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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Secretary of Labor v. Pacific Coast Building Products, Inc.
Power circuit penalty reduced
MSHA proposed a $63 penalty against Pacific Coast Building Products for a power circuit violation at its gypsum quarry. At the hearing, the parties agreed that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 55.12-17 and that the last two sentences of the citation should be vacated. They also agreed that the…
Internal Revenue Service Denver District and National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 32
IRS Denver District (FLRA 7-CA-1070): Tax shelter group bargaining complaint dismissed
The IRS Denver District formed a tax shelter specialty group and moved existing work under one supervisor. NTEU alleged that the district refused to bargain over the effects and implementation of the change. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that the district had bargained on one proposal…
Red River Army Depot and National Association of Government Employees Local R14-52
Red River Army Depot (FLRA 6-RO-30007): Proposed combined bargaining unit rejected
NAGE sought an election for a unit combining nonappropriated fund employees at Red River Army Depot with workers at a nearby central payroll office. The payroll office had a separate mission, command, supervision, location, and promotion and reduction-in-force areas. The Authority found that its…
Small Business Administration and American Federation of Government Employees
Small Business Administration (FLRA 3-CU-30033): Four supervisors excluded and three specialists retained
The Small Business Administration sought to clarify whether seven employees belonged in a nationwide AFGE bargaining unit. The Authority excluded four whose independent judgment in assigning and directing work, and in one case recommending awards, made them supervisors. It retained three economists…
AFGE National Council of Field Labor Locals and Department of Labor
AFGE Field Labor Locals and DOL (FLRA O-NG-702): Furlough leave proposal found negotiable
AFGE proposed administrative leave for Department of Labor employees who lost pay during furloughs if supplemental appropriations later passed. The Department argued that personnel guidance, Comptroller General decisions, and appropriations law barred the proposal. The Authority rejected those…
San Antonio Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 1617
San Antonio Air Logistics Center (FLRA O-AR-935): Union exceptions dismissed as late
AFGE Local 1617 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving the San Antonio Air Logistics Center. The award was mailed on January 20, 1985, making February 25 the deadline for filing exceptions. The union filed at the Authority's national office on March 4. The Authority dismissed the…
Federal Aviation Administration and Professional Airways Systems Specialists
FAA and PASS (FLRA 9-CA-30480): Bargaining and vacancy consideration ordered after reorganization
The FAA reorganized its Northwest Mountain Region without bargaining with PASS over the effects and implementation or notifying the union's designated representative. The Authority found both failures unlawful and rejected reliance on bargaining limits in an expired agreement. It ordered bargaining…
U.S. Army Missile Command and AFGE Local 1858
Army Missile Command (FLRA 4-CU-30013, 4-CU-30014): Patriot Project staff added to existing units
The Army asked the Authority to update two bargaining unit certifications after reorganizations and to place Patriot Project Office employees into existing Missile Command units. The Authority found that the professional and nonprofessional Patriot employees shared job duties, personnel services…
Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees
Social Security Administration (FLRA 2-CA-20183): Postage-paid envelope complaint dismissed
AFGE alleged that the Social Security Administration stopped local union officials from using postage-paid government envelopes for labor-management correspondence without bargaining first. The Authority found that the union had not established an accepted past practice: management had not…
Secretary of Labor v. Barrett Fuel Corporation
Settlement of 80 violations approved
The Secretary of Labor and Barrett Fuel Corporation proposed settling 80 alleged violations across 13 civil penalty dockets. The original assessments totaled $28,783, and the parties agreed to half that amount, $14,391.50. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy considered the circumstances, including the…
Emiliano Rosa Cruz v. Puerto Rican Cement Company, Inc.
Back pay and legal fees set
After an earlier finding that Puerto Rican Cement had unlawfully discharged Emiliano Rosa Cruz, Judge James A. Broderick calculated back pay, interest, and legal expenses. He used the company's lower gross back pay calculation and ordered deductions for interim earnings and Cruz's prior pattern of…
NAGE Local R14-87 and Kansas Army National Guard
Kansas Army National Guard (FLRA O-AR-510): Technician compatibility grace period award set aside
The Kansas Army National Guard ended a policy giving civilian technicians six months to obtain a compatible military assignment after a personnel change. An arbitrator ordered the grace period restored temporarily while a related negotiability case was pending. The Authority held that the military…
Secretary of Labor v. Vulcan Materials Company
Truck brake penalty settled at $750
MSHA proposed a $1,000 penalty against Vulcan Materials for inadequate brakes on a truck used at its limestone quarry. The parties agreed to settle the violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.9-3 for $750. Judge Richard C. Steffey reviewed the penalty factors and found a reasonable basis for the reduction…
Secretary of Labor v. Lost Mountain Mining, Inc.
Highwall citation reduced
MSHA cited Lost Mountain Mining for loose material on a highwall at its surface coal mine. Judge Richard C. Steffey upheld the violation of 30 C.F.R. § 77.1001 after considering the inspectors' observations and the company's contrary evidence. He found that the record did not establish a reasonable…
IRS Memphis Service Center and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS Memphis Service Center (FLRA 4-CA-20050): Direct grievance settlement approach found unlawful
An IRS Memphis employee filed a grievance through NTEU over alleged harassment, training, and evaluations. While the union represented her in that process, an IRS official tried to resolve the grievance by dealing directly with her husband. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that this…
Nancy S. Bowen v. Pond Creek Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after no response
Nancy S. Bowen brought a discrimination complaint against Pond Creek Mining Company. Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Merlin twice ordered her to explain why the complaint should not be dismissed for failure to provide requested information. The response periods expired without a reply. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Cotter Corporation
Working alone citation affirmed by judge, later vacated
At Cotter's underground uranium mine, an MSHA inspector saw a miner operating a jackleg drill alone in a stope where coworkers could neither see nor hear him. MSHA cited Cotter under 30 C.F.R. § 57.18-25 and proposed a $180 penalty. Judge John A. Carlson found that drilling created hazardous…
United Mine Workers of America on behalf of Harry Porter v. Emerald Mines Corporation
Overtime discrimination complaint dismissed
Miner Harry Porter asked for a preshift examination of his work area at Emerald Mines' No. 1 mine and later lost an hour of overtime work worth $20.14. Judge James A. Broderick found that the safety request was protected activity and that losing even a small amount of overtime was adverse action…
Jesse J. Bragg v. Big Oak Coal Corporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed after no response
Jesse J. Bragg brought a discrimination complaint against Big Oak Coal Corporation. Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Merlin had twice ordered Bragg to explain why the complaint should not be dismissed for failure to provide requested information. The response periods expired without a reply from…
Social Security Administration Charlotte District and AFGE Local 3509
SSA Charlotte District (FLRA O-AR-418): Reassignment remedy removed from award
An arbitrator ordered the Charlotte Social Security office to return an employee to a claims representative trainee position after a reassignment to service representative. The Authority found that the award interfered with management's statutory right to assign employees. Unlike an enforceable…
Consolidation Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor
Three refuse-pile citations affirmed
MSHA cited Consolidation Coal for three conditions at the Buckeye Preparation Plant's refuse pile: inadequate compaction, erosion and slope problems, and a fire. Consol argued that it no longer owned or controlled the pile after selling the facility to Riverside, even though it had reacquired the…
Matter of Acosta
Asylum and withholding appeal dismissed
The respondent, a Salvadoran taxi cooperative manager, conceded deportability after entering the United States without inspection and sought asylum and withholding of deportation to El Salvador. He described threats and violence against COTAXI members after the cooperative refused guerrilla demands…
Marion L. Adams v. J.L. Owens III, Contracting, also known as Eastern Aggregates, Inc.
Marion L. Adams v. J.L. Owens III, Contracting (FMSHRC YORK 84-15-DM): Safety complaint found to cause discharge
Marion L. Adams complained about temporary electrical wiring at the company's sand and gravel plant and threatened to call MSHA. The owner fired him after learning of the complaint. Judge Paul Merlin found that Adams reasonably believed the wiring was hazardous and that his complaint was protected…
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation and AFGE Local 3313
Transportation Secretary's Office (FLRA O-AR-608): Promotion remedy changed to priority consideration
A downgraded Transportation Department employee was denied a grade 14 position despite eligibility for priority placement. An arbitrator ordered his appointment with backpay and benefits. The Authority found that the arbitrator had not established that the employee would have been selected but for…
U.S. Customs Service Laredo and National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 145
Customs Service Laredo (FLRA O-AR-544): Shift-exchange award set aside
Customs denied two female inspectors' requests to exchange shifts with male inspectors because the resulting shifts would have no female inspector available for personal searches of female suspects. An arbitrator ordered the exchanges allowed, reasoning that other staffing options could cover those…
Bureau of the Mint Denver and AFGE Mint Council
Denver Mint (FLRA O-AR-481): Night differential award set aside
The Denver Mint moved an employee from the third shift after his brother became that shift's supervisor. The employee lost night differential pay, and an arbitrator awarded a three percent differential based on a seniority provision. The Authority held that federal law authorized night differential…
Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center and NFFE Local 1827
Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center (FLRA 57-CA-20231): Reprimand during grievance meeting upheld
A Defense Mapping Agency employee received a reprimand after repeating abusive language toward a former supervisor during a private meeting about her grievance. The union alleged that the reprimand interfered with protected grievance activity. The Authority adopted the judge's conclusion that…
U.S. Department of Justice and American Federation of Government Employees
Department of Justice (FLRA 3-UC-17): Consolidated AFGE unit petition dismissed
AFGE sought to combine 11 bargaining units across several Justice Department components, including prisons, immigration, marshals, and other offices. The Authority found that employees' missions, job duties, working conditions, and personnel management differed too much to form a clear community of…
U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command and NFFE Local 476
Army Materiel Command (FLRA 3-CA-30280): Agency review of impasse provision allowed
The Army rejected a collective bargaining provision, imposed through the Federal Service Impasses Panel, that would give employees 60 days' notice of a proposed performance action. The union alleged that the Panel order barred agency-head review of the provision. The Authority held that the statute…
National Labor Relations Board and National Labor Relations Board Union
National Labor Relations Board (FLRA 3-CA-20604): Performance plan complaint dismissed
The National Labor Relations Board gave an employee a performance improvement plan describing job deficiencies by reference to critical elements. Its union argued that this was a new practice requiring advance bargaining, and an administrative law judge agreed. The Authority reversed that…
Secretary of Labor v. Western Rock Products Corporation
Nine electrical citations settled for $3,500
MSHA charged Western Rock Products with nine violations of electrical safety standards at its Delta Pit. At the hearing, the Secretary reported that the parties had settled. The proposed agreement kept the assessed amounts for all nine citations. Judge John J. Morris approved the settlement…
Secretary of Labor v. Western Rock Products Corporation
Single citation settled for $20
MSHA charged Western Rock Products with a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.20-8(a) at its Delta Pit. The Secretary originally proposed a $20 penalty. At the hearing, the Secretary told Judge John J. Morris that Western Rock had agreed to pay that amount. The judge approved the settlement, affirmed…
Secretary of Labor v. Western Rock Products Corporation
Ten citations settled for $380
MSHA charged Western Rock Products with ten safety violations at its Delta Pit. At the hearing, the Secretary told Judge John J. Morris that the parties had settled. The Secretary said the original assessments on four citations had failed to give full credit for Western Rock's prior history and…
Secretary of Labor v. Western Rock Products Corporation
Five citations settled for $600
MSHA charged Western Rock Products with five safety violations at its Sorenson Pit. At the hearing, the Secretary reported that the parties had agreed to settle. The Secretary said the original penalty assessments had not given full credit for the company's prior history and proposed reducing all…
Secretary of Labor v. Anthony T. Hare
Agent's loader-brake penalties settled for $300
MSHA charged Anthony T. Hare, an agent of Gall Silica Mining Company, with knowingly authorizing, ordering, or carrying out two violations involving front-end loaders without brakes. The alleged violations concerned 30 C.F.R. § 56.9-3 at the company's No. 2 Mine and Plant. The parties proposed $300…
Secretary of Labor v. Specialty Sand Company, Inc.
Penalty settled at $2,850
Specialty Sand Company and MSHA settled a civil penalty case involving the Deweyville Dredge & Plant at the start of the hearing. The parties explained that a misunderstanding about the hearing notice and changes in the government attorneys handling the matter had delayed their agreement. The…
PPG Industries, Inc., Industrial Chemical Division
Undercharged SCBA item reduced to de minimis
PPG kept self-contained breathing apparatuses for trained employees performing shutdown or repair work during chemical leaks and other emergencies. OSHA found six cylinders charged to 1,850 or 1,900 psi instead of the manufacturer’s full-charge specification of 2,015 psi plus a permitted…
Mobay Chemical Corporation
Undercharged breathing-apparatus citation remains vacated
Mobay manufactured chemicals and maintained self-contained breathing apparatuses throughout a plant that used highly toxic substances. OSHA found four departmental units that were not fully charged and proposed a $350 serious penalty, although the rescue-team units and employees’ escape respirators…
National Treasury Employees Union and U.S. Customs Service
Customs Service (FLRA O-AR-601): Performance appraisal award set aside
A Customs Service employee challenged a performance appraisal that counted refusals of overtime work. The arbitrator found that appraisal element unreasonable under the union's agreement and ordered the employee's overall rating raised to outstanding. The Authority held that the agreement provision…
Robert Simpson v. Kenta Energy, Inc. and Roy Dan Jackson
Individual liability and discrimination relief ordered
After an earlier ruling that miner Robert Simpson had been discharged for protected activity, Judge James A. Broderick considered who was responsible and what relief was due. He found that Roy Dan Jackson operated the Black Joe No. 1 Mine and personally discharged Simpson, making him responsible…
Indiana Air National Guard and AFGE Locals 3029 and 3098
Indiana Air National Guard (FLRA 5-CA-1202 and 5-CA-1262): Uniform complaints dismissed, other impasse order enforced
Two AFGE locals alleged that the Indiana Air National Guard refused to follow Federal Service Impasses Panel orders on contract terms for Guard technicians. An administrative law judge found violations in both cases. The Authority disagreed as to the provisions involving military uniforms: it held…
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Portsmouth Federal Employees Metal Trades Council
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (FLRA 1-CA-854): Environmental differential pay ordered restored
An arbitrator ordered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to pay an eight percent environmental differential to employees in Building 60's rubber molding and curing area. The shipyard stopped the payments in July 1981. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that this failure to continue implementing the…
Secretary of Labor v. United States Borax and Chemical Corporation and Alfred E. French
Electrical accident cases settled
A miner at U.S. Borax's Boron Mill contacted a bare power conductor while cleaning a transformer, suffered critical electrical burns, and died five days later. MSHA alleged that U.S. Borax violated the rule requiring circuits to be deenergized before work and that electrical foreman Alfred E…
Secretary of Labor v. Mitch Coal Co., Inc.
Five proposed penalties imposed after missed hearing
Mitch Coal did not appear at the hearing on five alleged safety violations at its No. 4E Mine. In response to a show-cause order, the company said its representative had forgotten the hearing date while trying to restore a lost mining permit. Judge Richard C. Steffey found that explanation…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Loose-roof violation upheld with $2,000 penalty
An MSHA inspector found loose roof material, cracks, and several broken roof-bolt heads in a track entry at Jim Walter Resources' No. 4 Mine. Jim Walter argued that the roof material was ordinary "scale" and that horizontal stress explained the broken bolts. Judge William Fauver found that material…
Austin Engineering Company, Inc.
Crane and trenching violations affirmed
Austin Engineering installed a water main in a deep trench using a truck crane. The Commission reversed the judge and found a nonserious fire-extinguisher violation because extinguishers on pickup trucks about 100 feet away were not available at the crane cab as the standard required; it assessed…
IBEW Local GCC 1 and Department of Energy
Late contract disapproval leaves no negotiability dispute
IBEW Local GCC 1 and local Department of Energy officials signed a collective bargaining agreement and sent it for agency head review. The agency later disapproved several provisions, and the union sought a negotiability ruling. The Authority found that the disapproval came more than 30 days after…
AFGE Local 2303 and Metropolitan Washington Airports, FAA
AFGE Local 2303 and FAA Airports (FLRA O-NG-1064): Negotiability appeal filed too late
AFGE Local 2303 sought to bargain with the FAA's Metropolitan Washington Airports over employees' duty posts and compensation or travel expenses for details and reassignments. The FAA declared the proposals nonnegotiable on August 31, 1984. The union continued bargaining and later requested a…
Matter of Rodriguez-Coto
Particularly serious crime barred withholding claim
The applicant, who had been convicted of armed robbery in California, was found excludable and had previously been denied asylum and withholding of deportation. He moved to reopen the exclusion proceedings based on new evidence concerning a claimed fear of persecution related to membership in the…
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 1931 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Weapons Station Concord, California
AFGE Local 1931 and Navy Weapons Station Concord (FLRA O-NG-1103): Late negotiability petition dismissed
AFGE Local 1931 asked the Authority to review the Navy Weapons Station's claim that a proposal was outside its duty to bargain. The station mailed its allegation of nonnegotiability on January 3, 1985. Under the filing rules then in effect, the union's petition had to reach the Authority by January…
Secretary of Labor v. WRW Corporation
Mine safety penalties total $90,350
Two miners died from carbon monoxide exposure at WRW Corporation's No. 1 Mine after blasting and inadequate ventilation. MSHA cited numerous safety violations, and WRW acknowledged the cited conditions but argued that a contractor, rather than WRW, operated the mine. Judge Gary Melick found that…
Local Union 8454, District 17, United Mine Workers of America v. Pine Tree Coal Company and Buffalo Mining Company
Local Union 8454 v. Pine Tree Coal Company and Buffalo Mining Company (FMSHRC WEVA 84-65-C): Both operators owe idled miners' compensation
Miners at Pine Tree Coal Company's No. 5 Mine were idled when MSHA ordered a withdrawal after mining reached an active gas well missing from the mine map. The United Mine Workers sought compensation for their lost work time from Pine Tree and Buffalo Mining Company. Judge James A. Broderick held…
Secretary of Labor v. Fair Chance Mines, Inc.
Four penalties imposed after missed hearing
Fair Chance Mines did not appear at its scheduled civil penalty hearing. Judge John A. Carlson allowed the Secretary to present an inspector's testimony and photographs, then sent the operator an order giving it a chance to explain its absence. The response period passed without a filing. The judge…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of Social Security Administration Field Operations Locals and Social Security Administration, Office of Field Operations, Baltimore, Maryland
AFGE and Social Security Administration (FLRA O-NG-629): Debt collection center proposals outside bargaining duty
The Social Security Administration planned to staff debt collection centers by detailing employees, and the union proposed terms for those assignments. The Authority held that proposals 1, 3, and 5 applied to employees outside the union's bargaining unit, so the agency had no duty to bargain over…
Monument Mining Corporation v. Secretary of Labor
Five order contests dismissed
Monument Mining Corporation contested five MSHA orders involving its No. 1 Surface Mine. Judge George A. Koutras repeatedly ordered the company to identify its representative and say whether it wished to continue the contests. Monument Mining did not respond, and certified mailings were returned…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Samuel E. Griffith v. Bowman Coal Company, Inc.
Back pay and penalty set after discrimination finding
Judge James A. Broderick had found in an earlier decision that Bowman Coal discharged miner Samuel E. Griffith for activity protected by the Mine Act. He then asked for a back-pay calculation, which the Secretary submitted without a response from Bowman Coal. In this order, the judge required the…
Secretary of Labor v. Old Ben Coal Company
Paid penalty ends citation contest
MSHA cited Old Ben Coal Company for using a crane to hoist miners with an inoperable overwind device. Old Ben contested the alleged violation, but later paid the proposed $192 penalty and described its payment as full settlement of the violation. The Commission held that an operator cannot continue…
John C. Gross v. Leeco, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed as late
Leeco discharged truck driver John C. Gross after his truck struck a belt structure. Gross later filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint with MSHA about ten months after the discharge, beyond the 60-day filing period. He said he did not know the deadline or where to file and had limited money and…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Coal Company
$241 penalty settlement approved
Peabody Coal Company and the Secretary of Labor asked the judge to approve a settlement in a civil penalty case involving the Power Surface Mine. The agreed $241 penalty matched the amount initially assessed. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy said he independently reviewed the record and found the settlement…
Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 3615
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 3615 (FLRA O-AR-596): Changed appraisals moot agency exceptions
An arbitrator ordered the Social Security Administration's Office of Hearings and Appeals to stop using one performance appraisal element and change how it assessed another. The office filed exceptions, but then changed the elements and standards involved while those exceptions were pending. The…
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.