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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Consolidation Coal Company
Orders vacated and individual penalties dismissed
Consolidation Coal Company and two company agents faced proposed penalties after a December 1992 methane ignition at the Amonate No. 31 Mine injured five miners. The Secretary alleged inadequate bleeder ventilation and inadequate weekly examinations, and alleged that superintendent Robert Wyatt and…
Cyprus Cumberland Resources Corporation
Roof-control order affirmed
Cyprus Cumberland Resources was cited after it failed to install the crib support required by its approved roof control plan in a proposed longwall tailgate entry. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the operator had knowingly stopped following the plan's cribbing requirement for years without seeking…
Harry Hurston v. McGray Construction Company
Hurston v. McGray Construction (BRB 88-4207): pier repair worker covered
Harry Hurston was injured while repairing a pier used in an offshore oil operation. A federal appeals court had already held that the structure counted as a pier under the Longshore Act despite its use. On remand, the Board held that Hurston met the Act's maritime employment requirement because he…
Keith Rasmussen & Sons Construction
Scaffold and fall-protection citations mostly upheld, but penalties cut sharply for a four-worker employer
Keith Rasmussen & Sons Construction, a four-worker builder in Ouray, Colorado, was inspected by OSHA in April 1994 at a jobsite on Main Street. OSHA issued five citation items covering scaffold access, scaffold footing, guardrails, an unguarded second-floor edge, and the lack of a written safety…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 49 and U.S. Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division
IFPTE Local 49 and Army Corps (FLRA 0-NG-2237): Job description form proposal is negotiable
During negotiations over a South Pacific Division reorganization, IFPTE Local 49 proposed using an Army job description form to record agreements. The Army Corps argued that the proposal concerned position classifications, supervisory duties, and management's right to assign work. The Authority…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1668 and U.S. Department of Defense, Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Southern Alaska Exchange, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
Elmendorf Exchange and AFGE Local 1668 (FLRA 0-AR-2706): Suspension of five days sustained
An Exchange Service station attendant rotated a customer's tires, but lug nuts on one tire were left loose. The agency reduced a proposed ten day suspension to five days, and an arbitrator found just cause for that discipline. The union challenged the award, citing the manager's failure to check…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Charles H. Dixon v. Pontiki Coal Corporation
Interlocutory reviews granted
Pontiki Coal Corporation and the Secretary each sought interlocutory review of separate ALJ orders in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding involving Charles H. Dixon. The Commission granted both unopposed petitions, stayed the proceedings before the judge, and set a briefing deadline of December…
Energy West Mining Company
Proceedings dismissed after remand
Energy West Mining Company and the Secretary asked the judge to dismiss a contest and civil penalty proceeding after the cases were remanded by the Commission. The Secretary stated that the safety standard at issue had been superseded by a new standard that resolved the issues in the proceedings…
Montana Sulphur & Chemical Company
Asbestos-waste "housekeeping" citation vacated because the standard sets no bagging deadline
Montana Sulphur & Chemical Company makes hydrogen sulfide and sulphur in Billings, Montana. During an asbestos-removal project on its "railroad" boiler, wet asbestos-containing mastic (about 31% asbestos) was knocked down and piled on the ground, wetted, and barricaded with tape before being bagged…
Precast Services, Inc.
Commission reverses the judge and affirms a fall-protection citation, rejecting the unpreventable-employee-misconduct defense
Precast Services installs precast concrete panels. During a 1993 job in Mentor, Ohio, OSHA saw a journeyman ironworker straddling the top of a 40-foot precast panel with no fall protection, and cited the company for failing to require personal protective equipment. Precast argued it should not be…
Newell Recycling Company, Inc.
All nine lead-exposure citation items vacated after OSHA lost track of its own lab samples for five months
Newell Recycling processes scrap metal in Eagle Pass, Texas. In June 1994 OSHA watched two employees torch-cut refinery piping while wearing dust masks, and took air samples to measure lead exposure. OSHA then let the samples sit: the industrial hygienist did not follow up for five months, the lab…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1594 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
AFGE Local 1594 and Veterans Affairs (FLRA 0-AR-2745): Late grievance dismissal stands
AFGE Local 1594 alleged that a Veterans Affairs manager selected only employees outside the union for promotions. An arbitrator dismissed the grievance because the union filed it more than 30 days after it should have known about the alleged practice, exceeding the agreement's filing period. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1945 and U.S. Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Alabama
Anniston Army Depot and AFGE Local 1945 (FLRA 0-AR-2682): Late welder grievance dismissal stands
After a reduction in force at Anniston Army Depot, welding inspectors moved into higher grade welder positions while other welders remained at a lower grade. AFGE Local 1945 challenged the placements, but an arbitrator dismissed its grievance as filed beyond the bargaining agreement's 15 day limit…
Matter of M-S-
Documentary inconsistencies supported the adverse credibility finding
The applicant, a stowaway seeking asylum and withholding of deportation, challenged the denial of those applications after the asylum director found his account not credible. The Board held that the documentary record independently supported the adverse credibility finding because important…
Matter of S-S-
Reliable asylum-interview record required for appellate review
The applicant, a stowaway seeking asylum and withholding of deportation, challenged an asylum denial that relied on alleged inconsistencies in interviews with an asylum officer. The Board held that it could not fairly review the adverse credibility finding because the interview notes were cryptic…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32 and U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Washington, D.C.
AFGE Local 32 and OPM (FLRA 0-NG-2245): Reduction in force area proposal falls outside duty to bargain
OPM proposed new competitive areas that determine which central office employees compete to keep their jobs during a reduction in force. AFGE Local 32 offered different boundaries and asked the Authority to require bargaining over them. The Authority found that the union's proposal would directly…
Rock of Ages Corporation
Explosives violations partly affirmed after fatality
Rock of Ages Corporation faced contest and civil penalty proceedings after quarryman Michael Bassett died when a torch ignited concealed pyrodex blasting material at the Smith Quarry. Judge Jerold Feldman granted the Secretary's motion to vacate four orders, affirmed one citation and three orders…
United States Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. and National Council of Field Labor Locals, American Federation of Government Employees
Department of Labor and AFGE field locals (FLRA 7-CA-90697): Disciplinary records complaint dismissed
AFGE's field labor locals sought five years of named disciplinary suspension records to prepare for arbitration over five employee suspensions. An administrative law judge ordered the Department of Labor to provide records with identifying details removed. On review, the Authority found that the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Keith D. James v. Cordero Mining Company
Discharge complaint dismissed
Keith D. James alleged that Cordero Mining Company discharged him because of safety complaints, reports to MSHA, distribution of miners' rights handbooks, and other protected activity. Judge August F. Cetti found that James engaged in protected activity, but concluded that Cordero discharged him…
United States Small Business Administration, Washington, D.C. and Robert Wildberger
SBA and Robert Wildberger (FLRA WA-CA-20821): Three labor practice complaints dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Robert Wildberger filed three labor practice complaints against the Small Business Administration over threats, workplace restrictions, and references to union activity in his proposed removal. He also appealed his removal to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The Authority found that the…
General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority
FLRA General Counsel (FLRA 0-PS-33): General ruling request denied
The FLRA General Counsel asked for a general ruling on whether an agency may choose to bargain over subjects listed in 5 U.S.C. § 7106(b)(1) even when those subjects also touch management rights under § 7106(a). The request followed an executive order directing agency heads to negotiate over those…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-184 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky
VA Lexington and NAGE Local R5-184 (FLRA 0-NG-2224): Dental staffing proposals left to VA election
The VA medical center in Lexington planned to rotate dental lab technicians into dental assistant duties. NAGE Local R5-184 offered alternative staffing proposals. The Authority found that moving a position into Dental Service and extending a part time assistant's hours each concerned staffing…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 3 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania
IFPTE Local 3 and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (FLRA 0-NG-2200): One reduction in force proposal requires bargaining
IFPTE Local 3 proposed four measures for employees affected by a reduction in force at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The Authority found that the Navy had to bargain over placing affected employees in vacancies it chose to fill when they could perform the work within 90 days; that proposal was an…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1843 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport, New York
Northport VA and AFGE Local 1843 (FLRA 0-AR-2575): Order to select employee struck from award
A part time employee at the Northport VA Medical Center grieved after the agency chose outside applicants for full time housekeeping jobs. An arbitrator found a violation in the agency's performance appraisal practices and ordered the employee selected for the next suitable opening. The Authority…
Wellmore Coal Incorporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Billy R. McClanahan, a haulage truck driver and later an independent contractor for Wellmore Coal Corporation, complained that the company's requirement to haul at least 24 tons was unsafe. He said the company terminated him after he repeatedly hauled loads below the required weight and objected to…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Reconsideration denied
Jim Walter Resources asked the Commission to reconsider its earlier denial of the company's petition for discretionary review in two civil penalty proceedings. Two commissioners voted to deny reconsideration, while two would have granted it. Because reversing the prior action required a majority of…
Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Coal, Inc.
Negligence imputation reversed and remanded
U.S. Coal operated the No. 3-2 Mine. A certified electrician was injured while repairing a continuous mining machine without deenergizing or locking it out. MSHA cited U.S. Coal under standards requiring electrical equipment to be deenergized and disconnecting devices to be locked out and tagged…
David J. Ward v. Cascade General, Incorporated
Ward v. Cascade General (BRB 92-1516): possible future earnings loss sent back for review
David Ward, a shipyard machinist, sought Longshore compensation after a workplace accident injured his neck and led to hand symptoms. The Board agreed with the judge that Ward's hand impairment did not qualify for scheduled benefits because his hands were not directly injured. It also upheld the…
Lee Zoldan, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed because not reading OSHA's paperwork is simple negligence, not excusable neglect
Lee Zoldan, Inc. is a residential and commercial plumbing and heating business in Middletown, New York, in operation since 1966. After OSHA issued a citation and proposed penalties (dated January 12, 1995), the company did not file a written notice of contest within the 15 working days the law…
Louisville Scrap Material Co., Inc.
Lead citations split, with direct-exposure items vacated over face-shield sampling but housekeeping and monitoring items upheld
Louisville Scrap Material Co. (LSM) ran a scrap yard near the Port of Tampa, torch-cutting railroad cars and other metal into scrap. Because pre-1978 coatings contain lead, the cutting generated airborne lead, and OSHA cited LSM under the lead standard along with one grinder-guarding item. The…
Perini Corporation
A construction site with workers on it is "occupied," so the exit-marking standard applies
Perini Corporation was building a project at Federal Triangle in Washington, DC, working four below-ground levels that had no natural light, no permanent power, and light measured at just 1 to 2 footcandles. OSHA cited Perini for failing to mark exits where the way out was not immediately visible…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Citations affirmed and penalties modified
Consolidation Coal Company was cited after an inspector found a coal feeder being moved with combustible accumulations, incomplete fire-resistant covering, and inadequate grounding. The judge affirmed the single order in docket WEVA 95-117, finding a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1003-2 that was…
Matter of Joel Gladwin FESALE
Section 245(i) statutory sum could not be waived
Mr. Fesale, a citizen of Barbados, sought adjustment of status under section 245(i) while in deportation proceedings. That provision required an additional payment equal to five times the regular adjustment filing fee, and he asked the Immigration Judge to waive it because he was indigent. The…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1592
Air Force Ogden and AFGE Local 1592 (FLRA 0-AR-2596): Employee's overall rating restored
A sheet metal mechanic at the Air Force's Ogden Air Logistics Center challenged his annual performance rating. An arbitrator found problems with the appraisal and ordered the employee's overall rating raised from "Fully Successful" to "Excellent." The Authority found that the record supported…
Amax Coal Company
Line curtain violation reduced and roof-plan citation partly vacated
Amax Coal's Wabash Mine was cited after a line curtain was left 55 to 60 feet from a working face even though the ventilation plan required it to be within 40 feet. The judge affirmed the underlying violation but found it non-significant and substantial, assessed a $1,500 penalty, and found the…
Rocky's Trucking
Citations affirmed and $720 penalty assessed
Rocky's Trucking operated a coal truck at a mine. A driver continued operating after the truck's reverse signal alarm was cited and after orders required the violations to be abated and the truck withdrawn. The judge held that the driver's conduct could establish the company's liability and treated…
Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey and American Federation of Government Employees, Second District and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1340
FAA Technical Center and rival unions (FLRA BP-RO-40051): Election challenge reconsideration denied
NFFE Local 1340 asked the Authority to reconsider its refusal to review a regional director's ruling on objections to a representation election at the FAA Technical Center. The union repeated claims about challenged votes, election ground rules, witness testimony, and absentee ballots. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Buck Creek Coal, Inc.
Deposition barred pending criminal matters
Buck Creek Coal sought to depose an MSHA supervisory special investigator and obtain investigative materials in consolidated proceedings. The judge found that the investigator was heavily involved in related criminal investigations and that allowing the deposition could harm those matters. The…
Spang & Company
In re Spang & Company (EAB EPCRA Appeal Nos. 94-3 and 94-4): penalty assessment remanded for further proceedings
Spang & Company admitted fourteen late-reporting violations under EPCRA and was found responsible for one recordkeeping violation involving xylene records for its Sandy Lake facility. The Presiding Officer assessed a $50,000 penalty and treated Spang's environmental projects as supplemental…
Trend-Line Furniture Corporation
Late notice of contest dismissed, failure-to-abate citations affirmed because sloppy mail handling is simple negligence, not excusable neglect
Trend-Line Furniture Corporation makes dining room furniture in Bay Shore, New York, with about eight workers in the plant and two clerical employees in the office. OSHA inspected the plant on August 9, 1994 and issued citations. A follow-up inspection on November 8, 1994 found that the earlier…
D & E Coal Company, Inc.
Default decision assesses $35,000 penalty
D & E Coal Company did not respond to orders, a settlement proposal, or a later order to show cause in a civil penalty proceeding. The judge found the company in default and affirmed seven orders. The decision assessed a $35,000 civil penalty and directed payment within 30 days, with dismissal…
Roma Stone Corporation
Attorney-fee application dismissed
Roma Stone Corporation filed an application for attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. It later moved to withdraw and dismiss the application, and the Secretary did not object. Judge Paul Merlin granted the motion and dismissed the case.
Leo Journagan Construction Company
Operator ordered to answer penalty petition or show cause
The Secretary of Labor sought a civil penalty against Leo Journagan Construction Company for the Journagan Portable #12MC mine. The operator had not answered the penalty petition, despite an earlier order to show cause. Judge Paul Merlin ordered the operator to file an answer within 30 days or…
R & J Construction Corporation
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed because internal office mishandling of the mail is not excusable neglect
OSHA's Manhattan area office issued a citation to R & J Construction Corporation by certified mail on January 14, 1994, and the company received it on January 19. The law gave R & J 15 working days, to February 9, 1994, to file a written notice of contest. R & J did nothing until it received a…
R.H. Belam Company
Late notice of contest dismissed, citations affirmed because misreading the contest deadline is not excusable neglect
OSHA issued citations and proposed penalties to R.H. Belam Company by certified mail on June 14, 1994, and the company received them on June 15, 1994. The law gave Belam 15 working days, to July 7, 1994, to file a written notice of contest. Belam did not contest in time. Its general manager and…
Social Security Administration, Area IX of Region IX and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 147, AFL-CIO
SSA Area IX and AFGE Council 147 (FLRA SF-CA-20035): Bargaining ordered over employee detail
SSA sent a claims representative from Mesa, Arizona, to San Francisco for a detail lasting more than 30 days without giving AFGE Council 147 advance notice or a chance to bargain. His coworkers took on additional assignments during the detail. SSA argued that the collective bargaining agreement…
Larc Coal, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $7,500
Larc Coal operated Hatchett Mill. The Secretary of Labor petitioned for assessment of a civil penalty, and the parties proposed reducing the penalty from $12,500 to $7,500. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement acceptable under the criteria in section 110(i) of the Mine Act. He approved the…
International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Marine Division, Panama Canal Pilots Branch and Panama Canal Commission
Panama Canal pilots and Canal Commission (FLRA 0-NG-2172): Three pay proposals negotiable
The Panama Canal pilots' union sought bargaining over changes to pilots' pay, including salary setting, wage surveys, retirement contributions, and cost of living adjustments. The Authority held that the Canal Commission had discretion under the pay statute, so proposals to replace bonuses with…
B & C Towing Site, The Sherwin-Williams Company
In re B & C Towing Site, The Sherwin-Williams Company (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 94-7): reimbursement denied
Sherwin-Williams sought reimbursement for costs it incurred removing 80 drums of hazardous waste from a trailer at the B & C Towing Site in Newark, New Jersey, after EPA issued a unilateral administrative order under CERCLA section 106(a). The company argued that its waste had all gone to another…
Outboard Marine Corp.
In re Outboard Marine Corp. (EAB CERCLA Penalty Appeal No. 95-1): appeal dismissed as untimely
EPA Region V appealed an initial decision that found Outboard Marine Corp. liable and assessed a $16,961 civil penalty. The Regional Hearing Clerk served the initial decision through interoffice mail on August 3, 1995, but the Board received the appeal on August 24, one day beyond the applicable…
Holt Cargo Systems, Inc.
Forklift-horn and carbon-monoxide-testing citations affirmed, but rider and hard-hat items thrown out
Holt Cargo Systems is a stevedoring company that was unloading pallets of plywood from the vessel Pan Queen at a marine terminal in Camden, New Jersey. After an OSHA inspection, the Secretary of Labor issued three serious citation items and two repeated items, proposing $9,000 for the serious items…
Empire Steel, Inc.
Commission dismisses the case after the parties jointly withdraw the direction for review
This case arose from a fatal fall at a school re-roofing project in Spring, Texas, where a roofing worker fell about 27 feet through a roof opening to the cafeteria floor below. OSHA cited Empire Steel, Inc., but at the hearing the evidence showed the workers were actually leased and supervised by…
Old Ben Coal Company
Unsupported-roof citation vacated and agent petitions dismissed
MSHA alleged that Old Ben Coal employees worked or traveled under unsupported roof after a roof fall at Mine No. 20, and that company agents knowingly authorized the conduct. MSHA also alleged that Dallas Runyon knowingly authorized two coal-accumulation violations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Handrail and guarding citations partly affirmed, one citation vacated
Brown Brothers Sand operated the Junction City Mine, where MSHA cited an elevated barge platform without handrails and four allegedly unguarded moving parts. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the missing handrails created a significant and substantial violation because a worker could slip into the…
Mountain Top Trucking Company and Mayes Trucking Company, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered in two cases
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Lonnie Bowling, Walter Jackson, and David Fagan after alleged protected safety complaints and discrimination. Judge Jerold Feldman found Bowling's and Fagan's complaints were not frivolous and ordered Mayes Trucking, as Mountain Top's successor, to…
Matter of Mohammad J.A. KHALIFAH
Detention without bond based on flight risk
Mr. Khalifah, a Saudi Arabian national in deportation proceedings, was detained without bond after the government alleged that he faced criminal proceedings in Jordan and presented a serious risk of flight. The Board held that the Immigration Judge could consider the serious foreign criminal…
Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Fort Worth, Texas and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Longview Local
FAA Fort Worth and air traffic controllers' union (FLRA DA-CA-21171): Disclosure complaint dismissed
The air traffic controllers' union sought named performance appraisals and supporting records to investigate whether FAA supervisors had rated employees fairly. FAA refused to provide the records, citing employee privacy. The Authority found that employees' privacy interests outweighed the public…
Elk Run Coal Company
Discrimination case dismissed after complainant declined to proceed
Blaine A. Kelley filed a discrimination proceeding against Elk Run Coal Company. Kelley later wrote that he had decided to drop the case, but the reason was unclear. Judge Gary Melick issued a show-cause order giving Kelley a final opportunity to proceed, and Kelley did not respond. The judge…
Vulcan Materials Co.
Settlement approved, two dockets vacated and one penalty increased
These consolidated cases involved civil-penalty petitions against Vulcan Materials and two employees. Judge Gary Melick approved a settlement under section 110(i) of the Mine Act. The settlement vacated the charges in dockets SE 95-244-M and SE 95-245-M and increased the penalty in docket SE…
Vulcan Materials Co.
Contest withdrawn and case dismissed
Vulcan Materials contested a citation issued at the Rockingham Quarry. At hearing, Vulcan requested permission to withdraw its contest. Judge Gary Melick granted the request under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11 and dismissed the case.
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.