Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Cemex California Cement, LLC
Final penalty assessment reopened and remanded
Cemex California Cement asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for…
ASARCO LLC
Final penalty assessments reopened and remanded
ASARCO asked the Commission to reopen two proposed penalty assessments that had become final orders after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the requests. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened both assessments and remanded them for proceedings on…
Milestone Materials Division/Mathy Construction Company
Final penalty assessment reopened and remanded
Milestone Materials Division/Mathy Construction Company asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Thurman Wayne Pruitt v. Grand Eagle Mining, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement granted after safety complaints
Thurman Wayne Pruitt reported a large diesel-fuel spill to MSHA and later raised concerns about unsafe mobile equipment and missing truck lights before Grand Eagle Mining discharged him. Grand Eagle relied on Pruitt's admitted safety violations, including working without lockout and fall…
CAM Mining, LLC
Final penalty assessment reopened and remanded
CAM Mining asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for proceedings on the…
Matter of Roberto Carlos BUSTAMANTE
A section 212(h) waiver cannot overcome the cancellation bar
The Board reviewed a Mexican national's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him removable and denied cancellation of removal. The respondent had been convicted in Florida of possessing not more than 20 grams of marijuana, an offense treated as a controlled-substance offense under the…
Cranesville Aggregate Companies, Inc., d/b/a Scotia Bag Plant; and Cranesville Block Company, Inc.
Discovery orders narrowed and cases resumed
Cranesville sought internal OSHA memoranda and depositions of three Mine Safety and Health Administration employees to support a jurisdictional defense. The Commission held that two OSHA memoranda were protected in full by the work-product privilege and should not have been disclosed, even in…
LaFarge North America, Inc.
Defaults and dismissals vacated after timely answer
A chief judge dismissed two LaFarge North America contest proceedings and allowed the related penalty case to enter default because the Commission file did not show an answer. LaFarge produced a copy of its answer and a signed certificate of service showing that counsel had sent it within 30 days…
Black Beauty Coal Company
Dust citation reduced, two safety citations vacated, and settlements approved
Black Beauty Coal contested three citations at its underground Air Quality mine and settled the other 31 violations in the docket. Judge Margaret A. Miller vacated a roof-control-plan citation because credible testimony showed that a continuous miner's pump motor was off before the operator entered…
Matter of Ronald S. SALOMON
Six-month suspension for wide-ranging misconduct
The Board reviewed reciprocal discipline against an immigration attorney who had been disciplined in New York and by the Second Circuit for neglecting client matters, missing deadlines, making false statements, and other misconduct. The Board also found that he violated an immediate suspension…
Omya California
Penalty and contest proceedings reinstated
Omya California asked the Commission to reopen a final penalty assessment for Citation No. 8560265, and the Secretary did not oppose relief. While that request was pending, a chief judge dismissed Omya's related contest because the penalty assessment had not yet been reopened. The Commission held…
Delek Refining, LTD.
Third-party report privilege requires in-camera review
After a refinery explosion and fire, OSHA issued process-safety citations and subpoenaed a draft technical report prepared by an outside consultant. Delek claimed the report was protected by attorney-client privilege, but the judge denied its motion to quash without reviewing the document. The…
Conshor Mining, LLC
Briefing ordered on repeated flagrant violation test
Conshor Mining contested three withdrawal orders alleging violations of its approved roof control plan at Mine No. 1. The Secretary sought enhanced penalties totaling $328,000 by treating the violations as repeated flagrant violations based on two earlier unwarrantable violations of the same…
Central Building & Preservation
Unprotected 200-foot roof edge results in serious citation
A foreman and laborer worked inches from the edge of a Chicago building about 200 feet above the ground with their harnesses unattached. OSHA personnel observed and photographed the condition from an office across the street. The foreman's participation established employer knowledge, and the…
John Richards Construction
Reopening request dismissed as moot
John Richards Construction asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that it believed may have become a final order. The Secretary reviewed the records and reported that the company had timely contested the assessment. Because the assessment never became a final Commission order…
Revelation Energy, LLC
Flyrock event supported accident-control order
A blast at Revelation Energy's surface mine sent a rock about six feet in diameter and weighing about two tons through a residential yard and into a creek near a road. No one was injured. MSHA issued a section 103(k) order to protect people on and off the mine site, and Revelation argued that the…
Matter of Armando RUIZ-LOPEZ
Eluding police is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed the appeal of a Mexican national who had been ordered removed after a Washington conviction for attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. The Board held that driving with wanton or willful disregard for the lives or property of others while eluding police is categorically a…
Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc.
Work-related elbow illness should have been recorded
A Caterpillar employee developed epicondylitis while repeatedly scanning and handling parts in a distribution facility. The condition led to work restrictions, time away from work, reassignment, and medical treatment. The judge found the company's same-day ergonomic review deficient because it…
Nuco International, Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
Nuco International asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after it was not timely contested. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission found the circumstances sufficient to reopen the matter, using the relief principles in Federal Rule of Civil…
Overton Sand & Gravel Company
Reopening denied without prejudice
Overton Sand & Gravel missed the deadline to contest a penalty assessment after requesting a conference about the underlying citations. The company said it misunderstood the process and that a personnel transfer disrupted handling of MSHA mail, while the Secretary emphasized that MSHA had clearly…
Dandelion Inn
Late contests dismissed and citations left final
OSHA issued Dandelion Inn two sets of citations with combined proposed penalties of $4,450. The hotel filed its notices of contest months after the applicable 15-working-day deadlines. It argued that confusion, abatement submissions, staff changes, unreturned calls, and the informal-conference…
Matter of Hieu Trung LE
K-2 child's age fixed at admission for adjustment
The Board reviewed the appeal of a Vietnamese national who entered the United States on a K-2 visa as the derivative child of a K-1 fiancé(e) visa holder. The respondent was 19 when admitted but had turned 21 by the time his adjustment application was adjudicated. The Board held that a K-2…
Ultra Commercial Interiors, Inc.
Unsecured and unmarked floor-cover violations affirmed
An Ultra Commercial Interiors foreman stepped on an unsecured plywood board that covered a floor opening and fell 16 feet, sustaining serious knee and ankle injuries. The cover was neither secured nor marked as a hole or cover. The judge found constructive knowledge because company supervisors knew…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Truck-scale guardrail citation vacated
MSHA cited Lakeview Rock Products because six elevated truck scales had eight-inch rub rails rather than rails reaching the 20-to-24-inch mid-axle height of trucks using them. The trucks were required to stop before entering and idle across the scales, and Lakeview submitted videos showing a truck…
Chicago Bridge & Iron
Crane swing-radius barricade violation affirmed
Chicago Bridge used a crane with a broken swing-radius barricade while constructing a water tower. A walkway to the job trailer passed through the crane's danger zone, and employees worked nearby while cylinders were moved. The judge found employee access reasonably predictable even apart from…
M.C. Dean, Inc.
Unguarded skylight violation affirmed after fatal fall
An M.C. Dean electrician went onto a warehouse roof to inspect exhaust fans and fell through an unguarded skylight nearly 26 feet to the floor. He died from his injuries two weeks later. The judge found constructive knowledge because the onsite field supervisor failed to inspect the unfamiliar…
Black Beauty Coal Company
Dust, ventilation, belt, and safeguard violations largely upheld
Black Beauty Coal contested 15 violations at its underground Air Quality #1 mine and settled the remaining violations in two dockets. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed an S&S respirable-dust overexposure but reduced negligence to moderate and assessed $20,000. She also upheld violations involving…
Black Beauty Coal Company
Belt hazards upheld, examination and roof-plan citations vacated
Black Beauty Coal contested seven violations at its underground Air Quality #1 mine and settled the remaining violations in three dockets. Judge Margaret A. Miller upheld two unwarrantable belt-accumulation orders and assessed $70,000 for each because combustible material was running in or near…
Modern Building Solutions, LLC
Steep-roof fall violation affirmed at church project
A Modern Building Solutions worker replaced missing roof-sheathing nails and removed boards on an 8-in-12 church roof without conventional fall protection. The judge found the church was a commercial project, so the alternative residential-construction provision did not apply. The inspection…
Framers R Us, Inc.
Ladder violations affirmed and repeat fall item vacated
Framers R Us employees used a closed A-frame ladder as the only access to the third level of a motel construction project. The judge held the company responsible even though it did not own or place the ladder because its employees used it and the company took no alternative protective steps. The…
Small Mine Development
Fall-protection violation upheld, unwarrantable failure removed
Two miners, including project superintendent John Boltz, worked without fall protection on top of an approximately eight-foot-eight-inch-high shipping container at the underground Midas gold mine. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews found that the unguarded edge, ladder access, movement required to secure…
Knife River Corporation, Northwest
Platform and structural-defect violations upheld with modifications
Knife River contested safety actions at its Reed Pit sand-and-gravel mine involving a dock, two work boats, a damaged tunnel beneath a surge pile, a deteriorated barrier wall, and compliance with a withdrawal order. Judge Alan G. Paez held that the dock and work boats were working platforms that…
State of Alaska, Department of Transportation
Mobile sand screener held subject to MSHA jurisdiction
The Alaska Department of Transportation used a portable screener to separate beach sand by size for traction control on the Nome airport runway. It argued that the screener was outside MSHA jurisdiction because it was mobile, was not attached to a registered extraction site, and qualified for the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Charles Scott Howard v. Cumberland River Coal Company
Immediate temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for miner Charles Scott Howard while MSHA investigated his discrimination complaint against Cumberland River Coal. Cumberland received the application by fax on May 27, 2011, but did not request a hearing until June 13. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick held…
Summer & Winter Contruction, LLC
Roofing safety violations yield $89,000 in penalties
OSHA inspected Summer & Winter roofing crews at two New Hampshire sites and found extensive fall-protection and related safety violations. At the first site, workers used body belts, shared anchors, worked beneath a raised lift, used a damaged ladder, and accessed a steep roof without compliant…
Kembel Sand & Gravel
Reopening request dismissed as moot
Kembel Sand & Gravel asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment involving two other dockets. In one docket, the operator had timely contested the assessment and the case was already proceeding before the Chief Administrative Law Judge after a show-cause response. In the other, the parties…
Matter of N-C-M-
TPS child status measured at initial registration
The Board reviewed an El Salvadoran respondent's appeal involving asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, and late initial registration for Temporary Protected Status. It upheld the denial of the asylum-related claims because the evidence did not establish a…
Spartan Mining Company
Prompt reopening request granted
Spartan Mining missed the deadline to contest a proposed penalty assessment after it was delivered to a temporary receptionist during the holidays and did not enter the parent company's internal handling process. MSHA also had an acknowledged understanding that assessments for the parent company's…
Mammoth Coal Company
Nearly one-year reopening delay was too long
Mammoth Coal asked the Commission to reopen a final penalty assessment containing violations it said it intended to contest. The company attributed the missed contest to a new in-house handling procedure and uncertainty over whether its safety director sent the assessment to the legal department…
D. Holcomb & Co.
Quarry citations largely upheld with reduced penalties
D. Holcomb & Co. operated a small sand and gravel quarry with four workers when MSHA issued 17 citations involving fall protection, ladders, machine guarding, electrical conditions, access, and lockout procedures. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated three citations and affirmed or modified the…
Calico Coal, Inc.
Reopening request denied as moot
Calico Coal asked the Commission to reopen civil penalty matters in two dockets. The Commission issued a show-cause order because Calico appeared to have paid the penalties, which would make the reopening request moot. Calico did not respond within the 30-day period set by the order. The Commission…
Robert Coleman, Employed by Carmeuse Lime and Stone
Penalty case remanded because Coleman lacked notice
MSHA proposed an individual civil penalty against Robert Coleman under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. The assessment was delivered to the mine and signed for by another employee, but Coleman said he never received it and first learned of the penalty through a delinquency notice. The Commission…
MRM Mining, Inc.
Reopening request denied without prejudice
MRM Mining asked the Commission to reopen a final penalty assessment covering 15 citations. The assessment and later notices were returned undelivered after the company changed from a physical mailing address to a post office box. The Commission found that MRM had not adequately explained when it…
Matter of N-M-
Anticorruption retaliation requires nexus proof
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of asylum and withholding of removal to a Colombian respondent who had resisted corruption at a state-run medical agency and later received threats against herself and her son. The Board held that…
Johnco Material, Inc.
Equipment inspection violations affirmed
Johnco Materials admitted three equipment-safety violations and disputed only the proposed penalties. The violations involved damaged pressure gauges on an oxygen and acetylene torch, failure to inspect a service truck before use, and a nonworking backup alarm on a bulldozer. Johnco argued that…
Penn National Gaming, Inc. et al.
In re Penn National Gaming, Inc. et al. (EAB RCRA (3008) 11-01(C)): Consent Agreement approved
Penn National Gaming, Inc. and its casino subsidiaries were respondents in an RCRA matter. The parties consented to entry of a Final Order and agreed to comply with a Consent Agreement signed on May 9 and May 18, 2011. The Board approved and incorporated the agreement under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b) and…
Excel Mining LLC
Unsupported roof violation affirmed
Excel Mining contested a citation alleging that a 70-foot section of mine roof was not adequately supported against falling draw-rock. The area showed loose and fallen rock, stressed roof-bolt plates, compressed crib wedges, and an uneven roof, and a mine examiner traveled through it weekly. Judge…
Southern Crushed Concrete
OSHA citations vacated because MSHA had jurisdiction
Southern Crushed Concrete operated an integrated sand-dredging and processing facility in Texas. OSHA cited conditions at a pug mill where dried sand was mixed with a small amount of cement to produce stabilized sand. The judge found that the pug mill was technologically and geographically…
Oak Grove Resources LLC
Renewed reopening request denied with prejudice
Oak Grove Resources renewed a request to reopen penalties covering 80 citations and orders after an earlier denial without prejudice. The company again attributed its failure to contest 27 penalties to miscommunication between its safety director and counsel. The Commission found that explanation…
Heldeberg Bluestone & Marble Inc.
Eye-protection violation affirmed as unwarrantable
An MSHA inspector saw a miner splitting bluestone with a sledge hammer and wedge without wearing safety glasses while the quarry foreman watched nearby. The same miner had been cited for failing to wear eye protection two weeks earlier, and the foreman knew of other similar instances. Judge George…
Absmeier Landscaping and Construction, LLC
Operator ordered to address whether paid penalty mooted reopening request
Absmeier Landscaping and Construction asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order. The Secretary opposed the request. The Commission's review of MSHA's online records indicated that Absmeier had paid the penalty for the citation at issue. Because neither party…
Matter of E-R-M- & L-R-M-
DHS may place arriving aliens in section 240 proceedings
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against two Cuban nationals on the ground that they should have been placed in expedited removal proceedings. The Board held that DHS may exercise prosecutorial discretion to place arriving aliens in regular…
Shamokin Filler Company, Inc.
Interlocutory review of mine-jurisdiction ruling denied
Shamokin Filler Company sought immediate Commission review of an administrative law judge's ruling that its carbon plant was subject to MSHA jurisdiction. The Commission had previously rejected a petition for discretionary review because the judge had not yet decided the alleged violations and…
Ben Hur Construction Company
Partial EAJA fee award granted after citations were vacated
Ben Hur Construction prevailed after OSHA withdrew or the judge vacated citations arising from a fatal crane-disassembly accident. The company then sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge found the Secretary substantially justified in pursuing the…
Matter of Ruth R. ECHEVERRIA
Late TPS registrants must meet initial requirements
The Board reviewed an Argentine respondent's appeal from the denial of her late initial Temporary Protected Status application and her removal order. She sought TPS as the spouse of an El Salvadoran TPS beneficiary, but she was not herself a national of a country designated for TPS. The Board held…
Con-Agg of MO, LLC
Reopening request denied without prejudice for insufficient explanation
Con-Agg of MO asked the Commission to reopen an assessment for six citations after it became a final order. Con-Agg said it first had constructive notice in November 2010, but MSHA records showed that Federal Express delivered the proposed assessment on September 7, 2010. The operator did not…
B&J Excavating, Incorporated
Haul-road dust citation settled at $2,000
MSHA cited B&J Excavating for failing to control dust that reduced visibility on quarry haul roads. The citation alleged a significant and substantial violation and unwarrantable failure, with a proposed penalty of $3,689. B&J said it scraped the road, applied clean stone, and reduced the speed…
GMS Mine Repair & Maintenance
Discharged miner granted temporary reinstatement
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Louie Albert Rocchetti, a GMS laborer who alleged that he was discharged after trying to report a work injury. Rocchetti testified that he repeatedly sought an accident-report form and contacted several managers, but never received a form or a copy…
American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (Star Bright Plating Site)
In re American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 10-02): reimbursement denied
American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. sought reimbursement of about $200,000 plus interest for cleanup costs at the Star Bright Plating facility in Oregon. The company argued that emails and oral communications from an EPA Assistant Regional Counsel amounted to a CERCLA section 106(a) order. The…
Speed Mining, LLC
Reopening request denied for lack of detail
Speed Mining asked to reopen an assessment covering three citations after its contest form was not filed. The company attributed the default to a clerical error and said the form had been misplaced. The Secretary opposed reopening because that explanation was conclusory and lacked sufficient…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, 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.