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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James M. Anderson v. Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company
Anderson v. Lockheed Shipbuilding (BRB 91-1967): alternate work evidence requires another review
James Anderson injured his back while working as a pipefitter for Lockheed Shipbuilding. An administrative law judge awarded permanent total disability benefits after finding that Lockheed had not shown suitable alternate work. The Board found that the judge had rejected several proposed jobs on…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Ventilation-plan violation affirmed
Jim Walter Resources contested an order issued after a longwall section operated while its ventilation plan required operations to stop because respirable-dust sampling showed noncompliance. The administrative law judge found that the operator had violated its approved ventilation plan and the…
Manalapan Mining Company, Inc.
Settlement motion remanded to judge
The Secretary of Labor and Manalapan Mining Company jointly asked the Commission to approve a settlement covering Docket Nos. KENT 93-614 and 615. Manalapan also asked to voluntarily dismiss its appeal. The Commission had granted review of an administrative law judge's decision, while related cases…
Doris Harris v. Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation; John C. Hendrickson v. Lake Union Dry Dock Company
Harris and Hendrickson (BRB 93-2227, 93-2454): settlement bars require fact findings
Doris Harris and John Hendrickson sought Longshore Act benefits for asbestos-related disease after settling claims against asbestos manufacturers without employer approval. Administrative law judges granted summary judgment to their employers, treating the benefits claims as barred by the…
Charles Sproull v. Stevedoring Services of America
Sproull v. Stevedoring Services (BRB 89-1209): holiday credit removed, vacation issue tied
Charles Sproull received permanent partial disability benefits after a fall while working for Stevedoring Services of America. On reconsideration, the full Board agreed that holiday pay actually received before his injury belonged in his average weekly wage. It also unanimously removed a credit the…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Seven quarry citations resolved in part
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated the Wehrle Quarry, a limestone operation inspected in December 1993. The administrative law judge found violations involving an unguarded fuel-pump pinch point, broken glass in an access door, an uncovered electrical junction box, an uncleated walkway, and a low…
MATTER OF POLANCO
Untimely conviction appeal did not prevent deportation
The respondent, a lawful permanent resident from the Dominican Republic, was charged with deportability after a New Jersey conviction for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute near school property. He argued that the conviction was not final because he had filed a late appeal. The Board held…
New England Industrial Roofing Co.
Roof perimeter-guarding item affirmed serious $750, warning-line item vacated
New England Industrial Roofing was removing an old built-up roof and installing a new one on a two-story building when an OSHA officer inspected in December 1992 and cited two serious fall-protection violations: no motion-stopping-safety (guardrail) system at the roof edge, and no warning lines…
Consolidation Coal Company
Five citations modified under settlement
Consolidation Coal Company faced five proposed penalties involving conditions at the Humphrey No. 7 and Osage No. 3 Mines. The parties proposed a settlement, and the Secretary agreed that the evidence did not support the inspectors' unwarrantable-failure findings. The settlement modified four…
Eugene Russell, Ervin E. Nichols, James M. Dodd, Reynold E. Channer, and Scott Furman employed by Echo Bay Minerals Company
Echo Bay Minerals Company employees (FMSHRC WEST 94-623-M): Assignment request denied
The Secretary filed civil penalty petitions against five Echo Bay Minerals Company employees under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. Their counsel asked the judge to decide a motion to dismiss for untimeliness before the cases were assigned, arguing that the judge assigned to a related operator case…
New Waterbury, Ltd.
In re New Waterbury, Ltd. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 93-2): penalty reduced and payment schedule remanded
New Waterbury, Ltd. owned a Connecticut property formerly used for copper, brass, and other metal-product manufacturing and was operating as a real-estate business. EPA Region I alleged twelve TSCA violations involving PCB regulations, and the presiding officer ultimately assessed a $35,750 penalty…
Narrows Branch Coal, Inc.
Reinstatement and settlement approved
These consolidated proceedings involved a temporary reinstatement application, a discrimination complaint, and a civil penalty petition arising from Robert Harlow's employment at Narrows Branch Coal's No. 1 Mine. The parties agreed that the company would reinstate Harlow, pay back pay and interest…
John Kemp and Brad Nicolay employed by American River Aggregates
John Kemp and Brad Nicolay (FMSHRC WEST 93-184-M): Agent penalties affirmed for defective loader brakes
John Kemp and Brad Nicolay were the mine manager and plant foreman at American River Aggregates' sand and gravel mine. The administrative law judge found that a front-end loader operated without functional service brakes violated 30 C.F.R. § 56.14101(a)(1), and that both company agents knowingly…
Pacific Refining Company
In re Pacific Refining Company (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 94-1): PCB enclosure-marking penalty increased to $11,050
Pacific Refining Company operated a petroleum feedstock refining facility. EPA Region IX found that a PCB transformer was marked, but the fence enclosing it had no PCB warning mark. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the fence had to carry its own mark because a fire could obscure or destroy…
Miriam Kaye, widow of George Kaye, v. California Stevedore & Ballast and others
Kaye v. California Stevedore & Ballast (BRB 93-1085): unapproved settlements bar death benefits
George Kaye worked for several stevedoring companies and allegedly encountered asbestos at work. He and his widow settled claims against asbestos product makers without obtaining written approval from the Longshore employers. After George died, Miriam sought death benefits, but an administrative…
Southfork Coal Company
Fan-house citation vacated
Southfork Coal was cited after an inspector found the doors to a building containing the main mine ventilation shaft open, with no confirmed barrier against unauthorized entry. The administrative law judge found that 30 C.F.R. § 75.1711-3 required either an adequate fence or conspicuous signs…
Link M. Smith, Jim Altizer and Gary Ritchie v. Consolidation Coal Company
Smith, Altizer and Ritchie v. Consolidation Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 93-343-D): Discrimination case dismissed
The Secretary asked to withdraw the discrimination complaint brought on behalf of Link M. Smith, Jim Altizer, and Gary Ritchie against Consolidation Coal Company. The request relied on the Commission's decision in Swift et al. v. Consolidation Coal Co. The administrative law judge granted…
F&E Erection Company
Settlement approved and $2,500 penalty assessed
F&E Erection Company faced consolidated temporary-reinstatement and discrimination proceedings arising from William C. Young Jr.'s alleged wrongful discharge from work at the Caballo Rojo Mine. The Secretary of Labor alleged that Young had engaged in protected activity under section 105(c)(2) of…
John Heter, George Haluska, Gerald Moulin, and Eliezer Gonzales, employed by EIU of California
EIU of California employees (FMSHRC WEST 93-313-M, WEST 93-314-M, WEST 93-329-M, and WEST 93-458-M): Three cases dismissed and one penalty reduced
The Secretary of Labor brought civil penalty proceedings against John Heter, George Haluska, Gerald Moulin, and Eliezer Gonzales under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. After a hearing began, the Secretary withdrew the penalty requests against Heter, Haluska, and Moulin, and those three cases were…
Cyprus Plateau Mining Corporation
): Remand penalty set at $1,820
Cyprus Plateau Mining Corporation's contest and civil penalty cases returned to the ALJ after the Commission reversed the earlier conclusions on significant and substantial and unwarrantable failure. On remand, the parties filed a stipulation addressing the penalty for a violation of 30 C.F.R. §…
Clinchfield Coal Company
Complaint withdrawn and case dismissed
The Secretary of Labor asked to withdraw a discrimination complaint brought on behalf of Ronald Rose against Clinchfield Coal Company. The Secretary relied on the Commission's decision in Swift et al v. Consolidation Coal Co., 16 FMSHRC 201 (1994). Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw…
Bradys Bend Corporation
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and case dismissed
Kenneth E. Vogt Sr. asked to withdraw his discrimination complaint against Bradys Bend Corporation. The complaint concerned work at Kaylor Mine No. 3. Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw the complaint under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11. The case was dismissed and the hearing scheduled for…
Kenneth J. Garrett v. Basin Cooperative Services
Proceeding dismissed on withdrawal
Kenneth J. Garrett withdrew his discrimination complaint after stating that he had been fully compensated financially for the missed workday at issue. He also said he had initially pursued the case partly to address safety issues based on a mistaken belief that the Commission and MSHA were linked…
David Reed formerly employed by Gold River Mining Company, Inc.
Gold River Mining Company employees (FMSHRC WEVA 94-172, WEVA 94-155, and WEVA 94-156): Penalty petitions dismissed
David Reed, John Miller, and Donald Saltsgaver, formerly employed by Gold River Mining Company, faced section 110(c) civil penalty proceedings arising from alleged violations of the mine's roof control plan at the Barbara Lynn No. 4 Mine. The Secretary alleged that the three employees knowingly…
Laura D Coal, Inc.
Citation modified and penalty reduced to $175
Laura D Coal, Inc. contested a citation issued at the Stufft Mine and faced a proposed $1,800 civil penalty. The parties later settled the civil penalty matter, and Laura D Coal agreed to withdraw its contest. The settlement reclassified the citation from a section 104(d)(1)…
Pyramid Masonry Contractors, Inc.
Scaffold-pinning citation vacated, uplift not proven
Pyramid Masonry Contractors was laying concrete block and brick from tubular welded frame scaffolds at the Galleria project in Atlanta, Georgia. After an OSHA inspection, the Secretary dropped one citation and part of another, leaving a single item: that the scaffold panels were not pinned together…
Mid-Continent Resources Incorporated
Citation vacated and case dismissed
Mid-Continent Resources' civil penalty case returned to the ALJ after a Commission order. The Secretary moved to vacate the one violation and withdraw the penalty petition. Judge Paul Merlin granted the motion, vacated Citation No. 3410440, and dismissed the case.
Zantec Development Co., Inc.
Signed settlement enforced, notice of contest dismissed
Zantec Development received four OSHA citations in February 1993 with penalties totaling $4,500. At an informal conference, OSHA offered to cut the penalties to $2,200 if Zantec signed a settlement waiving its right to contest, and Zantec's owner signed it that day. Zantec then tried to file a…
Riverton Corporation
Contested mobile-equipment guarding citations affirmed
Riverton operated an old limestone quarry and plant that produced material for masonry products, agricultural lime, and premix cement products. The ALJ considered 34 alleged violations involving two dockets, including unguarded V-belts on three haul trucks and a front-end loader. The judge held…
Mingo Logan Coal Co.
Settlement motion denied
Mingo Logan Coal contested a section 107(a) order and a related civil penalty proceeding at the Mountaineer Mine. The proposed settlement would have converted an order concerning failure to block a longwall canopy, reduced the negligence finding, and lowered the penalty from $35,000 to $10,000. The…
Peabody Coal Company
Ventilation-plan citations vacated
Peabody challenged citations alleging that its Camp No. 11 Mine operated without suitable approved ventilation-plan provisions. The Secretary sought a four-cut mining sequence and additional requirements for airflow and methane monitoring. The ALJ found that total mine methane liberation did not…
Konitz Contracting, Inc.
Citations affirmed with $510 penalty
Konitz Contracting operated a portable crusher, a rip-rap operation, and other mining worksites in Montana. The ALJ found that the rip-rap operation was a mine under the Mine Act because it extracted and sized rock, and that MSHA therefore had jurisdiction. The judge affirmed citations involving…
Long Branch Energy
Late penalty petition accepted
The Secretary filed a civil penalty petition 52 days after the deadline. Long Branch Energy moved to dismiss, arguing that the delay prejudiced its ability to defend against an unguarded trolley-wire citation because the mine area had been abandoned. The judge found adequate cause for the late…
Fluor Daniel Incorporated
Forklift citation split after fatal accident
Fluor Daniel was an independent contractor performing surface construction work at the Ridgeway open-pit gold mine. After a forklift's brakes failed on a grade and an employee was fatally injured, MSHA issued a citation for defective service brakes, an imminent-danger order, a citation for an…
KYN Coal Company Incorporated, et al.
Operators ordered to address stays
The ALJ considered a group of respirable-dust citation proceedings involving several coal operators. Some cases had been stayed pending related Commission proceedings concerning altered respirable-dust samples and expert testimony. The Secretary asked to lift some stays and leave other cases…
Southwestern Portland Cement Company
Stay and expedited-hearing motions denied
Southwestern Portland Cement challenged an unwarrantable-failure citation and asked for an expedited hearing. The Secretary sought a continuance until the related penalty proceeding was filed. The ALJ denied the continuance and the request for an expedited hearing, finding that the operator had not…
L. R. Willson and Sons, Inc.
Steel-erection tag-line violation affirmed serious, $4,000
L. R. Willson and Sons, a structural steel erector, was cited after a September 1992 OSHA inspection of a steel-erection job in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. The Secretary issued a serious citation with two items but withdrew the first, leaving a single item: failure to use tag lines to control loads…
Eastside Rock Products
Default ordered with $406 penalty
Eastside Rock Products did not answer the civil penalty petition after receiving orders directing it to respond. The ALJ found that the operator had received the orders and had not submitted an answer. The operator was held in default and ordered to pay $406 immediately.
Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Respirable-dust proceedings stayed
The ALJ considered a motion to stay proceedings alleging intentional alteration of respirable-dust cassettes. Related cases were pending before the Commission on appeal. The judge stayed the cases in Master Docket No. 91-1 that were not on appeal because the Commission's decision could affect the…
MATTER OF ANDERSON
Waiver grounds had to be presented to the Service
The respondent, a conditional permanent resident from the Philippines, sought to remove the condition on her status after separating from her husband. She had applied to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for an extreme-hardship waiver, but later asked the Immigration Judge to consider…
Magic Coal Company
Settlement approved with $2,389 in penalties
Magic Coal agreed to settle eight alleged safety violations and one training order across three dockets. The violations involved electrical equipment, fire drills, high-voltage cable guarding, a smoking-program record, trailing-cable protection, ventilation-plan air movement, and miner refresher…
Mobil Oil Corporation
In re Mobil Oil Corporation (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 94-2): sulfur-dioxide reporting penalty reduced to $30,250
Mobil Oil Corporation operated a petroleum refinery in Paulsboro, New Jersey. During regeneration of a sulfur-recovery unit, the refinery released sulfur dioxide above the permitted mass limit but did not report the release to the local emergency planning committee until March 22, 1990. The…
John N. Hodges v. Bethenergy Mines, Incorporated
Hodges v. Bethenergy Mines (BRB 93-1849): Claim returned for a complete lung evaluation
John Hodges filed a second claim for black lung benefits after working 35 years in coal mining. A judge found that he had work-related pneumoconiosis but denied benefits for lack of total respiratory disability. The Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs asked for a remand because…
E.L. Davis Contracting Co.
Excavation violations affirmed with $70,500 in penalties
E.L. Davis Contracting was repairing a sewer line when part of a 20- to 22-foot excavation containing two employees caved in. The Commission affirmed serious violations involving the company's safety program, excavation and confined-space training, and the absence of inspections by a competent…
Article II Gun Shop, Inc., d/b/a Gun World
Lead and hazard-communication items largely affirmed
Gun World sold firearms and ammunition and operated firing ranges at an Illinois facility where employees encountered lead dust and unburned gunpowder. The Commission affirmed serious hazard-communication violations because the company lacked material safety data sheets and did not provide required…
Capform, Inc.
Four concrete-construction safety items affirmed
Capform performed concrete formwork and shoring at a multi-employer construction site in Florida. The Commission affirmed a serious unguarded-rebar item because employees could pass through the hazardous entrance area and the company did not take reasonable alternative protective measures. It also…
The Pit
Ten citations vacated, four affirmed, and $210 assessed
The Pit operated a sand and gravel site on a ranch near Eureka, Montana, while setting up and adjusting equipment. The ALJ held that the Mine Act applied to the pre-production activities and that the citations were properly issued to The Pit. The judge vacated ten machine-guarding citations because…
Elmer James Nicholson, employed by A-Rock Inc.
One order dismissed and $8,000 assessed
A-Rock Incorporated operated the Gray Mountain Pit, a sand and gravel operation in Arizona. The ALJ found that A-Rock violated the mine safety standard requiring a front-end loader's brakes to be maintained in functional condition and that Elmer James Nicholson was liable under Section 110(c) of…
Brown Brothers Sand Co.
One citation vacated, eight affirmed or modified, and $1,036 assessed
Brown Brothers Sand Company received nine citations during inspections of its sand operation in Georgia. The ALJ vacated and dismissed the citation for insufficient illumination, affirmed eight other citations, and modified two of those by increasing the negligence finding from moderate to high…
Delco Electronics Corporation
In re Delco Electronics Corporation (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 93-10): permit review denied in part and remanded in part
Delco Electronics operated a 173-acre facility in Kokomo, Indiana, that produced electronic components for the automotive industry. EPA Region V issued a corrective-action permit requiring Delco to report future hazardous-waste releases, providing procedures for resolving disputes over…
Crockett Collieries (KY) Inc.
Settlement approved and $9,000 assessed
Crockett Collieries (KY) Inc. and the Secretary proposed a settlement in a civil penalty proceeding. The settlement called for vacating one order, deleting the significant and substantial findings from two other orders, and reducing the proposed penalty from $26,700 to $9,000. The ALJ approved the…
Bob & Tom Coal Company, Inc.
Eight violations affirmed, one S&S finding deleted, and $34,000 assessed
Bob & Tom Coal Company operated the No. 6 underground bituminous coal mine in Harlan County, Kentucky. The ALJ found eight mandatory safety violations involving combustible material, fire suppression, escapeway maps, permissible electrical equipment, machine lighting, first-aid supplies, weekly…
Sam I. George v. Lucas Marine Construction and State Compensation Insurance Fund
George v. Lucas Marine Construction (BRB 93-1612): river site lacked Longshore Act coverage
Sam George worked as a pile driver on a construction barge at an American River water treatment plant. He said he hurt his back while carrying an oxygen bottle from a boat to shore and sought Longshore Act benefits. The administrative law judge denied the claim, finding that the river at the…
Manalapan Mining Company
Settlement approved with $15,945 assessed
Manalapan Mining Company and the Secretary proposed a settlement covering six dockets and multiple citations. The settlement reduced the total proposed assessments from $29,585 to $15,945, with some citations modified to delete S&S findings and some penalties already paid. The ALJ approved the…
Patsy v. Big "B" Mining Company
Dismissal vacated and matter remanded
Randall Patsy appealed the reinstatement of a dismissal in his discrimination proceeding against Big "B" Mining Company. The Commission treated his letter as a timely petition for discretionary review and granted review. It vacated the judge's dismissal because the judge had not issued the required…
Felix T. Carrasco v. Eddy Potash, Incorporated
Discrimination case dismissed after settlement
Felix T. Carrasco filed a discrimination complaint against Eddy Potash, Incorporated under the Mine Act. After a hearing began, the parties reached an amicable settlement. The judge found that the settlement furthered the purposes of the Mine Act, ordered the transcript sealed, and dismissed the…
Roberts Pipeline Construction, Inc.
$30,800 in penalties affirmed for eight violations
Roberts Pipeline challenged only the penalties assessed for eight serious violations involving training, head protection, compressed-gas storage, electrical grounding, trench access and inspection, and cave-in protection. The Commission held that the judge had considered the statutory factors of…
Seyforth Roofing Company
Roof-perimeter citation vacated under measurement exception
OSHA inspected after a Seyforth Roofing employee fell from a 12-story roof while measuring an area near the perimeter. The company normally used warning lines and a safety monitor, but the lines had been removed for high winds and the day's planned work was on a penthouse away from the roof edge…
Peavey Company
Railcar fall protection affirmed, floor-hole item vacated
Peavey operated a North Dakota grain elevator where employees used a manlift and worked on top of railcars during grain loading. The Commission vacated a floor-hole item because the record did not show that employees would enter the hole's zone of danger during assigned work, normal access, or…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Two citations vacated, two affirmed, and $100 assessed
Walker Stone Company received four citations involving alarms, a manually operated warning device, and an elevated truck scale without a berm or guardrail. The ALJ vacated two citations because the evidence did not establish violations of the cited alarm standard. Two other citations were affirmed…
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.