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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Gilbert Manufacturing Company, Inc.
A request for more time to abate is a modification petition, not a contest of the whole citation
Gilbert Manufacturing was cited for 16 alleged OSHA violations. Within the 15-day period for contesting a citation, it sent the Secretary a letter asking for more time to abate six of the items and contesting the proposed penalty on one item. The Secretary treated the letter as a notice of contest…
The Rogers Manufacturing Co.
The cited press-die standard does not reach a hazard created by the guard itself, so the citation is amended to the general guarding rule and conditionally affirmed
Rogers made pulleys on an Aida #32 mechanical power press. The operator reached 14 to 16 inches in between the die shoes — which were only 8 inches apart — to set a workpiece into a pocket in the lower die, withdrew her hands, and tripped the cycle with a foot pedal, about 25 to 30 pieces every 15…
General Services Administration, National Personnel Records Center
Records center EEO counselor and union officer ruling left in place (FLRA 0-AS-6)
The National Personnel Records Center barred an employee from serving both as a part-time equal employment opportunity counselor and as an AFGE Local 2928 officer. The Assistant Secretary found an unfair labor practice because her union duties concerned internal administration and did not create a…
Gardner-Denver Company
Settlement order corrected to vacate item 34
Gardner-Denver and the Secretary had entered a settlement agreement that was reflected in an Administrative Law Judge's order. The Commission modified paragraph 7 of that order to state that citation 1, item 34 was vacated, as the settlement required. It affirmed the judge's order as modified, and…
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
Sample monitoring proves noise overexposure without continuous measurement, and engineering controls are feasible even when they cannot bring every product size within the table
Wheeling-Pittsburgh galvanizes steel pipe at a plant in West Virginia. Pipe is dipped in a pot of molten zinc, wiped, and then rolled to a blowout station where an operator seats one end of the pipe in a "blowout bell" and steps on a pedal, sending a pressurized steam blast through the pipe to…
Island Creek Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA) and United Mine Workers of America
Island Creek Coal Company (FMSHRC PIKE 79-18): Dismissal of review application affirmed
Island Creek Coal Company sought review in a case involving the Secretary of Labor and the United Mine Workers of America. The Commission affirmed the administrative law judge's dismissal of Island Creek's application in a one-sentence decision. The release gives no reason for the dismissal and…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Kaiser Steel Corporation
Kaiser Steel Corporation (FMSHRC DENV 78-31-P): Ventilation negligence and $1,000 penalty affirmed
An inspector measured less air volume and velocity at a working face than Kaiser Steel's approved ventilation plan required. Kaiser did not dispute the violation, but contested the judge's finding that it had been negligent and the $1,000 penalty. The Commission found evidence that the placement of…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Cambridge Mining Corporation
Cambridge Mining Corporation (FMSHRC DENV 77-7-P): Unsupported mine rib violation affirmed
An inspector found loose, unsupported ribs along a working place at Cambridge Mining's mine. The company planned to install mesh and gunnite and to move work elsewhere until then, but the judge found that miners had not been kept out of the affected area or warned with signs. The Commission agreed…
Social Security Administration, Bureau of Retirement and Survivors Insurance, Mid-America Program Service Center, Kansas City, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1336
Social Security arbitration appeal denied as late (FLRA 0-AR-32)
The Social Security Administration sought review of a June 15, 1979 arbitration award involving AFGE Local 1336. Its petition reached the Authority on July 17, one day after the statutory filing deadline identified in the decision. The Authority said it could neither extend nor waive that deadline…
K. L. Spring & Stamping Corporation
Settlement approved and later abatement request left to Rule 34
K. L. Spring & Stamping was cited for four serious and six nonserious violations, with total proposed penalties of $1,260. The company contested the penalties and the abatement date for point-of-operation guarding on two testers, and the United Steelworkers elected party status. A settlement…
Communications, Inc.
Trench violations deemed repeated and willful
Communications, a utility contractor, had two employees working in a trench about 6 feet 2 inches deep with unsupported vertical walls and excavated soil stored within 2 feet of the edge. The Commission affirmed violations of the trench-support standard and the spoil-pile setback standard because…
Department of the Air Force, 102nd Fighter Interceptor Wing, Massachusetts Air National Guard, Otis Air Force Base; National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-191; and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local F-196
Otis Air Base firefighter election petition dismissed as early (FLRA 31-11654(RO))
The International Association of Fire Fighters sought an election for firefighters at Otis Air Force Base less than a year after NAGE Local R1-191 had been certified as their representative. It argued that the incumbent local had become defunct after members withdrew and its officers resigned. The…
Social Security Administration, Northeastern Program Service Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1760
Social Security center owed union notice for employee meeting (FLRA 30-08551(CA))
Managers at the Social Security Administration's Northeastern Program Service Center met with benefit authorizers about resuming temporary assignments to an inquiry staff. They invited a nearby union officer only after employees began asking about selection. An administrative law judge found that…
Internal Revenue Service, Brooklyn District Office and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 53
IRS records request complaint dismissed because records did not exist (FLRA 30-08474(CA))
NTEU Chapter 53 requested sanitized work review reports for three IRS auditors to help challenge another auditor's transfer. The Brooklyn District refused the request without explaining that it had never prepared those reports. The administrative law judge found the requested information relevant…
Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C. and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 65
IRS office rearrangement bargaining complaint dismissed (FLRA 22-08866(CA))
The IRS planned to rearrange work areas in its Employee Plans Division and gave NTEU Chapter 65 proposed floor plans. The union gathered employees' objections and met with management, but did not request bargaining over the plan's implementation or impact at that meeting. After construction began…
Internal Revenue Service, South Carolina District
IRS interview of arbitration witness ruling left in place (FLRA 0-AS-7)
An IRS South Carolina District attorney interviewed a bargaining-unit employee about a pending grievance without giving NTEU an opportunity to attend. The Assistant Secretary found that the interview was a formal discussion concerning a grievance and that excluding the union violated the Executive…
Borg-Warner Corporation, Morse Chain Division
Noise-control citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement
Borg-Warner's Morse Chain Division used high-speed presses to make automotive and industrial chains at its Ithaca plant. OSHA cited the company under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.95(b)(1) for failing to reduce excessive press noise through feasible engineering or administrative controls. The judge found that…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Cut Slate, Incorporated
Cut Slate, Incorporated (FMSHRC WILK 79-13-P): $170 default reversed over distant conference site
The Secretary sought $170 for three alleged safety violations at Cut Slate's small quarry. A judge scheduled a prehearing conference in Arlington, Virginia, and entered default when the company did not attend, despite its written objection to a roughly 900-mile round trip from its Vermont office…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Shamrock Coal Company and Greenwood Land and Mining Company
Shamrock Coal and Greenwood Land and Mining (FMSHRC BARB 76X552-P): Violations affirmed, one penalty reduced
Shamrock Coal and Greenwood Land and Mining challenged the judge's handling of 32 violation notices and their penalties. The Commission found the violation findings supported by the record and upheld the penalties except for one involving an automatic backup alarm. It affirmed that violation…
Matter of Ng
Advance reapplication permission unavailable in exclusion proceedings
The Board reviewed an appeal from an immigration judge's grant of advance permission to reapply for admission to a person found inadmissible in exclusion proceedings. It held that an immigration judge may grant nunc pro tunc permission to reapply when that relief will completely dispose of a case…
R. L. Sanders Roofing Company
Unguarded flat-roof fall hazard violates the general duty clause
R. L. Sanders was a roofing subcontractor working on a school roof about 13 feet above the ground with no perimeter guarding. An employee pulling a hot-asphalt spreader fell from the roof after asphalt splashed on him, and the spreader tipped and spilled hot material onto him, causing severe burns…
Hughes Drilling Company Inc.
Drilling citations partly vacated without substantive Commission review
Hughes Drilling operated an oil and gas drilling rig where an employee was caught in a catline and cathead after the line was used without being attached to a load. The judge vacated a general duty clause citation because the Secretary did not prove that the driller's absence from the controls was…
Meadville Forging Company
Noise failure-to-abate notification vacated
OSHA issued Meadville Forging a failure-to-abate notification under the occupational-noise standard for employees in its press, hammer, and shear departments, with a proposed additional penalty of $5,200. The final underlying citation required feasible administrative or engineering controls that…
Navy Exchange Naval Station and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3723
Navy Exchange arbitration appeal denied as late (FLRA 0-AR-26)
AFGE Local 3723 sought review of an April 30, 1979 arbitration award involving the Navy Exchange Naval Station. Its petition was filed on June 21, after the May 30 deadline identified in the decision. The Authority said it could not extend or waive the statutory 30-day limit. It denied the petition…
Chromalloy American Corporation, Federal Malleable Division
Hearing proceeds while warrant appeal is pending
Chromalloy asked to postpone its Commission hearing while the Supreme Court considered whether to review a related court ruling that upheld an OSHA inspection warrant. The Commission denied interlocutory review of the judge's refusal to postpone the hearing. It explained that after the Supreme…
Naval Air Rework Facility, Marine Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local Lodge 2297
Cherry Point employee's removal from supervisor list found unlawful (FLRA 40-8713(CA))
After a Cherry Point employee asked his union to challenge a denied leave request, his supervisor removed him from a list for temporary relief-supervisor assignments. The administrative law judge found that the supervisor acted out of irritation over the union's intervention, but dismissed the…
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO
Norfolk shipyard tank-surveillance bargaining complaint dismissed (FLRA 22-08574(CA))
Norfolk Naval Shipyard removed a daily radioactive-liquid-waste tank check from nuclear pipefitters' assigned work. The Tidewater Metal Trades Council alleged that the shipyard had failed to bargain over the change and its effects, including claimed lost overtime. The administrative law judge found…
Early-Massman
A tied-off safety belt is not compliance with the rebar impalement standard, and one prior final order for the same standard makes the violation repeated
Early-Massman was the general contractor building a subway station at 15th and I Streets in Washington, D.C. During a September 11, 1975 inspection, a compliance officer saw one of its employees standing at the edge of an unguarded temporary wooden deck, lowering an air compressor hose to another…
Matter of Moreira
Active parental interest required for stepchild status
The Board reconsidered its prior treatment of visa petitions filed by stepparents for stepchildren, including illegitimate children. It held that marriage alone does not establish the required stepparent-stepchild relationship, and that the stepparent must have shown active parental interest in the…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Cincinnati Service Office and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 75
Cincinnati HUD office found unsuitable as separate bargaining unit (FLRA 53-10534(RO))
NFFE Local 75 sought an election for employees at HUD's Cincinnati Service Office. After the petition was filed, HUD reorganized its Ohio offices and placed Cincinnati under the Columbus Area Office, which held personnel and labor relations authority. The Authority found that a Cincinnati-only unit…
United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Quality Service and American Federation of Government Employees, National Joint Council of Meat Inspection Locals, Local 925
Meat inspectors' arbitration petition found late while submissions remain open (FLRA 0-AR-21)
AFGE Local 925 sought review of an arbitration award involving USDA's Food Safety and Quality Service. The award was dated only March 1979, but the arbitrator sent it to the parties on April 2. Even using that later date, the Authority calculated that a petition was due May 1, while the union filed…
Matter of Mena
Conviction record included plea colloquy identifying heroin
The Board reviewed the Immigration and Naturalization Service's appeal from an immigration judge's decision terminating deportation proceedings against a Mexican native and citizen who had been admitted as an immigrant. The respondent pleaded guilty in California to unlawful possession of a…
Department of the Army, Civilian Personnel Office, Rock Island Arsenal and National Federation of Federal Employees
Rock Island Arsenal arbitration appeal denied as late (FLRA 0-AR-18)
The Army sought review of a Rock Island Arsenal arbitration award involving the National Federation of Federal Employees. The supplemented award was dated March 28, 1979, making an exception due April 27 under the Authority's calculation. The Army filed on April 30. The Authority said it could not…
Matter of Hinojosa
Seven-year domicile completed during temporary absence
The Board reviewed an exclusion case involving a lawful permanent resident from Mexico who was found with about 60 pounds of marijuana after seeking readmission. It agreed that the applicant was excludable based on his marijuana-importation conviction, but held that he remained eligible to seek a…
Matter of Carrillo
Pre-invocation admission established deportability
The Board reviewed a respondent's appeal from a deportability finding based on entry without inspection. The respondent argued that the immigration judge denied a fair hearing by refusing a continuance, proceeding after counsel left the hearing, and requiring testimony despite an asserted Fifth…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Rushton Mining Company
Rushton Mining Company (FMSHRC PITT 75-399-P): Three challenged violations and penalties affirmed
Rushton appealed a judge's ruling on three of five violations. It conceded two violations but argued that their $200 and $300 penalties were too high for their gravity. The Commission found the penalty assessments supported by the evidence and the statutory criteria. Rushton also disputed whether a…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Valley Camp Coal Company
Valley Camp Coal Company (FMSHRC MORG 78-46-P): $10,000 default reversed for excusable filing mistake
MSHA sought a $10,000 penalty for an alleged safety-standard violation, but Valley Camp missed the deadline to answer the petition. Company counsel mistook the papers for a similar case that had already settled and filed an answer after discovering the error. A judge entered default and refused to…
Matter of Westman
Deferred sentencing still established conviction
The Board reviewed a Canadian respondent's appeal from a deportability finding based on a conviction for attempted grand larceny by passing a bad check. It held that the Washington statute required intent to deprive or defraud, making the offense a crime involving moral turpitude. The Board also…
Department of the Air Force, 47th Flying Training Wing, Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1749
Laughlin Air Base owed advance notice of telephone-system change (FLRA 63-8164(CA))
Laughlin Air Force Base replaced direct-dial phones in its civil engineering shops with a central switchboard system. AFGE Local 1749 alleged that the base made the change without advance notice or bargaining. The Authority agreed with the judge that management did not have to bargain over the…
General Services Administration, Region 3; Federal Employees and Transportation Workers, Local 960; and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2151
GSA reorganization left Local 960 bargaining unit intact (FLRA 22-08858(CA))
GSA Region 3 questioned whether a 1974 reorganization had ended the bargaining unit represented by Federal Employees and Transportation Workers Local 960. It filed petitions to challenge that unit and move some workers into an AFGE unit, and temporarily declined to negotiate a new contract with…
Department of the Navy, Consolidated Civilian Personnel Office and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1461
Navy personnel office ordered to bargain over Observatory reorganization impact (FLRA 22-08765(CA))
The Navy reorganized the U.S. Naval Observatory's public works department, eliminating positions and changing reporting lines. Its Consolidated Civilian Personnel Office prevented NFFE Local 1461 from seeking bargaining over the effect on employees. An administrative law judge found that this…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2206 and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
AFGE member-expulsion remedy left in place (FLRA 0-AS-8)
AFGE and Local 2206 expelled three members without giving them written charges specifying the conduct at issue. The Assistant Secretary found that this denied the members a fair disciplinary hearing and ordered their membership restored. The unions sought Authority review and a stay, arguing that…
U.S. Geological Survey, Gulf of Mexico OCS Operations, Metairie, Louisiana
Geological Survey grievance election ruling left in place (FLRA 0-AS-3)
AFGE Local 3457 challenged how the Geological Survey handled employees' rights during an agency investigation. After first filing a grievance, the union also filed an unfair labor practice complaint over the same events. The Assistant Secretary upheld dismissal of the complaint under an Executive…
Matter of Healy and Goodchild
Study at an unapproved school required student status
The Board reviewed consolidated exclusion proceedings for Irish citizen Mr. Healy and British citizen Mr. Goodchild, each of whom held a B-2 visitor visa but intended to attend a nine-month course at the Claymont School, which was not approved for nonimmigrant students. The Board held that an alien…
Matter of Salvail
Deportation order replaced with voluntary departure
The Board reviewed a Canadian respondent's deportation case involving two convictions under Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Canada for possessing stolen goods while knowing they were stolen. It held that the convictions involved moral turpitude and constituted a felony because the maximum…
Matter of Agustin
Marriage issue required a remand for fraud-relief review
The Board reviewed a Philippine respondent's deportation case after she had obtained an immigrant visa as an unmarried daughter but later acknowledged that she was married before the visa was issued. The Board held that the evidence did not establish that the marriage was void under Philippine law…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Republic Steel Corporation
Republic Steel Corporation (FMSHRC PITT 78-156-P): Settlement approval affirmed
Republic Steel's penalty proceedings covered nine dockets associated with four mines. A judge approved a settlement, and the Commission directed him to add his reasons and supporting facts to the record. After reviewing that supplement, the Commission found no error in the approval and affirmed it…
Matter of Eisen
Young medical student could not avoid labor certification
The Commissioner reviewed a Colombian applicant's request for adjustment of status as a nonpreference immigrant without a labor certification. The applicant was a young medical student who said he would not work while completing at least five more years of study and had enough money to support…
Wean-Pori, Inc.
Commission affirms withdrawal of an electrical-grounding citation after the union agreed it had been heard
Wean-Pori, Inc. was issued a serious citation on May 10, 1978 alleging an electrical-grounding violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.309(a) (incorporating the National Electrical Code), with a proposed penalty of $420. The company timely contested, and the United Steelworkers local elected party status as…
Jensen Construction Company
Serious bridge fall-protection violation affirmed
Jensen Construction Company was building a bridge over the Kansas River when OSHA observed its superintendent walking on a steel girder about 50 feet above the ground without fall protection. The Commission upheld a serious violation of the personal protective equipment standard and rejected…
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation
Noise case remanded for protected expert discovery
OSHA cited Kaiser Aluminum under the occupational-noise standard and sought a discovery inspection of its plant by an outside expert. The judge found that the inspection could reveal trade secrets, limited entry to federal employees, and dismissed the citation when the Secretary said he could not…
Fabricraft, Inc.
Sewing-machine needle violation reduced to de minimis
Fabricraft manufactured women's sportswear and operated 46 single-needle sewing machines, 44 of which lacked needle guards. Operators' hands came within one-half inch of the needles, and the record included several minor puncture injuries. The Commission affirmed a violation of the…
Veterans Administration Hospital, Sheridan, Wyoming and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1219
Sheridan VA promotion discrimination complaint dismissed (FLRA 61-3868(CA))
AFGE Local 1219 alleged that a Sheridan VA hospital passed over a union steward for a housekeeping supervisor promotion because of his union activity. He had the highest numerical rating among highly qualified candidates, but management selected two other applicants. The administrative law judge…
U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Materiel Readiness Command, Fort Monmouth; American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1904; and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 476
Fort Monmouth command-wide unit approved for election (FLRA 32-5447(RO))
AFGE Local 1904 sought a command-wide bargaining unit at Fort Monmouth, while NFFE Local 476 sought a unit excluding Headquarters and Installation Support Activity employees. The Authority found that the command shared personnel policies, support offices, and an overall mission, making the broader…
RMI Company
A noise case goes back for evidence on economic feasibility, because the parties briefed it before Continental Can made economic feasibility part of the standard
This is a one-page order carrying out a court of appeals remand. It decides no part of the merits. What makes it worth reading is the timing problem it describes, where the law governing a case changed after the parties had finished arguing it. What the case was about. RMI Company ran a metal…
Matter of Allan Gee, Inc.
A corporation could petition for its sole shareholder
The Commissioner reviewed a petition by a Texas corporation seeking preference classification for its sole shareholder, a South African citizen, to work as a corporate executive. The District Director had treated the corporation and its shareholder as the same employer and denied the petition. The…
Matter of Raqueno
Innocent misrepresentation did not support section 241(f) relief
The Board reviewed a Philippine respondent's motion to reconsider a deportation decision after she entered with an immigrant visa classifying her as the unmarried daughter of a lawful permanent resident, despite having married before the visa was issued. The Board held that an innocent…
Matter of Hernandez
Guatemalan law treated acknowledged child as legitimate
The Board reviewed a visa petition filed by a Guatemalan lawful permanent resident for his daughter, who was born out of wedlock in Guatemala. The Acting District Director denied the petition on the ground that the daughter had never been legitimated. The Board held that Guatemalan law eliminated…
Upland Industries, Division of Emerson Electric Company
Trade-secret discovery order vacated
OSHA cited Upland Industries over excessive noise in its press room and sought an inspection by an outside acoustical engineering expert. The judge found that the inspection would reveal a trade secret and required either a federal expert or an outside expert bound by an agreement that included…
Builders Steel Company
Warehouse fall-protection case remanded
Builders Steel Company was constructing a single-story warehouse when OSHA observed employees working about 29 feet above the ground without fall protection. The company argued that the 30-foot steel-erection rule applied, while the Secretary relied on the 25-foot general fall-protection rule…
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.