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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Matter of Wolf
British drug conviction did not bar adjustment
A British citizen conceded that he had overstayed his admission and applied for adjustment of status. The immigration judge granted the application, subject to administrative processing, but the Service appealed because of his British conviction for possessing cannabis resin. The Board followed the…
Matter of Gur
Stepbrother qualified for family preference visa
A United States citizen petitioned for a family preference visa for his stepbrother. The District Director denied the petition because the petitioner was already over 21 when his father married the beneficiary's mother. The Board found that the beneficiary, who was five at the time of the marriage…
City Mills Co.
Late contest dismissed after citation became final
City Mills received a 23-item citation and a proposed $465 penalty after an OSHA inspection of its Columbus, Georgia, business. The company made no attempt to contest within the statutory fifteen-working-day period. Its president later sought a penalty reduction, explaining that a production…
Matter of Hom
Proceedings reopened for a section 212(c) waiver application
A Chinese citizen who had become a lawful permanent resident was ordered deported after a narcotics conviction. He moved to reopen his case to apply for adjustment of status under section 245, seeking a section 212(c) waiver in connection with that adjustment, but the immigration judge denied the…
National Oil Recovery Corp.
Direction for review vacated
National Oil Recovery moved to vacate the Commission’s direction for review. The Commission granted the motion, so the judge’s decision became the final order of the Commission. Commissioner Moran dissented. The release does not describe the underlying citation, standard, penalty, or merits ruling.
Allway Tools, Inc.
Obstructed-exit failure-to-abate penalty reduced
Allway Tools was cited for obstructed exits and locks that prevented free escape from its workplace. A reinspection found that the company had not abated the conditions, leading OSHA to propose failure-to-abate penalties of $1,380 for the obstruction and $1,925 for the locks. The judge assessed…
Floyd S. Pike Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Trench-shoring violation affirmed during installation
Floyd S. Pike Electrical Contractors was opening a trench in soft soil for electrical-power ducts in Augusta, Georgia. Two employees installing shoring stepped about two feet beyond the protected area, and a cave-in killed working foreman Frank Riddle, Sr. The judge vacated the citation on the…
J. K. Butler Builders, Inc.
Fall-protection citation reinstated for rebar work
J. K. Butler Builders was the general contractor for a building addition in San Antonio, Texas. After a foreman left to obtain scaffold railings, employees continued tying reinforcing steel on an unguarded beam about 26 feet above the ground without safety belts or equivalent protection. The…
Southwestern Acoustics & Specialty, Inc.
Scaffold item made serious and light-guard item remanded
Southwestern Acoustics installed acoustical and drywall materials at a school auditorium construction project. Employees used a two-point suspension scaffold about 25 feet above the ground without safety belts attached to lifelines. The Commission held that the scaffold met the regulatory…
A. E. Burgess Leather Co., Inc.
Beam dinker machine-guarding citation reinstated
A. E. Burgess Leather used beam dinker machines to punch small washers from scrap leather. Operators held a die by hand while a machine head descended, leaving their hands able to enter the space between the head and die or between the die and table. The judge vacated the citation because the…
Yaffe Iron & Metal Co., Inc.
Commission lets a non-attorney consultant represent the employer
This case turned on who is allowed to represent an employer in a proceeding before the Review Commission. Yaffe Iron & Metal Co. wanted to be represented by Mike Seney, a private safety consultant who was neither a lawyer nor one of the company's own officers or employees. Administrative Law Judge…
Sawnee Electric Membership Corp.
Employee-training citation vacated
Sawnee Electric operated an electric power cooperative serving seven Georgia counties. An employee was electrocuted while a crew transferred an energized 7,200-volt line and installed a cross arm. OSHA alleged that Sawnee failed to instruct employees in recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions…
Rollins Outdoor Advertising, Inc.
Late complaint reinstated and case remanded
The Secretary filed the complaint against Rollins Outdoor Advertising fourteen days after the Commission’s procedural deadline. The judge dismissed the complaint and vacated the citation and proposed penalty. On review, the Secretary attributed the delay to temporary severe understaffing of…
Matter of Baltazar
Discretionary adjustment denial upheld
A Philippine citizen sought adjustment of status after being found deportable for overstaying his nonimmigrant admission. The immigration judge found him legally eligible but denied adjustment as a matter of discretion, relying on statements that he had intended to remain when he entered and had…
General Roofing Company
Judge’s mixed citation ruling affirmed
The Commission placed General Roofing’s case under review on its own initiative, but no party objected to the judge’s decision or expressed dissatisfaction with it. The Commission declined to decide the merits independently and affirmed the judge’s ruling. Commissioner Moran’s separate opinion…
Masonry Construction Co., Inc.
Judge’s ruling left unchanged, including eye-protection item
Masonry Construction’s case came before the Commission on its own review order, but no party objected to the judge’s decision. The Commission declined to decide the merits independently and left the judge’s ruling unchanged. Commissioner Moran’s separate opinion shows that item 3, alleging failure…
Nordman Roofing Co., Inc.
Amended flat-roof fall-protection citation affirmed
Nordman Roofing’s case came before the Commission on its own review order, but no party objected to the judge’s decision. The Commission declined to address the merits independently and left the judge’s ruling unchanged. Commissioner Moran’s dissent states that the judge found the originally cited…
R. Wantz & Sons Construction
Hard-hat item affirmed and two other items vacated
R. Wantz & Sons Construction’s case came before the Commission on its own review order, but no party objected to the judge’s decision. The Commission declined to address the merits independently and left the ruling unchanged. Commissioner Moran’s separate opinion states that the judge vacated the…
Baxter Electric Company
Commission leaves four subcontractors' citation vacaturs in place
Baxter Electric Company, Wentz Plumbing and Heating, Tri Sales Associates, and H. H. Robertson Company were subcontractors on construction of the State Office Building in Lincoln, Nebraska. OSHA cited each for alleged fall, floor-opening, guardrail, toeboard, and hollow-pan stair hazards under…
Lyle Stewart, d/b/a Stewart's Construction & Excavating Service, & Lothrop Electric Service
Judge’s consolidated decision left unchanged
The consolidated cases of Lyle Stewart, doing business as Stewart’s Construction & Excavating Service, and Lothrop Electric Service came before the Commission on its own review order. No party objected to the judge’s decision or otherwise expressed dissatisfaction. The Commission declined to…
General Motors Corporation, Delco Products Division
Direction for review vacated
General Motors’ Delco Products Division moved to vacate the Commission’s direction for review. The Commission found that the company did not seek modification or reversal of the judge’s decision and granted the motion under its policy statement. Commissioner Moran would have denied the motion. The…
General Motors Corporation, Delco Air Conditioning Division
Supplementary injury-record citation vacated
General Motors’ Delco Air Conditioning Division used an alternative supplementary record instead of OSHA Form 101 for occupational injuries and illnesses. OSHA alleged that the company’s form lacked required details, including physician or hospital information and descriptions of how injuries…
Matter of Trujillo
Prior marriage had ended before relationship began
An El Salvadoran crewman overstayed his authorized time in the United States and sought voluntary departure. An immigration judge denied it because he had lived with a woman while she was still married to someone else. The Board found that her earlier marriage had already broken down before the…
Matter of Solomon
Attorney suspended for misleading a client
The immigration service sought to disbar an attorney over seven charges of misconduct. The Board found clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence for one charge: the attorney misled a client about an immigrant visa application and advised him to ignore Service notices, contributing to a…
Daniel Construction Company
Safety-net citation vacated for open-bay building
Daniel Construction was erecting a large open-bay steel building intended to house a turbine generator and related equipment. Employees worked more than 25 feet above the operating floor without safety nets or scaffolds, and an ironworker fell about 105 feet while connecting a roof truss and died…
Matter of Calilao
Petitioner given chance to answer adverse marriage evidence
A United States citizen sought a spouse visa petition for a Philippine citizen whose earlier marriage had led to his admission as a permanent resident. The District Director denied the petition under the bar for a prior marriage entered to evade immigration laws, relying in part on a sworn…
United Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc.
Wet-location lighting and hard-hat items affirmed
United Roofing & Sheet Metal employees were installing metal ducts in a below-ground mechanical room at the Crystal City Metro Station in Virginia. The company withdrew its contest to an item alleging that an employee’s damaged hard hat did not meet the applicable head-protection requirements. A…
Optical Die & Tool Corp.
Grinder work-rest citation affirmed with no penalty
Optical Die & Tool manufactured dies for plastic eyeglass frames and operated three offhand abrasive-wheel grinders without work rests. The company installed rests on two grinders and withdrew its contest as to those machines. It argued that a work rest on the third specialty grinder would…
Hampton Pugh, d/b/a Hampton Pugh Company
Fatality-reporting and pump-shutoff violations affirmed
Hampton Pugh Company sold fertilizer and agricultural chemicals in Arkansas. An employee was killed when a customer’s truck rolled backward and pinned him, but the company notified only its insurer and did not report the death to OSHA within 48 hours. A later inspection also found that the remote…
D & R Builders and R. P. Matzinger d/b/a M & M Ready Mix
Crane-clearance citations affirmed with $1 penalties
M & M Ready Mix asked D & R Builders to break a septic tank from a mold and move it on M & M’s property. D & R operated a truck crane under an energized power line, the boom contacted the line, and Robert Cooper was killed. An M & M employee had been directed to assist and was present near the…
Space Age Concrete & Masonry, Inc.
Fall-hazard items affirmed and four other citations vacated
Space Age Concrete & Masonry worked as a masonry subcontractor on a multistory building in Naples, Florida. Inspections found employees near uncovered elevator-shaft openings and working at unguarded edges without effective fall protection. The judge affirmed the floor-opening and…
Massman Construction Co.
General-duty violation affirmed for scaffold near power lines
Massman Construction employees were stripping forms beneath a Kansas City bridge using a 32-foot aluminum scaffold board located above energized power lines. To move the board around an obstructing beam, employees lowered and shifted it while attempting to maintain about two feet of clearance from…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Unenclosed crane resistor-bank citation left in effect
Bethlehem Steel operated overhead cranes with unenclosed resistor banks along bridge walkways. Maintenance employees performed troubleshooting near energized banks while the cranes carried out normal operating functions, and one employee testified that he had been shocked by resistor banks many…
Cornell & Co., Inc.
Safety-net violation affirmed for steel connectors
Cornell & Co. was erecting steel for a building in Philadelphia. Two steel connectors walked exterior girders at the eighth-floor level without safety belts or nets, facing a possible 200-foot fall outside the structure. The judge found safety belts and lifelines impractical because they could…
Matter of M/V "Bergen Juno"
Matter of M/V \"Bergen Juno\" (BIA ID 2554, 1977): crew discharge fine upheld
The owners of the vessel Bergen Juno appealed a fine for paying off and discharging two alien crew members in New Orleans without the Attorney General's consent. The crew members said they had been paid off, the departing crew list marked them as separated, and a replacement appeared for one of…
Todd Shipyards Corporation
Scaffold citation reinstated and remanded for merits proceedings
A Todd Shipyards employee died after falling from a scaffold aboard the U.S.S. Camden during repair work in Seattle. OSHA cited the company for an alleged repeated serious violation of the ship-repair scaffold-railing standard and proposed a $10,000 penalty. The judge vacated the case on procedural…
Matter of Wong
Earlier adoption ruling not applied retroactively
A Burmese national entered the United States as the adopted child of a permanent resident. An immigration judge later found him deportable because his Burmese ceremonial adoption had not been registered as the form of adoption recognized for immigration purposes before he turned 14. The Board had…
Del Monte Corporation
Dismissal vacated and noise case remanded
OSHA cited Del Monte’s Tampa canning plant for excessive noise in ten identified production areas and required an engineering compliance program, but proposed no penalty. The judge dismissed the case because he found the citation and complaint insufficiently specific. The three commissioners agreed…
Matter of Rice
Philippine marriage valid despite missing consular certificate
A U.S. citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for his wife and daughter. An immigration officer denied the petitions because the couple had married in the Philippines without the consular certificate of legal capacity required of a foreign spouse before a marriage license is issued. The…
Howard P. Foley Co.
Debris and stair citations vacated under multi-employer defense
Howard P. Foley was the electrical subcontractor on a sewage-plant construction project in Newport News, Virginia. OSHA cited construction debris, hollow metal stair treads that were not filled, and open-sided stairs without railings, proposing $860 in penalties. The judge found that the general…
Sun Ray Lighting Co.
Sign-work fall-protection violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Sun Ray Lighting assigned two employees to repair an electric service-station sign about 75 feet above asphalt pavement. To save time, one employee climbed from the boom-truck basket into the sign and worked there for five to ten minutes without being tied off. The company argued that it furnished…
Dale Crampton Co.
Flat-roof guardrail citation vacated
Dale Crampton Company was reroofing a University of Arkansas building in Fayetteville. Three employees worked on an essentially flat roof about 27 feet above a concrete sidewalk, handling old roofing, new material, and hot asphalt near an 18-inch parapet. OSHA cited the lack of a standard railing…
Tower Crane Erection & Dismantling Co., Inc.
Scaffold access and guardrail citations affirmed
Tower Crane Erection & Dismantling performed specialized reinforcing-steel work on an Atlanta apartment project. Its employees climbed formwork to reach a scaffold about 16 feet above the ground because no ladder or equivalent access was provided, and the scaffold had no guardrails or safety-belt…
Hedges Neon Sales, Inc.
Steelworker guarding violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Hedges Neon Sales used a multipurpose steelworker with flat shears, a V-notcher, and a punch. OSHA originally cited a mechanical-power-press rule, then amended the charge without objection to the general point-of-operation guarding standard. The machine had movable guards, but operators could…
Consolidated Interior Systems, Inc.
Six site-safety items affirmed with reduced penalties
Consolidated Interior Systems was a drywall subcontractor at a New Jersey shopping-center project. Employees used ungrounded power tools and defective extension cords, worked around unguarded temporary bulbs and debris, and used a narrow mobile scaffold without guardrails or caster locks. The judge…
National Steel & Shipbuilding Co.
Three shipyard violations affirmed with reduced repeat penalty
National Steel & Shipbuilding was repairing the U.S.S. Roanoke at its San Diego shipyard. An abrasive blaster working outdoors with silica-free abrasive wore no respirator, and the judge held that the standard still required respiratory protection while permitting a less protective filter type. A…
Chrysler Corporation
Press-room noise abatement deadline extended
Chrysler sought more time to abate excessive noise in the press room of its Twinsburg, Ohio, plant, which produced vehicle doors and rear underbodies. The underlying violation was final because Chrysler had not contested it. The company documented engineering efforts involving quieter dolly wheels…
Matter of Ro
Retained visa priority date but adjustment denied
Two South Korean citizens sought to adjust their status based on an investment in a business different from the dry cleaning business used for their original immigrant visa applications. An immigration judge denied adjustment, finding both that visas were unavailable and that the couple did not…
General Supply Company, Inc.
Mobile-scaffold guardrail citation vacated
General Supply used a manually propelled mobile scaffold while installing an acoustic ceiling in a fire-damaged store. A superintendent stood briefly on a board placed across the scaffold’s end guardrails, about nine feet above the floor, while holding a ceiling joist to check a laser level. OSHA…
Western Electric, Inc.
Vinyl-chloride monitoring citation vacated
Western Electric used a liquid containing polyvinyl chloride to coat small wire coils at its Missouri plant about once a month. The temporary vinyl-chloride standard required initial air monitoring where vinyl chloride was released to determine whether concentrations exceeded 50 parts per million…
Worley Brothers Granite Co.
Silica controls required for sandblasting but not detailed shaping
Worley Brothers manufactured granite monuments using sandblasting for basic engraving and finer shaping for letters and decorative designs. Air sampling found employee exposure to respirable silica above the applicable limits, although workers used supplied-air respirators. OSHA argued that…
Robert W. Blanchette, Richard C. Bond & John H. McArthur, Trustees of Penn Central Transportation Co.
Five facility violations affirmed and three vacated
OSHA inspected Penn Central’s engineering department at Boston’s South Station while the railroad was in bankruptcy reorganization. The judge added the three bankruptcy trustees as respondents because they controlled the railroad’s property, knew of the case from the beginning, and actively…
International Terminal Operating Co., Inc.
Hard-hat violation affirmed without repeat status or penalty
International Terminal Operating employed about eighty stevedores unloading frozen meat from a vessel in Port Newark. Six employees worked beneath loaded cargo slings without hard hats. The company issued hats, refused to sign in employees who lacked them, made paging announcements, and posted…
Merritt-Meridian Corporation
Commission upholds dismissal of a late written notice of contest
Merritt-Meridian Corporation was doing school construction in Wallkill, New York, when OSHA cited it for five safety violations and proposed a total penalty of $105. After receiving the penalty notice, the company had 15 working days to file a notice of contest. It told an OSHA representative…
Carr Erectors, Inc.
Steel-floor perimeter item affirmed and elevator-platform item vacated
Carr Erectors was performing steel erection on a high-rise building in Columbus, Ohio. On the thirteenth floor, employees accessed a temporary steel-and-rebar floor section with no perimeter protection next to a twelve-foot gap. The Commission held that the specific steel-erection perimeter rule…
Monroe & Sons, Inc.
Serious citations vacated after Rule 60 reopening
Monroe & Sons timely contested two serious citations but, while acting without counsel, did not separately answer the Secretary’s complaint because it believed the notice of contest was sufficient. The notice of contest was dismissed by default and the order became final, but the Commission later…
Matter of Leyva
Deportability upheld but waiver application allowed
A Mexican permanent resident appealed an order finding him deportable because of two California convictions that the Board classified as crimes involving moral turpitude. The Board rejected his challenges to the hearing continuance, proof of alienage, identity records, and authentication of the…
United States Steel Corp.
Coal-tar-pitch settlement approved
The Secretary and United States Steel settled citations alleging excessive exposure to coal tar pitch volatiles at coke-oven batteries in four plants. The Steelworkers accepted the settlement except for the Fairfield, Alabama plant, where it objected that the two-year abatement period lacked…
K & B Sheet Metal, Inc.
Three nonserious construction violations affirmed with $150 in penalties
K & B Sheet Metal, a sheet-metal subcontractor at a Suffolk Community College construction site, was cited after its employees worked amid concrete-block and brick debris and in building areas without the required firefighting equipment. The company also had not posted the required OSHA notice. The…
Don Helvig, d/b/a Don Helvig Excavating
Trench protection and exit violations affirmed with reduced penalty
Don Helvig Excavating was digging a sewer trench in a North Dakota mobile-home park. The trench was about seven feet deep in soft or average soil, with the lowest three to four feet nearly vertical, inadequate sloping above, and no shoring or bracing. Although the soil was dry and collapse was not…
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.