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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Broken Hill Mining Co., Inc.
Four citations affirmed and two S&S findings modified
Broken Hill Mining Company contested six citations involving respirable-dust sampling, noise-survey reporting, respirable-dust exposure, and float-coal-dust accumulations. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed all six violations, including the two respirable-dust citations as significant and…
Defense Distribution Region West, Lathrop, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1546, AFL-CIO
Sharpe depot and AFGE Local 1546 (FLRA 9-CA-10523): radio ban reversed
Defense Distribution Region West banned radios and headsets at its Sharpe depot while a question about union representation was pending. Employees had regularly used them before the ban. The Authority held that management had to maintain the established practice during that period unless a change…
Supermason Enterprises
Willful unprotected-trench violation affirmed
Supermason Enterprises installed a sanitary sewer in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, with two workers in an excavation eight to ten feet deep. The ALJ rejected the company's claim that the workers belonged to a subcontractor because the supposed agreement was unsigned, the alleged subcontractor had never…
Modern Sales and Construction Company, Inc., d/b/a MOSACO
Three damaged-cord items affirmed
MOSACO was the general contractor for expansion of an industrial facility in Wilmington, Ohio. OSHA found energized extension cords with insulation cut deeply enough to expose copper conductors, a plug connection without proper strain relief, and a worn section of cord with secondary insulation…
Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C. and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS and NTEU (FLRA 8-CA-80151): steward recognition dispute returned for contract findings
The IRS refused to recognize a union chapter president as a steward after he left agency employment, although it continued to recognize him as chapter president. NTEU charged that this refusal was an unfair labor practice; the IRS argued that their agreement limited steward roles to bargaining unit…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 122 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Office, Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta VA regional office and NFFE Local 122 (FLRA 0-NG-2090): union lobbying time negotiable
NFFE Local 122 proposed reasonable official time for union representatives to contact elected officials about legislation affecting employees' working conditions. The Atlanta VA regional office argued that paid lobbying time was outside the duty to bargain. The Authority held the proposal…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Muskogee, Oklahoma and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2250
Muskogee VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2250 (FLRA 0-AR-2394): police grade award set aside
Three police officers at a VA medical center sought to raise their positions from GS-5 to GS-6. Their union grieved the agency's delayed response to their classification appeals. An arbitrator found the delay violated the agreement, then awarded retroactive GS-6 grades and back pay after evaluating…
Crescent Street Construction Corp.
Fourteen serious items settled for $3,200
Crescent Street Construction received a serious citation containing 15 items with $15,300 in proposed penalties and a separate three-item other-than-serious citation with no penalty. The Secretary withdrew the first serious item. Immediately before the hearing, the parties settled the remaining 14…
Cherry Hill Tune & Lube, Inc.
Citations affirmed after employer failed to appear
OSHA issued Cherry Hill Tune & Lube two citations involving machinery and hazardous chemicals. The company filed a notice of contest, but mail sent to its address was returned after it moved without leaving a forwarding address. A later hearing was postponed at the request of the person who signed…
W. J. Bokus Industries, Inc.
Mixed results on mine jurisdiction and citations
W. J. Bokus Industries operated a sand and gravel mine and related asphalt and materials operations in New York. Judge Avram Weisberger held that MSHA jurisdiction depended on whether the cited equipment and areas were used in extraction, milling, or preparation of minerals. He vacated and…
C G & G Trucking Company
Settlement approved
C G & G Trucking Company was cited for a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 77.1607(a) at the No. 2 Tipple. The parties proposed reducing the penalty from $400 to $100 and recharacterizing the citation as non-significant and substantial. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found the settlement consistent with section…
Valley Camp Coal Company, and Shrewbury Coal Company
Valley Camp Coal Company and Shrewbury Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 91-1949-C): Settlement dismissal approved
The United Mine Workers brought a compensation proceeding on behalf of Gary Price, Billy L. Wilkinson Jr., and similarly situated miners against Valley Camp Coal Company and Shrewbury Coal Company. Judge Avram Weisberger lifted a prior stay after finding that the parties' settlement was a fair…
Woodland Hills Mining Company and Broken Hill Mining Company
Settlement approved
Woodland Hills Mining Company and Broken Hill Mining Company faced civil penalty proceedings under the Mine Act. At the hearing, the parties reported that they had reached settlement agreements and proposed reducing a $486 penalty to $200. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate…
Forrest Electrical Services
Fan, live-wire, and posting items affirmed
Forrest Electrical Services was an electrical subcontractor on a medical-clinic project in Spring, Texas. A temporary foreman brought an inadequately guarded floor fan to the site, where it was available for use in an area employees passed through. The ALJ affirmed the fan item as serious because…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Dust-control plans reinstated after partial contest grant
Jim Walter Resources contested two citations alleging that its No. 3 Mine lacked an approved dust-control plan for longwall and continuous mining operations. A single sample exceeded the 2.0 mg/m3 respirable-dust limit, but later samples were compliant and no repeat violation was shown. Judge…
Kiewit-Atkinson-Kenney
High-voltage tunnel cable approval violation affirmed
Kiewit-Atkinson-Kenney used a 13,800-volt mine power-feeder cable to run a tunnel-boring machine for the North Tunnel System on Deer Island, Massachusetts. The cable traveled along a road and beach, under a street, through a jobsite, and down a shaft containing water. The ALJ held that Mine Safety…
Ramzel-Texas Services, Inc.
Three electrical items affirmed during asbestos work
Ramzel-Texas Services performed asbestos removal at Lubbock High School in Texas. The ALJ rejected its challenge to the inspection because the school principal had control of the occupied school premises and validly consented to OSHA's entry. Two extension cords bypassed the company's GFCI panel…
McCrory Stores and J.J. Newberry Stores
Nationwide fire-safety settlement approved
The Secretary settled four cases involving McCrory and J.J. Newberry retail stores while the companies were operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The agreement reduced the total proposed penalties to a $500,000 general unsecured claim and changed all citation classifications to the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Partial citation and penalty decision
Consolidation Coal operated the Humphrey No. 7 underground coal mine. Judge David F. Barbour approved a $20 settlement for one citation, found violations involving weekly examinations, permissibility, equipment safeguards, ventilation, and accumulations, and modified several citations and an order…
Social Security Administration, Tucson District Office, Tucson, Arizona and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 147, AFL-CIO
Tucson Social Security office and AFGE Council 147 (FLRA SA-CA-20265): work break complaint dismissed
AFGE Council 147 asked the Tucson Social Security office to bargain over extra breaks away from the service counter and rotating more employees to counter work. The office refused, and the union filed an unfair labor practice charge. The Authority said the agency generally must bargain over…
Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, New York, New York and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2094
New York VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2094 (FLRA BY-CA-20638): union denied notice of formal discussion
A VA medical center in New York held a formal discussion with bargaining unit employees without notifying AFGE Local 2094 or giving it a chance to attend. An administrative law judge found that this violated the federal labor statute. The Authority rejected the medical center's exceptions…
Willie F. Moore v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Moore v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 91-1598): retiree hearing-loss award recalculated
Willie Moore, a retired Ingalls Shipbuilding worker, filed a claim for work-related hearing loss. The administrative law judge based compensation on a six percent whole-person impairment and began benefits on the date of a 1987 hearing test. Applying a later Supreme Court decision, the Board held…
Clifford Daugherty v. Johns Creek Elkhorn Coal Corporation and Canada Coal Company
Daugherty v. Johns Creek Elkhorn Coal (BRB 88-3663): Claim dismissal vacated for a hearing
Clifford Daugherty filed a black lung claim in 1983. A judge dismissed it without a hearing, finding that a doctor had told Daugherty in 1977 that pneumoconiosis totally disabled him, which would start a three-year filing period. The Board found that the cited medical report did not say he was…
Prudencio Chavez v. Todd Shipyards Corporation and Aetna Casualty & Surety Company
Chavez v. Todd Shipyards (BRB 86-2456, 86-2456A): third-party offset remanded
Prudencio Chavez had asbestosis and hypertension after working at Todd Shipyards and had filed claims against asbestos manufacturers. The dispute concerned whether the shipyard could offset any future third-party recovery against its Longshore Act benefit liability. After a federal appeals court…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland and American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of Social Security Administration Field Office Locals, Council 220
SSA and AFGE Council 220 (FLRA 5-CA-00495): incentive award bargaining complaint dismissed
An AFGE local asked the Social Security Administration to bargain during an existing agreement over notice of available performance award funds and a reserve for employees whose appraisals were later raised. SSA refused, and the union filed an unfair labor practice charge. The Authority held that…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and U.S. Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Security Force Battalion, Pacific
IFPTE and Navy Marine Corps Security Force Battalion (FLRA 0-NG-2123): Mare Island reduction area proposal rejected
IFPTE proposed a single reduction in force competitive area covering Mare Island commands where it represented employees. The union wanted affected workers in a Marine Corps security unit to have more opportunities to retain employment at other commands. The Authority found the proposal…
Association of Civilian Technicians and U.S. Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, Rhode Island National Guard, Providence, Rhode Island
Civilian Technicians and Rhode Island National Guard (FLRA 0-NG-1813): uniform proposal reconsideration denied
The Rhode Island National Guard asked the Authority to reconsider a ruling that made parts of a union proposal on the number of uniforms supplied to civilian technicians negotiable. It argued that a court's earlier remand required the Authority to invite more submissions before deciding whether the…
National Treasury Employees Union and U.S. Department of the Treasury, Customs Service, Pacific Region
NTEU and Customs Service Pacific Region (FLRA 0-AR-2395): overtime call-out ruling upheld
At the Anacortes port of entry, the Customs Service stopped offering a full-time inspector overtime to process a summer ferry and used intermittent inspectors instead. An arbitrator found that a negotiated assignment directive required the agency to offer the work to an available full-time…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 476
HUD and AFGE Local 476 (FLRA 0-AR-2386): analyst's career ladder promotion upheld
A HUD analyst was hired into a career ladder position with promotion potential to GS-12, but remained at GS-9 after the agency reorganized her office. An arbitrator found HUD had promised to add higher level compliance duties so her career ladder could continue and ordered a retroactive GS-11…
Mid-Continent Resources Inc.
Partial settlement approved and decision amended
Mid-Continent Resources Inc. faced civil penalties for violations at the Dutch Creek Mine. The parties reached a partial settlement and proposed reducing the penalties for three citations from a combined $3,700 to $2,220. Judge John J. Morris approved the settlement, affirmed the three citations…
Westmoreland Coal Company
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Westmoreland Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program later given no legal effect in related Commission…
Sunnyside Coal Company
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Sunnyside Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program that the Commission later held could be given no legal…
Centralia Mining Company
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Centralia Mining Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program later given no legal effect in related Commission…
Windsor Coal Company
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Windsor Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program later given no legal effect in related Commission decisions…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Southern Ohio Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program later given no legal effect in related Commission…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program later given no legal effect in related…
Akzo Salt, Inc.
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Akzo Salt, Inc. asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program that the Commission later held could be given no legal weight or…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
FMC Wyoming Corporation asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program that the Commission later held could be given no legal…
General Chemical Corporation
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
General Chemical Corporation asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program later given no legal effect in related Commission…
Consolidation Coal Company
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Consolidation Coal Company, Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, McElroy Coal Company, and Quarto Mining Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that they had already paid. The petitioners argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an…
Cyprus Empire Corporation
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Cyprus Empire Corporation asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the Secretary had improperly increased the penalties under an interim excessive-history program later given no legal effect in related Commission…
BethEnergy Mines, Inc.
Conveyor-belt citations vacated
BethEnergy's underground Mine No. 60 received a safeguard notice requiring 24-inch clear travelways on both sides of belt conveyors. Inspectors later cited obstructions along the No. 3 and No. 4 belts, but the ALJ vacated the citations after finding that the evidence did not establish the required…
National Treasury Employees Union and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NTEU and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (FLRA 0-NG-2000): salary formula proposal rejected
NTEU proposed a salary formula for Nuclear Regulatory Commission employees tied to price or employment cost indexes, with additional locality and retention payments. The Authority held the proposal nonnegotiable because its retroactive pay requirements would impose a significant, unavoidable cost…
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plum Island Animal Disease Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1940
Plum Island Animal Disease Center and AFGE Local 1940 (FLRA 0-AR-2403): supplemental overtime award set aside
Plum Island Animal Disease Center scheduled employees for ten consecutive workdays across two administrative workweeks. An arbitrator found the schedule violated the parties' agreement and later clarified that every sixth consecutive workday should be paid as overtime. The Authority set aside that…
Peabody Coal Company
Two citations affirmed and one vacated
Peabody Coal Company faced three alleged violations involving its mines, including an allegation that the methane and dust control plan was not followed because air behind a curtain was below the plan's required level while a wet bed scrubber was off. The parties settled two dockets, reducing the…
National Cement Company, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Ronny Boswell claimed that National Cement Company suspended him for reporting faulty lights on a loader and refusing to operate equipment while he believed it was unsafe. Judge Gary Melick found that Boswell engaged in protected activity, but also found that the company would have suspended him…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2004 and Letterkenny Army Depot and Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Distribution Region East
AFGE Local 2004 and Letterkenny Army Depot (FLRA BP-RO-20044): separate unit election may proceed
AFGE Local 2004 petitioned to represent employees in the Air Delivery Division at Letterkenny Army Depot after they were removed from an earlier unit. A regional director found that the division's shared work, location, and supervision supported a separate bargaining unit and ordered an election…
C.W. Mining Company
Citation for operating without an approved roof-control plan affirmed
C.W. Mining operated the Bear Canyon No. 1 underground coal mine in Utah without an approved roof-control plan after MSHA revoked the mine's prior plan during a dispute over revisions. The judge found that the Secretary proved a violation of the requirement to develop and follow an approved…
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company
Motion to reopen penalty assessments denied
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company asked the Commission to reopen uncontested civil penalty assessments that it had already paid. The operator argued that the penalties had been improperly increased under an interim excessive-history program that the Commission had later found could be given no…
Ross v. Shamrock Coal Company, Inc.
Discrimination findings affirmed, backpay issues remanded
Shamrock Coal Company discharged miners Lonnie Ross and Charles Gilbert after workplace safety complaints and a dispute about moving electrical cables at its underground Kentucky coal mine. The Commission affirmed the finding that the miners' protected safety activity contributed to their…
Schenectady Hardware & Electric Co.
Late contest dismissed after missed callback
Schenectady Hardware & Electric received two OSHA citations and proposed penalties on March 20, 1992, making April 10 the last day to contest them. Its vice president requested an informal conference before deciding whether to contest. An OSHA representative called, but the vice president was…
Genstar Stone Products Co.
Seat-belt citation affirmed, S&S finding vacated, penalty reduced
Genstar Stone Products operated a quarry where a haul-truck driver was cited for not wearing a seat belt. The judge found that the driver was not wearing the belt and affirmed the underlying violation. The judge rejected the significant-and-substantial finding because the evidence did not establish…
Valley Camp Coal Company
Ventilation-plan violation affirmed with a $500 penalty
MSHA cited Valley Camp Coal Company after an inspection found that required permanent stoppings were missing between the intake and return air courses at the company's No. 12-A Mine. The company conceded the ventilation-plan violation, but disputed whether its conduct amounted to unwarrantable…
Bethenergy Mines, Inc.
Ventilation violation affirmed with reduced classification and penalty
Bethenergy Mines operated an underground coal mine where an ALJ found that air velocity in a belt entry fell below the minimum required by the mine's ventilation plan. The judge found that the Secretary proved a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.316 based on smoke-tube tests showing air velocity of 26.54…
Kiah Creek Mining Company
Default order vacated and case remanded
Kiah Creek Mining Company failed to answer a proposed civil penalty assessment and an ALJ's order to show cause, so the ALJ entered a default order and assessed the Secretary's proposed $94 penalty. Kiah Creek's mine manager later sent a letter seeking reconsideration and included documents showing…
Cougar Coal Company, Inc.
Default order vacated and case remanded
Cougar Coal Company did not answer a proposed civil penalty assessment or an ALJ's order to show cause, so the ALJ entered a default order and assessed the Secretary's proposed $1,008 penalty. The Commission received a copy of an earlier letter from Cougar disputing the proposed penalty and treated…
Island Creek Coal Company
Settlement approval vacated in part and case remanded
Island Creek Coal Company agreed to withdraw its contest of a withdrawal order and pay an $1,800 penalty as part of a settlement approved by an ALJ. The same order also appeared in another docket, and Island Creek later said that it had mistakenly believed important defense documents were missing…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2128 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Contract Management District South
AFGE Local 2128 and Defense Contract Management District South (FLRA 0-AR-2398): three-day suspension upheld
A Defense Logistics Agency quality assurance specialist received a three-day suspension after defective aircraft indicator wires were shipped without the independent testing or validation assigned to him. An arbitrator found just cause for the suspension and rejected the union's claim of disparate…
S & H Mining, Inc.
Ground-check violation affirmed as S&S and unwarrantable
MSHA found that the locking device on a cable coupler supplying electricity to a coal mine power center had been removed and wedges had been used to hold the coupler in place. The Commission held that the resulting violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.902 was significant and substantial because a ground…
Zeigler Coal Company
Power-connection violation affirmed, S&S finding remanded
MSHA cited Zeigler Coal after inspectors found non-permissible golf-cart power connection points in return air outby the last open crosscut at an underground coal mine. The Commission agreed that, for purposes of 30 C.F.R. § 75.507, air that ventilated any working face could be treated as return…
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.