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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Army Armament Research and Development Command and AFGE Local 225
ARRADCOM analysts and specialists excluded from unit (FLRA 2-CU-23)
ARRADCOM asked to exclude 17 employees in program analyst, management analyst, and contract specialist positions from its AFGE bargaining unit. The Authority found that the employees assigned or directed work or effectively recommended hiring and awards using independent judgment. It excluded all…
Matter of Quintero
Deferred action remained with the District Director
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal after an immigration judge found him deportable and granted voluntary departure. The respondent asked to delay the hearing and sought deferred action because his wife was a lawful permanent resident, one child was a United States citizen, and an…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lenward H. Wood v. Arkhola Sand and Gravel Company
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lenward Wood v. Arkhola Sand and Gravel Company (FMSHRC CENT 81-183-DM): Cold weather work refusal protected
Lenward Wood refused to operate an unheated power shovel at Arkhola's Arkansas quarry during freezing weather because he feared losing feeling in his hands and feet while using the controls. Judge James A. Broderick found that Wood's safety belief was both sincere and reasonable and that the…
Veterans Administration Regional Office, Denver and AFGE Local 1557
Denver VA ordered to provide grievance records free (FLRA 7-CA-365)
The Denver VA regional office required AFGE Local 1557 to pay $9.45 for copies of personnel records needed for a grievance. An administrative law judge dismissed the complaint because he read the duty to furnish data as allowing a fee. The Authority rejected that conclusion, holding that the…
Secretary of Labor v. John Cullen, d/b/a John Cullen Rock Crushing
Secretary of Labor v. John Cullen Rock Crushing (FMSHRC WEST 82-33-M): Inspection refusal citation affirmed
John Cullen turned away an MSHA inspector from his Colorado rock quarry because the inspector lacked a warrant. Judge John A. Carlson held that the operation was covered by the Mine Act and that the Act authorized the inspection. He affirmed the citation for denying entry. Considering the small…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Omar J. Persinger v. Ash Grove Cement Company
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Omar Persinger v. Ash Grove Cement Company (FMSHRC CENT 80-202-DM): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Omar Persinger alleged that Ash Grove Cement Company assigned him more cleanup work and warned him about his performance after he identified safety problems during an MSHA inspection. Judge Virgil E. Vail found that Persinger's inspection participation and later safety complaint were protected Mine…
David Hollis v. Consolidation Coal Company
Late discrimination complaint dismissed
David Hollis alleged that Consolidation Coal fired him because of his mine safety committee work. Judge Gary Melick found that Hollis filed his Mine Act complaint more than six months after discharge, despite knowing during the 60-day filing period that he could pursue that remedy. The judge…
Energy Fuel Nuclear Inc.
Blasting citations vacated by judge
MSHA cited Energy Fuel Nuclear after a premature explosion seriously injured a miner at its underground mine. Judge Charles C. Moore Jr. held that lighting fuse connectors with a torch did not violate the wording of the fuse ignition rule and found that the experienced blaster understood the…
Sun Landscaping & Supply Company
Three quarry citations affirmed
MSHA cited Sun Landscaping & Supply Company for missing a required quarterly report copy, lacking stretchers and blankets, and operating a high pressure air hose connection without a safety chain or locking device. The company did not appear at the hearing. Judge John J. Morris found the evidence…
Joint Council of Unions, GPO and Government Printing Office
GPO adverse-action fact-finding proposal held negotiable (FLRA O-NG-397)
The Joint Council of Unions proposed an optional fact-finding step before the Government Printing Office issued final decisions on major suspensions, demotions, and removals. GPO argued that the procedure interfered with its disciplinary authority. The Authority found that it delayed but did not…
AFGE Local 1533 and Naval Supply Center, Oakland
Oakland Naval Supply arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA O-AR-449)
AFGE Local 1533 sought Authority review of an arbitration award dated September 13, 1982. Its exceptions were due October 12 but arrived later. The Authority held that the deadline could not be extended or waived and dismissed the exceptions without reviewing the award.
Energy Coal Corporation
Five citation contests dismissed as late
Energy Coal Corporation sought to contest five MSHA citations issued at its No. 14 Mine in May 1982. Chief Judge Paul Merlin found that the operator mailed its contests 83 to 91 days after receiving the citations, beyond the Mine Act's 30-day deadline. He rejected its claim that the period began…
AFGE Local 3723 and Naval Air Station Miramar
Miramar merit-promotion appeal dismissed as moot (FLRA O-NG-742)
AFGE Local 3723 petitioned for review after Naval Air Station Miramar said a merit-promotion proposal was nonnegotiable. The Navy later withdrew that allegation. The Authority found no remaining negotiability dispute and dismissed the petition without ruling on the proposal.
AFGE Local 1858 and Army Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal
Redstone proposals split between negotiable and excluded (FLRA O-NG-389)
AFGE Local 1858 sought bargaining over private conduct, work assignments, disability aids, investigation methods, and compliance with internal rules. The Authority found a ban on discrimination for conduct unrelated to job performance and two general assignment provisions negotiable. It rejected or…
Consolidation Coal Company
Methane withdrawal order upheld, violation vacated
MSHA issued an imminent danger withdrawal order and a ventilation rule citation after detecting methane above 1.5 percent at Consolidation Coal's Oak Park No. 7 Mine. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy held that the methane concentration justified the withdrawal order even though the operator had already…
Matter of Valdovinos
Pre-sentence custody counted toward good moral character bar
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal from a deportation order and the denial of voluntary departure. He had two burglary convictions and argued that 41 days he spent in custody before his first conviction should not count toward the statutory 180-day limit that barred a finding of good…
United States Steel Corporation
Coke-oven citations narrowed and penalties reduced
OSHA cited numerous conditions at U.S. Steel's two Fairless Hills coke-oven batteries shortly after a detailed coke-oven emissions standard took effect. The Commission vacated many engineering-control and training items because OSHA did not prove that U.S. Steel had a duty to install the controls…
Secretary of Labor v. Hillard Bentgen, Grant Macklin, and Russell Heeman
Hillard Bentgen, Grant Macklin, and Russell Heeman (FMSHRC LAKE 82-27-M): Conclusions in crane brake decision corrected
Judge James A. Broderick corrected two conclusions in his October 26, 1982 decision concerning a Grove crane at Ottawa Silica Company's quarry and mill. The corrected first conclusion states that Ottawa Silica violated 30 C.F.R. § 56.9-2 by continuing to operate the crane while its defective brakes…
J.L. Manta Plant Services Company
Coke-oven citations vacated and late amendment denied
J.L. Manta, a construction and maintenance contractor at a steel plant, was cited under the coke-oven emissions standard. The judge vacated the citations because that standard could not validly be applied to a non-coke-oven employer under the governing court decision. On review, the Secretary…
Raymond Farmer v. Eastern Associated Coal Corporation
Ambulance delay discrimination claim dismissed
Raymond Farmer alleged that Eastern Associated Coal Corporation discriminated against him by delaying an ambulance after he reported chest and arm pain at the mine. Judge Gary Melick found no protected safety activity that caused the alleged treatment and, independently, no proof that the company…
William A. Haro v. Magma Copper Company
William Haro v. Magma Copper Company (FMSHRC WEST 81-365-DM): Discrimination claim dismissed after insubordination discharge
William Haro alleged that Magma Copper fired him because he had filed safety complaints and participated in Mine Act proceedings. Judge Jon D. Boltz found that Magma discharged Haro for refusing to answer supervisors' questions about crane work and for related insubordination. He found no evidence…
Matter of Matelot
Unsubmitted background evidence did not require a new hearing
The Board reviewed a Haitian applicant's exclusion case and his claim for asylum and withholding of exclusion. The applicant argued that the immigration judge should have admitted background materials about Haiti, should have allowed a continuance, and should have considered findings from a…
Matter of Duarte
Lawful permanent resident retained waiver eligibility
The Board reviewed a lawful permanent resident from Mexico who was found excludable after a marijuana-trafficking conviction and who sought a discretionary waiver under section 212(c). The Board held that a lawful permanent resident does not lose lawful status merely because of an excludable act or…
A. B. Whitley, Inc.
High pressure hose citation affirmed with nominal penalty
MSHA cited A. B. Whitley for using a high pressure hose at its Lee Creek Mine without a separate safety chain or locking device. Judge Charles C. Moore Jr. found its threaded coupling unlikely to separate suddenly, but held that the standard still required an additional securing device where…
Consolidation Coal Company
Modification of withdrawal order to citation upheld
MSHA issued Consolidation Coal a withdrawal order for improper grounding of an electric pump. A judge later found that the earlier citation needed to support that type of order was invalid, so he converted the order into a citation and upheld it after a hearing. The Commission held that the judge…
Federal Employees Metal Trades Council and Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island pay-delivery appeal dismissed as premature (FLRA O-NG-722)
The union sought review of the Navy’s position that its policy for distributing new employees’ paychecks was outside the duty to bargain. It had not submitted specific proposed language when it appealed. The Authority found that it could not decide negotiability without a sufficiently defined…
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council
Norfolk hazardous-duty differential award upheld (FLRA O-AR-377)
Workers at Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s industrial waste treatment plant sought a pay differential for high-degree toxic-chemical hazards. An arbitrator found that training, protective devices, and safety measures had practically eliminated the potential for personal injury and denied the differential…
SSA Louisville District and NFFE Local 1790
Louisville SSA reprimand award upheld (FLRA O-AR-347)
An arbitrator ordered a reprimand removed from an SSA service representative’s record after interpreting a contract clause on courtesy and professionalism. SSA argued that the arbitrator misread the agreement and exceeded his authority. The Authority found that the award was plausibly rooted in the…
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 987
Warner Robins permanent-promotion award set aside (FLRA O-AR-194)
An arbitrator ordered permanent promotion of a mechanic who had performed higher-grade work on a long detail. The Authority accepted that the grievance was arbitrable and did not directly challenge a classification decision. It held, however, that the employee remained the incumbent of his…
Secretary of Labor v. Old Ben Coal Company
Lone worker communication violation affirmed
An Old Ben Coal Company bulldozer operator died after his machine fell into a concealed void in a coal storage pile during poor weather. The judge found that he had been working alone in a hazardous area without dependable contact with others. The Commission affirmed, holding that the communication…
Matter of Kloeti
United States work did not satisfy L-1 experience requirement
The Regional Commissioner reviewed a petition seeking to classify a Swiss service engineer as an intracompany transferee. Although the beneficiary had worked for the petitioner's parent company while in the United States as a B-1 business visitor, he had never worked abroad for the petitioner or…
Carl M. Geupel Construction Co.
Sarasota Concrete's exclusionary rule applies retroactively, suppression question remanded
OSHA compliance officers came to Geupel's highway construction site on the West Virginia Turnpike in August 1980 after an employee complaint listing five specific conditions, among them missing back-up alarms on a dump truck, trucks operating within three feet of loaded and primed holes, and…
Purolator Sky Courier, Inc.
Citation withdrawal granted after procedural compliance
The Secretary sought permission to withdraw the citation against Purolator Sky Courier. The Commission received notice that the applicable procedural rules had been satisfied. It therefore granted leave to withdraw the citation. The short order does not identify the underlying standard, alleged…
Senco Products, Inc.
Air-contaminant mixture citation remanded for additive-effects evidence
Senco employees allegedly inhaled a mixture of methyl ethyl ketone, xylene, and acetone above the air-contaminant mixture limit. The judge dismissed the citation after finding that OSHA had improperly changed advisory source language into a mandatory rule. The Commission held that the controlling…
Farmers Cooperative Grain and Supply Company
Repeated grain-dust housekeeping violation affirmed
Farmers Cooperative Grain and Supply allowed grain dust to accumulate as deep as 20 inches in areas of its elevator, creating a fire and explosion hazard. Although OSHA originally cited the general duty clause, the Commission allowed amendment to the specific housekeeping standard because the same…
IRS Atlanta Service Center and National Treasury Employees Union
Atlanta IRS union-contact complaint dismissed (FLRA 4-CA-590)
NTEU alleged that managers at the IRS Atlanta Service Center told employee Rose Marie DeReimer to consult management before seeking union help. An administrative law judge found no unfair labor practice on the record and recommended dismissal. No one excepted, and the Authority adopted the judge’s…
Consumer Product Safety Commission, New York and AFGE Local 3477
CPSC warning letter removed; settlement memo upheld (FLRA 2-CA-294)
The Consumer Product Safety Commission sent union president Louis Abramsky a memo seeking enforcement of an earlier settlement and a separate letter warning that protected procedures could trigger discipline. An administrative law judge found the settlement memo noncoercive but the warning letter…
Consolidation Coal Company
Unsupported mine roof citation affirmed
MSHA cited Consolidation Coal Company after finding dislodged roof bolts and loose rock above a haulageway at its Blacksville No. 1 Mine. Judge William Fauver found the roof unsupported where miners routinely traveled and held that the condition posed a significant and substantial hazard. He also…
Elmer Harris and Clarence Justice v. McGinnis Coal Company, Inc.
Elmer Harris and Clarence Justice v. McGinnis Coal Company (FMSHRC KENT 82-68-D): Discrimination complaints denied
Elmer Harris and Clarence Justice complained that McGinnis Coal laid them off and failed to hire them for underground jobs because they raised concerns about a loader's brakes and explosives storage. Judge Richard C. Steffey found that the safety complaints were protected activity, even though the…
S & P Coal Company
Dust sampling citation vacated over clerical error
MSHA cited S & P Coal Company after its computer rejected a respirable dust sample because the company wrote the wrong section number on the sample card. The parties proposed settling the $38 assessment for $5. Judge Richard C. Steffey found that the company had taken and submitted the required…
Virginia Pocahontas Company
Walkaround pay citations reinstated after remand
Virginia Pocahontas Company had contested two citations concerning pay for a miners' representative accompanying MSHA inspectors on spot inspections. Judge Richard C. Steffey had earlier vacated them under then controlling Commission precedent, but a court later reversed that precedent and the…
Matter of Gunaydin and Kircalı
Status did not end before final deportability adjudication
The Board reviewed two Turkish lawful permanent residents who were charged with deportability after entering the United States without inspection and later presenting their resident cards for readmission. The Board held that an entry without inspection or a conviction for a deportable offense does…
J.L. Foti Construction Company, Inc.
$500 scaffold penalty reinstated after court remand
A federal appeals court remanded the case with instructions to reinstate the administrative law judge's original civil penalty against J.L. Foti Construction. The underlying violation concerned the scaffold guardrail standard. Following the court's mandate, the Commission assessed the original $500…
Consolidation Coal Company
Dust sampling citation vacated after section shutdown
MSHA cited Consolidation Coal for taking only one of five required respirable dust samples from a mining unit during a two month sampling period. The company had scheduled the sampling near the end of that period, but management shut the section down after the first sample and it did not produce…
Secretary of Labor v. Hillard Bentgen, Grant Macklin, and Russell Heeman
Hillard Bentgen, Grant Macklin, and Russell Heeman (FMSHRC LAKE 82-27-M): Individual penalties for operating crane with defective brakes
Ottawa Silica Company continued to use a crane at its Michigan quarry after repeated reports of defective brakes, including a period when the front brakes were disabled. Judge James A. Broderick found that the company violated the equipment safety rule and that three managers knowingly authorized…
Sterling Energy, Inc.
Eleven mine safety citations affirmed
MSHA cited Sterling Energy for eleven conditions at its Ely Hollow underground coal mine, including loose roof, coal dust, equipment defects, and ventilation and fire warning problems. The operator admitted three violations and argued that moving equipment between mine areas explained the others…
Delmont Resources, Incorporated
Roof control citation affirmed after remand
Delmont Resources drove coal mine entries and crosscuts wider than its approved roof control plan allowed without adding support. An earlier judge found the violation and an unwarrantable failure but did not find it significant and substantial; the Commission remanded that issue for more evidence…
National Treasury Employees Union and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
FDIC suspension-day leave proposal held nonnegotiable (FLRA O-NG-401)
NTEU proposed that FDIC not deny annual leave in connection with discipline. The disputed part would require annual leave during the days of an employee’s suspension. The Authority found that federal law permits annual leave only on days an employee would otherwise work and be paid, whereas…
NBC Energy, Incorporated
Owners and related companies liable for mine penalties
NBC Energy admitted ten mine safety violations at its No. 1 coal mine but argued that the proposed penalties threatened its ability to continue in business. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy found that the owners had undercapitalized NBC and diverted its working capital through equipment rentals to another…
Eglin Air Force Base and NFFE Local 1940
Two Eglin professionals excluded as supervisors (FLRA 4-CU-36)
Eglin Air Force Base sought to remove five professional employees from an NFFE unit as supervisors or management officials. The Authority found that Robert Erhart and Leroy Stables exercised independent supervisory judgment and excluded them. It found the other three were neither statutory…
NFFE Local 687 and Norton Air Force Base
Norton Air Force negotiability appeal dismissed late (FLRA O-NG-705)
NFFE Local 687 challenged an Air Force allegation that a proposal was nonnegotiable. The written allegation was served in May 1982, making June 1 the filing deadline under the Authority’s rules. The union filed June 29. The Authority dismissed the petition as untimely without deciding negotiability.
Illinois Air National Guard, 182nd Tactical Air Support Group and ACT Illinois Air Chapter 34
Illinois Guard grievance-scope complaint dismissed (FLRA 5-CA-86, 5-CA-532)
The Illinois Air National Guard refused to agree to a grievance procedure covering certain technician personnel actions. An administrative law judge dismissed the union’s unfair labor practice complaint. The Authority adopted that result because refusing a full-scope grievance procedure was not…
Department of the Navy and International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots
Navy civilian pilots directed to representation election (FLRA 3-RO-99)
The Masters, Mates and Pilots union petitioned to represent Navy civilian chief pilots and pilots in one worldwide unit. The Authority found both groups were supervisors, but the statute allowed this union to seek recognition for a supervisory unit because of its historical representation. It found…
Anamax Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after complainant could not be located
Harold Crumley brought a discharge, discrimination, or interference complaint against Anamax Mining Company at the Twin Buttes Mine. Judge Gary Melick found that a hearing notice and prehearing order sent to Crumley's last known address were returned undelivered. Further efforts to locate him…
Asphalt Mining & Concrete Company
Driver's discrimination complaint dismissed
Merle Wegner, a driver at Asphalt Mining & Concrete Company's Higley Road Pit, said the company discharged him for reporting inadequate brakes on a water truck. Judge James A. Broderick found that Wegner's oral and written brake complaints were protected safety activity. The transportation manager…
AFGE Local 2061 and GSA Region 3
GSA probationer grievance award upheld (FLRA O-AR-316)
A GSA probationary employee challenged his separation through arbitration. The arbitrator held the grievance arbitrable under the parties’ agreement but denied it on the merits. GSA argued that older executive-order case law required a different arbitrability result. The Authority found those cases…
Defense Department Dependents Schools and Overseas Education Association
Dependents Schools probationer separation award upheld (FLRA O-AR-285)
An arbitrator heard a probationary teacher’s challenge to his separation and found the grievance arbitrable but the separation fair and reasonable. The Overseas Education Association argued that the arbitrator had excluded probationers from the agreement and should have found a different reason for…
Homestake Mining Company
Citation vacated, idled miners awarded pay
Smoke and carbon monoxide in Homestake Mining Company's Ross shaft prompted a Mine Safety and Health Administration withdrawal order. The agency later cited Homestake for working miners in the tramway during the order, while the union sought compensation for miners sent home before the end of their…
Labor Department Wage and Hour Division and AFGE Local 12
Labor Department ordered to arbitrate probationer grievance (FLRA 3-CA-612)
A Labor Department division stopped processing a probationary employee’s termination grievance and refused the union’s arbitration request. It argued that the grievance was legally barred and the arbitration demand late. On a stipulated record, the Authority held that those arbitrability questions…
Internal Revenue Service and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS accounting training restored pending bargaining (FLRA 3-CA-1794)
The IRS ended an accounting training program for certain cross-over employees without sufficiently clear advance notice to NTEU. The Authority agreed with the judge that the decision to end the program itself was a management right, but the union still had to be offered bargaining over…
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.