance A. Paul alleged that Newmont Gold Company discharged him after he used a radio during a mine fire to express concern for a coworker who had not been evacuated. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the discharge was discriminatorily motivated and violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act. The…
Carlos L. Davison v. Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Company, Incorporated
Davison v. Bender Shipbuilding (BRB 92-2183): hearing-loss benefit denial affirmed
Carlos Davison, a retired shipyard welder, claimed hearing loss from workplace noise. Testing showed a complete loss in his left ear and a milder loss in his right. The Board upheld the finding that a later fall, unrelated to his work, caused the left-ear loss and rebutted the presumption that it…
Department of the Air Force, 375th Mission Support Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois and National Association of Government Employees, Local R7-23
Scott Air Force Base and NAGE Local R7-23 (FLRA CH-CA-20590): Smoking policy complaint dismissed
The 375th Mission Support Squadron at Scott Air Force Base ended smoking in a building after an employee's health concerns about secondhand smoke. NAGE Local R7-23 alleged that the change violated its agreements with the squadron. An administrative law judge recommended dismissing the unfair labor…
Humbert Sanitary Service, Inc.
Three trenching items affirmed serious, ladder item vacated, $2,700
Humbert Sanitary Service is a small Ohio construction contractor that installs and cleans septic tanks and lays sewer pipe. While Humbert was tapping a main sewer line on Cleveland Avenue in North Canton, an OSHA compliance officer responded to a complaint and found a laborer working in a…
Dawson Welltech, L.C. Rig #387
Commission approves an oil-rig settlement, with one stair-guardrail item tied to a pending Fifth Circuit case
Dawson Welltech operated a workover oil rig (Rig #387) at a well site near Lamar, Texas. After a 1993 OSHA inspection, the company was cited for guardrail, sanitation, bloodborne-pathogen, hazard-communication, and ladder items across two citations. Administrative Law Judge Louis G. LaVecchia…
Talasila, Inc.
Commission remands after the judge barred the employer's representative without letting it find another
Talasila, Inc. was building a sewer pump station for the City of Houston when OSHA inspected the site after a city engineer complained. OSHA issued several citations, including willful violations of its excavation standards, across three dockets. Talasila was represented at the hearing by M.R…
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates
Settlement approved and hearing canceled
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates and the Secretary submitted a settlement covering two consolidated civil-penalty proceedings. Judge August F. Cetti approved reduced penalties totaling $9,000 and vacated one penalty tied to Citation No. 4139747. The order dismissed the cases after payment and canceled…
Midwest Piping & Controls, Inc.
Fall-protection item affirmed serious $400, load-limit posting item vacated
Midwest Piping & Controls is a small family-owned pipe-fitting company that fabricates and installs piping mainly for a nearby Mead Paper Corporation mill. Its shop sits inside Mead's fenced perimeter, on land Midwest owns under a long- term lease. During a complaint inspection aimed at Mead and…
A & B Tops
Three serious items downgraded to "other," one grounding item affirmed serious, $300
A & B Tops is a very small Ohio sole proprietorship, with one or two employees, that makes and installs kitchen countertops. After an employee complaint, OSHA got an inspection warrant, entered the Akron plant, and issued four serious citations: no exit sign on the assembly-room doors, an unguarded…
Taylor Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc.
Late notice of contest not excused, citations affirmed by default
Taylor Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc., a New Jersey roofing contractor, received OSHA citations and proposed penalties by certified mail on June 19, 1995. Under the OSH Act, an employer has 15 working days to file a notice of contest, which meant Taylor's deadline was July 11, 1995. The company's…
Dandee Creations, Ltd.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed
Dandee Creations is a New York company that received an OSHA citation issued December 15, 1994 and delivered by certified mail on January 5, 1995. Under the OSH Act an employer has 15 working days to file a notice of contest, so Dandee's deadline was January 27, 1995. On January 30, 1995 the…
Anchor Hocking Glass Company, Inc.
Forklift aisle items vacated, horn/slow-down item affirmed serious, penalty cut to $2,100
Anchor Hocking makes consumer glassware at a plant in Lancaster, Ohio. After a reported fatality, an OSHA compliance officer inspected the plant's large pack-and- ship department, where forklifts move up to 4,000 pallets a day through a wide main aisle, and issued a citation with three serious…
Doss Fork Coal Company
Violations remanded and negligence affirmed
The Commission reviewed four enforcement matters arising from conditions at Doss Fork’s Seminole Mine. It sent two orders back for further analysis of whether the operator’s conduct was an unwarrantable failure, and it vacated the dismissal of a third order after holding that the cited…
Energy Fuels Coal, Inc.
Two citations affirmed and two vacated
Energy Fuels Coal was assessed civil penalties in two consolidated dockets involving conveyor guarding and preshift examinations at the Southfield Mine. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed two non-significant-and-substantial citations with $50 penalties each, for a total of $100. He vacated one conveyor…
National Association of Agriculture Employees and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine
Agriculture inspection officers (FLRA 0-NG-2134): Sunday overtime proposal outside bargaining duty
The union for Agriculture Department plant inspection officers proposed preserving an eight-hour Sunday overtime tour when the agency ended it early for lack of work. After a court remand, the Authority considered the proposal as either a pay guarantee or a requirement to assign other work for the…
W.A. Morris Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Ramon S. Franco, a truck driver working at a dam that served the Phelps Dodge Morenci Mine, said he was discharged after refusing to drive a truck he believed was unsafe. Judge Richard W. Manning denied the employer’s motions to dismiss, excused Franco’s late discrimination filing, and found that…
Envotech, L.P.
In re Envotech, L.P. (EAB UIC Appeal Nos. 95-2 through 95-37): permits remanded in part
Envotech, L.P. sought permits for two Class I hazardous waste injection wells to dispose of leachate from an abandoned landfill in Michigan. Thirty-six petitioners challenged the permits on timeliness, standing, environmental justice, geology, waste characterization, and other grounds. The Board…
Rothermel Coal Company
Two violations sustained and one citation dismissed
Rothermel Coal Company operated the No. 11 Vein Slope, an underground coal mine. Judge Avram Weisberger found violations involving an improperly restrained electrical cable and the late submission of a ventilation map. He assessed $50 for the cable violation and $20 for the late map submission, for…
Bruce Young and Yogo, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Andy Howard, Jr., a haul truck driver for Yogo, Inc., reported defective brakes on a truck and later alleged retaliation after cooperating with an MSHA investigation. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the Secretary’s temporary-reinstatement case was not frivolous and ordered Yogo to reinstate…
Asterio Mangaliman v. Lockheed Shipbuilding Company
Mangaliman v. Lockheed Shipbuilding (BRB 92-2308): earning capacity and fee awards remanded
Asterio Mangaliman injured his shoulder while working for Lockheed Shipbuilding and later worked in a light-duty job at the yard. After he was fired for reasons the judge found unrelated to his injury, the judge awarded permanent partial disability benefits using the wages of other jobs available…
Narrows Branch Coal Inc.
$3,000 penalty assessed after inability-to-pay claim failed
Narrows Branch Coal operated Mine No. 1 and admitted the cited violation, its gravity, and its negligence. The company argued that the penalty should be reduced because it might be close to going out of business. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the company had not provided reliable evidence of…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2144 and U.S. Department of the Air Force
Air Force and AFGE Local 2144 (FLRA 0-AR-2748): Asbestos differential award upheld
Air Force wage grade employees sought environmental differential pay for exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. An arbitrator denied their grievance because the evidence did not show exposure above the threshold he used for compensable work. AFGE Local 2144 argued that any asbestos exposure should…
L & J Energy Company, Inc.
Remand for explanation of eyewitness testimony
The Commission reviewed a civil penalty case involving seven alleged violations at L & J Energy's mine. An earlier ALJ decision sustained six violations, but the D.C. Circuit remanded after finding that the judge had not adequately explained why expert testimony was credited over eyewitness…
RNS Services, Inc. and Mase Transportation Co., Inc.
Petition for discretionary review withdrawn
RNS Services and Mase Transportation moved to withdraw their petition for discretionary review. The Secretary of Labor did not oppose the motion. The Commission granted the motion and dismissed the petition.
Esther Brown v. Marine Terminals Corporation
Brown v. Marine Terminals (BRB 95-0784, 95-1183): late settlement payment penalty affirmed
Esther Brown settled her asbestos related death-benefits claim for $40,000, and the employer paid the settlement check 11 days after it became due. The Board majority held that the ten-day period for the Section 14(f) penalty counted calendar days, so the employer owed the penalty for late payment…
APG Lime Corp.
Roof-fall citation vacated
APG Lime operated the underground Kimballton limestone mine in Virginia. A roof slab fell and fatally injured two miners operating a drill, and MSHA cited APG for failing to use ground support. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the calcite seam and other conditions observed before the fall did not…
Matter of Delia LAZARTE-Valverde
Document-fraud inadmissibility was not waivable
The respondent was deportable for overstaying and for being subject to a final civil document-fraud order after using false documents to obtain employment. An Immigration Judge granted her a waiver under section 212(i) and adjusted her status based on her marriage to a lawful permanent resident…
OLAM Southwest Air Defense Sector, Point Arena Air Force Station and National Association of Government Employees, Local R12-85
Point Arena Air Force Station and NAGE Local R12-85 (FLRA SF-CA-20337): Crew changes required bargaining
A Point Arena Air Force radar station changed electronics technicians' crew assignments without completing bargaining with NAGE Local R12-85. The Authority adopted the administrative law judge's finding that this violated federal labor law. It rejected the station's argument that an earlier…
Alan Fox, Gary W. Bennett, Charles Burggraf, and Eldon Ray Evans, employed by Amax Coal Co.
Alan Fox, Gary W. Bennett, Charles Burggraf, and Eldon Ray Evans (FMSHRC LAKE 95-299, et al.): Individual penalty proceedings dismissed
The Secretary sought individual civil penalties against four Amax Coal managers after MSHA issued an order alleging a combustible-material accumulation near a conveyor belt at the Wabash Mine. Judge Gary Melick held that the delay-based dismissal argument did not justify ending the section 110(c)…
U.S. Coal, Incorporated
Remand reduces two penalties to $2,000 each
U.S. Coal's electrician worked on an energized 480-volt circuit without de-energizing it or locking out and tagging the disconnecting devices. He suffered an electrical shock and burns, and later experienced lasting work-related impairments described in the decision. The Commission held that the…
Maple Meadow Mining Company
Settlement reduces two penalties to $1,100
Maple Meadow Mining Company agreed to settle a civil penalty case involving one section 104(d)(1) citation and one section 104(d)(1) order. The settlement changed Citation No. 3964584 to a section 104(a) citation, reduced its penalty from $600 to $200, and changed the negligence finding from high…
George A. Gladney et al. v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Gladney et al. v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 94-1427 through 94-2176): summary judgments in asbestos claims vacated
The judge dismissed 750 Longshore Act claims by workers who alleged asbestos exposure at Ingalls Shipbuilding, finding that they had settled third-party cases without employer approval. The Board held that the judge could not decide every claim by summary judgment without resolving facts specific…
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Border Patrol, Del Rio, Texas and American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council, Local 2366
Del Rio Border Patrol and AFGE Local 2366 (FLRA 6-CA-10866): Assignment records ordered disclosed
AFGE Local 2366 asked the Del Rio Border Patrol sector to bargain over assignments to specialized units and provide agents' requests for those assignments. The Authority dismissed the bargaining allegation because the parties' contract had expired, so the midterm bargaining theory litigated in the…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, 42 Air Base Wing, Gunter Annex, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 997
Gunter Annex and AFGE Local 997 (FLRA 0-AR-2730): Split ruling on performance ratings
An arbitrator resolved grievances over an Air Force employee's performance ratings at Gunter Annex. He rejected one grievance seeking a Superior overall rating but sustained another after finding that a rating of “met” lacked a written explanation. The Authority denied the union's challenge to the…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2663
Kansas City VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2663 (FLRA 0-AR-2627): Overtime backpay award set aside
Boiler plant operators at a Kansas City VA medical center sought overtime pay for shifts assigned to a foreman. An arbitrator found that the center had missed a contractual deadline for answering their grievance and awarded backpay for lost overtime. The Authority set the award aside under the Back…
Tilcon Connecticut, Inc.
Conveyor citation modified and penalty set at $400
Tilcon Connecticut operated a surface rock quarry and crushing plant where an employee was injured when a conveyor started without the required audible warning. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company violated the conveyor-warning standard, but rejected the allegation of unwarrantable failure…
Stillwater Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Chris Schultz alleged that Stillwater Mining Company violated section 105(c) of the Mine Act by terminating him after he reported being attacked by another employee. Judge Avram Weisberger found that hitting the other miner, even in response to being hit first, was not protected activity under the…
Gouverneur Talc Company
Fire-rescue order dismissed and electrical order affirmed
Gouverneur Talc Company operated an underground talc mine where a welder overheated, sparked, and produced smoke. Judge Avram Weisberger found that miners had evacuated from the affected area, but the Secretary did not prove that the employees who returned underground were participating in rescue…
Harold G. Moody, Employed by Grand River Quarry, Inc.
One individual case dismissed and one penalty assessed
The Secretary alleged that Harold G. Moody and Robert G. Flint, supervisors at Grand River Quarry, knowingly violated the Mine Act by allowing a haul-road berm to remain below the required height. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the Secretary did not prove Moody knew or had reason to know of the…
Caterpillar, Inc.
A judge cannot rewrite a settlement's penalties as a sanction for late filing
After a 1993 inspection of Caterpillar's Peoria, Illinois plant, OSHA cited the company for several serious violations, mostly of the confined space and lockout-tagout standards, plus two nonserious hazard communication items, with $19,500 in proposed penalties. The parties settled and told…
Caterpillar, Inc.
Records access case reopened so the company can answer a late-amended charge
In August 1993 about 150 employees at Caterpillar's Mossville, Illinois plant asked for their medical and exposure records, using a form supplied by their union. Each gave a name and badge number and checked boxes for personal medical records and exposure records. Caterpillar did not provide the…
Steele Branch Mining
Grader safety violation and penalty affirmed
Steele Branch Mining operated a surface coal mine where a road grader rolled backward after its engine stalled, fatally injuring the operator. MSHA cited the company for failing to maintain the grader in safe operating condition because its brake accumulator provided only one service-brake…
Steele Branch Mining
Grader safety violation and penalty affirmed
Steele Branch Mining operated a surface coal mine where a road grader rolled backward after its engine stalled, fatally injuring the operator. MSHA cited the company for failing to maintain the grader in safe operating condition because its brake accumulator provided only one service-brake…
L&J Energy Company, Inc.
Reconsideration partly granted; review remains pending
The Secretary of Labor asked the Commission to reconsider its denial of L&J Energy Company’s petition for discretionary review. The Commission granted reconsideration in part and directed review only on issue IV from L&J’s petition. It stayed briefing until a further order and denied the request…
Matter of Jorge Tadeo Carrera HERNANDEZ
Unexplained service required prejudice review
The respondent appeared for a deportation hearing after being personally served with an Order to Show Cause that was not orally explained. The Immigration Judge treated the service defect as grounds to terminate the proceedings. The Board held that the explanation requirement in 8 C.F.R. § 242.1(c)…
Doris Harris v. Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation; John C. Hendrickson v. Lake Union Dry Dock Company
Harris and Hendrickson (BRB 93-2227, 93-2454): settlement comparison changed on reconsideration
Doris Harris and John Hendrickson filed Longshore Act claims after asbestos exposure and had also recovered money through third-party settlements. Their employers asked the Board to restore summary judgments barring the claims for lack of prior approval of those settlements. The Board declined…
Amax Coal West, Inc.
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and dismissed
Orville E. Moore asked to withdraw his Mine Act discrimination complaint against Amax Coal West because he had a parallel case pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and intended to pursue his remedies there. Judge Roy J. Maurer granted permission to withdraw the complaint at the…
Howard L. Church v. Eastern Associated Coal Corporation
Church v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 95-0516): Black lung benefit award affirmed
Howard Church filed a later black lung claim after an earlier denial. On remand, a judge found pneumoconiosis through medical opinions even though the x-ray evidence alone did not establish the disease. The employer challenged the opinions and the finding that the disease contributed to Church's…
Martin Kennedy v. American Bridge Company
Kennedy v. American Bridge (BRB 92-1966): gangplank injury covered by Longshore Act
Martin Kennedy repaired bridge sections carried on barges and loaded construction materials onto the barges. He slipped on a gangplank while leaving a barge and shattered both elbows when he landed on the dock. The employer disputed Longshore Act coverage, arguing that Kennedy was only a bridge…
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.