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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Jaxon Industrial Services, Inc.
EAJA fee request denied
Jaxon Industrial Services was cleaning a nonhazardous black-liquor spill at a Jacksonville paper mill when OSHA cited it for lacking an emergency response plan. The original hazardous-waste emergency-response allegation was dismissed, and the alternative emergency-action-plan citation was later…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1668 and Elmendorf Air Force Base
AFGE Local 1668 and Elmendorf Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-2618): performance rating award upheld
An Elmendorf Air Force Base employee grieved an annual performance rating of "excellent," seeking "superior" instead. The arbitrator found that the employee had received notice about needed improvements and that changes to the appraisal complied with agency rules. AFGE Local 1668 argued that the…
Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after settlement
The Secretary sought approval to withdraw a discrimination complaint filed on behalf of William Ploxa against Reading Anthracite Company. The settlement required Ploxa to withdraw his complaint and the company to rescind a proposed $5,000 civil penalty and expunge disciplinary records related to…
Vulcan Materials Company
Temporary reinstatement proceeding dismissed after settlement
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Harold J. Wilson in a discrimination proceeding against Vulcan Materials Company, Midwest Division. Wilson accepted an agreement providing an economic settlement, and the Secretary asked to withdraw the application for temporary reinstatement. Judge…
Findley Adhesives, Inc.
In re Findley Adhesives, Inc. (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 94-10): reimbursement denied for noncompliance with cleanup orders
Findley Adhesives sent manufacturing waste to the Reno Barrel Recycling Site in Nevada and was named in EPA Region IX cleanup orders addressing hazardous substances at the site. Findley sought reimbursement of response costs under CERCLA section 106(b). The Environmental Appeals Board held that the…
Buck Creek Coal Inc.
Interlocutory petition denied as moot
Buck Creek Coal Inc. sought interlocutory review of an administrative law judge's order that continued a stay over hundreds of contest and civil-penalty proceedings while a criminal prosecution was being evaluated. The stay had expired, and the ALJ had issued a later order continuing the stay and…
Jericol Mining Incorporated
Settlement disapproved pending support
Jericol Mining and the Secretary jointly proposed reducing penalties for two violations from $5,700 to $2,298. One matter involved a disconnected methane monitor on a continuous mining machine, and the other involved loose ribs along a haulage roadway. Judge Paul Merlin rejected the settlement…
MATTER OF GOMEZ-GIRALDO, In Deportation Proceedings
Matter of GOMEZ-GIRALDO (BIA ID 3242): aggravated-felony bar applied to earlier convictions
The respondent, a lawful permanent resident of Colombia, was convicted of cocaine offenses and possession of a sawed-off shotgun and served more than five years in prison. The Immigration Judge denied his application for a section 212(c) waiver because the aggravated-felony bar applied. The Board…
Ralph G. Beach v. Noble Drilling Corporation
Beach v. Noble Drilling (BRB 94-3924): employer's late appeal remains dismissed
Noble Drilling and its insurer sought review of a judge's order in Ralph Beach's Longshore claim. The judge's order was filed with the district director and sent by certified mail on August 2, 1994. The employer mailed its Board appeal on September 2, one day after the 30-day deadline. On…
EBAA Iron, Inc.
Silica overexposure and control citations vacated
EBAA Iron operated a foundry in Cordele, Georgia, where OSHA sampled the breathing zone of an inner-diameter grinder operator and calculated exposure above the limit for respirable crystalline silica. EBAA showed that the grinding wheel contained 40 percent zirconium oxide and that OSHA's own…
Intermountain Mine Services
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Blake Sorensen, a roof bolter at the Apex underground coal mine, claimed that Intermountain fired him because he raised safety concerns about rock dusting while another miner wore a respirable-dust pump. Judge Richard W. Manning found that Sorensen engaged in protected activity, but concluded that…
Holst Excavating, Inc.
Default order reopened and remanded
Holst failed to answer the Secretary's proposed civil penalty assessment and a judge's show-cause order, so the judge entered a default order assessing $995. Holst later explained that it had sent bankruptcy filings to a Department of Labor solicitor and was waiting for a response. The Commission…
Pontiki Coal Corporation
Partial dismissal of discrimination complaint
The Secretary filed a discrimination complaint naming Charles H. Dixon, several other representatives of miners, and eleven unnamed Pontiki employees. Judge Gary Melick held that only Dixon had filed the underlying complaint with the Secretary, so the case could not proceed on behalf of the…
Waterbury Style, Inc.
Kick-press violation reclassified as nonserious, $750 assessed
Waterbury Style used a foot-operated kick press to assemble belt buckles. The operator needed both hands during the process and at times placed fingers in, or within a few inches of, the press's point of operation. The judge found the guarding violation clear because the standard requires a device…
ASARCO, Inc.
Medical-removal benefit violation affirmed, $2,125 assessed
ASARCO operated a primary lead refinery in Omaha, Nebraska. Maintenance welder Michael Dougherty was medically removed to lower-exposure areas and then was not considered for an open mason position solely because that job involved work above OSHA's lead action level. The judge held that Dougherty's…
Sommer Builders, Inc.
Scaffold item affirmed as willful, penalty reduced to $7,500
Sommer Builders performed masonry work from tubular welded-frame scaffolds at a Boise construction project. Employees faced an interior fall through window openings guarded only by loose rebar and exterior falls from unguarded outrigger platforms, including potential falls of about 38 feet. The…
Mingo Logan Coal Company
Smoking-materials citation affirmed
Mingo Logan Coal Company operated the Mountaineer Mine, where a contractor was mining in an underground section. Inspectors found 13 cigarettes and a butane lighter on a roof bolter and issued a citation under the rule barring smoking materials underground. Judge William Fauver held the mine…
Nats Creek Mining Company
Ten citations and two imminent-danger orders affirmed
Nats Creek Mining operated the Sugarloaf No. 2 underground coal mine in Kentucky. After a fatal accident involving a scoop operator, MSHA cited the mine for missing or inoperative methane monitors and an inoperative fire-suppression system on scoops. MSHA also cited an underground battery charging…
Johnson Pacific, Incorporated
In re Johnson Pacific, Incorporated (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 93-4): $4,080 penalty affirmed
Johnson Pacific sold swimming-pool brominating tablets in unlabeled plastic bags and told a purchaser that the product could be used in spas, although its registration covered swimming pools. The Presiding Officer found three FIFRA violations and assessed a $4,080 penalty after considering the…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 422 and Bureau of Indian Affairs Colorado River Agency
NFFE Local 422 and BIA Colorado River Agency (FLRA 0-NG-2221): negotiability petition filed too late
NFFE Local 422 sought review of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Colorado River Agency's claim that union proposals were not negotiable. The agency made that claim during proceedings before the Federal Service Impasses Panel in July 1994. The union filed its petition in December, arguing that the…
Bureau of Mines Pittsburgh Research Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1916
Bureau of Mines and AFGE Local 1916 (FLRA 0-AR-2586): training reimbursement sent back for findings
A Bureau of Mines electronics technician sought approval to take four college courses on an adjusted schedule at government expense. An arbitrator found that the agency had improperly broken with its training practice and ordered it to let the employee finish his degree with reimbursement. The…
Savage Zinc, Inc.
Escapeway citation and withdrawal order affirmed
Savage Zinc operated the Elmwood-Gordonsville zinc mine in Tennessee. The mine’s Stonewall production area had only one usable escapeway from its lowest working levels after the No. 6 Shaft became unsafe. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the area required two separate escapeways, rejected the…
Texas A.C.A., Inc.
Commission affirms vacatur of all scaffold citations because a diligent contractor did not know of conditions other trades kept disturbing
Texas A.C.A., Inc. was the plastering contractor on a four-story hospital construction project in Bedford, Texas. Texas erected the tubular welded frame scaffolding around the building, but other contractors used it too and frequently moved or removed the planks without telling Texas, so Texas had…
Peabody Coal Company
Order modified and settlement approved
Peabody Coal contested a withdrawal order alleging that return air was reaching power connection points in the Martwick Underground Mine, and the parties separately settled another citation for a $100 penalty. Judge Gary Melick found that the ventilation violation occurred, but the Secretary did…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 and Social Security Administration Headquarters
AFGE Local 1923 and SSA Headquarters (FLRA 0-AR-2643): parking permit revocation upheld
A Social Security Administration employee received a parking permit after accepting a reassignment, then lost it under a revised agency parking policy. An arbitrator found that the employee's supervisor could not promise a permanent permit and that the permit remained subject to government parking…
Birchfield Mining, Inc.
Settlement approved for $800
Birchfield Mining contested a Mine Act withdrawal order and faced a related civil penalty proceeding. The parties asked the judge to approve a settlement. Judge William Fauver found the settlement consistent with the purposes of the Mine Act, approved it, and ordered Birchfield to pay $800 within…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Mixed citation results with $1,750 in penalties
Lakeview Rock Products operated a sand and gravel pit in Salt Lake City, Utah. The case involved a highwall condition, vehicle seat-belt use, berms and bumper blocks, access to electrical and examination records, and a defective back-up alarm. Judge Arthur J. Amchan vacated the proposed penalty for…
Litton Industrial Automation Systems, Inc., New Britain Machine Division
In re Litton Industrial Automation Systems, Inc., New Britain Machine Division (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 93-4): inspection evidence admitted and $36,000 penalty affirmed
EPA Region I charged Litton's New Britain, Connecticut facility with failing to properly mark and store polychlorinated biphenyls. Litton argued that state inspectors were not authorized EPA representatives, that EPA could not use TSCA grant funds to support the inspection, and that the inspection…
Waste Technologies Industries
In re Waste Technologies Industries (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 93-16): permit review denied for ECIS conditions
Waste Technologies Industries operated a hazardous-waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio, and added an Enhanced Carbon Injection System to reduce dioxin and furan emissions. EPA Region V required quarterly testing during the first year, advance notice of tests, operation of the system whenever…
Department of Veterans Affairs Waco Regional Office and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2571
VA Waco Regional Office and AFGE Local 2571 (FLRA DA-CU-40022): clerk remains in bargaining unit
AFGE Local 2571 sought to add employees at the VA's Waco Sector Service Center to its bargaining unit. The regional director included an office automation clerk, finding that the clerk was not a confidential employee under the labor statute. The VA sought review, citing the clerk's work with…
Pulaski Construction, Inc.
Late contest dismissed, citation affirmed
Pulaski Construction received an OSHA citation on May 14, 1993, making its written notice of contest due by June 4. Its contest letter was dated June 3 but postmarked June 11 and received by OSHA on June 15. The company president and a later letter from his clerk asserted that the notice had been…
Dynamic Painting Corp.
Three fall and water-safety items vacated, ring-buoy item affirmed
Dynamic Painting employees worked on a bridge and suspended scaffold above water at a Bay Shore, New York, site. The judge vacated the fall-protection item because the compliance officer gave inconsistent testimony about when the photographs were taken, where the employee was located, and whether…
Monfort of Colorado - Greeley Lamb
Settlement approved for $37,500
Monfort of Colorado - Greeley Lamb and the Secretary resolved citations arising from an OSHA inspection through a settlement approved by the Commission. The Secretary reclassified seven emergency-response and hazard-communication items from repeated to serious, and Monfort withdrew its contest to…
Peabody Coal Company
Ventilation-plan violation affirmed, but not S&S
Peabody Coal operated the underground Martwick coal mine in Kentucky. An inspector measured 2,340 cubic feet per minute of air at a continuous miner, below the 5,000 cubic feet per minute required by Peabody's ventilation plan, and the company conceded the violation. The Commission agreed with the…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Marion, Indiana and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1020
VA Medical Center Marion and AFGE Local 1020 (FLRA 0-AR-2633): arbitration award upheld
During local contract negotiations at the VA Medical Center in Marion, the agency challenged union proposals as inconsistent with the parties' master agreement. An arbitrator found 65 of 83 disputed proposal subparts consistent with that agreement. The VA argued that the award misread the agreement…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Petition for review withdrawn and proceeding dismissed
Jim Walter Resources asked to withdraw its petition for review in a consolidated proceeding involving its ventilation plan at four mines. The company said that three mines no longer operated under the disputed plan and that MSHA's interpretation was clear at the remaining mine. The Secretary of…
Annabelle Spese v. Peabody Coal Company
Spese v. Peabody Coal (BRB 90-1856): Later claim award and start date affirmed
Annabelle Spese pursued her late husband's second black lung claim after his first claim had been denied. Peabody Coal challenged the finding that his condition had materially changed, the medical evidence of pneumoconiosis and disability, and the use of a presumption based on long coal mine…
Cold Springs Granite Company
Granite blocking violation affirmed, $157 penalty assessed
Cold Springs Granite operated a granite quarry and finishing yard in New York. During block-splitting work, a granite block tipped onto an employee, causing serious injuries to both legs that were later amputated. The judge found that the blocks were not positioned to prevent movement and that the…
Waste Technologies Industries
In re Waste Technologies Industries (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 93-11): permit modification upheld and revocation not required
Waste Technologies Industries operated a hazardous-waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. EPA Region V added Von Roll (Ohio), Inc. as an additional permitted operator after learning that the company had been performing operational and maintenance work without prior EPA approval. The City of…
Buck Creek Coal Company, Inc.
Preshift violation upheld, S&S finding reversed, penalty remanded
Buck Creek operates an underground coal mine in Sullivan, Indiana. MSHA alleged that three miners entered the mine before the required preshift examination was completed and recorded at the surface. The Commission upheld the violation and the finding of unwarrantable failure, reversed the judge's…
David Holmes v. Universal Maritime Service Corporation
Holmes v. Universal Maritime Service (BRB 92-0571): benefits denial affirmed on reconsideration
David Holmes sought Longshore disability benefits years after a back injury at Universal Maritime Service. A judge found that his later herniated discs were not caused by the earlier work injury, and the Board had affirmed that finding. On reconsideration, Holmes argued that a Supreme Court ruling…
ASARCO, Inc.
Silica-dust citation dismissal vacated and remanded
MSHA cited ASARCO at its underground Young Mine, a zinc mine in Tennessee, after a skip tender was exposed to an average of 2.3 milligrams of respirable silica-bearing dust per cubic meter of air. The administrative law judge dismissed the citation based on the Commission's earlier decision…
James E. Garmon v. Aluminum Company of America - Mobile Works
Garmon v. Aluminum Company of America (BRB 92-2589): hearing loss claim returns for coverage findings
James Garmon claimed Longshore benefits for hearing loss after working at an aluminum plant that received bauxite by ship. A judge denied the claim because Garmon's main job bulldozing stored bauxite served the manufacturing process rather than unloading. The Board agreed about the bulldozing work…
Amax Coal Company
Citations vacated and settlement approved
Amax Coal operates the Wabash Mine in southeastern Illinois. The judge considered a methane citation at a silo head house, a citation concerning ambient carbon monoxide levels in the mine ventilation plan, and three settled citations. The judge vacated the methane citation because the record did…
Noble Steel, Inc.
Rebar and access violations affirmed, $2,250 assessed
Noble Steel employees worked inside a roughly 10-foot-deep chlorine filter basin at an Oklahoma water-treatment project. Vertical reinforcing steel protruded from the floor without effective impalement protection, and employees entered and left by climbing rebar held by wire ties instead of using a…
Classic Homes Div. of Elite, Inc.
Fall-protection items affirmed, penalties reduced to $1,600
Classic Homes was the general contractor for a house under construction in Colorado Springs. A roofing subcontractor's employees worked on a 17-foot-high roof without the required catch platform and near second-floor wall openings without adequate guardrails. Classic Homes argued that it did not…
Panama Canal Commission and Maritime Metal Trades Council
Late reconsideration motion dismissed
The Maritime Metal Trades Council asked the Authority to reconsider an earlier decision in its dispute with the Panama Canal Commission. The Authority said the reconsideration deadline was July 6, 1994, after accounting for service by mail. The union filed its motion on December 16, 1994. It also…
Daniel Lee Coal Company, Incorporated
Roof-control violation assessed at $9,000
Daniel Lee Coal Company operated the No. 2 Mine, an underground coal mine in Kentucky. The judge found that the company changed from the approved 48-inch resin-grouted roof bolts to 36-inch mechanical bolts without notifying MSHA or obtaining approval. The judge found the violation significant and…
Thomas J. White v. Peterson Boatbuilding Company
White v. Peterson Boatbuilding (BRB 89-0282): separate malpractice settlement leaves back claim open
Thomas White sought Longshore benefits for a back injury at Peterson Boatbuilding. He had separately settled a malpractice suit concerning bowel and bladder problems that followed back surgery, without his employer's written approval. The Board held that the settlement did not bar benefits or…
MATTER OF TEE
Divorce barred joint petition but supported waiver review
The respondent, a Malaysian citizen and conditional lawful permanent resident, filed a joint petition with her United States citizen husband to remove the conditional basis of her residence. The couple divorced before the petition was adjudicated, and the Immigration Judge denied the petition after…
Kennie-Wayne, Inc.
$5,601 penalty assessed after ability-to-continue review
Kennie-Wayne, Inc. disputed whether paying proposed penalties would affect its ability to continue operating its coal mine. The judge found that the company had not shown the $5,601 penalty would determine whether it could remain in business. The judge concluded that the company's future depended…
Computer Sciences Raytheon
Two launch-platform items vacated, ramp item affirmed
Computer Sciences Raytheon employees opened camera boxes on Kennedy Space Center's mobile launch platform after space shuttle launches. The judge found that workers approached unguarded blast holes and perimeter edges before tying off, but she vacated those two items under the multi-employer…
Bionetics Corp.
Three launch-platform fall items affirmed, $2,750 assessed
Bionetics employees retrieved film from camera boxes on a mobile launch platform at Kennedy Space Center after space shuttle launches. During two launches, blast-hole and perimeter guardrails had been removed, the deck was wet and windy, and employees approached cameras within a few feet of…
Iva Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Larry J. Nease alleged that Iva Coal Company discharged him in retaliation for safety-related activity, including his claim that he had worked under unsupported roof and threatened to report it. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Nease did not prove he complained to management about the unsupported…
MATTER OF ROCHA
Trafficking knowledge required at entry
The respondent, a citizen of Mexico, was admitted to the United States as a visitor and was later found with 32 pounds of marijuana in his truck. The Immigration Judge terminated the deportation proceedings because the examining officer had not known or had reason to believe at the time of entry…
MATTER OF GAWARAN
Conditional residence charge remained separate from entry charge
The respondent, a citizen of the Philippines and a conditional permanent resident, was placed in deportation proceedings after the Service charged her with entry-related grounds and separately lodged a charge based on termination of her conditional residence. The Board held that the former fraud…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan Air Force Base, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1857
McClellan Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1857 (FLRA 0-AR-2608): performance appraisal upheld
An employee at the Air Force's Sacramento Air Logistics Center challenged a performance appraisal after the agency issued a revised, higher rating for a period focused on his regular duties. The union argued that the rating penalized his union activity and violated the parties' performance…
E.C.C.O. III Enterprises, Inc.
EAJA application denied
E.C.C.O. III Enterprises sought attorney fees and expenses after an earlier decision affirmed all five contested citation items but reduced three classifications from willful to serious. The judge first found the application deficient because the company did not provide the required detailed…
National Labor Relations Board and National Labor Relations Board Professional Association
NLRB and its Professional Association (FLRA 0-AR-2595): selection remedy narrowed
NLRB employees challenged the selection process for a vacant management position. An arbitrator found that the agency bypassed candidates in a higher priority area under procedures it had chosen to apply from the parties' agreement. The Authority left the finding and most of the remedy in place…
Clarence Wall and Ceiling, Inc.
Tool and platform violations affirmed, $2,475 assessed
Clarence Wall and Ceiling was erecting metal roof framing at a New York construction site when OSHA found an angle grinder without its designed guard, an excessively worn grinding wheel, and an aerial work platform without a building-side guardrail. The judge affirmed the grinder-guard item because…
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.