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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Power Operating Company
Mixed results across nine consolidated penalty proceedings
Power Operating Company faced alleged mandatory safety-standard violations across nine consolidated civil penalty proceedings. Judge Avram Weisberger found an unwarrantable failure and a significant-and-substantial violation involving unsafe highwall conditions, affirmed other highwall and…
Chrisman Ready-Mix, Inc.
Settlement approved and $326 penalty ordered
Chrisman Ready-Mix faced eight alleged violations across two civil penalty proceedings at the Clarkville Quarry. The Secretary agreed to vacate one citation in each docket, while Chrisman agreed to pay the proposed penalties for the remaining six citations. Judge Jerold Feldman approved the…
Daniel Coyne v. Refined Sugars, Incorporated
Coyne v. Refined Sugars (BRB 92-1577): finished sugar loading not longshore work
Daniel Coyne hurt his back while working at a sugar refinery beside the Hudson River. Ships delivered raw sugar to the plant, but Coyne handled it only after the plant refined and packaged it, moving bags to storage or trucks. An administrative law judge denied Longshore Act benefits, and the Board…
Delbert Branham v. Eastern Associated Coal Corporation
Branham v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 91-2179): Deposition costs upheld
Delbert Branham's attorney obtained a doctor's deposition while pursuing a black lung claim. The employer challenged reimbursement for the deposition and the attorney's mileage to two depositions, arguing that expert costs required attendance at the hearing. The Board held that a necessary medical…
Copperas Coal Corporation
Discrimination case settled and dismissed
Phillip R. Elswick alleged that Copperas Coal reassigned him from his certified electrician position to a greaser position after he reported an unsafe breaker and panic switch on a continuous mining machine. The parties settled during the hearing, and Judge George A. Koutras approved the settlement…
Rox Coal, Inc.
Roof-control settlement approved
Rox Coal contested one significant-and-substantial citation and two significant-and-substantial orders involving roof-control and examination conditions at its Diamond T C Mine. After a hearing, the parties agreed that the evidence did not establish aggravated conduct and proposed settlement terms…
Ruby Sammons v. Wolf Creek Collieries
Sammons v. Wolf Creek Collieries (BRB 94-0643): Survivor award returned for disability findings
Ruby Sammons sought black lung survivor benefits after her husband, a federal coal mine inspector, died in a mine explosion. A judge awarded benefits under a presumption concerning disability from pneumoconiosis, but did not explain how he weighed medical opinions relevant to rebuttal. The Board…
Katie Mae Hunt v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Hunt v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 90-2285A): retaliation finding reversed
Katie Mae Hunt injured her foot while working as a welder at Newport News Shipbuilding. She later sought payment for treatment from a podiatrist after seeing physicians authorized by the shipyard, and the shipyard discharged her for omissions on a pre-employment medical form. An administrative law…
Turner Construction Company
Defective-ladder citation vacated on summary judgment
Turner Construction was the general contractor at a worksite in Akron, Ohio. After a September 1993 inspection, OSHA cited two serious items, then dropped the first and pursued only a claim that Turner used a portable wood ladder with a structural defect (a cracked step) in violation of 29 C.F.R. §…
Guarco Construction Company
Repeat trench cave-in citation affirmed $7,000
Guarco Construction, a two-person company acting as general contractor, was installing a sewer line at a restaurant in East Granby, Connecticut. Two off-duty OSHA officers driving past noticed an unshored, unsloped trench and stopped to inspect. They measured the trench at about 5 feet 4 inches to…
MATTER OF D-
Persecution claims belong in asylum proceedings
The respondent, a Cuban citizen and lawful permanent resident, was found deportable after controlled-substance and aggravated-felony convictions. He sought a section 212(c) waiver and also claimed that he would face persecution if returned to Cuba. The Board held that general conditions in an…
MATTER OF GRINBERG
Duplicate adjustment provisions supported remand
The respondent, a nonimmigrant who had remained longer than permitted, sought adjustment of status under a newly enacted section 245(i) provision. An Immigration Judge concluded that a later law had superseded the earlier provision and declined to consider the application. The Board held that the…
William H. Carson v. Westmoreland Coal Company
Carson v. Westmoreland Coal Company (BRB 93-0459): Denial upheld because total respiratory disability was unproved
William Carson filed a second claim for black lung benefits after an earlier denial. Westmoreland Coal Company accepted that he had pneumoconiosis from coal mine work, but disputed whether a respiratory disease had totally disabled him. A judge found the evidence insufficient because medical…
Navajo Concrete Incorporated
Ten-citation settlement approved
Navajo Concrete faced ten civil-penalty citations originally assessed at $1,571. The parties proposed a settlement requiring payment of $1,256, supported by information about the statutory penalty criteria. Judge John J. Morris found the settlement reasonable and in the public interest, approved…
Secretary of Labor o/b/o Nantz v. Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
Constructive discharge and back-pay award affirmed
Clayton Nantz operated an enclosed-cab bulldozer at Nally & Hamilton's surface coal mine. After the bulldozer's rear window broke, dust entered the cab, causing choking, breathing, and visibility problems. The Commission affirmed the ALJ's finding that Nantz's refusal to operate the bulldozer and a…
Bridger Coal Company
Respirable-dust citation vacated
Bridger Coal operated a surface coal mine where MSHA cited a drill operator's designated work position for exceeding a respirable-dust limit. Judge August F. Cetti found that the reduced limit had originally been based on a single quartz sample, and that the single-shift method could not reliably…
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, Port Hueneme, California and National Association of Government Employees, Locals R12-28 and R12-196
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center and NAGE (FLRA SF-CU-40012): Review granted on unit successorship
A Navy reorganization combined employees from a former laboratory and other groups into the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center. NAGE sought to add the newly transferred employees to its existing bargaining units, while the center challenged whether those units remained appropriate. A…
Redstone Mining Incorporated
Settlement approved with reduced penalty
Redstone Mining faced a proposed civil penalty of $2,500. Judge Avram Weisberger approved the parties' settlement after considering the submitted representations and documentation under the statutory penalty criteria. The settlement reduced the penalty to $1,700, which the operator was ordered to…
Manalapan Mining Company
Settlement approved on remand
Manalapan Mining Company faced civil penalty proceedings in two dockets involving Mine #6. After the Commission remanded the cases, Judge Avram Weisberger reviewed the parties' joint settlement motion and the record. He found that the settlement terms met the criteria in section 110(i) of the Mine…
United States Department of the Air Force, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916 (FLRA 0-AR-2600): Hazard pay starts in November 1970
Seventeen Tinker Air Force Base employees sought environmental differential pay for exposure to hazardous metal dust. An arbitrator awarded 4 percent pay retroactive to each employee's first exposure, which for some could have been as early as 1966. The Air Force challenged only payment before…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Eisenhower Medical Center, Leavenworth, Kansas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 85
Eisenhower Medical Center and AFGE Local 85 (FLRA 0-AR-2649): Suspension award upheld
The Veterans Affairs medical center suspended an employee for seven days after investigating unauthorized access to a patient's medical records. An arbitrator found that the discipline had just cause and that the agency's disciplinary notice and grievance response were timely under the labor…
Ambrosia Coal & Construction Company
Highlift violations affirmed and penalties assessed
Ambrosia Coal operated a tipple where a highlift had no operable brakes and was also missing a seatbelt and fire extinguisher. Judge William Fauver found that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.404(a) by failing to maintain the highlift in safe operating condition and remove it from service. He…
Dale R. Rizzi v. Underwater Construction Corporation
Rizzi v. Underwater Construction (BRB 90-2346): paper mill tank outside Longshore coverage
Dale Rizzi was injured while diving in an enclosed water tank at a paper mill. An administrative law judge awarded Longshore Act disability benefits after treating the tank as part of a nearby river. The Board held that the tank itself could not be navigated by vessels or used for water commerce…
Anthony Crane Rental, Inc.
Crane inspection and maintenance violations affirmed after court remand
Anthony Crane Rental leased a crane whose boom later collapsed at an airport construction project, killing another contractor's employee. After a court remand, the issue was whether Anthony Crane Rental's own employees had been exposed to the conditions involving missing annual-inspection records…
Ronald E. Toyer v. Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Toyer v. Bethlehem Steel (BRB 90-0989): unexplained medical payment denial returned
Ronald Toyer's medical providers sought payment from Bethlehem Steel for treatment under the Longshore Act. The district director denied the claim in a brief order that did not identify the rule applied or explain the reason. The Board found that the missing explanation prevented meaningful review…
Siravo Contracting, Inc.
Three scaffold and masonry items affirmed, two vacated, $975
Siravo Contracting was doing masonry work on a Caldor department store construction site in Philadelphia when OSHA inspected in December 1992 after a referral about an overloaded, unguarded scaffold. The agency issued five serious items: too much block stored on the scaffold, an untapered stack of…
Monarch Cement Company
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
Monarch Cement faced a civil penalty proceeding involving the Monarch Cement Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman approved the Secretary's settlement motion after reviewing the agreement and supporting documentation. The settlement reduced the proposed penalty from $506 to $350. The case was to be dismissed…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Penalties reassessed after S&S findings
Buffalo Crushed Stone faced five similar violations involving berms under 30 C.F.R. § 56.9301. After the Commission determined that the violations were significant and substantial, it sent the cases back for penalty reassessment. Judge Avram Weisberger found that each violation warranted a $136…
Lang Sand & Gravel Company, Incorporated
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Raymond Otis Stiefel alleged that Lang Sand & Gravel demoted him and effectively forced him to quit after he reported safety concerns and an accident to MSHA. Judge David F. Barbour found that Stiefel engaged in protected activity, including reporting the accident and brake problem. The judge…
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co., York Cnyn Complex
Methane violations affirmed and settlements approved
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company's York Canyon operations were involved in a consolidated civil penalty proceeding covering 13 dockets. In CENT 94-47, the judge affirmed a citation and withdrawal order after finding that the operator failed to deenergize equipment and withdraw personnel when…
Defense Commissary Agency, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1482
Barstow Commissary and AFGE Local 1482 (FLRA SF-RO-40071): Undated signatures cannot support petition
AFGE Local 1482 petitioned to represent employees at the Barstow Commissary after the store moved to the Defense Commissary Agency. The union's initial dues records did not cover 30 percent of the larger employee group identified by the agency. It submitted more employee authorizations, but their…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Payment method order modified
Brown Brothers Sand Company petitioned for review of an order requiring it to pay civil penalties by a single check or money order. The Commission held that currency and coins are legal tender and found no basis in the Mine Act or the Secretary's regulations for restricting the payment method. It…
Freeman United Coal Mining Co.
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and dismissed
Derald Wilson brought a discrimination complaint against Freeman United Coal Mining Co. At the hearing, Wilson requested permission to withdraw the complaint after documentary evidence showed that the alleged retaliatory event occurred before the protected activity he identified. Judge Gary Melick…
North American Slate Incorporated
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $20
North American Slate operated the Bush Quarry and faced a $50 penalty because required health and safety inspection records were not being kept. The Secretary explained that the mine operated intermittently, was small, and had recently opened, which reduced the assessed negligence. Judge Paul…
Art Beavers Construction Co.
Delayed penalty assessment upheld as reasonable
Art Beavers Construction contested a citation alleging that a miner's required training certificate was not available for inspection. The Secretary proposed the penalty 330 days after the citation was issued, and the operator argued that the delay required dismissal. Judge August F. Cetti found…
Davey Tree Expert Company
General duty clause electrocution citation vacated on unpreventable-misconduct defense
Davey Tree Expert Company trims trees around power lines for utilities. On April 14, 1993, one of its working foremen was fatally electrocuted in Winchester, New Hampshire when he contacted an energized primary wire from an aerial-lift bucket while trimming under a contract with Public Service of…
Friend & Rikalo, Incorporated
Citations modified and $525 penalty ordered
Friend & Rikalo operated a gravel pit and a portable crusher. MSHA alleged that electrical cables lacked proper fittings, conveyor warning systems were missing, and moving parts were inadequately guarded. Judge Avram Weisberger found the violations proved, but held that seven citations were not…
Del Val Ink & Color, Inc.
In re Del Val Ink & Color, Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 94-1): EAJA fee application held untimely
Del Val Ink & Color applied for attorneys' fees after EPA dismissed its enforcement complaint with prejudice. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the dismissal was a voluntary dismissal that became a final disposition on the date it was issued because EPA initiated the dismissal and agreed to…
MATTER OF L-G-
Cocaine conviction distinction required remand
The respondent, a Cuban citizen, was ordered deported after a Louisiana conviction for possessing more than 400 grams of cocaine. The Board held that a single federal conviction for possessing more than five grams of cocaine base can qualify as an aggravated felony, and that an analogous state…
All American Asphalt
Discrimination found in failure to recall
All American Asphalt operated a rock finishing plant where four employees raised safety concerns about an unfinished plant that was put into operation. The employees and other workers provided information during an MSHA investigation, and the plant was shut down until violations were corrected…
Masonite Corporation
In re Masonite Corporation (EAB PSD Appeal No. 94-1): review denied in part and remanded in part
Citizens for a Healthy Ukiah challenged EPA Region IX's after-the-fact PSD permit for Masonite Corporation's hardboard manufacturing facility in Ukiah, California. The Environmental Appeals Board upheld the Region's separate BACT analyses for the Press Line and Grain Line and accepted the Region's…
Walter Kuhl and Son
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $175
Walter Kuhl and Son faced a civil penalty in a Mine Act proceeding. The parties proposed reducing the penalty from $364 to $175. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the statutory penalty criteria, approved it, and ordered payment within 30 days.
Peabody Coal Company
Dust-sample location violation affirmed
Peabody Coal operated the Marissa Mine, an underground coal mine in Illinois. MSHA cited the operator after finding that a respirable-dust sampling pump was collecting a sample outside the location specified in the approved ventilation and dust-control plan. The Commission held that the location…
G. Pugni & Son, Inc.
Demolition head-protection and engineering-survey items affirmed, $3,500
G. Pugni & Son was a demolition and rehabilitation subcontractor at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington, New York. On August 18, 1993, a suspended concrete and plaster ceiling collapsed onto two workers who were tearing it down, and OSHA inspected after a news-media referral. The agency issued…
Marino Midwest, Inc.
Crane limit-switch violation affirmed, penalty cut to $2,000
Marino Midwest, an underground construction contractor, used a Bucyrus-Erie crawler crane to hoist loads to workers at the bottom of a shaft in Evanston, Illinois. OSHA cited the company because the crane lacked a limit switch to prevent the load from overtraveling past the boom tip, in violation…
Broshear Contractors, Inc.
Trench egress and cave-in protection violations affirmed
Broshear Contractors excavated a trench along a public road in Ohio to install a water line. The Commission rejected the company's Fourth Amendment challenge because the compliance officer observed the open trench and employees from a public road, where the company had no reasonable expectation of…
Buffalo Crushed Stone, Inc.
Berm violations found S&S and remanded for penalty reassessment
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated an open-pit limestone quarry where trucks drove onto stockpiles and dumped stone over their edges. MSHA cited five locations because the berms were too low to restrain the largest mobile equipment from overtravel. The ALJ found the violations but concluded they were…
Mutual Mining Incorporated
Default compensation order issued
Mutual Mining Incorporated was ordered to answer a complaint for compensation within 30 days or explain why it could not do so. The company did not respond to that order. Judge Gary Melick therefore found the company in default and ordered it to pay compensation within 30 days to the miners listed…
Keystone Coal Mining Corp.
Settlement approved and discrimination proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor brought a discrimination proceeding on behalf of miners who alleged discrimination under section 105(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. The parties agreed that the miners named in the settlement would receive the agreed back pay. Judge William Fauver found the…
Pyramid Mining Incorporated
Auger-hole decision vacated and remanded
Pyramid Mining operated a surface coal mine with auger holes left in an area where active mining had moved elsewhere. MSHA cited the company for failing to block the holes before they were abandoned. The ALJ had found no violation because Pyramid said it intended to resume drilling. The Commission…
Beatrice Stadtmiller (Widow of Delbert Stadtmiller) v. Mallott and Peterson and Industrial Indemnity Company
Stadtmiller v. Mallott and Peterson (BRB 94-0439): widow's claim remains open
Delbert Stadtmiller developed asbestos-related cancer after working for Mallott and Peterson, and his widow Beatrice sought Longshore Act benefits. The employer tried to rescind case stipulations, arguing that her civil attorney had settled a claim against an asbestos company without employer…
Lawrence Elia v. Mergentime Corporation
Elia v. Mergentime (BRB 91-0134): reservoir bridge injury outside Longshore coverage
Lawrence Elia injured his right foot while working from a barge on a highway bridge project over New York's Croton Reservoir. His work was not maritime in nature, so Longshore Act coverage depended on whether the water was navigable for commerce. The Board found that the dammed reservoir could not…
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co.
Fall protection required during elevated training
Cleveland Electric Illuminating required experienced electrical installers in a training program to cross narrow steel bridge structures as high as 36 feet without fall protection. The utility argued that unprotected exposure to height was psychologically necessary to prepare employees for…
The Pit
Reopening request for uncontested penalty denied
The Pit asked the Commission to reopen an uncontested civil penalty assessment so it could file a late contest. The operator said it received notice after the contest period, that the notice went to an outdated address, that another MSHA case caused confusion, and that its representative was out of…
MATTER OF NWOKOMA
90-day deadline did not end INS authority
The respondent, a citizen of Nigeria, received conditional permanent resident status through marriage and filed a joint petition to remove that condition. The Immigration Judge terminated the deportation proceedings because the Immigration and Naturalization Service did not adjudicate the petition…
Thomas Pulkoski v. Hendrickson Brothers, Incorporated
Pulkoski v. Hendrickson Brothers (BRB 92-0847): bridge worker's Longshore claim dismissed
Thomas Pulkoski injured his knee while working on a road bridge over the Island Park Canal. He sometimes worked from a floating platform, but the injury occurred in a hole on land behind the bridge bulkhead. The Board held that the injury site was neither on navigable water nor a covered adjoining…
Peabody Coal Company
Penalty reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Peabody Coal asked the Commission to reopen an uncontested civil penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not contest it within 30 days. Peabody said temporary employees in its legal department were confused about the procedures for contesting proposed penalties. The Secretary…
Catenary Coal Company
Traffic-sign citation affirmed and $250 penalty assessed
Catenary Coal Company operated the Campbells Creek Surface Facilities, where two haul roads had downhill sections and different traffic-sign conditions. MSHA cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 77.1600(b) for failing to standardize and post traffic rules, signals, and warning signs. Judge Gary…
Centralia Mining Company, Inc.
Settlement approved and case dismissed
The Secretary of Labor filed a temporary-reinstatement proceeding on behalf of Robbie A. Smith against Centralia Mining Company. The parties submitted a joint settlement agreement and a joint motion to dismiss. Judge John J. Morris found good cause and approved the settlement. The case was…
Anthony Linton v. Container Stevedoring Company
Linton v. Container Stevedoring (BRB 93-0427): lifetime benefit estimate needed
Anthony Linton developed a permanent respiratory impairment after asbestos exposure while working for Container Stevedoring. He settled claims against asbestos product makers without the employer's written approval, and an administrative law judge dismissed his Longshore Act claim. The Board held…
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.