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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Broken Hill Mining Company, Incorporated
Ventilation citation affirmed and penalty corrected to $3,650
Broken Hill Mining Company was cited after permanent ventilation stoppings were not maintained through the third connecting crosscut at its No. 3 Mine. The Judge rejected the company's argument that the area qualified for the regulation's room exception and found the violation significant and…
L & J Energy Company, Inc.
Full-record remand ordered after appellate review
L&J Energy had challenged a civil penalty decision that sustained six of seven alleged violations. After the Commission had remanded the case to address a disputed stipulation, the D.C. Circuit sent the matter back to the Commission for a new determination based on the full record. The court also…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Incorporated
Settlement approved with $1,254 penalty
Broken Hill Mining Company agreed to settle all citations in two civil penalty proceedings. The proposed penalties totaled $1,747, and the approved settlement reduced the payment to $1,254. The Judge vacated and dismissed two citations, modified four others as specified in the settlement, and…
First American Construction Corporation
Dissolved company remains bound by uncontested citations and penalties
OSHA issued one serious citation and one other citation after inspecting First American Construction Corporation's Brooklyn worksite. The Secretary moved to dismiss the company's notice of contest because it was filed late. At the hearing, the company's president testified that the corporation was…
Prince Carpentry, Inc.
Misfiled citation did not excuse late notice of contest
Prince Carpentry, Inc. received a serious OSHA citation and proposed penalty on November 21, 1994, making its notice of contest due by December 14. The company did not contest until January 31, 1995, after a delinquency letter prompted a search that located the citation in the wrong office folder…
Fibres South, Inc.
Unguarded yarn rollers and missing lockout review produce $4,800
Fibres South, Inc. manufactured synthetic fiber on a line that included a seven-roller Godet machine with exposed in-running nip points. The manufacturer had supplied an interlocked guard, but the company stopped using it in 1986 and required operators to cut fiber wraps from moving rollers with…
M & W Roofing Co., Inc.
Scaffold access, guardrail, and hard-hat violations affirmed for $1,100
M & W Roofing Co., Inc. worked from scaffold platforms at a Walgreens construction site in Wisconsin. An employee reached the scaffold by climbing its cross members because no ladder or equivalent safe access was provided. The 12-foot and 18-foot platforms also lacked required guardrails and…
Federal Aviation Administration, New York TRACON and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, New York TRACON Local
New York TRACON and NATCA (FLRA BY-CA-20367): settlement agreement kept confidential
The FAA settled an employee's discrimination complaint by agreeing to a reassignment at New York TRACON. Other employees filed grievances about the reassignment, and their union requested the settlement agreement. The employee refused to consent to its release. The Federal Labor Relations Authority…
Energy West Mining Company
Ventilation-plan dispute vacated and remanded
Energy West Mining Company was cited after an inspector measured 22,680 cubic feet of air per minute at the intake end of a longwall face where the mine's approved ventilation plan required 30,000 cubic feet per minute. Energy West argued that the requirement applied only during active coal…
Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Hampton, Virginia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2328
Hampton VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2328 (FLRA WA-CA-21066): union representative excluded from interview
A nurse at the Hampton VA Medical Center appeared before a board investigating an incident involving a patient. Her union representative was present but was not allowed to speak or participate. An administrative law judge found that this denied the nurse her statutory representation right. The VA…
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Phoenix District and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3230
EEOC Phoenix District and AFGE Local 3230 (FLRA SA-CA-20701): investigator reviews withheld
AFGE Local 3230 requested interim performance reviews, deficient work products, and related documents for investigators in the EEOC's Phoenix office. The union said it needed the information to examine a possible unfair labor practice. The EEOC refused to provide the identified records because they…
Akzo Salt Company, Inc.
Damages and penalty ordered
The parties stipulated to $2,542.04 in damages owed to James Rieke in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding. Judge Gary Melick ordered Akzo Salt Company to pay those damages and a $2,000 civil penalty within 30 days. The order added those amounts to the remedies directed in the judge's August 7…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Northport, New York and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1843
Northport VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 1843 (FLRA BY-CA-21304): appraisal identifiers withheld
AFGE Local 1843 requested the records used to evaluate applicants for a maintenance foreman job at the Northport VA Medical Center. The VA supplied copies without applicant names, but the union also wanted the names of supervisors and approving officials on the forms. The Federal Labor Relations…
Samuel Pickens v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Pickens v. Director, OWCP (BRB 92-1978): Overpayment calculation returned for review
Samuel Pickens received federal black lung benefits alongside a state disability award partly based on pneumoconiosis, creating a federal overpayment. He had paid legal fees to obtain the state award. A judge deducted all those fees when setting the amount Pickens owed back. The Board held that…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
NATCA and FAA (FLRA 0-AR-2712): incomplete controller training did not earn promotion credit
Air traffic controllers sought promotion credit for time spent in developmental training programs they did not complete. An arbitrator found that the FAA's training and promotion rules required successful completion and denied the grievance. The union argued that federal time-in-grade rules and its…
Wiser Construction LLC
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
The Secretary proposed a settlement reducing Wiser Construction LLC's civil penalty from $4,300 to $2,150. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. He approved the settlement and ordered the company to pay $2,150 within 40 days. The case was…
Social Security Administration, San Francisco Bay Area and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3172
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 3172 (FLRA SF-CA-20613): named award lists withheld
Two Social Security Administration employees received excellent performance ratings but no awards, and AFGE Local 3172 filed grievances for them. The union requested lists naming employees with excellent or higher ratings who did and did not receive awards. The Federal Labor Relations Authority…
Joseph Malone v. International Terminal Operating Company, Incorporated
Malone v. International Terminal Operating Company (BRB 94-2639): benefit suspension reconsidered
Joseph Malone, a stevedore, sought Longshore benefits after a fall injured his back and other parts of his body. His employer stopped paying compensation after he declined recommended back surgery, and the judge found his refusal unreasonable and unjustified. The Board held that the judge had not…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2250 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Muskogee, Oklahoma
AFGE Local 2250 and Muskogee VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-2672): grade change grievance excluded
The Muskogee VA Medical Center reclassified some positions from WG-11 to WG-10 after finding that the work matched the lower grade. The affected employees retained their higher grade for two years and kept their pay afterward. Their union grieved the reclassification, but an arbitrator ruled that…
Federal Aviation Administration, Northwest Mountain Region and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
FAA Northwest Mountain Region and NATCA (FLRA DE-CA-20484): airport design bargaining ordered
The FAA selected interior design features for the Denver airport's air traffic control facilities without giving NATCA a chance to bargain over changes affecting employees' working conditions. An administrative law judge found an unfair labor practice and ordered bargaining, with replacement of…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Marine Corps Locals, Council 240 and U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. Marine Corps
Marine Corps Locals Council 240 and Navy (FLRA 0-NG-2207): leave ruling stands after correction
AFGE Council 240 asked the Authority to reconsider an earlier ruling that a proposed extended leave provision for Marine Corps employees was nonnegotiable. The union identified an error in the earlier decision's statement about substituting paid leave during Family and Medical Leave Act leave. The…
C.W. Mining Company
Ventilation-plan violation partly affirmed and partly dismissed
C.W. Mining Company was cited after an inspector found inadequate ventilation while a continuous mining machine was cutting coal at the Bear Canyon No. 1 Mine. Judge Richard W. Manning found the ventilation-plan violation significant and substantial, but not caused by unwarrantable failure. He…
Cardinal Stone Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Delbert W. Bennett after filing an application on his behalf. Cardinal Stone Company received the application but did not notify the judge whether it requested a hearing within the required period. Judge Avram Weisberger found that Bennett's…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. moved to settle a civil penalty proceeding. The settlement proposed vacating Citation No. 3182463 and reducing the penalties for the remaining violations from $19,500 to $10,500. Judge Gary Melick approved the settlement under the Mine Act's penalty criteria and ordered…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3295 and U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Thrift Supervision
AFGE Local 3295 and Office of Thrift Supervision (FLRA 0-AR-2676): appraisal grievance denial upheld
AFGE Local 3295 challenged how the Office of Thrift Supervision introduced a new performance appraisal and pay system. The union alleged preset ratings, improper proration of merit increases, and racial discrimination. An arbitrator rejected the grievance after reviewing the evidence. The Federal…
Buck Mountain Coal Company
Penalties reduced and settlements approved
These consolidated proceedings concerned 88 citations issued to the very small Buck Mountain Coal Company. The judge reduced the contested penalties and assessed a total $16,000 civil penalty against the Zimmerman and Schnoke partners after considering the mine's size, the serious gravity of…
Acme Brick Company
Brake violations modified and affirmed
Acme Brick Company operated a clay pit and transported clay to a brick plant. MSHA found that the front service brakes on two trucks were disconnected and not functional. Judge Roy J. Maurer found two violations of the braking-system standard, but concluded that the Secretary had not shown a…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Consolidated contest and penalty proceedings resolved
These consolidated proceedings involved one contest and four civil penalty proceedings arising from alleged dust-control and other mine-safety violations. The judge affirmed the violation in the contested withdrawal order, vacated its significant-and-substantial finding, and found unwarrantable…
Chemical Waste Management of Indiana, Inc.
In re Chemical Waste Management of Indiana, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 95-4): permit conditions partly remanded
Chemical Waste Management of Indiana, Inc. appealed conditions in EPA Region V's renewal and modification of the federal portion of its RCRA permit for the Adams Center Landfill Facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Environmental Appeals Board remanded conditions involving advance notice of physical…
Fern Cove Incorporated
Default entered for $39,049 in penalties
The judge had issued show-cause orders in three civil penalty dockets involving Fern Cove Incorporated and Tanglewood Energy. The cases had been stayed while the Commission considered the operator's request to reopen 120 penalty cases, but the Commission denied that request. The operator did not…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Three violations affirmed and one vacated
Lakeview Rock Products was cited for missing or inadequate berms at a grizzly and ramp, and for unguarded moving parts on a crusher and conveyor. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed the two berm violations and the conveyor tail-pulley violation, finding them non-significant and substantial, and assessed…
Department of the Air Force, Grissom Air Force Base and American Federation of Government Employees
Grissom Air Force Base and AFGE (FLRA CH-CA-30596): union officer suspension overturned
Grissom Air Force Base suspended a union vice president for 14 days, partly because of offensive remarks he made during bargaining after the Air Force canceled previously agreed negotiations. An administrative law judge dismissed the union's unfair labor practice complaint, finding the remarks…
Whitacre Engineering Co.
Unguarded runway and exposed rebar produce $4,125
Whitacre Engineering Co. installed reinforcing steel for a steel-mill foundation project in Mansfield, Ohio. Employees crossed a 28-inch-wide aluminum runway that lacked a guardrail on one side, and Whitacre neither asked the general contractor to correct it nor used alternative protection. The…
Career Training Institute
Missed employee-training deadlines produce $10,900 in failure-to-abate penalties
Career Training Institute operated vocational programs in Orlando, including medical-assistance and phlebotomy training. After an initial OSHA citation became final, the school did not provide bloodborne-pathogen training to its exposed employees by the abatement date and did not give…
Empire Steel, Inc.
Commission approves $1,000 settlement with employee-leasing company
The underlying case arose after an employee fell through an opening during a Texas school re-roofing project and sustained fatal injuries. The administrative law judge had substituted employee-leasing company Corporate Compensation and Safety, Inc. for the originally cited Empire Steel, Inc. and…
Robert Codner, Employed by Tarrant Aggregates Corporation
Robert Codner (FMSHRC CENT 95-112-M): Section 110(c) order dismissed and citation settled
Robert Codner, a plant operator, was charged with two knowing safety violations involving missing or damaged guards. The Secretary dismissed the section 110(c) action based on one order and reduced the proposed penalty on the remaining citation from $1,200 to $500 after considering Codner's…
Juan Formoso v. Tracor Marine, Incorporated
Formoso v. Tracor Marine (BRB 92-1493): uncompleted third party settlement does not bar benefits
Juan Formoso received Longshore benefits after a back injury at Tracor Marine. While being treated, he sustained another injury after a reaction to prescribed medication and brought a malpractice suit. A proposed settlement of that suit depended on the employer releasing its lien, which never…
Frick Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Two citations affirmed and penalty reduced
Frick Sand & Gravel admitted that a loader's brake lights were inoperative and that its pit foreman lacked required first-aid training. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed both citations. He reduced the proposed penalty for the training violation from $195 to $50 because the operator credibly tried to…
Shine Quarry Inc.
Ground-control citation vacated
Shine Quarry operated a basalt quarry where MSHA alleged that unstable boulders on a recently blasted wall created a hazard to a loader operator. Judge Arthur J. Amchan concluded that the Secretary had not shown that the quarry's muck piles were insufficient to protect miners from falling material…
Joy Technologies Inc. - Coal Field Operations
Contractor-operator status affirmed
Joy Technologies provided mining equipment and service support at Somerset Mining Company's underground Sanborn Creek Mine. A Joy service representative visited the mine regularly, worked with essential mining equipment, and operated a continuous miner during an assembly task without the required…
Matter of Aubrey Oliver POWELL
Failure to surrender barred adjustment request
The respondent had been ordered deported, received oral and written notice of the consequences of failing to surrender, and did not report for deportation. He later asked the Board to reopen his case so he could seek adjustment of status. The Board held that the Immigration Judge's order became the…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
One citation affirmed and one vacated
Walker Stone Company was cited for an unguarded conveyor tail pulley and a severely cracked windshield on a pickup used for mine business. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed the tail-pulley citation and assessed a $50 penalty. He vacated the windshield citation because the evidence did not establish that…
Associated Sand & Gravel Company, Inc.
Mixed result on mine jurisdiction and penalties
Associated Sand & Gravel operated a sand and gravel pit, a wash plant, and related concrete and asphalt facilities at the Butler Pit Wash Plant. The judge considered whether a maintenance shop used to repair mining equipment was within the Mine Act's jurisdiction, after citations were issued for an…
Wallace Brothers, Inc.
Failure-to-abate penalties affirmed
Wallace Brothers was cited for two unguarded moving-machine-part violations at a portable crusher and was given two days to correct them. When the inspector returned 26 days later, the violations had not been abated and the company had no sufficient explanation. Judge Arthur J. Amchan affirmed the…
Cedar Creek Quarries, Inc.
Dismissal motions denied and cases consolidated
Cedar Creek Quarries' president and a foreman asked the judge to dismiss civil-penalty petitions alleging knowing violations of mine safety standards. They argued that the delay between the alleged violations and notice of personal liability was unfair, that Mine Act section 110(c) was…
Lance Paul v. Newmont Gold Company
Dismissal vacated and remanded
Lance Paul alleged that Newmont Gold Company discriminated against him under the Mine Act. The ALJ dismissed the case after Newmont said it could not locate Paul, but Paul later told the judge that he had updated his address and had not received the hearing notice. The Commission treated Paul's…
Akzo Salt Company
Discrimination found and reinstatement ordered
James Rieke reported that a foreman removed a safety tag from equipment and directed miners to use it before repairs were confirmed. After MSHA issued a citation naming the foreman, Rieke was removed from his powderman and blaster position and reassigned. Judge Gary Melick found that the…
P. A. Landers, Incorporated
Four excavation violations affirmed for $10,300, willful charge reduced to serious
P. A. Landers, Incorporated was constructing a manhole in an excavation about 8.5 feet deep beside a roadway carrying substantial traffic. Three employees worked without hard hats, bricks and concrete blocks were stored within two feet of the edge, and the access ladder extended only one foot above…
Construction Materials Corp.
Settlement approved with reduced penalty
Construction Materials Corp. and the Secretary proposed a settlement in a civil-penalty case. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. He approved the settlement, reduced the proposed penalty from $645 to $516, and ordered payment within 30…
Coal Preparation Services, Incorporated
Default entered after missed hearing
Coal Preparation Services did not appear at a rescheduled civil-penalty hearing. The operator's representative said he went to the hearing on July 13, although the notice had scheduled it for July 12 at a specific location. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the operator had not shown good cause for…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Consolidated penalties partly affirmed, vacated, and settled
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company faced civil-penalty proceedings involving five dockets and multiple alleged safety violations. The parties settled some citations, while Judge Roy J. Maurer decided the remaining disputes. The judge affirmed many citations, vacated some citations for insufficient…
Waste Management of Palm Beach, Division of Waste Management, Inc., of Florida
Commission affirms hazard from unauthorized reinforcement of trash-loader boom
Waste Management of Palm Beach operated garbage trucks fitted with hydraulic trash loaders whose flexible booms were designed to absorb operating shock. After one boom cracked, the company welded steel plates along it without evidence of manufacturer approval. The trash-loader assembly later…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 49 and U.S. Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division
IFPTE Local 49 and Army Corps South Pacific Division (FLRA 0-NG-2213): job form proposal negotiable
IFPTE Local 49 proposed using an Army job description form to record agreements reached while bargaining over a Corps of Engineers laboratory reorganization. The Army argued that the proposal would require bargaining over job classifications and management's assignment of work. The Federal Labor…
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor, Inc.
Brake citations partly vacated and modified
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor and James Cullor faced civil-penalty proceedings after MSHA found defective brakes and a broken leaf spring on quarry trucks. Judge Jerold Feldman found evidence that employees had tampered with the brake adjustments, vacated two brake citations, and dismissed the…
Kellys Creek Resources, Inc.
Borehole violation reduced to non-S&S with $500 penalty
Kellys Creek Resources cut into a sealed mine area without drilling the required boreholes. The company stipulated that it violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.388(a)(2), which requires boreholes when a working place approaches an area not shown by certified surveys. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the…
Williams Construction Co., Inc.
Final power-line citation withdrawn and $80,000 fee settlement approved
The case arose from citations issued after an accident at Williams Construction Co., Inc.'s Montana electrical power-line construction worksite. After other items had been withdrawn, the only remaining item alleged that an employee approached energized parts too closely with a conductive object…
General Services Administration, National Capital Region, Federal Protective Service Division and AFGE Local 1733
GSA Federal Protective Service and AFGE Local 1733 (FLRA WA-CA-30469): bargaining required before changing firearm transport policy
Federal Protective Service police officers had been allowed to transport their issued firearms between home and work. GSA ended that practice without giving AFGE Local 1733 notice or a chance to bargain. An administrative law judge dismissed the unfair labor practice complaint after finding that…
92 Bomb Wing, Fairchild Air Force Base and NFFE Local 11
92 Bomb Wing and NFFE Local 11 (FLRA SF-CA-31724): sign-out board required bargaining
The 92 Bomb Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base introduced a sign-out board for an employee without first notifying or bargaining with NFFE Local 11. The agency said the board merely tracked availability and was an exercise of management's right to direct work. The Authority found that the board…
Kenneth D. Nelson v. Stevedoring Services of America
Nelson v. Stevedoring Services (BRB 90-2046): late interest does not trigger compensation penalty
Kenneth Nelson received a Longshore award for workplace injuries. His employer paid the ordered compensation within ten days but did not pay the awarded interest at the same time. Nelson sought the Act's 20 percent late payment addition on that interest. The Board held that interest is not…
Blue Grass Army Depot and IAM Local Lodge 859
Guard shift change required timely bargaining notice
Blue Grass Army Depot changed security guard shift staffing without giving IAM Local Lodge 859 enough time to prepare bargaining proposals. The depot argued that an earlier notice covered the change and that the union had waived bargaining by failing to respond. The Authority adopted 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.