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 (MSHA) v. Energy Coal Corporation
$460 settlement approved after alarm penalties raised
The parties sought to settle five violations at Energy Coal's No. 14 Mine. The judge had rejected their original $148 proposal because it gave too little weight to two backup alarm violations. He reasoned that a functioning alarm protects workers from foreseeable contact with mobile equipment even…
Illinois Nurses Association and Veterans Administration
VA nurses' negotiability petition dismissed as late
The Veterans Administration disapproved provisions of a locally negotiated agreement during agency head review. The disapproval was mailed February 25, 1983, making March 21 the deadline for the nurses' union to petition the Authority. The union filed March 28. The Authority dismissed the petition…
Overseas Education Association and Department of Defense Dependents Schools
Teachers' certification dispute dismissed from negotiability review
The teachers' union petitioned over seven proposals concerning the Defense Department schools' certification program. The agency said it had withdrawn the proposed program change, while the union claimed some parts had already been implemented. The Authority found that the actual dispute was…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1770 and Department of the Army, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg arbitration exceptions dismissed as late
The union sought review of an arbitration award involving the Army at Fort Bragg. The award was dated March 11, 1983, making April 11 the last day for the Authority to receive exceptions. The union filed on April 12. The Authority dismissed the exceptions as untimely without reaching the award's…
U.S. Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1482
Marine Corps performance grievance award upheld
A Marine Corps employee challenged unsatisfactory performance ratings. The arbitrator denied the grievance because it had not been processed on time, though he also commented on the ratings. The union's exceptions attacked only those comments and did not identify a defect in the ruling denying the…
Department of Defense Dependents Schools and Overseas Education Association
National level school bargaining award upheld
An arbitrator interpreted the Defense Department schools' agreement to permit bargaining with the teachers' union only at the national level, with lower level discussions treated as deliberations. The union argued that the arbitrator framed the issue too narrowly and that law or the agreement…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. White Pine Copper Division, Copper Range Company
Roof support violation affirmed on narrower grounds
White Pine Copper mined a demonstration drift under sandstone roof without uniform roof bolting, using support only as it considered necessary. MSHA cited the company after an inspector heard popping and snapping in the unsupported roof and observed loose material that had fallen. The Commission…
United Mine Workers of America v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA)
Miners cannot initiate a contest of an MSHA citation
An MSHA inspector cited Garland Coal & Mining Company after observing explosives carried in a truck to a blasting area. The United Mine Workers of America sought to add an unwarrantable failure finding to the citation. The Commission affirmed the dismissal of the union's contest, holding that the…
Matter of Martinez
Cuban law supported visa petition approval
The petitioner, a United States citizen residing in Florida, sought preference status for his married daughter, a Cuban citizen born out of wedlock. The District Director denied the visa petition because the beneficiary was born before Cuba's 1975 Family Code and her parents never married. The…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) on behalf of Gerald D. Boone v. Rebel Coal Company
Interim payment settlement approved
Gerald Boone had previously won a finding that Rebel Coal Company unlawfully discharged him. After a court directed further proceedings over back pay for periods after October 9, 1981, the parties proposed a $15,000 payment settlement. Judge Gary Melick approved it and ordered Rebel Coal to pay…
Danny Henderson v. King Coal Company
Mine idling discrimination complaint dismissed
Danny Henderson, a King Coal miner and local union president, alleged that the company idled its mine to punish miners for raising dust concerns and seeking an MSHA inspection. He said the shutdown cost him two scheduled workdays and would discourage safety complaints. Judge George A. Koutras found…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Region VI, San Antonio Area and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3320
San Antonio HUD arbitration exceptions dismissed as late
A union at HUD's San Antonio area office sought review of an arbitration award dated March 28, 1983. The Authority calculated that exceptions had to be received by April 26. The union filed April 27. The Authority dismissed the exceptions as untimely without reviewing the award's merits.
Department of the Army, Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Development Command and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1332
Army arbitration exceptions dismissed as late
The union sought review of an Army arbitration award dated March 12, 1983. The Authority calculated April 11 as the deadline for receiving exceptions. The union filed on April 13. Because the filing period could not be extended or waived, the Authority dismissed the exceptions without deciding the…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and American Federation of Government Employees
HUD reduction in force grievance exclusion upheld
AFGE grieved the competitive levels HUD planned to use in a reduction in force. An arbitrator ruled that the parties' agreement excluded matters covered by a statutory appeal procedure, including this dispute, from their grievance process. The union argued that it could grieve to protect its own…
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and National Treasury Employees Union
Conditional Saturday overtime remedy upheld
An agency changed an employee's regular workweek without the advance notice required by the agreement. An arbitrator ordered extra pay for a Saturday if overtime work had been available. The agency argued that the conditional remedy violated the Back Pay Act and misread the agreement. The Authority…
Department of Defense Dependents Schools and Overseas Education Association
Union travel order complaint partly sustained
The teachers' union said Defense Department schools had stopped issuing travel orders for a union official's meetings and training without bargaining. The Authority found a violation for refusal to issue orders for labor relations training in Washington, because comparable requests had been granted…
William A. Haro v. Magma Copper Company
Interlocutory review accepted and case returned to judge
In William Haro's case against Magma Copper Company, the judge certified an issue for interlocutory review. The Commission accepted that certification under its procedural rule. It reiterated that its earlier remand required the judge to make findings on the existing record about the merits of the…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Western Coal Corporation
Five citations settled for $707
MSHA sought $1,865 in penalties for five citations arising from a nonfatal truck collision and conditions involving accident reporting, preservation of the scene, truck operation, brakes, and combustible material. Western Coal and MSHA proposed a $707 settlement after reviewing the penalty factors…
Secretary of Labor ex rel. Stephen Smith and others v. Stafford Construction Company
Discharge rulings affirmed
Stafford Construction discharged several workers at its Cotter Mill project, and the Secretary alleged retaliation for mine safety activity. The Commission upheld the judge's finding that Stephen Smith was fired for safety complaints and management's belief that he had reported problems to MSHA…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) on behalf of Gerald D. Boone v. Rebel Coal Company
Back pay dispute returned to judge
A federal appeals court enforced the Commission's earlier final order in Gerald Boone's case against Rebel Coal Company. The court noted that the order used a formula for back pay after October 9, 1981, without fixing the total owed, and directed the Commission to resolve any disagreement. The…
Federal Correctional Institution and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1286
Union activity tainted prison suspension set aside
A federal prison imposed a 21 day suspension for eight alleged incidents. An arbitrator found five incidents proved but reduced discipline to seven days and a warning. After court remand, the arbitrator clarified that all the discipline had been motivated in part by the employee's union activity…
Georgia Pacific Corporation, Packaging Division
Withdrawal conditionally approved
The Secretary sought to withdraw the case against Georgia Pacific Corporation's Packaging Division. The Commission conditionally affirmed the judge's order granting the withdrawal. Approval depended on proof that the dismissal notice was served on employee representatives and posted for…
National Railroad Passenger Corporation
Citation vacation conditionally approved
The Secretary sought to vacate the citation and proposed penalties against the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. The Commission conditionally affirmed the judge's order granting that request. Approval depended on proof that the dismissal notice was served on employee representatives and…
Ceres Terminals, Inc.
Citation withdrawal conditionally approved
The Secretary sought to withdraw the citation and proposed penalties against Ceres Terminals, Inc. The Commission conditionally affirmed the judge's order granting that request. Approval depended on proof that the notice was properly served on employee representatives and posted for unrepresented…
Bratton Furniture Manufacturing Company
Unguarded overhead router citation affirmed
OSHA cited Bratton Furniture Manufacturing Company because an overhead router was operated without its ring guard or another point-of-operation safeguard. The Commission held that the Secretary did not have to prove that guarding was feasible and that Bratton failed to establish an impossibility…
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
Pole-guard item vacated and glove item affirmed
Two telephone-company linemen replaced a wet utility pole near energized conductors without insulating the pole, and one lineman was seriously injured by electrical shock while lashing the old and new poles together without rubber insulating gloves. The Commission vacated the pole-guard item…
Phelps Dodge Corporation
Uncompensated arsenic examinations violated medical-surveillance rule
Phelps Dodge offered inorganic-arsenic medical examinations outside employees' working hours without paying for their time or extra transportation expenses. The Commission held that the standard's requirement to provide examinations without cost covers both nonworking time spent at the examination…
United States Steel Corp.
Lead-benefit violation affirmed but repeat classification removed
United States Steel stipulated that an employee removed from lead exposure was entitled to $973.27 in medical removal protection benefits. The Commission held that the employee was entitled to full party status because his union had not appeared in the proceeding, overruling prior precedent that…
Hocking Valley Steel Erectors, Inc.
Attorney-fee application denied
Hocking Valley Steel Erectors sought more than $14,000 in attorney fees and expenses after the Secretary withdrew a fall-protection citation during Commission review. The company had prevailed, but the Equal Access to Justice Act allowed fees only if the government's position lacked substantial…
Ohio-Sealy Mattress Manufacturing Company
Cotton-dust citation remanded for a merits hearing
OSHA cited Ohio-Sealy Mattress Manufacturing Company for excessive raw cotton dust, inadequate controls, and an inadequate respiratory-protection program. The company argued that an older cotton-dust standard had been superseded by a newer standard or that it lacked fair notice the older rule…
ITT Grinnell Corp.
Abatement extension granted and failure-to-correct notice vacated
ITT Grinnell requested more time to install controls for silica dust at two foundry areas, while the Secretary demanded additional medical surveillance during the extended period. The Commission held that an employer seeking more time can be required to use appropriate interim protections even when…
Otis Elevator Company
Noise case remanded for further discovery
OSHA alleged that excessive noise at 15 locations in Otis Elevator Company's foundry required feasible administrative or engineering controls. The Secretary's expert completed one day of discovery but concluded that more inspection time was needed, and the judge denied a continuance before…
Williams Enterprises, Inc.
Willful steel-erection fall violations affirmed in part
Williams Enterprises employees repeatedly installed and carried metal decking at heights up to 58 feet without temporary floors, safety belts, or nets, despite repeated OSHA warnings and an imminent-danger notice. The Commission held that general construction standards can supplement steel-erection…
General Motors Corporation, Delco Products Division
Noise case remanded for discovery inspection
OSHA cited General Motors' Delco Products facility under the occupational noise standard, but the judge denied the Secretary's request for a discovery inspection and later vacated the item for lack of proof that engineering controls were feasible. The Commission held that the inspection was…
Genesee Brewing Company
Brewery noise case remanded for discovery
OSHA cited Genesee Brewing Company under the occupational noise standard after inspecting bottle and can line operations at its brewery. The judge repeatedly denied the Secretary's request to have a noise-control expert inspect the brewery, then vacated the citation because the Secretary had not…
Aluminum Company of America, United Steelworkers of America and Local Union 302
Aluminum-powder general duty item vacated
Small water puddles were found several feet from a few shovelfuls of aluminum powder in Alcoa's large, open, heavily ventilated ball-mill room. Although contact could generate hydrogen and heat, the undisputed evidence showed the hydrogen could not reach the concentration needed for ignition or…
Emerson Electric Company, Emerson Electric Motor Division
Molten aluminum and eye protection items affirmed in part
Emerson Electric used a monorail system to move pots of molten aluminum and also had employees hand-dip parts into an acidic resin. The Commission amended the molten-aluminum item from the general duty clause to the overhead-crane rule requiring operators to avoid carrying loads over people, then…
Seaboard Foundry, Inc.
Silica and respirator violations affirmed, control issue remanded
OSHA measurements showed five foundry employees exposed to silica dust at three to 15 times the permissible limit while ventilation and wheelabrator controls were not working properly. The Commission held that one day of valid measurements established overexposure and that Seaboard did not rebut…
Clarence M. Jones, d/b/a C. Jones Co.
Ladder, protective equipment, and posting violations affirmed
Clarence M. Jones was renovating an apartment building with workers under a foreman's supervision. OSHA cited defective ladders, the failure to use head and eye protection, and the failure to post the required OSHA notice. The Commission held that Jones was an employer covered by the Act, his local…
The Duriron Company, Inc.
Foundry heat-stress violation affirmed
Employees operating centrifugal casting machines worked for about 50 minutes each hour in temperatures measured from 92 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit near molten metal and moving machinery. One newly assigned employee received no heat-hazard instruction or acclimatization and experienced dizziness and…
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad Company
Head and eye protection citation vacated
Railroad employees briefly entered the track level beneath a steel-plant blast furnace to position railcars and did not wear hard hats or safety glasses with side shields. OSHA alleged that solidified material or debris could fall or be dislodged by passing railcars. The Commission held that the…
Gulf Oil Corporation
Walkway and respirator-training items vacated
OSHA cited Gulf Oil Corporation for an obstructed refinery walkway and for inadequate training of employees who used half-mask respirators. The Commission held that the cited aisle standard applied only where employees operated mechanical handling equipment, which the Secretary had not shown, and…
Tippens Steel Erection Company
Twelve-foot fall-protection citation vacated
Three Tippens employees installed and welded roof-support joists about 12 feet above a concrete floor without safety belts, nets, scaffolds, or temporary flooring. The Commission agreed that the work was steel erection, and two Commissioners concluded that the general personal protective equipment…
Georgia Power Company
Aerial-lift design item affirmed and two items vacated
A Georgia Power lineman was seriously burned when an exposed metal jibholder on an aerial lift contacted an energized line. The Commission held that the aerial-lift standard validly required employers to acquire equipment designed under sound engineering principles, and that the jibholder's design…
F. L. Heughes & Company, Inc.
A slack manila rope is not a 42-inch safety railing
Heughes was the steel subcontractor on a tiered office building in Rochester, New York, responsible for erecting structural steel and laying form deck flooring. OSHA issued two serious citations. Citation 3 charged that employees on the 17th floor were exposed to a fall of about 150 feet because…
Western Slope Carbon, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA)
Dust citation affirmed, imminent danger order vacated
An MSHA inspector found float coal dust in return entries at Western Slope Carbon's Hawk's Nest East mine and issued an imminent danger withdrawal order and a citation. Judge John A. Carlson found that the dust accumulation violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.400 and was significant and substantial. He vacated…
Matter of Luna
Dominican divorce supported visa petition
A lawful permanent resident petitioner sought visa preference classification for a spouse who, like the petitioner, was a citizen of the Dominican Republic. The District Director denied the petition because the beneficiary's Dominican divorce had been entered by default and was thought not to be…
Matter of May
Chinese notarial records required supporting evidence
A United States citizen petitioner sought preference status for his sister based on a claimed sibling relationship supported by Chinese notarial certificates. The District Director denied the petition because the evidence did not establish the relationship, but the Board adopted an updated State…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Charles F. Lee and Sons, Inc.
One ramp citation vacated, four guarding citations affirmed
MSHA cited Charles F. Lee and Sons at its limestone quarry for a dumping ramp without berms and four equipment guarding conditions. Judge Charles C. Moore, Jr. vacated the ramp citation because the cited rule concerned protection at a dumping location, while the alleged problem was the side of an…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Jaquays Mining Corporation
Three mine safety citations affirmed
MSHA cited Jaquays Mining's underground asbestos mine for loose ground near a work area, a mucking machine without a protective step plate, and a high pressure hose connection without a safety chain. Judge John J. Morris affirmed all three citations. He rejected the operator's argument that prompt…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 and Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration
SSA claimant contact performance proposals nonnegotiable
A union proposed performance protections for SSA employees who contacted claimants directly. One proposal would exclude time waiting for a telephone from productivity measures; another would give trainees extra time to learn the procedures. The Authority found that both would change the quantity…
Internal Revenue Service, Brookhaven Service Center and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 99
IRS work allocation bargaining violation reversed
The IRS changed how it evaluated work in a dishonored check unit. An administrative law judge found an unlawful refusal to bargain over union proposals for equal work distribution and ordered a remedy. The Authority disagreed: the proposals would require every employee to receive every type of work…
Department of the Navy, Naval Air Rework Facility, Norfolk; National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-84; and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local Lodge 39
Norfolk Navy election leaflet objections rejected
NAGE challenged a Norfolk Navy representation election, saying leaflets from the competing union had misstated the law and NAGE's finances. The Regional Director rejected the objections. The Authority agreed because NAGE had enough time to answer the first two statements and had actually answered…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Black Diamond Coal Mining Company
Coal accumulation and roof support citations affirmed
MSHA cited Black Diamond Coal Mining Company for loose coal and dust along a beltline and unsupported roof in areas miners used at its Shannon Mine. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed both violations of the accumulation and roof control standards. He found ordinary negligence for each and weighed the…
Southern Ohio Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA)
Three miner representative pay citations vacated by judge
Southern Ohio Coal refused to pay miner representatives for attending meetings with MSHA inspectors at its mines. The company argued that these were citation review meetings tied to the civil penalty assessment process, rather than compensable post-inspection conferences under the Mine Act. Judge…
ECCO High Frequency Electric Corp.
Unguarded energized bus bars violated electrical rule
ECCO operated an electrical test panel with three uninsulated copper bars energized at 110 to 220 volts. The bars were five to six feet above the floor, the surrounding area had no partitions, and a railing did not satisfy the guarding methods required by the adopted National Electrical Code…
Chevron Oil Company
Industry custom does not answer a general duty clause charge on an offshore platform
OSHA issued Chevron three citations under the general duty clause, 29 U.S.C. § 654(a)(1), concerning structure A, an oil and natural gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast. The platform ran about 100 feet by 60 to 80 feet and carried pipes moving oil and gas under…
Carl Amburgey v. Bright Coal Company
Scoop operator's discrimination complaint dismissed
Carl Amburgey alleged that Bright Coal discharged him after he refused to operate a scoop he believed would not steer safely. Judge George A. Koutras found that Amburgey had reason to think a foreman had fired him, but decided that the dispute over whether he had been discharged was moot because…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Alliance of Puckett Coal Company, Inc.
Settlement and dust sampling penalty approved
MSHA sought $3,633 in penalties for 34 alleged violations at Alliance of Puckett Coal Company's Rice Harlan Mine. Judge Richard C. Steffey dismissed one citation because the cited fire drill rule did not require the record MSHA alleged was missing. After hearing evidence, he found a separate…
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Prison System and Council of Prison Locals, American Federation of Government Employees
Prison union negotiator official time denial unlawful
The Federal Prison System entered negotiations over guidelines for questioning employees but refused official time to the union's designated employee negotiator. The Authority held that once the parties engaged in collective bargaining, the employee was entitled to official time under the labor…
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.