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.
Boise Cascade Corporation
Radial-saw guarding citation affirmed
Boise Cascade operated four radial saws at its Springfield, Virginia workplace without lower-blade guards that automatically adjusted to the stock being cut. The parties stipulated to those conditions, so the only disputed issue was whether the radial-saw guarding rule had been validly adopted as…
Sloan Roofing Company
Flat-roof guarding citation vacated
Sloan Roofing employees installed roofing material on a flat roof at a Michelin Tire facility in Edison, New Jersey. The roof was 24 feet above the ground, but the judge found that the employees stayed at least 40 feet from its edge and were not exposed to a perimeter fall hazard. OSHA alleged a…
Matter of Mejia
Form I-213 accepted on reconsideration
The Board had already dismissed a Salvadoran man's appeal from an immigration judge's deportation order. He asked the Board to reconsider and to stay that order, arguing that his Record of Deportable Alien, Form I-213, came from an unlawful arrest by customs officers. The Board found that an…
Matter of Lwin
Spouse petition granted after prior marriage claim rejected
A United States citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for her Burmese spouse. The District Director denied the petition because the beneficiary had lived with a Christian woman in Burma and might still be married to her. The Board examined a Library of Congress memorandum explaining that…
Northeast Marine Terminal Company
Seven terminal citation items vacated
OSHA observed powered-truck riders, poor housekeeping, gasoline leakage, ladder problems, and an unguarded radial saw at a Brooklyn marine terminal shared by two separate companies. The inspector initially assumed one company controlled the entire site and later divided the observed conditions…
Western Steel Manufacturing Company
Squaring-shear guarding violation affirmed
Western Steel used an unguarded Niagara squaring shear to cut metal. The Commission held that the machine was not a mechanical power press because its moving element was a blade rather than a slide fitted with tools or dies. The general machine-guarding standard therefore applied, and the evidence…
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.
Butcher PPE citation vacated
OSHA cited A&P because two retail meatcutters at its Augusta, Georgia store did not use wire-mesh gloves or protective aprons. The judge found very few minor knife injuries in the company's local stores, limited industry use of mesh gloves, and practical concerns about sanitation, frequent glove…
Star Mason Company, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Star Mason case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, citation result, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran dissented, arguing that the majority could not…
Pierce Associates, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Pierce Associates case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The release does not describe the workplace facts, other citation items, or penalty result. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that Citation Number 4 remained affirmed under the…
Consumers Power Co.
Conductor-control citation affirmed
Consumers Power employees were removing deenergized conductors near an energized circuit when the third conductor moved unexpectedly and contacted the live line. The contact produced an electrical flash that burned the lineman's face and neck. OSHA alleged that the conductor was not kept under…
United Telephone Company of the Carolinas
Crane-clearance citation affirmed
A United Telephone construction crew was moving telephone poles and lines out of the path of Interstate 95 in South Carolina. A truck-mounted boom came into contact with, or close enough to arc to, an energized 8-kilovolt power line, and two linemen touching the truck were electrocuted. OSHA cited…
American Airlines, Inc.
Foot-protection citation affirmed without a penalty
American Airlines employed cargo, freight, and maintenance workers at Bradley International Airport. OSHA cited the airline because those employees handled heavy items and equipment but were not required to wear safety shoes or other toe protection. The Commission found that the work exposed…
Hana Shoe Corporation
Sewing-machine belt item reduced to de minimis
Hana Shoe operated about 250 single-needle sewing machines at its Lewiston, Maine, shoe factory. Each machine used an unguarded inclined belt running from a motor beneath the table to the hand wheel, with a metal clip joining the belt ends. The Commission held that the mechanical power-transmission…
Continental Can Company
Noise-control citations vacated
Continental Can manufactured metal cans at eight plants where production machinery exposed employees to noise above the limits in OSHA's noise standard. Employees used hearing protection that reduced their exposure below those limits, but OSHA cited the company for not installing engineering…
Southern Colorado Prestress Company
Safety-net violation affirmed with a $600 penalty
Southern Colorado Prestress was erecting a three-story prestressed-concrete building when an employee worked on a one-foot-wide perimeter beam about 27 feet above the ground. The employee had no safety net, scaffold, platform, safety belt, or other fall protection, and a roughly 40-mile-per-hour…
Nabisco, Inc.
Direction for review vacated by court order
The Commission vacated its direction for review in Nabisco's case as required by an order from the Fifth Circuit. The attached administrative law judge's decision had dismissed the complaint concerning a compressed-air cleaning citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.242(b). The judge concluded that the…
Matter of Davila
Overstay finding upheld on immigration records
A woman from Peru appealed a finding that she had stayed beyond her visitor admission. She argued that her arrest was unlawful and the resulting evidence should be suppressed. The Board found that official forms bearing her name and registration number were trustworthy and that no evidence showed…
Matter of Da Silva
Georgia marriage recognized for visa petition
A lawful permanent resident petitioned for a visa preference for his wife. The district director denied the petition because they were uncle and niece living in New York and had traveled to Georgia to marry. The Board concluded that New York's statute did not expressly bar recognition of a marriage…
Matter of Awadh
Canadian marijuana conviction supported deportability
A man facing deportation after a Canadian marijuana possession conviction appealed the immigration judge's refusal to reopen his case. He argued that Canadian law permitted conviction without knowledge that the drug was present, and he challenged the fairness of the Canadian proceeding. The Board…
Decks, Inc. of Florida
Flat-roof guarding item vacated
OSHA cited Decks, Inc. of Florida for several items, including an allegation that it failed to install perimeter guarding on a flat roof. The Commission held that 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(d)(1) did not apply to flat roofs. It therefore vacated Item 7 and its associated penalty. The Commission also…
Matter of Ching
Unapproved visa petition defeats reconsideration
A Chinese specialty cook sought reconsideration of the Board's earlier denial of adjustment of status. He had a labor certification and said a sixth preference visa number was available, but his visa petition remained pending. The Board held that adjustment required an approved, valid visa…
Matter of Liburd
Wrong charge ends worker's deportation case
An H-2 temporary worker in the Virgin Islands lost her job before her authorized stay expired. The government charged her with remaining longer than permitted because she had not left within a 60 day grace period after employment ended. The Board held that the grace period did not change the…
Pima Construction Company
Steel-erection citations affirmed in part
Pima Construction was the steel-erection subcontractor for a nine-story courthouse project in Tucson, Arizona. The Commission found that employees regularly traveled near an unguarded second-floor edge, uncovered floor openings, and stairways without railings. It replaced the cited general…
A. Munder & Son, Inc. and Robert Catino, Inc.
Accessible hazards separated from remote conditions
A. Munder & Son was a sheet-metal subcontractor, and Robert Catino was a carpentry subcontractor, at a New York City building project. Both companies' employees passed near unsecured oxygen and acetylene cylinders that lacked valve caps, so the Commission affirmed the cylinder-storage violations…
Wilson & Company, Inc.
Late direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated the direction for review in Wilson & Company's case. The review order had not been filed within 30 days after the Commission received the administrative law judge's decision. The Commission treated that timing requirement under 29 U.S.C. § 661(i) as controlling. The official…
Matter of Koden
Two ethics findings bring a one-year practice suspension
An attorney working with a recognized charitable organization faced several ethics charges concerning his immigration practice. The Board found that he had misled an alien about paid representation and had used an improper client referral arrangement. The Deputy Attorney General upheld those two…
Fry's Tank Service Inc. and Cities Service Oil Company
Confined-space citation affirmed for contractor only
Cities Service hired Fry's Tank Service to clean an oilfield tank and replace internal anodes on a Kansas lease that produced sour crude. A Fry's employee entered the tank without atmospheric testing, breathing equipment, or a safety line, collapsed from hydrogen sulfide exposure, and died along…
Matter of Hussein
Jerusalem divorce recognized for visa petition
A woman sought a visa preference for her spouse after a Jerusalem court dissolved her earlier marriage. The visa petition had been denied because the officer in charge found that New York would not recognize the divorce. On reopening, the Board found substantial ties between the petitioner, her…
Wes Construction Corporation
Trench and traffic-control violations affirmed with reduced penalties
Wes Construction was performing pipe work in a cavity that was 12 feet wide, 15 feet long, and 9 feet deep near heavy traffic in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The Commission held that the cavity qualified as a trench even though it was wider than it was deep. Three sides were vertical, the roadside…
Seattle Stevedore Company
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Seattle Stevedore case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not discuss the administrative law judge's decision or identify any workplace facts, cited standards, citation dispositions, or penalties. Commissioner…
Yutana Barge Lines, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Yutana Barge Lines case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not describe the administrative law judge's decision or identify the workplace facts, cited standards, citation dispositions, or penalties. Commissioner…
Bertrand Goldberg Associates
Construction-manager citations reinstated with reduced penalties
Bertrand Goldberg Associates served as architect and construction manager for a State University project in Stony Brook, New York. One of its employees used a stairway without required railings near temporary light bulbs that lacked contact guards. The company argued that it acted as an…
Langer Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc.
Flat-roof guarding citation vacated
OSHA cited Langer Roofing & Sheet Metal for allowing employees to work on an unguarded flat roof. The administrative law judge had vacated the citation on procedural grounds. During Commission review, the company moved to dismiss the review and vacate the citation because 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(d)(1)…
Public Service Electric & Gas Company
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Public Service Electric & Gas Company case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not describe the administrative law judge's decision or identify any workplace facts, cited standards, citation dispositions, or…
J. W. Bateson Company, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in these consolidated J. W. Bateson cases by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not describe the administrative law judge's decision or identify the workplace facts, cited standards, citation dispositions, or penalties…
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in these consolidated Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company cases by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not identify the workplace facts, cited standards, proposed penalties, or individual citation items. Commissioner…
Gordon Construction Company
Excavation case remanded after employer-status ruling
Gordon Construction supplied a backhoe operator and two laborers to the North Little Rock Sewer Department for a sewer-line excavation through solid rock. The administrative law judge vacated the citations after finding that the municipal department, rather than Gordon, employed the workers. The…
Matter of Robles
Fleeing inspection counted as entry without inspection
A man handed his border crossing card to an inspector, was directed to secondary inspection, and then fled through the inspection area. An immigration judge terminated the case after finding that some inspection had occurred. The Board held that the man had not completed inspection or established…
Matter of Yarden
Unauthorized work defeated investor adjustment
An Israeli visitor who bought and managed an auto body business sought permanent resident status through adjustment of status. He claimed an investor exemption from the labor certification requirement. The Regional Commissioner found that the records did not clearly establish the required…
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation
Duplicate inspection photographs ordered produced
During an OSHA inspection of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel's Ohio plant, the compliance officer and the company's safety officer took duplicate photographs of the observed conditions. OSHA's camera malfunctioned, so the Secretary subpoenaed the company's copies for use in the citation hearing. The…
Josten-Wilbert Vault Co.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued three citations and a proposed penalty after inspecting Josten-Wilbert Vault's Lincoln, Nebraska, workplace. The company argued that its contest was late because OSHA sent the enforcement documents to the Nebraska plant instead of its corporate office in South Dakota. The record showed…
Matter of Gutierrez
Intent to immigrate defeated worker status change
A Venezuelan citizen sought to change from student status to H-1 temporary worker status. He argued that an immigration visa preference and labor certification alone should not defeat temporary worker status. The Regional Commissioner agreed with that general point but found other evidence that he…
Henkels & McCoy, Incorporated
Safety-instruction citation remanded for hearing
Two Henkels & McCoy employees operated a 10-ton jack by standing on its lever despite the manufacturer's warning to stand clear, and one employee was fatally injured when the lever moved. OSHA cited the company for failing to instruct employees to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions, with a…
National Roofing of Sioux City, Inc.
Flat-roof citation vacated, chain-guard item affirmed
National Roofing employees applied tar near the edge of a flat school roof about 13 feet above the next level without guardrails, lifelines, or other fall protection. The Commission vacated the repeated citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(d)(1) because that standard did not apply to flat roofs. It…
Keystone Body Works
Paint-room citations affirmed in part
Keystone Body Works operated an automobile repair and spray-painting shop in Lubbock, Texas. OSHA alleged several combined fire and health hazards in the paint room, including inadequate ventilation, spraying near a heater, non-explosion-proof lighting, excess stored paint, and failure to use an…
Matter of Berker
Set aside youth conviction cannot support deportation
A lawful permanent resident appealed a deportation order based on a marijuana conspiracy conviction. The sentencing court had discharged him from probation and set aside the conviction under the Federal Youth Corrections Act. The Board held that a conviction set aside under that Act could not…
Matter of Rojas
Evidence admitted and voluntary departure denied
The Board reviewed a deportation order based on entry without inspection. The respondent challenged immigration forms introduced as evidence, saying they came from an illegal arrest and coerced statements, and argued that the hearing was unfair. The Board found no evidence to make an initial…
Delsteel, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Delsteel case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not identify the workplace facts, cited standards, proposed penalties, or individual citation items. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the administrative law…
Matter of Lok
Earlier residence did not satisfy seven year waiver rule
A Chinese citizen conceded deportability after a conviction involving heroin and sought a waiver under section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. He had lived in the United States for years as a crewman before leaving and returning as a lawful permanent resident in 1971. The Board held…
Matter of M/T "Dona Rita"
Fine cancelled because vessel was abroad
A crewman bound for the M/T "Dona Rita" arrived in New York to transfer to the vessel in Trinidad. After learning that the ship was outside the United States, British Airways notified the carrier, which took custody of the crewman; he later absconded. Immigration officials imposed a $1,000 fine on…
Seattle Stevedore Company
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this Seattle Stevedore case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not describe the administrative law judge's decision or identify any workplace facts, cited standards, citation dispositions, or penalties. Commissioner…
Hayden Electric Services, Inc.
Balcony-guarding citation reinstated with a $100 penalty
Hayden Electric was an electrical subcontractor working in a 19-story building under construction. An employee installed a light fixture on an unguarded 16th-floor balcony while working about five to seven feet from the open edge. The Commission held that the employee was within the fall-hazard…
A.C. & S., Inc. et al.
Sears Tower reviews provisionally vacated
These sixteen cases arose from an extended OSHA inspection of contractors working on Chicago's Sears Tower. The Commission declined review in four cases whose employers had not sought or participated in review and severed Crescent Erection's general-duty case for a separate decision. For the…
Nat Martin, dba Mr. Martin
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the case indexed for Nat Martin, doing business as Mr. Martin, by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official text begins with a stray formatting fragment and does not include a complete case caption. The operative order also does not…
H. F. Hatcher & Son
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the H. F. Hatcher & Son case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not describe the administrative law judge's decision or identify any workplace facts, cited standards, citation dispositions, or penalties. Commissioner…
Fruin-Colnon Corporation
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Fruin-Colnon case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The operative order does not describe the administrative law judge's decision or identify any workplace facts, cited standards, citation dispositions, or penalties. Commissioner Moran…
Kelly Construction Services, Inc.
Elevator-shaft fall-protection citation reinstated
Kelly Construction installed elevator door frames as a subcontractor in a Boston high-rise. Two employees raised a 200-pound frame within about eighteen inches of an open elevator shaft on the 24th floor while wearing safety belts whose lanyards were not tied off. The administrative law judge found…
Francisco Tower Service, Inc.
Willful fixed-ladder citation and $1,200 penalty affirmed
Francisco Tower Service installed equipment on a 270-foot television transmission tower using a fixed ladder without a cage, landing platforms at twenty-foot intervals, or an installed ladder-safety device. Two employees began climbing the ladder, and one fell about 85 feet and died. The…
Underhill Construction Corp. and DIC Concrete, dba DIC Underhill, a Joint Venture
High-rise helmet and perimeter items expanded
DIC Underhill was the concrete subcontractor responsible for superstructures on a 47-building high-rise project. OSHA observed employees without helmets in areas exposed to impact and falling-object hazards, and employees working throughout five unguarded five-story buildings. The Commission held…
Matter of Cariaga
Later adoption cannot qualify as a child adoption
A U.S. citizen sought immediate relative status for the son he had raised since early childhood. An Iowa court adopted the son when he was nineteen and made the decree retroactive to a date before he turned fourteen. The Board held that immigration law required the adoption itself to occur before…
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.