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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Burgess Mining and Construction Corporation
Bridge guard citation reinstated
MSHA cited Burgess Mining and Construction for failing to place guards beside a bridge used by coal trucks traveling between a mine and preparation plant. An administrative law judge had vacated the citation, reasoning that the elevated roadway rule covered roads cut along landforms rather than a…
Consolidation Coal Company
Flooded escapeway withdrawal order upheld
Consolidation Coal challenged an MSHA withdrawal order for water in a designated return escapeway at its Westland Mine. Judge John F. Cook found that water covered about 70 feet of the route and reached roughly 16 to 17 inches at its deepest point. He held that this condition prevented safe…
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Union) and Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (Agency)
Air Force temporary duty seniority clause approved (FLRA 0-NG-70)
The head of the Air Force disapproved a local agreement clause assigning temporary duty by seniority among qualified and available employees. The agency said the clause interfered with management’s rights to assign employees and work. The Authority read the clause as addressing where employees…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1968, AFL-CIO (Union) and Department of Transportation, St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, Massena, New York (Agency)
Seaway performance appraisal proposals split (FLRA 0-NG-194)
A union proposed several performance appraisal and grievance clauses for employees of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. The Authority held nonnegotiable terms that limited which job factors management could designate as critical elements or required bargaining over specific…
Westmoreland Coal Company
Contest withdrawn after order amended
Westmoreland Coal contested an MSHA withdrawal order issued at its Bullitt Mine for a downed line curtain. At the hearing, Judge Gary Melick noted that no earlier section 104(d)(1) citation existed when MSHA issued the withdrawal order, even though the statute required one. MSHA agreed to change…
Island Creek Coal Company
Circuit breaker staffing citation upheld
Island Creek Coal moved a shuttle car along an energized trolley line at its Fies Mine without stationing a miner at the first automatic circuit breaker. The car contacted the trolley wire, and a fire followed. Judge William Fauver held that the cited rule expressly required a miner at that breaker…
Allied Chemical Corporation
Locomotive brake citation vacated on remand
MSHA cited Allied Chemical after an underground coal haulage locomotive lost braking control when its electrical supply failed. The Commission had remanded an earlier ruling to clarify how the locomotive's pneumatic and emergency brake systems worked. Judge George A. Koutras found that losing…
Peabody Coal Company
Dozer safeguard citations vacated
MSHA cited Peabody Coal Company for operating a bulldozer without brush guards or sweeps while clearing trees at its Ozark Surface Mine. The parties agreed that the machine already had adequate rollover and falling object protection. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy held that the cited equipment defect rule…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2, AFL-CIO (Union) and Department of the Army, Harry Diamond Laboratories, Adelphi, Maryland (Agency)
Army paid parking appeal dismissed as moot (FLRA 0-NG-229)
The Army imposed paid parking at Harry Diamond Laboratories, and the union sought bargaining over rates and exemptions. While the negotiability appeal was pending, the Army ended that paid parking program. The Authority found there was no remaining live dispute over the submitted proposals and…
Magma Copper Company
Penalty total corrected
Judge John A. Carlson issued a correction order for five consolidated Magma Copper civil penalty dockets. He added a finding that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 57.12-16 under Citation No. 377071 and inserted a $50 penalty for that citation in WEST 79-79-M. He also corrected an entry for Citation…
Delaware National Guard, Wilmington, Delaware (Activity) and Association of Civilian Technicians, Delaware Chapter (Union)
Delaware Guard civilian attire award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-86)
Delaware National Guard technicians and their union disputed whether “standard civilian attire” required a uniform design as well as specified colors. The arbitrator accepted the Guard’s reading of their agreement after considering its text and bargaining context. The union challenged that…
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1688 (Union) and U.S. Army Engineer District, Omaha (Activity)
Army employee transportation award modified (FLRA 0-AR-74)
An Army engineer district stopped providing rides between nearby towns and the Big Bend Power Plant after officials questioned their legal authority. An arbitrator ordered the transportation restored. The Authority held that the award could not require immediate service without authorization from…
Veterans Administration Hospital, Newington, Connecticut (Activity) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-109 (Union)
VA training and promotion award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-62)
A VA hospital employee grieved the denial of advanced training and a chance to compete for promotion. The arbitrator found training had been improperly denied and ordered training followed by a promotion under stated conditions. The union sought a broader and earlier promotion remedy through…
Department of Defense, 375 Air Base Group, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois (Activity) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R7-23 (Union)
Scott Air Force Base priority referral award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-57)
A Scott Air Force Base employee sought priority consideration under an earlier grievance settlement and requested reassignment or retraining. The arbitrator ordered two additional priority referrals to GS-5 jobs without promotion potential but denied the broader requests. The union argued that the…
U.S. Department of Labor (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 644 (Union)
Labor Department higher-grade pay award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-41)
A Labor Department safety specialist sought higher-grade pay for work he said exceeded his position’s grade. The arbitrator found the grievance arbitrable because it sought backpay rather than reclassification, but denied it on the merits. The agency challenged only the arbitrability ruling…
Department of the Air Force, Civilian Personnel Branch, Carswell Air Force Base, Texas (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1364 (Union)
Carswell Air Force Base moot shift grievance award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-40)
A Carswell Air Force Base employee grieved rotation from the night shift to the day shift. Before arbitration, management offered him a return to nights, but he declined and stayed on days. The arbitrator found the grievance moot because no practical relief remained and suggested the parties confer…
Gold Seekers (East Fork Creek Mining, Tom Williams)
Gold Seekers (FMSHRC WEST 80-216-M): Default penalty for denying mine inspection
Federal mine inspectors cited Tom Williams of Gold Seekers after he refused them entry to the Gold Leaf mine on two consecutive days. The inspectors had come to investigate a written complaint about safety hazards. Williams received notice of a hearing but did not appear, and he did not answer a…
Maben Energy Corporation
Coal accumulation withdrawal order upheld
Maben Energy challenged an MSHA withdrawal order for coal and coal dust accumulations in active workings at its No. 3 Mine. Judge George A. Koutras credited the inspector's measurements and observations, finding loose material up to 16 inches deep in parts of the section. He rejected the company's…
Consolidation Coal Company
Dust order upheld, penalty reduced
MSHA issued an imminent danger order after finding one to five inches of float coal dust near electrical equipment in a room housing Consolidation Coal's belt drive. The room belonged to Ohio Power, but Consolidation maintained the belt equipment there and regularly sent miners into it. Judge James…
Matter of Castellon
Cuban parolee found excludable without valid entry documents
The Board reviewed a Cuban applicant's appeal from an exclusion order after the District Director revoked his parole and the immigration judge found him excludable for lacking a valid immigrant visa or other entry document. The Board held that it could not review the District Director's exercise of…
Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.
Settlement approved after dismissal reversed
The judge vacated two citations after denying a jointly supported postponement for ongoing settlement negotiations and after the Secretary did not present evidence at the scheduled hearing. The Commission held that dismissal was unjustified because the parties acted in good faith, neither party's…
Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation
Court-ordered penalty and classification changes
Acting under a Third Circuit order, the Commission modified previously final judge decisions. The official release reduces a $180 penalty to $90 and changes the related violation's characterization to nonserious, while leaving the judge's decisions unchanged in all other respects. The release does…
Concrete Construction Company
Crane swing-radius standard held inapplicable
Concrete Construction used a dragline to dredge soil from a river and place it nearby. Although the machine could perform limited lifting and could be converted into a crane after substantial modification, the Commission held that it was not performing a function normally performed by a crane at…
George Barry, et al., d/b/a Union Waterproofing, Roofing and Painting Co.
Default vacated for notice inquiry
After George Barry failed to appear at two hearings, the judge dismissed the notice of contest and affirmed citations carrying $6,000 in proposed penalties. Barry asserted that he was not the employer and had not received notice because the hearing orders were not sent to his correct address. The…
Franklin R. Lacy, (Aqua View Apartments)
Facilities in nearby buildings are not on the jobsite, and balconies and runways identical in use fall under one standard so the duplicate item is vacated
Franklin R. Lacy owned Aqua View Apartments and was building a 13-unit apartment building in Kirkland, Washington, acting as his own general contractor. An OSHA inspection produced one citation with eight other than serious items. Judge Garl Watkins never reached any of them. He dismissed…
United States Military Traffic Management Command, Eastern Area, Bayonne, New Jersey (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2855, AFL-CIO (Union)
Military traffic command arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA 0-AR-166)
A union at the Military Traffic Management Command challenged an arbitration award dated October 14, 1980. The Authority’s rules set a 30-day filing period, making November 12 the deadline. The union filed its exceptions on November 17. Because the Authority could not extend or waive the deadline…
Sweet City Quarries
Preliminary finding on hoist rope citation
MSHA alleged that a hoist rope at Sweet City Quarries had more than six broken wires in a single lay and proposed a $40 penalty. Judge George A. Koutras found the inspector had counted visible wire breaks but could not tell whether some breaks involved the same wire. The judge preliminarily found…
Maben Energy Corporation
Ventilation citation upheld
MSHA cited Maben Energy because airflow at a working area of its No. 3 coal mine fell below the minimum in its approved ventilation plan. Maben conceded the violation but contested the finding that it resulted from unwarrantable failure. Judge Gary Melick found that management knew this mine…
Ranger Fuel Corporation
Walkaround pay citation vacated
MSHA cited Ranger Fuel Corporation for allegedly denying a miners' representative pay while accompanying an inspector at its Beckley No. 2 Mine. The parties agreed that the inspection was a spot inspection. Judge Gary Melick applied two Commission decisions holding that the Mine Act's walkaround…
Local Union No. 6843, UMWA v. Williamson Shaft Contracting Company
Miners' compensation claim dismissed
A union sought compensation for 13 miners allegedly idled after an MSHA inspector told Williamson Shaft Contracting to stop normal work in an area with deficient roof bolts. The union argued that the inspector's statement amounted to an oral imminent danger withdrawal order. The Commission held…
Dove Creek Granite Company, Inc.
Fall protection violation upheld with $100 penalty
MSHA cited Dove Creek Granite after two workers drilled from a narrow piece of channel iron over water at its Blue Ribbon Quarry without safety belts or lines. The company conceded the violation. Judge George A. Koutras found that the workers faced a serious fall and drowning risk and that the…
Matter of Kubacki
Inadvertent overstay did not breach bond
The Regional Commissioner reviewed an appeal from a decision declaring an immigration maintenance of status and departure bond breached and forfeiting its collateral. The nonimmigrant visitor stayed 21 days beyond his authorized period because he and his uncle, who posted the bond, mistakenly…
Climax Molybdenum Company
Muck train brake violation upheld
MSHA cited Climax Molybdenum over the brakes on an underground muck train at its Climax Mine. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that four of five braker cars had faulty brakes, leaving the train without an adequate braking system. He credited the inspector's basic concern despite finding errors in…
El Paso Rock Quarries, Inc.
Quarry citations partly reinstated
El Paso Rock Quarries and MSHA appealed parts of a judge's decision on several quarry safety citations. The Commission upheld four rulings, including violations involving an unbermed haulage bench and missing eye protection and escape routes for customers who worked in the quarry. It held that…
Davidson Texas, Inc.
Dismissal set aside for settlement review
The judge vacated citations after the Secretary failed to file a complaint and did not answer a show-cause order. Unknown to the judge, the parties had already filed a signed settlement agreement with the Commission's national office. Because the Secretary's conduct was not contumacious and the…
Fort Knox Dependent Schools (Activity) and Fort Knox Teachers Association (Petitioner)
Fort Knox school teacher unit approved for election (FLRA 4-RO-47)
The Fort Knox Teachers Association petitioned to represent professional staff at the installation’s dependent schools. The Authority directly decided the appropriate unit issue, without reviewing a Regional Director decision. It included teachers, librarians, speech therapists, and reading teachers…
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (Activity) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-118 (Labor Organization/Petitioner)
FMCS temporary staff excluded and secretary roles split (FLRA 3-CU-39)
A union asked the Authority to include temporary staff and several secretarial roles in its Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service unit. The Authority directly decided the unit clarification petition, without a Regional Director decision under review. It excluded four temporary workers who had…
Sigler Mining, Inc.
Default penalty order vacated
An administrative law judge entered a default order against Sigler Mining after finding its letter responding to a show-cause order insufficient, and assessed the proposed $1,174 penalty. The letter said the company lacked funds to pay because of poor market conditions and its recent restart of…
Island Creek Coal Company
Loose coal ribs and brows citation upheld
MSHA issued a withdrawal order at Island Creek Coal Company's Birch No. 2-A Mine after an inspector saw loose ribs and overhanging coal brows in active mining areas. Judge William Fauver credited the inspector's visual assessment of the hazard, even though the inspector did not measure or prod each…
National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Jacksonville District, Florida (Agency)
IRS vehicle proposal appeal dismissed for wrong forum (FLRA 0-NG-202)
The IRS and a union settled an earlier bargaining complaint by agreeing to discuss the number of government cars available to revenue officers. They later disagreed over whether that agreement meant the IRS had elected to bargain about the union’s car proposal. The Authority held that the dispute…
Carhar Contracting Company, Inc.
Judge authorized to rule on late complaint
The Secretary filed a complaint after its extended deadline and asked that it be accepted. The judge treated the request as one to waive a Commission rule and concluded that only the Commission could decide it. The Commission clarified that accepting a late pleading is an ordinary procedural matter…
Frank Swidzinski Company
Unguarded loading-platform citation affirmed
An employee stood inches from the unguarded end of a fourth-floor material platform while directing a crane, exposing him to a 41-foot fall. The Commission rejected the employer's employee-misconduct defense because there was no relevant work rule, and rejected impossibility because blocks could be…
John L. Haviland, Robert P. Haviland, and Cleve Rentschler, d/b/a Haviland Brothers Coal Company
Haviland Brothers Coal Company (FMSHRC VINC 79-93-P and VINC 79-102-P): Parties ordered to address further hearing
MSHA sought civil penalties against the Haviland Brothers Coal Company partnership for alleged mine health violations involving dust sampling and a noise survey. The operators contested the citations and argued that their mining business was outside the Mine Act because its coal did not enter or…
W. R. Grace and Company
Dismissal denied pending contractor details
W. R. Grace contested two imminent danger withdrawal orders and a citation issued at its Bonny Lake Mine. The Secretary sought to dismiss the contests after reissuing the enforcement actions to an independent contractor, Pop's Painting of Lakeland. Judge George A. Koutras held that the Secretary…
Edward Kraemer & Sons, Inc.
Inspection disputes settled for $200
MSHA proposed two $200 penalties against Edward Kraemer & Sons at its Sibley Quarry and Mill. One citation arose from an alleged denial of entry for an inspection, and the other from an alleged refusal to let employees wear noise and dust monitors. The company said it had followed legal advice in…
Quarto Mining Company
Dust plan citation vacated and separate penalty settled
MSHA sought penalties for two citations against Quarto Mining at its Powhatan No. 7 Mine. Assistant Chief Judge Paul Merlin vacated a citation under the dust control plan standard because an earlier decision had held the same plan provision invalid. He approved the parties' $150 settlement for a…
National Industrial Constructors, Inc.
An employer may be required to change its method of work to comply, so impossibility and greater hazard both fail where the beams could have been moved through a guarded side
National Industrial Constructors was building a coal-fueled power plant near Sutherland, Nebraska. On the fourth floor, 60 feet above the next level and 200 feet above the ground, a wooden platform about 4 feet by 16 feet sat on open steel beams. Its south side had a guardrail and its east side…
Kennecott Copper Corporation
Contractor fall protection penalty cut to $19
MSHA cited Kennecott Copper after an electrical subcontractor's employee worked at the edge of a building about 50 feet above ground without a safety line at the Kennecott Concentrator. The parties stipulated that the fall protection standard was violated but disputed whether Kennecott could be…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Kenny Richardson
Kenny Richardson (FMSHRC BARB 78-600-P): Mechanic's $500 personal penalty affirmed
MSHA sought a personal penalty against Kenny Richardson, Peabody Coal Company's day shift master mechanic, for allowing a dragline with a cracked boom to remain in service. The Commission found substantial evidence that the machine was unsafe while operating and that Richardson knew or had reason…
Midwest Minerals, Inc.
Unguarded tail pulley citation upheld
MSHA cited Midwest Minerals because a stacker tail pulley at its No. 30 Quarry and Plant lacked a guard where employees worked nearby. Judge Forrest E. Stewart found that the pulley could be contacted accidentally, despite the company's claim that its location and other machine parts gave adequate…
Lone Star Steel Company
Dragline brake defect citation upheld
MSHA cited Lone Star Steel after a dragline at its surface mine continued loading trucks with a hoist brake that would not hold the bucket. Judge Forrest E. Stewart found the brake defective even though the inspector had mistaken the cause: the brake lining had glazed after a faulty adjustment. He…
Department of the Air Force, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois (Respondent) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R7-23 (Complainant)
Scott Air Force Base work-hour bargaining order upheld (FLRA 5-CA-115)
Scott Air Force Base changed work schedules for bargaining unit employees during an existing labor agreement. The administrative law judge found the base had not first given the union a meaningful opportunity to bargain and recommended unfair labor practice findings. The Authority adopted the…
Itmann Coal Company
Low airflow violation upheld, unwarrantable failure vacated
MSHA issued an order after measuring less than the required 9,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a pillar line in Itmann Coal Company's No. 3 Mine. Judge Edwin S. Bernstein held that the low airflow itself violated the mandatory ventilation standard. He rejected the unwarrantable failure finding…
Riverside Cement Company
Stacker cable fitting citation upheld
MSHA cited Riverside Cement because an energized clinker stacker cable entered a junction box through its door rather than a proper fitting at the Crestmore Mine and Mill. Judge Paul Merlin found this arrangement violated the electrical cable standard. The inspector feared stacker movement might…
Riverside Cement Company
Conveyor pulley guarding citation upheld
MSHA cited Riverside Cement after finding an unguarded take-up pulley and bend pulley beside an accessible area beneath a running conveyor at its Crestmore Mine and Mill. Judge Paul Merlin held that both moving parts were covered by the machine guarding standard and could be contacted by workers…
White Pine Copper Division, Copper Range Company
White Pine Copper Division (FMSHRC LAKE 80-236-RM): Imminent danger order over roof bolt test vacated
White Pine Copper tested whether roof bolts could be removed from part of its underground mine while workers monitored roof conditions. MSHA issued an imminent danger withdrawal order and later tightened it after a roof fall. Judge Edwin S. Bernstein found that the company had restricted access…
Ogle County Highway Department
County quarry covered by Mine Act
MSHA cited the Ogle County Highway Department for four safety violations at its St. Clair Quarry and Mill and proposed $142 in penalties. The county did not contest the citations or amounts, but argued that its quarry was outside the Mine Act because it produced limestone only for local road…
Youghiogheny and Ohio Coal Company
Firefighting water outlet order upheld
MSHA issued a withdrawal order after finding only two usable water outlets along about 4,000 feet of haulage track at Youghiogheny and Ohio Coal Company's Allison Mine. Judge Edwin S. Bernstein held that the firefighting waterline requirement covered tracks used to move people and supplies as well…
W. B. Coal Company
Berm and seatbelt citations upheld, brake citation vacated
MSHA investigated a scraper rollover at W. B. Coal Company's Ann Strip No. 1 Mine and issued citations concerning roadway berms, seatbelt use, and brakes. Judge Edwin S. Bernstein found that berms on an elevated roadway were too low and assessed $500. He also upheld the seatbelt citation because…
Sharon A. Pace v. Consolidation Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Sharon Pace alleged that Consolidation Coal fired her from its Matthews Mine because she had spoken privately with an MSHA inspector. Judge Gary Melick found no evidence that the company official who made the discharge decision knew about that interview. He also credited testimony that Pace had…
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.