Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Prudencio Chavez v. Todd Shipyards Corporation
Chavez v. Todd Shipyards (BRB 86-2456): divided Board leaves offset ruling in place
Prudencio Chavez received permanent total disability benefits for combined asbestosis and hypertension and pursued claims against asbestos companies. Todd Shipyards sought a credit against its benefit liability for any recovery from those companies. An earlier Board decision required a finding on…
Oceanic Steamship Co. & Oceanic Stevedoring, Inc.
Nonvertical container lifting method violated marine-terminal rule
Oceanic used a four-legged bridle to hoist loaded 20- and 40-foot intermodal containers between ships and a Miami dock. The Commission found the nonvertical lifting method unsafe because international and domestic container specifications showed that most containers of those lengths were not…
Madison Branch Management
Interlocutory review granted and hearing stayed
Madison Branch Management sought interlocutory review of an ALJ's rulings that denied motions involving settlement and other case-disposition requests. The Commission found that the rulings involved a controlling legal question and that immediate review could materially advance the proceedings. It…
Boyer Ready Mix Sand & Rock, Incorporated
Settlement approved after remand with $2,938 assessed
The Commission remanded Boyer Ready Mix Sand & Rock's penalty case for the ALJ to reconsider whether a default order was warranted. The parties then reached a settlement covering 14 citations, reducing the proposed penalties to $2,938. The ALJ approved the settlement under the statutory penalty…
Defense Commissary Agency, Defense Commissary Store, Fort Drum, New York and National Association of Government Employees and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 400
Fort Drum Commissary and competing unions (FLRA BN-RO-40015): Review granted on intervention rights
After the Fort Drum commissary moved to the Defense Commissary Agency, NAGE petitioned for an election among the store's employees. AFGE Local 400 sought to intervene, but the regional director found its request late and said it was not an incumbent representative of agency employees. AFGE argued…
Thunder Basin Coal Company
Discrimination settlement approved with $7,500 civil penalty
The parties settled four discrimination complaints filed under Section 105(c) of the Mine Act. Thunder Basin Coal Company was ordered to pay the complainants the sums required by the settlement, expunge adverse employment references, and pay a $7,500 civil penalty to MSHA. The complainants waived…
Rocky Hollow Coal Company, Inc.
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Rocky Hollow Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that had become final orders after the company did not file a timely notice of contest. The Commission reopened the matter and remanded it to a judge to determine whether Rocky Hollow met the criteria for…
MATTER OF IGE
Child hardship claim required evidence of planned separation
The respondents were a married couple from Nigeria who sought suspension of deportation based in part on possible hardship to their United States citizen children. The Board held that a claim that a child would remain in the United States after a parent's deportation requires an affidavit stating…
Charles H. Moore v. Harborside Refrigerated, Incorporated
Moore v. Harborside Refrigerated (BRB 91-1351): earnings reporting rules clarified
Charles Moore injured his back while unloading a ship, received disability payments, and later worked without reporting all of his earnings. In an earlier decision, the Board set aside an order requiring him to repay benefits and returned the claim for a new compensation calculation. On…
Broken Hill Mining Company, Inc.
Settlement approved with $1,496 assessed
Broken Hill Mining Company proposed a settlement covering four civil penalty dockets. The settlement reduced the proposed penalty from $1,659 to $1,496. The ALJ approved the settlement under the statutory penalty criteria and ordered payment within 30 days.
Donald Sketoe v. Dolphin Titan International and Exxon Company, U.S.A.
Sketoe v. Dolphin Titan and Exxon (BRB 93-0817): Exxon liability requires more findings
Donald Sketoe hurt his right hand while working on Dolphin Titan's offshore drilling rig. After Dolphin Titan and its insurer became insolvent, an administrative law judge held Exxon liable for benefits as a contractor and awarded Sketoe compensation for 60 percent permanent impairment of the hand…
A.L. Baumgartner Construction, Inc.
Damaged-cord and unattended-forklift items affirmed
A.L. Baumgartner Construction was cited for two damaged electrical cords and for leaving a forklift used as a work platform unattended without lowering its load-engaging means. The Commission upheld the judge's post-hearing amendment of one electrical item to the more specifically applicable…
MATTER OF BURBANO
Serious drug offense weighed heavily in section 212(c) relief
The respondent, a Colombian citizen and lawful permanent resident, was found deportable after convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude and controlled-substance violations. He sought a section 212(c) waiver of inadmissibility, arguing that his family ties, residence, employment…
MATTER OF FRANKLIN
Reckless involuntary manslaughter was a crime involving moral turpitude
The respondent, a Philippine citizen and conditional lawful permanent resident, was ordered deported after a Missouri conviction for involuntary manslaughter. The Board held that the conviction involved moral turpitude because Missouri law required conscious disregard of a substantial and…
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-2582): Second reconsideration request dismissed
An employee at Tinker Air Force Base asked the Authority a second time to reconsider an order in an arbitration dispute involving the Air Force and AFGE Local 916. He argued that his participation at the arbitration hearing made him a party. The Authority found that the arbitration parties were the…
Reading Anthracite Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered
William Kaczmarczyk, an electrician and mine safety representative, was returned to workers' compensation status shortly after serving as an employee walkaround representative during an MSHA inspection. The Secretary alleged that this action was retaliatory. The ALJ found that the…
Marine Shale Processors, Inc.
In re Marine Shale Processors, Inc. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 91-22): permit termination remanded for evidentiary hearing
Marine Shale Processors operated a facility near Amelia, Louisiana, and held an NPDES permit for discharges from its operations. EPA Region VI proposed to terminate the permit and deny renewal and modification after concluding that Marine Shale had not fully disclosed its hazardous-waste…
Gardner Fire Protection
Trench egress and cave-in items affirmed, daily-inspection item vacated
Gardner Fire Protection, a small pro se contractor, was installing sewer and fire-hydrant lines at a KOA campground in Seminole, Florida. A December 1992 OSHA inspection came the day after a broken water line flooded the excavation overnight and eroded one wall. OSHA cited four serious…
Jewell Painting, Inc.
Lead-paint bridge job, serious items cut to nonserious, water-cooler general-duty item vacated
Jewell Painting removed lead paint from a bridge over the Androscoggin River in Gilead, Maine, then repainted it. After an August 1992 OSHA inspection of the cleanup phase, the agency issued a serious citation and an other-than-serious citation covering nonpotable-water labeling, lead-dust exposure…
McDonald Masonry
Four scaffold-safety items affirmed as serious, $5,500
McDonald Masonry did masonry work at a jobsite in De Soto, Texas, where OSHA inspected in July 1993 and issued a serious citation. The company contested four scaffold-related items but its owner did not appear at the June 1994 hearing, so Administrative Law Judge Stanley M. Schwartz proceeded on…
Beall Construction, Inc., d/b/a Tiger Manufacturing
Settlement resolves two consolidated cases, $1,000 penalty
Beall Construction, Inc., doing business as Tiger Manufacturing in Dallas, Texas, faced OSHA citations in two separate cases covering welding, respirator, flammable-liquid, spray-finishing, and electrical safety standards. At a June 28, 1994 hearing, the parties used a short settlement discussion…
Port Costa Materials, Inc.
Citation discrepancy remanded for correction
Port Costa Materials faced 73 citations in a civil penalty proceeding under the Mine Act. The ALJ's decision discussed Citation No. 3636555 as affirmed in one part but listed it as vacated in the final disposition. The Commission treated the Secretary's letter requesting correction as a timely…
Gustafson Construction Corporation
Trench cave-in violation affirmed as serious, $1,200
Gustafson Construction Corporation was installing water main and sewer lines in a subdivision in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. OSHA inspected in May 1993 and cited the company for several items. Gustafson withdrew its challenge to all but one: a serious trench cave-in item requiring an adequate protective…
Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Ventilation violation upheld and individual proceeding dismissed
Mid-Continent Resources changed the approved ventilation system at its Dutch Creek Mine after the mine stopped producing coal, without first obtaining MSHA approval. The judge found that the mine remained active for ventilation, pumping, and patrol work, and that the changes violated 30 C.F.R. §…
Wallace Brothers, Inc.
Portable-crusher citations affirmed
Wallace Brothers operated a portable rock crusher at changing pit locations. The judge held that the crusher was covered by the Mine Act because crushing rock is mineral preparation. The judge affirmed citations involving missing examination records, failure to notify MSHA about operations, missing…
Cross Mountain Coal Inc.
Mixed citation dispositions and settlements ordered
Cross Mountain Coal was cited at its No. 6 Mine for electrical, respirable-dust, cable-splice, and roof-control conditions. The judge found violations involving ground-monitor circuits, a trailing-cable splice, roof support, and failure to follow the approved roof control plan. The judge modified…
Contractors Sand and Gravel Supply, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
Contractors Sand and Gravel Supply failed to comply with a prehearing order, and the ALJ entered a default decision assessing $15,149 in civil penalties. The company asked the Commission to review the default, stating that it had believed the proceedings would be combined with other citations and…
Wyoming Fuel Company n/k/a Basin Resources, Inc.
Ventilation findings split on review
Basin Resources changed the ventilation system at the Golden Eagle Mine without obtaining MSHA's prior approval. The Commission affirmed that the change violated the mine's approved ventilation plan, but remanded whether the violation was significant and substantial because the judge had not…
MATTER OF OKOH
Post-deportation reconsideration motion was moot
The applicant in exclusion proceedings had been ordered excluded and deported after a controlled-substance charge and denial of section 212(c) relief. The Board had affirmed that order, denied a later stay request, and the applicant was excluded and deported before the Board decided her motion for…
Luis A. Ayala Colon Sucrs., Inc.
Repeat safety-shoe violation at a Puerto Rico pier affirmed, $320
Luis A. Ayala Colon Sucrs., Inc. was a stevedoring company unloading a vessel at the Ponce Municipal Pier in Puerto Rico. During a May 1993 inspection, an OSHA compliance officer saw two stevedores working on the pier apron, close to trucks and cargo slings, without safety shoes. The company…
Patrick J. Neman, d/b/a the Main Exchange
In re Patrick J. Neman, d/b/a the Main Exchange (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 93-3): default order vacated and proceedings remanded
Patrick J. Neman, doing business as the Main Exchange, appealed a $142,000 default penalty in a TSCA enforcement case involving alleged PCB regulation violations. He argued that bankruptcy had ended the case and that he had not received the amended complaint. The Board held that the bankruptcy…
Ralph Morin v. Bath Iron Works Corporation
Morin v. Bath Iron Works (BRB 92-0947): disability compensation denial upheld
Ralph Morin worked for Bath Iron Works, where he was exposed to asbestos and developed asbestos-related pleural disease. An administrative law judge found that he retired voluntarily and denied disability compensation because the record did not establish a measurable whole person impairment; the…
MATTER OF ESQUEDA
Drug use conviction supported deportability
The respondent, a Mexican citizen, was ordered deported after a California conviction for using and being under the influence of controlled substances. He argued that the immigration statute did not cover drug-use convictions and that California law imposed liability without the required guilty…
Ares J. Hoda, Sr. v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Hoda v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 88-3187): employer fee objection rejected
Ares Hoda received compensation for work-related hearing loss at Ingalls Shipbuilding. His earlier appeal established a late payment assessment, while the administrative law judge awarded an attorney fee after Hoda obtained interest and the right to choose a provider for future care. Ingalls sought…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 405 and United States Department of the Army, United States Army Aviation and Troop Command, St. Louis, Missouri
Army Aviation and Troop Command and NFFE Local 405 (FLRA 0-AR-2637): Arbitration exceptions filed too late
NFFE Local 405 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army Aviation and Troop Command. After finding that the award was mailed on May 19, the Authority calculated that exceptions had to be filed by June 22, 1994. The union sent its exceptions to the Authority's Denver regional office, which…
County Concrete Corp.
Wheel-chocking rule applied to concrete-mixing truck
OSHA inspected after an unoccupied County Concrete mixing truck rolled backward down a ramp and struck two employees, killing one. The company argued that the truck was governed only by the motor-vehicle section, which did not require wheel chocks, and not by the cited general equipment rule. The…
S.G. Loewendick & Sons, Inc.
Suspended-backhoe operation held willful
S.G. Loewendick suspended a seven-ton backhoe and its operator from a crane roughly 70 to 80 feet above the ground to demolish bridge piers. The Commission held that the backhoe was a load, not a personnel platform, so the operator was prohibited from riding it under the incorporated crane-safety…
Andrew Catapano Enterprises, Inc.
Willful trench violation affirmed and penalty increased
Andrew Catapano Enterprises allowed an employee to work in an unprotected trench dug in unstable or soft material in New York. The Commission upheld the judge's factual and credibility findings and affirmed the violation as willful. It rejected the company's notice argument because the Secretary's…
MATTER OF PENA-DIAZ
Agency non-enforcement supported reopening
The respondent, a Mexican citizen who entered as a lawful permanent resident in 1972, had a final deportation order after a marijuana conviction and later remained in the United States for years with the Service's permission and deferred action. The Service denied his 1983 request for a new…
Robert E. Goody v. Thames Valley Steel Corporation and Hartford Insurance Group
Goody v. Thames Valley Steel (BRB 93-0740): settlement and fund questions returned
Robert Goody was exposed to asbestos at Electric Boat and later to other lung irritants while working for Thames Valley Steel. He settled asbestos product claims after obtaining Electric Boat's written approval, then won Longshore Act benefits for a respiratory disability from Thames Valley Steel…
Norwich Laboratories, Inc.
Citations affirmed after employer stopped defending, $3,300
Norwich Laboratories, based in Amherst, Massachusetts, was inspected by OSHA between January and February 1993 after a complaint. In March 1993 the company received a serious citation with five items (a proposed $600 penalty on each, $3,000 total) and one "other" item ($300). The company contested…
Niemand Industries, Inc.
Talc citations and $2,800 penalty vacated after court remand
OSHA cited Niemand Industries for employee talc exposure, use of unapproved dust masks, and failure to use feasible controls. The Eleventh Circuit reversed the Commission's earlier finding because OSHA had measured talc exposure with a technique not provided in Table Z-3. The Commission concluded…
Boyer Valley Fertilizer Co. and UAP Special Products, Inc.
In re Boyer Valley Fertilizer Co. and UAP Special Products, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 93-2): complaints dismissed under custom-blending policy
Boyer Valley Fertilizer Company prepared a pesticide and fertilizer blend for use on an apartment complex in Kansas City, Missouri, and UAP Special Products supplied and delivered the blend to the commercial applicator hired by the customer. EPA Region VII alleged that the blend was an unregistered…
Harris Masonry, Inc.
EAJA fee award reduced by settlement
Harris Masonry had received an attorney-fee award after prevailing in its OSHA case. The Secretary petitioned for review of the hourly rate used in that award, and the parties then settled the Equal Access to Justice Act dispute. The Secretary withdrew the petition, and Harris agreed that its…
Thomas Edward Brown v. Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Corporation
Brown v. Alabama Dry Dock (BRB 92-1302): unpaid interest accrues further interest
Thomas Brown received a Longshore Act award for work related hearing loss, including interest on late compensation payments. Alabama Dry Dock paid the benefits but refused to pay the interest. The Board upheld the interest award because it compensated Brown for the time the employer kept money that…
United Sheet Metal, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed, citation affirmed as issued
United Sheet Metal received an OSHA citation in January 1994. Under the OSH Act, an employer has 15 working days after receiving a citation to file a notice of contest, which gave the company until mid-February. It filed late, and the Secretary moved to dismiss the contest as untimely. The company…
Pit-Stop, Inc. (Uniroyal Pitstop)
Unguarded service pit affirmed as a serious violation, $100
Pit-Stop, Inc., operating as Uniroyal Pitstop in Midwest City, Oklahoma, ran an automotive shop where workers used floor pits about 3 feet wide, 5 feet deep, and 10 feet long to reach the underside of vehicles for oil changes and grease jobs. OSHA cited the shop after an inspection found several of…
National Cement Company of California, Inc. and Systech Environmental Corporation
In re National Cement Company of California, Inc. and Systech Environmental Corporation (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 94-5 and 94-6): permit denial upheld
National Cement operated a cement manufacturing plant in Lebec, California, and used liquid hazardous wastes as supplemental fuel. EPA Region IX denied its RCRA permit application because Tejon Ranchcorp, which owned the land and leased it to National, had not signed the required certification…
New England Roofing and Sheet Metal Co.
Roof fall-protection citations affirmed, $2,500
New England Roofing and Sheet Metal Co. was doing built-up roofing on a five-story building in New Haven, Connecticut. An OSHA compliance officer driving by looked up, saw workers at the edge of the roughly 60-foot-high roof, and went up to inspect. He found employees working near the unprotected…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1668 and United States Department of the Air Force, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
Elmendorf Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1668 (FLRA 0-AR-2629): Removal exceptions dismissed
AFGE Local 1668 asked the Authority to review an arbitration award that denied a grievance over an employee's removal from federal service. The Authority found that removal is a serious adverse action excluded from its arbitration exceptions jurisdiction. It also found that the union filed its…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, New York, New York and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2094
New York VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2094 (FLRA 0-AR-2597): Work schedules upheld
AFGE Local 2094 claimed that the New York VA Medical Center changed employees' workweeks to deny them overtime opportunities. An arbitrator found that the agency gave the advance notice required by the labor agreement for nonbasic schedules and had not declared a need for overtime. The union argued…
American Federation of Government Employees and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland
Social Security Administration and AFGE (FLRA 0-AR-2592): Expert witness fees removed
An arbitrator had awarded AFGE attorney fees and costs after earlier rulings on Social Security Administration employees' overtime pay. The agency challenged one attorney's fee, another attorney's lodging and food expenses during hearings, and expert witness fees. The Authority upheld the attorney…
United States Small Business Administration, Charlotte District Office, Charlotte, North Carolina and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3841
SBA Charlotte office and AFGE Local 3841 (FLRA 0-AR-2583): Five-day suspension upheld
The Small Business Administration suspended a Charlotte loan servicing assistant for five days after finding insubordination and neglect of duty during a bank reporting assignment. An arbitrator found sufficient cause for the suspension and ruled that the agency could consider a reprimand issued…
Sacramento Army Depot and Michael M. Burnett and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1681
Sacramento Army Depot and AFGE Local 1681 (FLRA SF-DR-40050): Decertification petition dismissed
An employee petitioned for an election to remove AFGE Local 1681 as the Sacramento Army Depot employees' exclusive representative. The submitted forms largely asked to replace specific union officers, while another form offered both decertification and officer election options. A regional director…
Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Leavenworth, Kansas and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1765
Leavenworth VA Medical Center and NFFE Local 1765 (FLRA DE-CA-20637): Peer review complaint dismissed
A probationary nurse at the Leavenworth VA Medical Center was denied union representation at a peer review hearing before separation from employment. An administrative law judge found that the denial violated the federal labor statute. On review, the Authority applied its intervening decision about…
Jeanette M. Gould, d/b/a Gould Publications
Exit violations affirmed and poster item vacated
Gould Publications operated a law-book publishing facility with a basement pressroom containing large quantities of paper, ink, and flammable cleaners. The Commission found that a locked door intended as an exit could delay employees escaping a fire even though other routes were available. It also…
Elmont Glass Company, Inc.
Settlement approved, aerial-lift items affirmed at $1,200
Elmont Glass Company, a glazing contractor based on Staten Island, New York, was inspected by OSHA and issued two citations in September 1993. The serious citation alleged failure to conduct regular worksite inspections and two aerial-lift hazards (workers not standing firmly on the basket floor…
Island ADC, Inc.
Four conceded serious violations affirmed, full $3,125 penalty upheld
Island ADC was a construction subcontractor working at a New York City job site. After OSHA inspections in early 1993, the company received one citation with four serious items: an ungrounded electric cutter, a five-foot scaffold without guardrails, unlocked scaffold casters, and a stairway missing…
United States National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area, Agoura Hills, California and Laborers' International Union of North America
Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area and LIUNA (FLRA SF-RO-30074): Election issues accepted for review
A National Park Service representation election at the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area produced a close tally and several challenged ballots. A regional director found that two employees away at training may have been wrongly denied a chance to vote and made the election outcome depend on…
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, San Francisco, California and National Treasury Employees Union
FDIC San Francisco and NTEU (FLRA SF-CU-40006): Administrative assistant remains in union unit
NTEU sought to include an FDIC administrative assistant in its nonprofessional bargaining unit. The agency argued that his timekeeping, payroll, and other personnel-related duties placed him outside the unit or created a conflict of interest. A regional director found that the duties were routine…
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.