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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Amalgamated Sugar Company
Beet receiving station held subject to general-industry standards
Amalgamated Sugar Company operated an Idaho station that received sugar beets from private growers after harvest, then cleaned, conveyed, and stored them for sugar production. The company argued that its station was an agricultural operation exempt from the cited general-industry rules…
DCS Sanitation Management, Inc.
Willful lockout violations affirmed after fatal cleaning incident
DCS Sanitation Management cleaned operating meat-processing equipment at an IBP plant in Nebraska. OSHA cited five willful lockout/tagout violations after an employee was killed while cleaning a running loin saddle table. Administrative Law Judge James H. Barkley found that supervisors knew…
Boston Towing and Transportation Co.
Marine-access citations vacated for lack of fair notice
Boston Towing operated a marine terminal in Quincy, Massachusetts, where employees sometimes used a ladder between a pier and a barge at extreme low tide. OSHA investigated after a weekend watchman was found in the water near a ladder, although no one witnessed how he fell. The Secretary withdrew…
Pro-Drive, Inc.
Four commercial-diving safety items affirmed
Pro-Drive, Inc. performed a commercial dive to seal an underwater valve at a power plant in Illinois. The diver died after completing the repair, and the pathology and coroner report attributed the death to asphyxia caused by malfunctioning diving equipment. Administrative Law Judge Sidney J…
In re Hilda COMPEAN-Guevara, Applicant
In re Hilda COMPEAN-Guevara (BIA ID 3249): family relationship required for an alien-smuggling waiver
Hilda Compean-Guevara, a lawful permanent resident of Mexico, was found excludable after helping her brother-in-law try to enter the United States illegally. The Board held that the waiver under section 212(d)(11) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires the smuggled person to be the…
In re Catalina ARREGUIN De Rodriguez, Applicant
In re Catalina ARREGUIN De Rodriguez (BIA ID 3247): section 212(c) waiver granted after balancing equities
Catalina Arreguin De Rodriguez, a lawful permanent resident of Mexico, was placed in exclusion proceedings after a federal marijuana-importation conviction. The Board held that her only conviction, minor role in the offense, acceptance of responsibility, rehabilitation efforts, nearly 20 years of…
Centralia Mining Co., Inc.
Discrimination settlement approved
Robbie A. Smith brought a discrimination proceeding against Centralia Mining under section 105(c)(2) of the Mine Act. After the Secretary stopped representing Smith, he represented himself and jointly settled with Centralia Mining. Judge Richard W. Manning found the Settlement Agreement and General…
Eugene Russell, Ervin E. Nichols, James M. Dodd, Reynold E. Channer, and Scott Furman, employed by Echo Bay Minerals Company
Eugene Russell and others (FMSHRC WEST 94-623-M through WEST 94-627-M): Discovery and interlocutory review denied
Five Echo Bay Minerals employees faced individual civil penalty proceedings under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. They sought discovery about why MSHA took 24 to 27 months to notify them of the proposed penalties, or alternatively sought interlocutory review of an earlier order denying dismissal…
Doverspike Brothers Coal Co.
Discrimination settlement approved
Doverspike Brothers Coal Co. operated the Clutch Run Mine and employed Larry P. Smith. The Secretary alleged that the company laid off and effectively discharged Smith because he alerted state and federal mine-safety authorities about a mine-fan stoppage and miners remaining underground. The…
F W Contractors Incorporated
Civil-penalty settlement approved
F W Contractors Incorporated faced a civil-penalty proceeding concerning its Tarrant Aggregate #2 operation. The parties proposed reducing the penalty from $2,700 to $2,025. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria, approved it, and ordered the…
Federal Aviation Administration, Jacksonville Air Traffic Control Tower and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
FAA Jacksonville Tower and NATCA (FLRA AT-CA-21004): identified employee appraisals withheld
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association asked the FAA's Jacksonville tower for employee performance appraisals with names and other identifying details. It wanted to investigate possible favoritism and retaliation in ratings. The FAA supplied some records but removed identifying details…
Old Hickory Coal Company
Settlement rejected for insufficient support
Old Hickory Coal Company proposed reducing a $10,000 penalty to $5,500 and changing two section 104(d)(2) orders to section 104(a) citations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the facts submitted did not adequately support the proposed changes, including the removal of unwarrantable-failure…
Cedar Creek Quarries, Inc.
Settlement rejected for lack of penalty support
Cedar Creek Quarries was charged with refusing to cooperate with an MSHA investigation and proposed a $2,000 penalty. The parties submitted a settlement that would withdraw the penalty. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon rejected the agreement because the motion did not provide enough facts to support…
U.S. Steel Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after resolution
Terry McGill filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against U.S. Steel Mining Company concerning the Oak Grove Mine. The parties resolved their differences, and McGill requested permission to withdraw the complaint. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon granted the request under Commission Rule 11 and dismissed…
Navajo Area Indian Health Service and Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 1376
Navajo Area Indian Health Service and LIUNA Local 1376 (FLRA 0-AR-2565): nurse's higher-grade pay award set aside
A licensed practical nurse at the Navajo Area Indian Health Service sought higher pay for regularly performing discharge planning duties. An arbitrator awarded her $11,839 at the GS-9 level under the parties' agreement. The Authority rejected the agency's argument that the award improperly decided…
CEI West Roofing Co., Inc.
Hard-hat and traffic-sign items affirmed
CEI West Roofing Co., Inc. was cited at a Colorado roofing project where employees unloaded materials near traffic and worked on an unguarded roof. Administrative Law Judge James H. Barkley affirmed the hard-hat item because employee statements and the crew's conduct showed a practice that CEI's…
Stein, Inc.
Crane inspection and power-line clearance items affirmed
Stein provided a crane and crane operator for installation of a truck scale at an Ohio steel-mill site. A ground worker employed by the scale contractor was electrocuted when the crane boom contacted a 13,000-volt power line. The judge found that Stein remained an employer responsible for its…
LaForge & Budd Construction Co., Inc.
Two items affirmed by stipulation after remand
OSHA cited LaForge & Budd Construction Co., Inc. after inspecting an Oklahoma construction project. The Commission reversed an earlier ruling that had suppressed the inspection evidence and remanded the case for a hearing on the merits. The parties then stipulated that a nylon-sling item would be…
AT&E Enterprises, Inc.
One citation vacated and one modified
AT&E Enterprises operated a small underground gold mine in California while rehabilitating old timber-supported workings. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated one citation concerning fire protection for portal timber because the standard did not clearly require protection at the time each timber set…
Gemini Mining Company
Settlement approved with one citation vacated
Gemini Mining Company faced nine alleged violations at its Wilkem No. 1 Mine across three consolidated proceedings. The company did not appear at the hearing, but the Judge accepted its explanation and considered the parties' settlement. The settlement totaled $8,000: Gemini had paid $2,000 and…
Dixie Fuel Company
Unstable roof citation affirmed with $3,689 penalty
Dixie Fuel Company was cited after an MSHA inspector found loose and broken roof in an approximately 300-foot area of an underground coal mine. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the roof was not adequately controlled to protect miners working in the area. He determined that the violation was…
Pyramid Mining Incorporated
Auger-hole citation affirmed without S&S finding
Pyramid Mining was remanded to address whether it failed to block auger holes at the earliest reasonable time. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the company had not resumed drilling, had not blocked the holes, and had left hazards including methane, unsupported roof, and water exposure. He…
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 96
VA St. Louis Medical Center and AFGE Local 96 (FLRA DE-CA-40228): employee award program restored
The VA Medical Center in St. Louis ended its Employee of the Month program without first notifying AFGE Local 96 or offering to bargain. The program had given selected employees $100, a certificate, and a nearby parking space. The Authority found that the longstanding program directly affected…
B & A Coal Company
Three brake violations affirmed, $150 penalty assessed
B & A Coal Company operated an underground drift opening mine with three rubber-tired, self-propelled battery-operated tractors used to transport coal. During an inspection, MSHA found that the tractors' parking brakes did not engage automatically when the equipment was deenergized, as required by…
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Region IX and NFFE Local 1450 and AFGE Local 2403
HUD Region IX, NFFE Local 1450, and AFGE Local 2403 (FLRA SF-RO-40054): local could not object to election
NFFE Local 1450 won a majority of valid votes in a representation election for HUD Region IX employees. AFGE Local 2403 objected to how the election was conducted, but the regional director dismissed its objections because the local was not a party to the election proceeding. The Authority agreed…
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, Port Hueneme and National Association of Government Employees Locals R12-28 and R12-196
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center and NAGE locals (FLRA SF-CU-40012, SF-CU-40020): unions retain representation after reorganization
A Navy reorganization transferred employees from the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory into the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center. The regional director had dismissed NAGE's petitions to preserve representation of the transferred employees. The Authority revised its test for when a…
In re Patricio CHAIREZ-Castaneda, Respondent
In re Patricio CHAIREZ-Castaneda (BIA ID 3248): deferred judgment counted as a final conviction
Patricio Chairez-Castaneda, a lawful permanent resident from Mexico, pleaded guilty in Colorado to possessing cocaine and received a deferred judgment and sentence. The Immigration Judge found that the conviction was final for immigration purposes and ordered him deported. The Board held that a…
In re Adolfo Jose GRIJALVA, Respondent
In re Adolfo Jose GRIJALVA (BIA ID 3246): hearing notice was proper; appeal evidence sent to judge
Adolfo Jose Grijalva was ordered deported in absentia after he did not appear for a hearing, and the Immigration Judge denied his motion to reopen. The Board held that personal service of the Order to Show Cause requires a signed certified-mail receipt when personal service is not practicable, but…
In re Patrick Norman THOMAS, Respondent
In re Patrick Norman THOMAS (BIA ID 3245): non-final convictions considered in discretionary relief
Patrick Norman Thomas, a Jamaican national, was ordered deported after an Immigration Judge found him deportable and denied his request for voluntary departure. His convictions for serious offenses were still on direct appeal, so the Board held that they could not support a conviction-based…
Federal Aviation Administration, New York TRACON and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, New York TRACON Local
FAA New York TRACON and NATCA (FLRA BY-CA-21180, BY-CA-21233): privacy bars identified appraisal disclosure
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association asked FAA New York TRACON for unredacted performance appraisals after employees raised concerns about their ratings. The FAA declined to supply records identifying the employees without their written consent. An administrative law judge found that…
Baker Concrete Constr. Co.
Scaffold-access citation vacated for lack of fair notice
Baker Concrete employees climbed formwork to reach a partially dismantled scaffold at a shopping-mall construction site. An administrative law judge affirmed a serious citation for failing to provide a ladder or equivalent safe access and assessed $2,500. The Commission reversed because three OSHA…
Construction Materials Corporation
Default order reopened and remanded
Construction Materials Corporation did not answer the Secretary's proposed civil penalty or an order to show cause, so the ALJ entered a default order and assessed $645. The company later said it had responded in letters to the judge and asked for reconsideration. The Commission treated the late…
General Motors Corporation, Delco Chassis Division
Lockout citations vacated
General Motors employees serviced automated manufacturing equipment without locking out its energy sources, relying instead on interlocked gates, emergency stops, and machine controls. The Commission held that the lockout/tagout standard applied only when unexpected energization, startup, or…
Buck Creek Coal Company
Blanket stay vacated
Buck Creek Coal Inc. challenged an ALJ's order that continued a blanket stay covering more than 300 contest and civil-penalty proceedings while the Secretary considered related criminal investigations. The Commission held that the record did not show enough overlap between the civil and criminal…
Malcolm Billings v. Bath Iron Works Corporation and Commercial Union Insurance Company
Billings v. Bath Iron Works (BRB 94-3702): hearing loss award start date changed
Malcolm Billings received Longshore Act benefits for hearing loss after retiring from Bath Iron Works. The Board held that his award began with his last injurious noise exposure in 1980, rather than when he filed his claim in 1985. This decision also stated that interest was due on the entire…
Jess Seals v. Glen Coal Company and Old Republic Insurance Company
Seals v. Glen Coal (BRB 92-1887): Prescription costs for lung treatment upheld
Jess Seals sought payment for prescriptions used to treat pulmonary conditions after receiving black lung medical benefits. The coal company argued that the medicines were unrelated to his pneumoconiosis. Applying a Fourth Circuit presumption that treatment of a pulmonary disorder relates to or is…
Midwest Material Corporation
Crane-boom citation affirmed with $1,500 penalty
Midwest Material Corporation operated a sand and gravel processing facility in Illinois. A miner died after a section of a crane boom dropped while he was helping extend the boom without first lowering it to the ground or mechanically securing it. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found a significant and…
RGM Construction Company
Four bridge-safety items affirmed and two vacated
RGM Construction Company was widening a Texas bridge when OSHA cited fall-protection and water-safety conditions. The Commission affirmed a serious fall-protection item because tying a lanyard to an unsecured work platform could pull the platform down with a falling employee. It also affirmed items…
Ross Incineration Services, Inc.
In re Ross Incineration Services, Inc. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 93-3): review denied over separate metal feed limits
Ross Incineration Services sought a Class II RCRA permit modification to add a rotary kiln to its hazardous waste incinerator. Ross proposed one system-wide set of metal feed rate limits based on its assumption that the kiln was the worst feed location, but the trial burn showed statistically…
Branham & Baker Coal Company
Discrimination settlement approved
Garis Martin brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Branham & Baker Coal Company. The parties submitted a settlement agreement, and Martin consented to it on the record. Judge Gary Melick approved the settlement and ordered the company to pay a nominal $1 civil penalty within 30 days…
Cougar Coal Company
Smoking-sweep interference citation affirmed
Cougar Coal Company told an underground foreman that MSHA inspectors were at the mine during a surprise inspection intended to find smoking materials. Judge Arthur J. Amchan held that the warning interfered with MSHA's reasonable inspection technique and violated the Mine Act's right-of-entry…
Griesmer Stone Company
Loose-ground violations split
Springfield Underground and Griesmer Stone operated a limestone mine where MSHA alleged hazardous loose-ground conditions in several areas. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that some rock had to be excavated with powerful mechanical equipment and was not loose ground under the cited standard, so three…
Doverspike Brothers Coal Co.
Settlement approved with reduced penalty
Doverspike Brothers Coal Co. faced a proposed civil penalty of $3,200 for a Mine Act violation. The Secretary and the operator submitted a settlement that reduced the penalty to $2,200. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement acceptable under the statutory penalty criteria, approved it, and…
S.A. Healy Co.
Double-jeopardy defense rejected and penalties remanded
S.A. Healy Co. was the tunneling contractor on a Milwaukee sewer project where a methane explosion killed three employees. OSHA issued 68 willful citation items under its instance-by-instance policy, and 49 of those items covered conduct for which the company was also criminally convicted and fined…
In re XIU HONG LI, Beneficiary of visa petition filed by BAO YI XU, Petitioner
In re XIU HONG LI (BIA ID 3244): terminated adoption and natural parent-child relationships
Bao Yi Xu filed a visa petition for Xiu Hong Li as his daughter, but the record showed that she had been adopted in China and that the adoption was later terminated. The Board held that a qualifying adoption severs the natural parent-child relationship for immigration purposes, but that the natural…
John H. Quinlan, d/b/a Quinlan Enterprises
Crane case ends in a settlement the Commission incorporates into its order
OSHA cited Quinlan Enterprises in February 1993 over its crane operations. Administrative Law Judge Nancy J. Spies decided the case in March 1994. She vacated the item charging use of the crane to handle personnel and vacated the inspection item, and she affirmed three items: $800 for the personnel…
ConAgra, Inc.
Joint motion ends Commission review
OSHA cited ConAgra after an employee at a Buffalo grain elevator was seriously injured when a rail-car puller's wire cable snapped. The underlying judge affirmed a general-duty-clause violation as serious, affirmed stair and platform guarding violations, and vacated a lockout…
John H. Quinlan, d/b/a Quinlan Enterprises
Crane and fall-protection items affirmed
Quinlan Enterprises was erecting steel for a Georgia retail building when OSHA observed employees installing roof decking more than 36 feet above the ground without fall protection. The Commission affirmed the serious fall-protection item because the steel-erection rules did not displace the…
Well Solutions, Inc., Rig No. 30
Blowout-preventer and training violations affirmed
A Well Solutions crew was changing a pump at a horizontal oil well in south Texas when a blowout and fire killed two employees and seriously injured two others. The Commission found that the well-servicing industry recognized the need for a blowout preventer under the conditions at this relatively…
DiGioia Brothers Excavating, Inc.
Trench protection and inspection violations affirmed
DiGioia Brothers Excavating installed residential water and sewer lines in an excavation more than eight feet deep. The Commission found that most contemporaneous soil tests showed compressive strength below the threshold for Type A soil, while tests performed months later at nearby locations did…
Deatley Company, Inc.
Settlement approved for $252 penalty
Deatley Company, Inc. faced a proposed civil penalty for a citation at its Plant No. 3 operation. The parties agreed that the company would pay the originally proposed $252 penalty. Judge Richard W. Manning found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria, approved it, and…
Zenith Tech, Inc.
Bridge-opening fall citation vacated
Zenith Tech performed bridge-demolition work on a Milwaukee freeway project. OSHA alleged that employees cutting rebar, attaching lifting chains, and cleaning the deck came too close to an unguarded opening about 15 feet above the ground. The compliance officer estimated distances from about half a…
K.O. Manufacturing, Inc.
In re K.O. Manufacturing, Inc. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 93-1): reporting violation found and remanded for penalty
EPA Region VII alleged that K.O. Manufacturing failed to file a Form R for glycol ether compounds processed during calendar year 1987. K.O. argued that 2-Butoxyethanol had its own CAS number but was not individually listed in the applicable chemical lists, so the reporting requirement was unclear…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Crusher citations split
Walker Stone Company operated a quarry and mill where an employee was fatally crushed while workers were clearing a plugged impact crusher. Judge Roy J. Maurer vacated one citation because the cited repair and maintenance standard did not apply to the work being performed. He affirmed a second…
Donley's Inc.
Parking-garage guardrail violation affirmed
Donley's Inc. reconstructed a parking garage by removing floor sections and replacing them with formwork and metal pans. Employees worked beside an opening to the floor 12 feet below, where the company used sawhorses as warnings instead of standard guardrails. The Commission reversed the judge's…
CECO Corp.
Ladder and scaffold violations affirmed after fatal fall
A CECO laborer suffered a fatal 18-foot fall from an improvised stairwell scaffold made from a narrow aluminum plank, a straight ladder, and closed stepladders. The Commission admitted evidence that the judge had excluded, but found that the employee's prior statements did not undermine his…
Arkhola Sand & Gravel, Inc. and Vernon McMahon
Conveyor citation vacated and personal-liability docket dismissed
Arkhola operated a sand plant in Oklahoma where a conveyor accident seriously injured a maintenance employee after the conveyor was restarted while he was on it. The judge found that the cited lockout standard, 30 C.F.R. § 56.12016, addressed electrical hazards and was not the applicable standard…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 24 and Internal Revenue Service
NTEU Chapter 24 and IRS (FLRA 0-AR-2602): holiday credit-hours grievance sustained and remedy remanded
An IRS alternative work schedule agreement let employees earn credit hours for holiday work. The agency ended that provision, and an arbitrator denied the union's grievance after finding it inconsistent with the holiday premium-pay statute. The Authority held that the cited pay statute did not…
Baker Tank Co./Altech, a Div. of Justiss Oil
Tank-entry training and electrical violations affirmed
Baker Tank employees entered an emptied crude-oil storage tank to cut apart an internal aluminum roof using electric saws. Residual sludge contained volatile solvent, and an explosion after the crew reentered the tank killed three employees. The Commission found that Baker had not adequately…
Dunkard Mining Company
Default order vacated and remanded
Dunkard Mining Company failed to answer a proposed civil penalty assessment and a show-cause order, so the ALJ entered a default order assessing $1,949. The company later sent the Commission a letter stating that it had responded to the penalty proposal, and identified that response by the docket…
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.