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.
Emile M. Babst Co.
Subcontractor fall-protection citations reinstated
Emile M. Babst was a subcontractor whose employees encountered unguarded floor openings, an open-sided floor, and stairway hazards created and controlled by the prime contractor. The Commission held that a non-creating, non-controlling subcontractor may still be liable when its employees are…
Big '6' Drilling Company
Rig citations remanded for further evidence
Big '6' Drilling received one citation alleging eight nonserious violations and another alleging a serious general-duty violation after an inspection of an oil and gas drilling rig. Its pro se notice focused on the $805 proposed penalties, but its later answer requested a hearing about the…
Union Pacific Railroad Co.
Proposed FRA rules do not displace OSHA
Union Pacific faced a failure-to-correct matter and citations involving machine guarding, woodworking equipment, respiratory protection, posting, and other conditions. It argued that an advance notice of proposed Federal Railroad Administration rulemaking exempted it from OSHA requirements. The…
Wilson Freight Co.
Safety-footwear citation affirmed
Wilson Freight operated a terminal where employees moved large volumes of freight and sometimes manually handled objects weighing up to 50 pounds. The company required hard leather shoes but did not require safety-toe footwear, which only two of 24 employees regularly wore. The Commission held that…
Union Pacific Railroad Company
Railroad exemption claim rejected
Union Pacific stipulated that the cited physical conditions existed and that OSHA's proposed penalties were reasonable, but it argued that the Federal Railroad Administration displaced OSHA authority. The railroad relied on FRA safety standards covering other conditions, revised accident-reporting…
Graves Truck Lines, Inc.
Dock safety-footwear citation affirmed
Graves Truck Lines had 13 employees working on its inbound and outbound docks without steel-toe safety shoes during the inspection. Its records showed eight dock-area toe or foot injuries from falling objects over four years, and its safety supervisor believed steel-toe shoes would have prevented…
Matter of Velasco
Misprision conviction did not establish marijuana deportability
A Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident was convicted of misprision of a felony involving marijuana possession with intent to distribute. The immigration judge treated that conviction as a conviction for a law relating to marijuana and ordered him deported. The Board held that misprision is…
Gene L. Willison
Explosives transport and blasting violations affirmed
Contractor Gene L. Willison transported dynamite, blasting caps, and other materials together in a pickup with exposed spark-producing metal and without required explosives placards. The worksite also lacked blast-area warning signs, and the blaster gave no loud warning signal immediately before…
Coastal Pile Driving, Inc.
Fall and crane violations reclassified as serious
A Coastal Pile Driving employee repeatedly worked on a pile lead about 18 feet above the ground without fall protection. Several other employees worked within two to five feet of an unbarricaded rotating crane superstructure beside an excavation. The company admitted both violations but disputed…
Strickland Transportation Co., Inc.
Freight-dock footwear citation affirmed
Strickland Transportation operated a freight dock where employees manually handled bulky or slippery items weighing up to 50 pounds. Freight had been dropped in the past, and one employee testified that safety-toe shoes would have prevented a foot injury he sustained. The company argued that the…
William Bender, d/b/a William Bender Construction
Commission affirms that the respondent was an employer under the OSH Act
William Bender, doing business as William Bender Construction, sought review of an administrative law judge's conclusion that the business was an employer under the Occupational Safety and Health Act when the worksite was inspected. The Commission found that the judge had properly decided the case…
Matter of Obando
Legitimation at age 23 did not qualify for a daughter visa petition
A U.S. citizen sought a visa classification for his unmarried adult daughter, who was born in Belize. A Virgin Islands court had issued a decree treating her as his legitimate child from birth, but the act of legitimation occurred when she was 23. The Board held that the immigration statute…
Reitter Stucco, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The Reitter Stucco, Inc. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated that the judge's decision would have the significance of…
A. J. Shirk Roofing Co.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The A. J. Shirk Roofing Co. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated that the judge's decision would have the significance…
National Airlines, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The National Airlines, Inc. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither the employer, the Secretary, nor the employee representative challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated…
Matter of Chirinos
Separate bond hearing error did not change the $1,000 bond
A Honduran national appealed an immigration judge's refusal to cancel his $1,000 bond. The Board found that the bond issue should have been handled separately from the deportation hearing under the governing regulation. It held that the procedural error did not appear to prejudice him. The Board…
Jordan Construction Co., Inc.
Commission declines sua sponte review and lets the ALJ decision stand
This is a brief Commission order in a case involving Jordan Construction Co., Inc. A Commissioner had directed the Administrative Law Judge's decision up for review on the Commission's own motion (sua sponte). Neither party filed anything objecting to the judge's decision, whether by a petition for…
S. M. Electric Co., Inc.
Commission finds no compelling reason to review the judge's decision
The S. M. Electric Co., Inc. case reached the Commission through an order directing review. Neither party objected to the administrative law judge's decision or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction with it. The Commission found that the review order identified no compelling public-interest issue, so…
Williams Enterprises, Inc.
Commission affirms after the Secretary withdraws review
The Commission granted the Secretary of Labor's petition for discretionary review of the decision involving Williams Enterprises, Inc. The Secretary then asked to withdraw the petition, stating that the evidence supported the administrative law judge's decision. With no party objecting to the…
Armor Elevator Company, Inc.
Commission conditionally affirms an unguarded floor-opening citation with no penalty
Armor Elevator Company was an elevator-construction subcontractor at a multiemployer construction site where a floor opening was neither guarded nor covered. The judge vacated the nonserious item because Armor did not create or control the condition. The Commission held that Armor's employees had…
Matter of Manneh
Exclusion judge lacked authority to decide adjustment application
A Liberian applicant in exclusion proceedings sought to renew an adjustment of status application before an immigration judge. The judge found that he lacked authority to decide it. The Board held that the regulation granting judges authority necessary to dispose of exclusion cases remained subject…
H-30, Inc.
Commission affirms a serious violation for workers riding an oil-rig material elevator
H-30, Inc., an oil well drilling company, allowed derrickmen to ride a crown block elevator system to a safety platform 50 feet above the ground. The elevator was designed for materials, and the workers rode without safety belts. The Commission held that the compliance officer did not need to…
Daniel Construction Company
Commission upholds the validity of the cited construction standards
An administrative law judge found that Daniel Construction Company violated construction safety standards issued by the Secretary of Labor. Daniel argued that the standards had been invalidly promulgated under the Construction Safety Act and therefore could not be enforced under the Occupational…
Lombard Brothers, Inc.
Safety-footwear citation affirmed
Lombard Brothers operated a freight terminal and garage where workers manually handled freight and greasy truck parts weighing up to 100 pounds. The Commission found that dock workers, combination workers, and mechanics faced foot hazards from falling objects and material-handling equipment. It…
Anastasi Brothers Corporation
Commission affirms an open-sided-floor violation against a masonry subcontractor
Anastasi Brothers Corporation was a masonry subcontractor whose employees had access to an unguarded open-sided floor at a construction site. The general contractor, rather than Anastasi, was responsible for providing the required perimeter guarding. The Commission held that a subcontractor that…
Broshear Contractors, Inc.
Commission requires a trench exit whenever employees are inside
Broshear Contractors employees were working under supervision in a trench at least four feet deep. A ladder was lying beside the trench, but no ladder or equivalent exit was available inside until the OSHA inspector identified the violation. The company argued that the ladder had been removed only…
Matter of DeVera
Spouse's affidavit supported rescission of permanent resident status
A Philippine citizen appealed an immigration judge's rescission of his permanent resident status. The Service alleged that his marriage to a United States citizen had been entered into to evade immigration law, making him ineligible for the adjustment he had received. The Board held that his…
Spencer Farms, Inc.
Commission declines sua sponte review and lets the ALJ decision stand
This is a brief Commission order in a case involving Spencer Farms, Inc. Former Commissioner Moran had directed the Administrative Law Judge's decision up for review on the Commission's own motion (sua sponte). Neither party took issue with how the judge disposed of the case. Because no party was…
Leggett & Platt, Inc.
Commission declines sua sponte review and lets the ALJ decision stand
This is a brief Commission order in a case involving Leggett & Platt, Inc. Former Commissioner Moran had directed the Administrative Law Judge's decision up for review on the Commission's own motion (sua sponte). Neither party took issue with how the judge disposed of the case. Because no party was…
Cornell & Company, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The Cornell & Company, Inc. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated that the judge's decision would have the significance…
Tudor Handle Corp.
Commission finds no compelling reason to review the judge's decision
The Tudor Handle Corp. case reached the Commission through an order directing review. Neither party objected to the administrative law judge's decision or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction with it. The Commission found that the review order identified no compelling public-interest issue, so it…
Wilson Buick-Pontiac, GMC, Inc.
Commission finds no compelling reason to review the judge's decision
The Wilson Buick-Pontiac, GMC, Inc. case reached the Commission through an order directing review. Neither party objected to the administrative law judge's decision or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction with it. The Commission found that the review order identified no compelling public-interest…
Arch Masonry, Inc.
Commission finds no compelling reason to review the judge's decision
The Arch Masonry, Inc. case reached the Commission through an order directing review. Neither party objected to the administrative law judge's decision or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction with it. The Commission found that the review order identified no compelling public-interest issue, so it…
Armor Elevator Company, Inc.
Commission finds no compelling reason to review the judge's decision
The Armor Elevator Company, Inc. case reached the Commission through an order directing review. Neither party objected to the administrative law judge's decision or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction with it. The Commission found that the review order identified no compelling public-interest…
Jackson Construction Company
Commission affirms a $250 violation after unshored roof decking buckled
Jackson Construction Company poured concrete floors for a Boston high school using metal decking installed by other contractors. Although Jackson followed the decking manufacturer's general shoring recommendations, the roof slab was thicker than the lower floors and employees had observed…
Baker-Smith Sheet Metal, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The Baker-Smith Sheet Metal, Inc. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated that the judge's decision would have the…
Champlin Petroleum Co.
Commission affirms an $800 violation for an inadequately communicated hot-oil safety rule
A Champlin Petroleum crew at a Corpus Christi refinery was draining a pipeline containing crude oil hotter than its auto-ignition temperature so a malfunctioning control valve could be removed. The bleeder valve's handle was missing, and an employee used a wrench to open it. Hot oil reached the…
CTM, Inc.
Commission affirms serious trench-sloping and adjacent-backfill violations
CTM, Inc., a utility contractor, had two employees working in a roughly nine-foot-deep trench while installing a 48-inch water main. The Commission upheld findings that the trench was dug in hard or compact soil, its walls were nearly vertical rather than adequately sloped or shored, and additional…
Perini Corporation
Commission affirms a $110 flotation-vest violation for construction work performed from a barge
Perini Corporation employees worked from an unguarded barge on the Mystic River while placing rip-rap to prevent shoreline erosion and assisting a diver cutting holes in an underwater steel bulkhead. No crew member wore a flotation device. The Commission held that this work was construction, not…
Matter of Taerghodsi
Admitted unauthorized work supported deportability finding
An Iranian student appealed a deportability finding based on employment without prior permission from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. His case had been heard alongside four unrelated cases, and he challenged the use of an identification card taken after his arrest by Houston police. The…
Matter of Imber
Waiver eligibility sent back for review
A husband and wife sought adjustment of status after the immigration judge found them deportable for overstaying their visitor admissions. The husband's earlier conviction in Israel for sexual misconduct involving minors made him excludable as a person convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude…
Matter of Haddad
Expunged first offense did not bar returning resident
A Jordanian permanent resident was placed in exclusion proceedings after returning from a visit to his mother in Jordan. An immigration judge found him inadmissible because of a Michigan marihuana possession conviction. Before the exclusion hearing, the Michigan court had dismissed the case and…
Matter of Wayne
Canadian naturalization did not prove loss of U.S. citizenship
A U.S.-born teacher became a Canadian citizen to obtain permanent teaching certification there. Before applying, he asked a U.S. consul how Canadian citizenship would affect his U.S. rights, and the consul's reply led him to believe that he could retain U.S. citizenship. An immigration judge later…
Union Pacific Railroad Company
Commission holds railroads are not exempt from OSHA and affirms the citations
Union Pacific Railroad was cited by OSHA in four consolidated cases and argued that the railroad industry is entirely exempt from OSHA regulation. The exemption it relied on, 29 U.S.C. § 653(b)(1), removes OSHA coverage for working conditions where another federal agency exercises its own statutory…
Gulf Stevedore Corporation
Commission rejects an inspection-accompaniment challenge
An administrative law judge affirmed four of five items in a nonserious citation against Gulf Stevedore Corporation. Gulf challenged two items on the ground that its senior site representative did not accompany the OSHA compliance officer during the shipboard portion of the inspection. The…
Chicago and Northwestern Transportation Company
Commission rejects a blanket railroad-industry exemption from the OSH Act
Chicago and Northwestern Transportation Company argued that the railroad industry was exempt from the Occupational Safety and Health Act under 29 U.S.C. § 653(b)(1). The Commission held that the statute creates an exemption only when another federal agency actually exercises authority over the…
Fairbanks Well Service, Inc.
Commission declines review and lets the judge's decision stand
This is a short Commission order in a case involving Fairbanks Well Service, Inc. After an Administrative Law Judge ruled on the case, a Commissioner brought it up for review on the Commission's own motion (a sua sponte order for review). Neither side filed objections or asked the Commission to…
Independent Metal Systems, Inc.
Commission declines sua sponte review and lets the ALJ decision stand
This is a brief Commission order in a case involving Independent Metal Systems, Inc. A Commissioner had directed the Administrative Law Judge's decision up for review on the Commission's own motion (sua sponte). Neither party filed anything objecting to the judge's decision, whether by a petition…
Rocky Mountain Prestress, Inc.
Commission affirms judge without reaching merits
This is a brief Commission order in a case involving Rocky Mountain Prestress, Inc. A Commissioner had directed the Administrative Law Judge's decision up for review on the Commission's own motion (sua sponte). Neither party filed anything objecting to the judge's decision, whether by a petition…
Ment Bros. Iron Works, Inc.
Commission declines sua sponte review and lets the ALJ decision stand
This is a brief Commission order in a case involving Ment Bros. Iron Works, Inc. A Commissioner had put the Administrative Law Judge's decision up for review on the Commission's own motion (sua sponte). Neither party filed anything objecting to the judge's decision, whether by a petition for…
Gunn and Briggs, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The Gunn and Briggs, Inc. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated that the judge's decision would have the significance of…
Williams Enterprises of Georgia, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The Williams Enterprises of Georgia, Inc. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review and was severed from a separate docket. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated…
Nevada Pipe Line Construction Co.
Commission affirms a $250 serious trench violation beside backfilled soil
Nevada Pipe Line Construction opened a 60-foot-long trench to install a storm drain. The trench was about nine and one-half feet deep, only slightly sloped, and had no shoring or bracing. Part of one wall consisted of recently backfilled material that had not yet regained the properties of the…
McKee-Wellman Power Gas
Commission substitutes the general fall-protection standard and remands
McKee-Wellman Power Gas was constructing a 60-foot ore crusher process tower at a copper ore leaching plant in Arizona. An ironworker bolting steel at the 49-foot level stood on a narrow ledge with a safety belt that was not tied off, then fell and suffered fatal injuries. The Commission held that…
New York Roofing Co.
Commission declines review of a deficient petition and affirms the judge
New York Roofing Company was cited for violating 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a), the construction standard on personal protective equipment, and an Administrative Law Judge affirmed the citation. The company filed a petition for discretionary review, and a Commissioner directed the case for review. The…
Louisiana-Pacific Corp.
Commission reverses a promptness dismissal and remands a workplace-noise citation
OSHA cited Louisiana-Pacific Corporation's Moyie Springs, Idaho facility under the occupational-noise standard after a December 1973 inspection. The judge vacated the citation without reaching the merits because it was issued on January 7, 1974 and, in his view, lacked reasonable promptness. The…
Diamond Roofing Company, Inc.
Commission vacates a flat-roof perimeter-guarding citation
Diamond Roofing Company was cited for failing to install perimeter guarding on a flat roof under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(d)(1). An administrative law judge affirmed that citation item. The Commission applied its divided decision in Central City Roofing Co., which held that the cited standard did not…
Congoleum Industries, Inc.
Commission affirms after the Secretary withdraws review
The Commission granted the Secretary of Labor's petition to review an administrative law judge's decision involving Congoleum Industries, Inc. The United Steelworkers local representing affected employees initially joined the Secretary's request. The Secretary later withdrew the petition, the…
Keesling Construction, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The Keesling Construction, Inc. case reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the case and stated that the judge's decision would have the…
Atlanta Gas Light Company; Allen C. Loyd, Inc.
Commission declines review and affirms the judge's decision
The consolidated Atlanta Gas Light Company and Allen C. Loyd, Inc. cases reached the Commission through a former Commissioner's order directing review. Neither party challenged the administrative law judge's disposition. The Commission therefore declined to review the cases and stated that 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.