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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Climax Molybdenum Company, a Division of Amax, Inc.
Climax Molybdenum Company (FMSHRC DENV 79-122-M): Ball-mill noise dispute settled
Climax Molybdenum sought review of a noise citation involving a ball mill at its Henderson Mine and Mill. After the parties studied possible controls, they agreed that Climax would continue its hearing conservation and engineering noise-control program and use rubber liner materials in the mill…
Climax Molybdenum Company, a Division of Amax, Inc.
Climax Molybdenum Company (FMSHRC DENV 78-541-M): Nine mine-noise disputes settled
Climax Molybdenum sought review of nine noise citations involving drills and loading equipment at its Climax Mine. The parties agreed that Climax would continue studying and using feasible noise controls, including mufflers on certain equipment. Their settlement called for MSHA to vacate five…
Homestake Mining Company
Ground-support citation vacated
MSHA cited Homestake Mining Company over ground support in an underground haulage area, pointing to cracked or loose supports, a protruding rock, and possible fresh cracks. Judge Jon D. Boltz found that some observed conditions were disputed or did not show that the mine's support methods were…
The Boardman Company
Late complaint accepted after Commission found no contumacy or prejudice
A procedural order. The safety merits were never reached. The Secretary was served with the notice of contest on December 28, 1979, so Commission Rule 33(a)(1) required a complaint by January 17, 1980. None was filed, and no extension was requested. Judge Irving Sommer issued a show cause order on…
Special Metals Corporation
Remote grating did not establish employee access
An unguarded metal grating was located 30 feet above a shipping area and could be reached only by climbing a ladder. The grating was not used in normal work or maintenance, and no employee had occasion to use it during the prior year. The Commission held that working below the grating did not…
Gallo Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
Construction debris violation narrowed
Employees had to weave through or step over wood, steel, pipe, and equipment at two construction-site elevations. The Commission held that “debris” includes scattered material even if it may be reused, but does not include equipment to be installed or removed. It affirmed the first-elevation…
Willamette Iron and Steel Company
A repeated violation needs only a substantially similar prior final order, so different ships, crews, and deck locations do not defeat it
This is the Commission's second decision in the same case, issued almost three years after the first, and it exists because the first one did not count. Willamette repaired ships at its Swan Island dry dock in Portland, Oregon. It was cited in December 1972 for hoses and welding leads left…
Interpretation and Guidance
Merit pay label does not decide bargaining unit status (FLRA 0-PS-15)
The Authority considered whether an agency’s designation of an employee as a supervisor or management official for merit pay purposes controls that employee’s bargaining unit status. After inviting submissions from unions and agencies, it concluded that the merit pay designation has no effect on…
St. Joe Zinc Company
Back pay approved and penalty reduced
This final order resolves the remaining relief in a discrimination complaint brought on behalf of Lester N. Simmons against St. Joe Zinc Company. The parties agreed that Simmons would receive $78.12 in back pay plus eight percent interest from December 7, 1979, until payment. Judge Joseph B…
Jaquays Mining Corporation
Roadway and machinery citations split
MSHA cited Jaquays Mining Corporation for an elevated roadway without a berm and two unguarded machinery pinch points at its mill. Judge John J. Morris upheld the roadway citation because trucks used the road and could roll off its unprotected side. He also upheld one guarding citation because…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1363 (Union) and Headquarters, U.S. Army Garrison, Yongsan, Korea (Agency)
Army vehicle-registration reconsideration denied (FLRA O-NG-234)
An Army garrison in Korea sought reconsideration of an Authority decision requiring bargaining over registration of employees’ private vehicles. The Army had filed a petition for judicial review, and the Authority said that pending court case prevented further proceedings. It nevertheless examined…
Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Region V, Chicago, Illinois (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3400, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
HEW union release approval complaint dismissed (FLRA 5-CA-37)
A Chicago HEW region required local union officers to secure approval before leaving duty for union work and reprimanded a union president who refused. The administrative law judge recommended dismissal of the resulting unfair labor practice complaints. The Authority agreed with the result, though…
Nashua Corporation
Open-ended noise settlement rejected
The proposed settlement required Nashua to test a prototype noise enclosure but allowed it to abandon the control if it interfered with production, without setting a final abatement date or assuring another corrective measure. The Commission held that experimentation could support abatement but…
Matter of Patel
Investor classification recognized but adjustment of status denied
The Board reviewed an Indian student's deportation appeal after he overstayed and sought adjustment of status based on his investment in a motel. It held that, in the Ninth Circuit, the investor exemption did not require proof that the investment expanded United States job opportunities or ensured…
Dan Neville, d/b/a Neville Construction
Neville Construction (FMSHRC CENT 80-180-M): Crusher guarding penalty and settlement approved
MSHA cited Dan Neville, doing business as Neville Construction, for inadequate guarding on a crusher at a South Dakota gravel pit. Judge Forrest E. Stewart rejected the operator's jurisdiction and inspection objections and upheld one guarding citation because people could contact moving parts…
Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (Activity) and Professional Airways Systems Specialists (Petitioner); Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Airways Facility Sector, Tampa, Florida (Activity) and Professional Airways Systems Specialists (Petitioner)
FAA representation petitions remanded for interest review (FLRA 3-RO-41)
The FAA and a petitioner disputed how two representation petitions should proceed after unit consolidation. The Regional Director transferred questions about which Authority rules applied and how to evaluate the petitioner’s showing of interest. The Authority held that the final rules applied and…
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
A spray room may be established by sufficient separation rather than exclusive use, so the case returns for evidence on how separate the operation was
A short order carrying out a court of appeals remand. Nothing is decided on the merits. The standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.94(c)(2) requires that spray booths or spray rooms enclose or confine all spray finishing operations. Westinghouse was not using a spray booth, so the case turned entirely on…
Secretary of Labor v. Co-op Mining Company
Co-op Mining Company (FMSHRC DENV 79-1-P): Dust citation vacated because no violation occurred
MSHA alleged that Co-op Mining failed to submit a respirable dust sample for a miner identified by Social Security number. The parties stipulated that the company had never employed a miner with that number and had submitted the required sample for a miner whose number differed by one digit. An…
Research-Cottrell, Inc.
Settlement order corrected
The Commission found that the judge's order did not accurately reflect the parties' settlement. It corrected the order so that serious Citation 1 items 1 and 6 alleged a violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.450(a), redesignated item 1 as subitem 6(d), and affirmed the order as modified. The official…
Department of the Air Force, Air Force Logistics Command (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Union)
Air Force interest-arbitration enforcement motion denied (FLRA 0-MC-6)
AFGE asked the Authority to seek judicial enforcement of an interest-arbitration award involving the Air Force Logistics Command. The Authority found that the award had not been reviewed as an Authority issuance and was not an Authority order enforceable under 5 U.S.C. § 7123(b). It denied the…
Department of the Air Force, Scott Air Force Base (Activity) and National Association of Government Employees, Local No. R7-23 (Union)
Scott Air Force Base performance-rating award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-35)
A Scott Air Force Base union disputed continued use of a 90-day immediate-supervision requirement for outstanding performance ratings after an Air Force regulation changed. The arbitrator denied the grievance after examining the local supplement and the parties’ conduct. The union’s exceptions…
Grove Crushing Company
Three safety citations upheld, two vacated
MSHA cited Grove Crushing Company for five conditions at its Oregon gravel pit. Judge John J. Morris upheld citations for a loader without a working backup warning device, a ramp without a berm, and a crusher platform without adequate edge protection. He reduced the penalties for those three…
National Lime and Stone Company
Fuse-removal citation upheld
An MSHA inspector saw a mechanic remove and replace fuses by hand in a switchbox for an overhead crane at National Lime and Stone's mill. The citation was amended to allege a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.12-36, which restricts handling fuses in an energized circuit. Judge George A. Koutras found…
Local Union 1957, United Mine Workers of America, David Biggs et al. v. Southern Ohio Coal Company
Southern Ohio Coal Company (FMSHRC VINC 77-112): Miners' refusal to cross water was protected
Six miners refused to cross water they believed made the route to their jobs unsafe and asked for other work. Their foreman denied available alternative work because they would not cross the water. The judge dismissed their discrimination claim, but the Commission found their refusal reasonable, in…
Mountain Energy, Inc.
Fire-protection and pump citations upheld
MSHA cited Mountain Energy for missing water-based fire protection at its coal mine and for a water pump lacking a ground-monitoring system. The operator contested the penalties but did not appear at the scheduled hearing. Judge George A. Koutras found that the hearing notices had been properly…
Burgess Mining and Construction Corporation
Defective payhauler brakes draw $5,000 penalty
A coal payhauler at Burgess Mining and Construction's Alabama strip mine had defective brakes and rolled backward down a ramp after stalling. Its driver was seriously injured. Judge Paul Merlin found that the brake defects should have been corrected before the truck was used, as required by 30…
Glenn Munsey v. Smitty Baker Coal Company, Inc., P&P Coal Company, and Ralph Baker
Glenn Munsey v. Smitty Baker Coal Company (FMSHRC NORT 71-96): Successor shares liability for discrimination
Smitty Baker Coal Company and Ralph Baker had unlawfully refused to rehire miner Glenn Munsey in 1971. On remand from a federal appeals court, the Commission held that P&P Coal Company succeeded Smitty Baker Coal Company and shared liability for that discrimination. It also held that Ralph Baker…
Rockite Gravel Company
Loader noise citation upheld
MSHA cited Rockite Gravel Company after a loader operator's measured daily noise exposure reached 220 percent of the permitted dose. Judge Edwin S. Bernstein found that the company had not used adequate engineering or administrative controls, and the operator was not using hearing protection. He…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1789 (Union) and Department of Housing and Urban Development, St. Louis Area Office, St. Louis, Missouri (Agency)
HUD St. Louis flexible schedule proposal negotiable (FLRA 0-NG-95)
A union proposed flexible daily schedules for employees at a HUD area office in St. Louis. HUD asserted that its handbook barred local flexitime and that the regulation had a compelling need. The Authority found HUD had not shown a compelling need under the applicable criteria. It set aside the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2782, AFL-CIO (Union) and Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
Census midterm bargaining appeal dismissed (FLRA 0-NG-184)
A Census Bureau union sought to reopen dozens of agreement sections beyond those allowed by a midterm reopener clause. The bureau refused, and the union filed a negotiability appeal. The Authority found the dispute concerned whether the parties had an obligation to bargain, a question for unfair…
Gex Colorado, Incorporated
Damages claim dismissed after citation vacated
Gex Colorado contested a citation alleging improper maintenance of a roof-bolting machine at its Roadside Mine. The Secretary moved to vacate that citation, but Gex continued to seek damages and costs that it proposed to offset against future mine-safety penalties. Judge John J. Morris held that…
GEX Colorado, Incorporated v. Secretary of Labor
GEX Colorado (FMSHRC WEST 80-327-R): Damages claim dismissed after citation withdrawal
MSHA cited GEX Colorado over fire doors at its Roadside Mine, then withdrew the citation before GEX filed a contest. GEX sought damages, expenses, and costs for the citation and proposed applying any recovery against future penalties. Judge John J. Morris held that the Commission could hear a…
Gex Colorado, Inc.
Ventilation citations upheld with one amended penalty
MSHA cited Gex Colorado for air recirculation, insufficient ventilation, and a third violation under 30 C.F.R. § 75.403 at its Roadside Mine. Judge John J. Morris found that air from a working face reentered the intake and that the measured airflow fell below the quantity required by Gex's…
Secretary of Labor v. CF&I Steel Corporation
CF&I Steel Corporation (FMSHRC DENV 76-46): Withdrawal order remains vacated
A federal mine inspector issued a withdrawal order against CF&I Steel Corporation in December 1975. The judge vacated it because the enforcement agency had not shown that there was no intervening clean inspection of the entire mine after an earlier withdrawal order. The Commission agreed that the…
Carolina Stalite Company
Penalties assessed before Commission reversal
Thirteen penalty proceedings against Carolina Stalite involved 133 alleged violations at its slate-processing facility. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy rejected the company's jurisdiction and enforcement defenses, found 103 violations, and assessed $14,542 in total penalties. He vacated the other alleged…
A. H. Smith Stone Company
Unsafe feeder access citation upheld
A crusher operator was found dead at A. H. Smith Stone Company's Louisa Quarry and Mill, prompting MSHA to inspect access to a feeder near the crusher. Judge Richard C. Steffey found that a worker had to step up from insecure footing without a step or handhold, in violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.11-1…
Consolidation Coal Company
$750 dust settlement approved
MSHA cited float coal dust accumulations at Consolidation Coal's Loveridge Mine under 30 C.F.R. § 75.400 and proposed a $2,000 penalty. The Secretary changed the withdrawal order to a citation after concluding that it could not prove unwarrantable failure. Judge John F. Cook initially rejected a…
Lone Star Industries, Inc.
Unsafe railroad-car riding citation upheld
A Lone Star Industries employee was fatally injured while riding on the front of loaded railroad cars being moved downhill at its Jack Plant. Judge Richard C. Steffey held that this was not a safe position under 30 C.F.R. § 56.9-41 because a worker riding the front car was especially likely to be…
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.
A crane load carried in one direction is still swung over employees, but the record reopens on whether the official who issued the citations had authority
On August 5, 1975, a whirler crane carried a pipe and valve weighing about 2,600 pounds over the location where two employees were working on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Eisenhower, then under construction at Newport News. The connecting rope broke and the load fell 40 feet onto…
Rockwell International Corporation
A section 6(a) standard may be attacked in an enforcement proceeding, but a point of operation needs guarding only where it actually exposes an employee to injury
Two questions, both answered in the employer's favor, and the second one over a dissent. Rockwell ran a heavy duty axle assembly plant in Marysville, Ohio. After an inspection the Secretary issued a nonserious citation, with a $150 proposed penalty, alleging that several types of machines lacked…
Local Union 781, UMWA v. Eastern Associated Coal Corporation
Local Union 781, UMWA v. Eastern Associated Coal (FMSHRC WEVA 80-473): Memorial-period pay claim denied
After a miner was fatally injured at Eastern Associated Coal's Wharton No. 4 Mine, the union's miners left work for an unpaid memorial period under their labor agreement. MSHA issued an investigative withdrawal order several hours after they left. The union sought compensation under section 111 of…
Matter of Piroglu
Probation violation did not preserve voluntary departure eligibility
The Board reviewed a deportation case involving a Turkish national who had served nine months in prison after violating probation when he could not pay a fine. The Board held that a person confined for at least 180 days because of a conviction is barred from establishing good moral character, even…
General Divers Company
Rule 60(b) relief request remanded
The Commission construed the employer's letter as a motion for relief from a final order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b). Because the record lacked enough information to determine whether relief was warranted, it remanded so the employer could present its basis for relief and the judge…
Harris Brothers Roofing Co.
Late-contest inquiry required before merits review
Harris Brothers filed its notice of contest after the statutory 15-working-day deadline and asked that the case be reopened. Instead of determining whether Secretary deception or procedural failure excused the delay, the judge vacated the citation on the merits based on control and employee access…
General Motors Corporation, Frigidaire Division
Power-press control distance violation affirmed
Testing showed that a mechanical press took 0.60 to 0.63 seconds to stop, requiring its two-hand controls to be about 39.69 inches from the die, while the actual distance was 25 inches. The Commission held that the safety-distance rule applied even if the press was intended as a no-hands-in-die…
Bunkoff Construction Co., Inc.
Jackhammer foot-shield citation vacated
OSHA cited a jackhammer operator's use of ordinary work shoes without metal foot shields. The Commission agreed that the construction PPE standard applied, but the majority vacated for different reasons: Chairman Cleary found the Secretary had not shown that a reasonable person would recognize a…
Ormet Corporation
A general guarding standard requires proof that a hazard existed, while a specification standard presumes the hazard its own terms describe
Ormet ran an aluminum plant in Hannibal, Ohio. An inspection produced thirteen citations. Ormet contested several, Administrative Law Judge Donald K. Duvall heard them, and Chairman Cleary directed review on the Secretary's petition. Three issues reached the Commission, and the employer won one of…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. F & G Sand and Gravel Co., Inc.
F & G Sand and Gravel Co., Inc. (FMSHRC YORK 80-46-M): $763 default penalty assessed
F & G Sand and Gravel did not comply with a pretrial order in a civil penalty case. After the judge issued a show-cause order, the company called to say it wanted to comply but needed clarification. The judge's office gave instructions and allowed five days to respond. A month later, the company…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Salt Lake County Road Department
Salt Lake County Road Department (FMSHRC WEST 79-365-M): Unguarded pulley citation upheld
MSHA cited Salt Lake County Road Department for an unguarded feeder pulley at its Welby Pit and proposed a $60 penalty. The county argued that its road work placed the pit outside federal mine safety jurisdiction, that the inspection needed a warrant, and that the Secretary filed the penalty…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. John Petersen d/b/a Tide Creek Rock Products
John Petersen d/b/a Tide Creek Rock Products (FMSHRC WEST 79-300): Electrical citation vacated, pulley guard upheld
MSHA cited John Petersen's Tide Creek Pit for an electrical connection on a conveyor motor and an unguarded tail pulley. Judge Virgil E. Vail vacated the electrical citation because the Secretary did not prove that Petersen's insulated wiring failed the cited standard or that a weatherhead was…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Little Bill Coal Co., Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Little Bill Coal (FMSHRC KENT 80-203, et al.): $1,774 default penalty assessed
Little Bill Coal did not provide information required by a pretrial order in six civil penalty dockets. After the judge issued a show-cause order, the company said it was trying to prepare its defenses but still did not supply the information or ask for more time. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy declared…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Gallagher and Burk, Incorporated
Gallagher and Burk, Incorporated (FMSHRC DENV 79-517-PM): Explosives grounding and horn citations upheld
MSHA cited Gallagher and Burk at its Leona Quarry and Mill for two metal explosives magazines without electrical grounding and a front-end loader with a broken horn. Judge John A. Carlson held that the magazines needed a conductive grounding connection; resting on steel skids in contact with the…
L.A. Dreyfus Company
Machine-guarding settlement approved
The parties settled a machine-guarding citation originally classified as repeated with a proposed $360 penalty. The settlement reclassified the violation as serious but not repeated, reduced the penalty to $200, recorded abatement, withdrew the employer's contest and the Secretary's review…
Coeur D'Alene Tribal Farm
Tribal-enterprise coverage remanded
The judge held that the Occupational Safety and Health Act applied to the Coeur D'Alene Tribal Farm despite its status as an enterprise of an Indian tribal government. After issuing a separate decision holding that OSHA could not be applied inconsistently with tribal treaty rights, the Commission…
R. Zoppo Co., Inc.
Serious trenching violation affirmed
R. Zoppo challenged the judge's finding that a trench was inadequately sloped and the classification of the violation as serious. After reviewing the record, the Commission adopted the judge's findings and affirmed the serious trenching violation and $750 penalty. Commissioner Cottine concurred but…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Elden and Sandra Wait
Secretary of Labor v. Elden and Sandra Wait (FMSHRC WEST 79-171-M, WEST 79-172-M): Nine citation cases dismissed
MSHA brought two penalty proceedings involving nine citations at Elden and Sandra Wait's Green Decorative Rock mine in California. After a hearing, Elden Wait moved to dismiss the citations based on a Ninth Circuit decision involving him. The Secretary did not oppose dismissal in light of that…
Jackie Ray Hammonds v. National Mines Corporation
Reinstatement and back pay ordered
Earlier orders in Jackie Ray Hammonds's discrimination case found that National Mines unlawfully suspended and discharged him, and he reported that the company had not complied. Judge William Fauver ordered National Mines to offer Hammonds reinstatement to his former or an equivalent position with…
Matter of Sheikh
Environmental epidemiology position did not require a visa qualifying examination
The Regional Commissioner reviewed a denial of a university department's petition to employ a physician as a professor of environmental epidemiology. The District Director concluded that the position involved medical-profession services and therefore required the beneficiary to pass the visa…
Benton Foundry, Inc.
Failure-to-abate dismissal remanded
The judge vacated a failure-to-abate notification carrying a proposed $5,000 penalty because the Secretary did not file a complaint or answer the employer's motion. On review, the Secretary asserted that the notification had been incorporated into a complaint in a related docket and the omission of…
CMH Company, Inc.; Carhar Contracting Company, Inc.
Correct employer substituted after fatal accident
Two Carhar employees died in a sewer manhole, but OSHA cited the closely related CMH company after relying on a foreman's mistaken identification. Both corporations had the same owners and officers, and their shared vice-president had assigned the project from CMH to Carhar and received the…
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.