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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Triway Mining Company
Roof support violation assessed at $500
A roof bolter at Triway Mining Company's No. 1 Mine went beyond permanent support to remove loose roof without installing the temporary supports required by the mine's roof control plan. The roof fell and fatally injured him. Judge Richard C. Steffey found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.200. He…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Inspection refusal draws $50 penalty
Nolichuckey Sand Company twice refused an MSHA inspector entry to its pit and mill because the inspector had no search warrant. The company used the refusal to challenge the Mine Act's warrantless inspection provision in court. Judge Richard C. Steffey granted MSHA's motion for summary decision and…
Kaiser Steel Corporation and Joint Venture of United States Steel Corporation and Kaiser Steel Corporation
Kaiser Steel Corporation and joint venture (FMSHRC WEST 80-301-R and WEST 80-483-RM): Reservoir citations vacated
MSHA cited Kaiser Steel and its joint venture with United States Steel over a potentially hazardous condition at the Grassy Trail Reservoir dam. Judge Jon D. Boltz found that the dam's water was used mainly for domestic purposes in nearby towns and at the mine, and had not been used to prepare coal…
Ideal Basic Industries, Cement Division
$38 penalty assessed after remand
The Commission had reversed the judge's earlier vacatur of a citation for a defective coupling on equipment at Ideal Basic Industries' quarry and mill. On remand, Judge George A. Koutras affirmed the citation under the Commission's ruling and considered the statutory penalty factors. He found the…
Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Office of Program Operations and Field Operations, Sutter District Office, San Francisco, California (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3172, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
Social Security appraisal change violations upheld (FLRA 9-CA-35)
At a Social Security district office in San Francisco, a judge found that management changed employee appraisal policies without giving the union the required chance to bargain. The Authority adopted the judge’s split findings and remedies while clarifying the description of the union’s bargaining…
X-Tyal International Corporation
The judge used the wrong hazard-recognition test, yet the citation still fails for want of proof on protective equipment
X-Tyal built rubber assault boats for the government in Hudson, New York. Its "joiners" brushed a methyl chloroform based glue onto rubber strips and then pressed the pieces together with bare hands. An OSHA industrial hygienist reported that nearly every one of the fifteen employees whose hands he…
Cowan Metal Finishing Company
Separate tank walls are not "dikes or other arrangements," and a "rupture" includes a small corrosion leak
Cowan ran a small metal finishing shop. Its acid tanks and cyanide tanks sat as close as two feet apart with no dikes around them. Six or seven employees dipped racks of metal parts into the tanks, and solution dripped off the racks onto the floor, leaving wet acid and cyanide residue around the…
Del-Mont Construction Co.
Confined-space training violation affirmed for loaned employees
Del-Mont sent two long-term employees to pump water and adjust valves in sewer manholes for another organization. Del-Mont provided the workers and equipment, paid their wages, and retained authority over their assignment, but gave no confined-space training or safety equipment. Both employees and…
Ormet Corporation
Electrical-switch guarding citation vacated
Ormet's employees deliberately broke the locking clasp and guards on a main electrical disconnect controlling 13 conveyor belts. OSHA cited the company under a National Electrical Code provision requiring protection where electrical equipment is exposed to physical damage. The Commission held that…
Gannett Rochester Newspaper Corporation
Spot sound-level readings alone cannot prove excessive noise exposure, and Barlow's is not applied retroactively
An OSHA industrial hygienist inspected Gannett's Rochester printing plant in December 1973 after an employee complaint about noise. He had only three dosimeters with him, so he put all three on pressmen in the north press room, where he thought exposure was worst. For the south press room and the…
Internal Revenue Service and Brookhaven Service Center (Respondent) and National Treasury Employees Union and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 99 (Complainant)
IRS Sunday schedule bargaining violation found (FLRA 30-08964(CA))
The IRS Brookhaven Service Center changed computer operators’ regular workweek to cover Sunday operations without bargaining over the decision. A judge had recommended dismissing the union’s complaint. The Authority disagreed, finding that the change did not determine the number, types, or grades…
Internal Revenue Service, Pittsburgh District (Activity) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 71 (Union)
Pittsburgh IRS arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA 0-AR-188)
The IRS challenged an arbitration award involving its Pittsburgh District. The award was dated December 17, 1980, making exceptions due January 15, 1981. The agency filed on January 21. The Authority dismissed the exceptions as untimely and did not review the award.
Cannelton Industries, Inc.
Ventilation settlement approved, roof charge rejected
MSHA sought penalties from Cannelton Industries for two withdrawal orders at its Peytona No. 4 Mine. Judge Paul Merlin approved a $500 settlement of a ventilation-plan violation after the parties described reduced negligence and gravity and prompt abatement. For the separate roof-control-plan…
Badger Coal Company
Three roof-control allegations vacated
Badger Coal contested a withdrawal order charging three violations of its roof-control plan at the Badger No. 14 Mine. Judge Gary Melick credited the company's evidence that a remaining coal stump was large enough that the cited final-split support requirements did not apply. He also found that the…
United States Steel Corporation
Withdrawal order vacated, $406 assessed
MSHA issued a withdrawal order at U.S. Steel's Cumberland Mine alleging eight roof and rib control violations. Judge Gary Melick found the two loose-rib charges proved and found six roof-control-plan width charges at least technically proved. He found no unwarrantable failure and vacated the…
Yellow River Supply Corporation and Ostermann Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Yellow River Supply Corporation and Ostermann Sand and Gravel (FMSHRC LAKE 79-284-M, LAKE 79-285-M, LAKE 79-301-M): Four grounding citations vacated
MSHA sought penalties against Yellow River Supply and Ostermann Sand and Gravel over four electrical grounding citations. During the hearing, the Secretary said the evidence was insufficient to show the operators had failed to comply with the grounding standard and asked to vacate the citations…
Mullin Creek Coal Co., Inc.
Early review petition dismissed
Mullin Creek Coal asked the Commission to review a judge's bench decision. The judge had not yet issued a written opinion when the operator filed its petition. The Commission dismissed the petition as premature and allowed the operator to file it again after the written opinion issued. This order…
Matter of M/V Emma
Undocumented passengers supported statutory fines
The Board reviewed fines imposed on Rene Rodriguez after his boat returned from Cuba to Key West with 11 passengers who lacked visas or other entry documents. The District Director imposed $10,000 in fines for 10 passengers and did not fine the 11th passenger. Rodriguez argued that some passengers…
B. L. Anderson, Inc.
Inaudible loader alarm draws $2,500 penalty
A worker was fatally injured near a front-end loader at B. L. Anderson's Lisbon Quarry. Judge William Fauver found that the loader's wheel-mounted backup alarm could not be heard over surrounding noise from its left rear side, creating a serious hazard and violating the alarm standard. He found…
Department of the Air Force, Air Force Plant Representative Office, Detachment 27, Fort Worth, Texas (Activity) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1958 (Petitioner) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1361, AFL-CIO (Intervenor); United States Department of Defense, Air Force, Air Force Plant Representative Office Detachment 27 (AFPRO, General Dynamics) Fort Worth, Texas (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1361, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
Air Force election set aside for antiunion message (FLRA 6-RO-7)
An Air Force plant office sent employees a message before a representation election that implied unions were unnecessary and difficult to remove. The Authority reviewed the regional director’s election objection findings and a related unfair labor practice case on a stipulated record. It found the…
Lackland Air Force Base Exchange, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2911, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
Lackland exchange interview representation violation upheld (FLRA 6-CA-219)
An employee at a Lackland Air Force Base Exchange requested union representation for an investigative interview that could lead to discipline. The judge found that the exchange violated the employee’s representation right. The Authority adopted the judge’s ruling and ordered the exchange to stop…
Army Health Clinic, Fort Ritchie, Maryland (Respondent) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1153 (Charging Party)
Army clinic case returned for ALJ decision (FLRA 3-CA-803)
The parties in an Army health clinic unfair labor practice case stipulated facts during the hearing and asked to send the case directly to the Authority. The regional director denied that request, but the judge transferred the case anyway. The Authority held that its rules required the judge to…
Veterans Administration, Regional Office (Activity) and Service Employees International Union, Local 556, AFL-CIO (Union)
Veterans office suspension arbitration award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-25)
A Veterans Administration employee grieved a suspension imposed after she refused instructions for assigning loan program appraisals. An arbitrator upheld the suspension. The union challenged the award and the arbitrator’s refusal to reopen it. The Authority found no ground to set either ruling…
Charles E. Blankenship v. W-P Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Charles Blankenship, chairman of a mine safety committee, alleged that W-P Coal suspended and threatened him because of his safety activity. Judge George A. Koutras found that the suspension and proposed discharge arose from an unauthorized work stoppage, not from Blankenship's protected safety…
Climax Molybdenum Company
Respirable dust citation vacated
MSHA cited Climax Molybdenum over respirable quartz-bearing dust near a crusher operator. Judge Charles C. Moore, Jr. found that Climax was developing engineering controls, the sampled worker wore an approved respirator, and the company had a proper respiratory protection program. He found that the…
United Mine Workers of America, Local Union 9800 v. Secretary of Labor and Thomas Dupree
UMWA Local Union 9800 v. Secretary of Labor and Thomas Dupree (FMSHRC KENT 80-216-D): Interference complaint dismissed
UMWA Local 9800 complained to MSHA about alleged irregularities in mine inspection records. It then claimed that MSHA inspector Thomas Dupree's discussion of a possible libel claim over the union's letter interfered with its Mine Act rights. Chief Judge James A. Broderick found the union's safety…
Big Hill Coal Company
Ventilation-record settlement approved for $275
MSHA alleged that Big Hill Coal failed to keep proper records of weekly ventilation examinations at its No. 5 Mine. The parties proposed to settle the withdrawal-order case for $275 instead of the originally proposed $500. Judge Richard C. Steffey found the reduced amount reasonable in light of the…
Matter of Doural
Asylum and excludability record required remand
The Board reviewed a Cuban applicant's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him excludable for lacking an immigrant visa, denied asylum and withholding of deportation, and ordered exclusion and deportation. The applicant admitted a 1977 robbery conviction and described a store break-in, but the…
Jet Asphalt and Rock Company, Inc.
Five citations upheld, four vacated
MSHA cited Jet Asphalt over access, machine guarding, cab glass, noise, a missing back-up alarm on heavy mobile equipment, and an elevated roadway at its Hampton Pit and Plant. Judge John J. Morris rejected Jet's warrantless-inspection and harassment objections. He vacated four charges because the…
Jet Asphalt and Rock Company, Inc.
Two citations and $92 affirmed
MSHA cited Jet Asphalt for lacking no-smoking signs near spilled diesel fuel in a truck bed and for a separate violation of section 56.11-1. Judge John J. Morris rejected Jet's challenge to MSHA's warrantless inspection. He found that the spilled fuel created a fire hazard requiring warning signs…
Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Region IV, Atlanta, Georgia and Department of Health and Human Services, Region IV, Atlanta, Georgia (Respondent) and National Treasury Employees Union (Labor Organization/Charging Party)
Union access to employee orientations ordered (FLRA 4-CA-249)
A federal health department regional office denied a union’s request to attend new employee orientation sessions. The Authority decided the case on stipulated facts and found the mandatory sessions were formal discussions about personnel policies attended by bargaining unit employees. It held that…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of William Johnson v. Borden, Inc. (Chemical Division, Smith-Douglass)
William Johnson v. Borden, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 80-46-DM): Retaliatory discharge claim sustained
William Johnson complained to a health department about restroom conditions at Borden's Tenoroc Mine and was later discharged. Judge James A. Laurenson found that the complaint was protected activity and that Borden's stated reasons for firing him were a pretext. He sustained the discrimination…
Frederick G. Bradley v. Belva Coal Company
Discrimination finding reaffirmed and back pay awarded
Judge James A. Broderick had found that Belva Coal Company unlawfully discharged Frederick Bradley after he refused to let a scoop run over a damaged trailing cable. In this supplemental decision, he applied the Commission's discrimination test and found that Bradley reasonably believed the cable…
Ideal Basic Industries, Cement Division
Defective coupling citation restored
MSHA cited Ideal Basic Industries after finding a broken hydraulic coupling on a track mobile used to move rail cars at its cement plant. The judge vacated the citation because the Secretary had not shown that workers used the broken coupling itself. The Commission held that use of equipment with a…
National Association of Government Employees Local R4-97 and Naval Mine Engineering Facility, Yorktown, Virginia
Naval mine facility promotion award modified (FLRA 0-AR-36)
A Navy facility changed the rating criteria during a competition for a GS-11 packing specialist job. An arbitrator found that the changes denied an applicant the selection process promised by the union agreement and personnel rules, and ordered the facility to give him the job or a comparable one…
Mark Segedi on behalf of S. J. Ezarik et al. v. Bethlehem Mines Corporation
Mark Segedi et al. v. Bethlehem Mines Corporation (FMSHRC PENN 80-273-D): Remedy timing amended while fees remained pending
Judge John F. Cook had issued a discrimination decision concerning workers at Bethlehem Mines Corporation's Somerset No. 60 Mine. He retained jurisdiction to determine the costs and attorney fees due to certain complainants. In this amendment, he postponed the effective date of the dismissal of…
Mulzer Crushed Stone Company, a Partnership
Mulzer Crushed Stone Company (FMSHRC LAKE 80-303-M): Crusher switch citation upheld
MSHA cited Mulzer Crushed Stone Company after finding a wooden wedge holding a crusher motor switch in the run position at its Eckerty Quarry. The wedge prevented the switch's automatic overload protection from shutting off the motor, creating a risk of overheating and fire in a wooden control…
Columbia Cement Corporation
Maximum penalty for defective loader brakes
MSHA cited Columbia Cement Corporation after a miner operating a loader with defective brakes was injured when the machine rolled backward at its Jonathan Mine and Mill. The miner suffered broken ribs and a broken femur and was unable to work for 14 months. Judge Edwin S. Bernstein found that the…
Concrete Materials Company
Truck safety violations upheld, penalty reduced
MSHA cited Concrete Materials Company after finding that two contractor-owned dump trucks at its South Dakota sand and gravel operation lacked required reverse alarms and that one had defective stop lights. Judge Virgil E. Vail held that the stockpiling and loading area was part of a mine covered…
Cement Division, National Gypsum Company
Significant-and-substantial test revised
MSHA issued eleven citations to National Gypsum's cement division, and the judge upheld ten and found nine violations significant and substantial. The company challenged the judge's test for that designation, while leaving the violations and penalties unchallenged. The Commission held that a…
G & M Coal Company
Twelve citations upheld and one vacated
MSHA brought 13 citations against G & M Coal Company concerning roof support, electrical protection, equipment, firefighting supplies, ventilation, recordkeeping, and detonator storage at its No. 1 Mine. Judge George A. Koutras upheld 12 citations, including a hardhat citation that the mine owner…
Southwestern Illinois Coal Corporation
Cable fitting citation upheld, safety belt citation vacated by judge
MSHA cited Southwestern Illinois Coal Corporation after a miner worked on an elevated shovel without a safety belt and after an inspector found a missing part of a fitting that protected an electrical cable. Judge George A. Koutras vacated the safety belt citation, reasoning that the operator had…
Secretary of Labor ex rel. Thomas Robinette v. United Castle Coal Company
Thomas Robinette v. United Castle Coal Company (FMSHRC VA 79-141-D): Protected work refusal affirmed, discharge issue remanded
United Castle fired miner Thomas Robinette after he stopped a conveyor when his cap lamp failed. A judge found that the stoppage was protected under the Mine Act and ordered reinstatement and back pay. The Commission affirmed that Robinette had engaged in a protected work refusal. It remanded for…
The Anaconda Company
Three suspended load citations vacated after remand
MSHA cited The Anaconda Company three times under a rule requiring miners to stay clear of suspended loads at its Weed Concentrator. The Commission had remanded the cases for fuller findings after an earlier judge ruling. Judge John J. Morris reviewed the testimony about workers near crane lifted…
Mark Segedi on behalf of S. J. Ezarik et al. v. Bethlehem Mines Corporation
Mark Segedi et al. v. Bethlehem Mines Corporation (FMSHRC PENN 80-273-D): Pay awarded for protected elevator refusal
Miners at Bethlehem Mines Corporation's Somerset No. 60 Mine refused to use an elevator after its automatic guard door failed to close properly. Judge John F. Cook found that the miners scheduled to start before 8:15 a.m. reasonably and in good faith feared using it, even though the elevator was…
Elias Moses v. Whitley Development Corporation
Discharge found discriminatory, remedy ordered
Elias Moses alleged that Whitley Development Corporation fired him after supervisors wrongly suspected that he had reported a bulldozer accident to MSHA. Judge Richard C. Steffey found that the company questioned and harassed Moses over the suspected report and discharged him because management…
Morgan & Culpepper, Inc.
A citation may be amended under Rule 15(b) to a different fall-protection standard where the employer cannot show prejudice
Morgan & Culpepper was building a theatre for a civic group in Meridian, Mississippi. A compliance officer found a foreman standing on top of a twelve-inch concrete block wall and a laborer sitting on two bar joists, both about thirty feet above a concrete floor, steadying steel while two…
United States Steel Corporation
Pre-1971 crane guarding citation vacated
United States Steel was cited because exposed moving parts on overhead cranes lacked guards. The company established that the cranes were constructed and installed before August 31, 1971. The Commission held that the cited provision was a design specification that was only advisory for those older…
Hooker Chemical Co.
Vinyl-chloride training citation remained vacated
Hooker Chemical was cited for not providing vinyl-chloride hazard training to employees in compounding and calendering operations. The judge vacated the citation after concluding that the training requirement did not apply where ambient vinyl-chloride levels were below the action level. On review…
General Motors Corp., Rochester Products Division
Machine-guarding violation affirmed as de minimis
General Motors temporarily operated an automated carburetor machine with guards removed from three stations for repair. Employees did not normally work at those points of operation, and the machine was generally shut down when malfunctions were corrected. The Commission affirmed the judge's de…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Six truck-shop and fuel-shed items remanded
Six citation items involved conditions in a fuel-pump shed and truck shop at Trinity Industries' manufacturing plant. The judge vacated them after finding that workers in those areas belonged to an independent transportation contractor. The Commission found the record unclear as to whether the…
Triple A South, a Division of Triple A Machine Shop, Inc.
Scaffold-access violations reduced to de minimis
Triple A South employees used ladder-like scaffold stiffeners to reach platforms as high as 70 feet during ship repair. The stiffeners did not qualify as required ladders or trestles because access was not their primary function and their rungs did not fully match the rule. The Commission…
GAF Corporation
Excessive silver exposure classified as serious
GAF employees producing silver compounds were exposed to airborne silver at roughly two to 37 times the permissible limit. Their respirators were not approved for silver, and the plant's ventilation system was not operating. Medical examinations found permanent silver-related discoloration of the…
American Steel Works
Repeated spray-booth airflow violation affirmed
American Steel Works operated a spray-paint booth without a visible gauge, alarm, or pressure device showing whether required airflow was maintained. The same employer had previously received a final citation under the same standard for the same booth. The company argued that its installer could…
United States Steel Corporation
High-voltage line citation vacated for unforeseeable misconduct
United States Steel assigned an experienced lineman to guide contractor employees applying bird repellent near electrical installations. The lineman was instructed that a 44,000-volt line remained energized and that he must avoid the walkway beside it, but he entered the area, contacted the line…
The Duncanson-Harrelson Company
Unsecured barge crane and housekeeping violations affirmed
Duncanson-Harrelson used an unfastened truck crane on a barge while replacing wharf pilings. The Commission held that the requirement to positively secure a mobile crane meant physically fastening it to the barge, and the company did not prove that compliance created a greater hazard. Ropes, spiked…
Duane Smelser Roofing Company
On Sixth Circuit remand the Commission makes the ordered findings and reaffirms the roof-hole guardrail violation
Smelser was tearing off and replacing a million square feet of roof at a General Motors plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Scattered across the roof were about two hundred boxes covering old ventilation and pipe openings. Foreman Dick Corby fell to his death through a roughly four and a half foot…
Anaconda Aluminum Company
A nonspecific sampling method still makes out a prima facie case, and seriousness turns on whether serious harm could result rather than on proof of a disease-causing dose
Anaconda ran an aluminum reduction plant at Columbia Falls, Montana with about 900 employees. An OSHA industrial hygienist sampled the air there from January 21 through February 27, 1975. Three separate health problems came out of that inspection: coal tar pitch volatiles in the potrooms, asbestos…
Research-Cottrell, Inc.
Asbestos monitoring and medical examinations are required at any measurable concentration, and the six-month clause is a grace period rather than a limitations period
Research-Cottrell builds cooling towers at nuclear power plants. The cooling surface inside the tower is made of transite sheets that are 25 to 35 percent asbestos. Employees drill the sheets, sometimes score and snap them, and set them into place. At the company's Russellville site, an OSHA…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Three mine safety citations upheld
MSHA cited Brown Brothers Sand Company for three conditions at its Junction City Mine. Workers repaired an electrically powered dredge pump without locking out power or taking another measure to prevent energization; a no smoking sign at the gasoline storage area had fallen and could not be seen…
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.