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 Ku
Reopening order remains interlocutory after deportation order
An immigration judge reopened deportation proceedings to consider a new request for voluntary departure. The Immigration and Naturalization Service appealed before the judge held a hearing, and the Board dismissed that appeal as interlocutory. On reconsideration, the Board held that the earlier…
Robert T. Winzinger, Inc.
Excavation and backup-alarm items affirmed
Robert T. Winzinger performed work around a 10-foot-deep excavation in sandy, damp, partly backfilled soil near a heavily traveled road. Employees had entered the excavation, its walls were unsupported, and spoil piles up to 40 inches high sat directly at the edges. The Commission affirmed the…
Harrington Construction Corporation
Excluded soil testimony requires remand
Two Harrington employees worked in an unshored trench that was about 30 feet long, 30 inches wide, and between 6 and 6.5 feet deep. The judge excluded a compliance officer's observations that the soil was sticky, soft, wet, sandy, clay-like, and partly backfill because the officer was not qualified…
Vappi and Company, Inc.
Construction-manager safety items affirmed
Vappi served as construction manager for a new Faulkner Hospital building and coordinated numerous independent contractors. Although its employees performed no permanent construction, Vappi supplied carpenters for safety measures and temporary scaffolding, laborers for debris cleanup, and…
CTM, Inc.
Combined trench and spoil-pile violation affirmed
CTM excavated a 13-foot-deep sewer trench in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, without shoring and with nearly vertical lower walls in soil of average stability. A ten-foot-high spoil pile containing large soil chunks sat three feet from the trench, where employees were working below. The Commission held…
The Gould-Mersereau Co., Inc.
Machine-guarding violations partly affirmed
Gould-Mersereau manufactured drapery hardware at a New York City plant where an inspection produced thirteen nonserious citation items. The judge affirmed machine-guarding violations involving feed rollers, a power-press pedal, and ten riveting machines, but vacated the portions involving a…
Dakota By-Products, Inc., formerly Sioux Falls Rendering Co.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Dakota By-Products case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, citation disposition, or penalties. Commissioner Moran dissented, arguing that the majority could…
Francis Doom, dba Wagner Building Supply
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Wagner Building Supply case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge had vacated all…
Matter of Benjamin
Claimed adoption did not establish sibling visa eligibility
A U.S. citizen sought an immigration visa for a man he said his parents adopted in Iraq under Chaldean Catholic religious law. On reconsideration, the Board accepted new information that Chaldean Catholics followed their own religious law for personal status before 1959. It still found no proof…
American Building Company
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the American Building Company case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge had vacated all…
John J. Orr & Sons, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the John J. Orr & Sons case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge had vacated all…
King James Virgin Construction Co.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the King James Virgin Construction case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge had vacated…
Bob's Tools & Supply Co., Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Bob's Tools & Supply 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…
Las Vegas Painting & Drywall, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Las Vegas Painting & Drywall 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…
Southern Stress Wire Corporation
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Southern Stress Wire 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…
A. A. Will Sand & Gravel Corp.
Conveyor-related construction citations vacated
A. A. Will delivered roofing gravel to a Boston construction site, where its driver released gravel into a conveyor hopper as workers needed it on the roof and occasionally adjusted the conveyor. The Commission held that these activities were more than mere delivery and were an integral part of…
Matter of Palsang
Customary divorce needed proof before spouse petition
A U.S. citizen sought to classify his wife as an immediate relative after they married under Tibetan custom in India. The wife's written agreement ending her earlier marriage was dated four months after their wedding. She said the earlier marriage had ended in 1973 when she and her first husband…
Fraser Shipyards, Inc.
Tag-line violation affirmed after fatal plate drop
Fraser Shipyards used a crane to move two stacked steel plates, each weighing about 4,100 pounds, from a truck into a shed. An employee guided the load by hand without tag lines; the plates fell from the rigging and fatally crushed him. The Commission vacated the safe-rigging allegation but…
Enterprise Roofing & Sheet Metal Co.; Anning-Johnson Company; Frank Briscoe Company, Inc.; Tri-State Roofing & Sheet Metal Company, Inc.
Flat-roof guard citations vacated
Four employers were cited for failing to install perimeter guarding on flat roofs. Applying its Central City Roofing decision, the Commission held that section 1926.500(d)(1) did not apply to flat roofs and vacated the guard citations and their penalties in all four cases. Commissioner Cleary…
Kennecott Copper Corporation
Scaffold citations and $350 penalty vacated
A lead burner at Kennecott's smelter worked on a narrow, unguarded plank scaffold almost 12 feet above a concrete floor and climbed to it using a wooden beam and the ribs of a mist treater. The Commission vacated the guardrail item because the Secretary had changed the source consensus standard's…
Gulf & Western Food Products Co.
Delayed citations remanded for prejudice inquiry
Gulf & Western was cited after two truck accidents in which sugar-cane workers rode without seats and cane knives were not secured; several employees were injured and one died. The judge vacated both general-duty citations because OSHA issued them 36 and 26 days after beginning the respective…
M. M. Schranz Roofing & Building Supply Co., Inc.
Flat-roof railing item vacated
M. M. Schranz Roofing was cited for failing to install standard railings on a flat roof where its employees worked. Applying its divided Central City Roofing decision, the Commission held that section 1926.500(d)(1) did not apply to the flat roof. It reversed the judge and vacated citation item 2…
Sunbeam Corporation
Safety-shoe item affirmed, quench-tank item vacated
Employees in Sunbeam's die-casting department regularly carried metal ingots, castings with jagged edges, and boxes; they moved pallets on occasion. Four of 72 employees had suffered foot injuries from dropped objects in about 18 months. The Commission held that this record required protective…
Keith L. Hoffie, dba H & H Pulpwood Co.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the H & H Pulpwood 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…
Matter of Shaw
Adjustment denials upheld for lack of investor proof
A husband and wife sought adjustment to permanent residence after conceding that they had overstayed their visitor status. The husband claimed an investor exemption from labor certification based on a Chinese restaurant. The Board found that checks and an unaudited financial statement did not…
Potlatch Corporation
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in these consolidated Potlatch cases by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or citation dispositions. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge assessed no…
The Grand Union Company
Directions for review vacated
The Commission vacated its directions for review in seven consolidated Grand Union cases by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge had vacated…
Asbestos Textile Co., Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Asbestos Textile case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge had vacated all contested…
United Parcel Service, Inc.
Safety-toe protection citation affirmed
UPS operated a highly automated Columbus distribution center that processed about 150,000 packages each day. Roughly 325 sorters, belters, loaders, and unloaders handled packages weighing up to 50 pounds and were exposed when packages or conveyor rollers fell. UPS required solid leather shoes but…
Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc. and Blount Brothers Corporation, a Joint Venture
Superdome citations affirmed
The joint venture was general contractor for construction of the Louisiana Superdome, with about 350 employees and numerous subcontractors at the site. The Commission affirmed two serious citations and eighteen additional items covering perimeter and opening guards, personal protective equipment…
James L. Mills Painting Contractor, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the James L. Mills Painting case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, citation disposition, or penalties. Most of the release consists of attached historical…
Falcon Steel Co., Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Falcon Steel case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Materials included in the release state that the judge had vacated all contested…
Sky-Hy Erectors & Equipment, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Sky-Hy Erectors case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, citation disposition, or penalties. Most of the release consists of attached historical materials…
Eve, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Eve case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, citation disposition, or penalties. Most of the release consists of attached historical materials about…
Jack Conie & Sons Corporation
Trench citation vacated for issuance delay
An employee worked in a 14-foot-deep trench dug in soft material without the sloping required by the trench standard. OSHA inspected on October 11, 1973, but did not issue the citation until 125 days later because the area director repeatedly sought approval to characterize the violation as…
Sletten Construction Company
Fall-protection citation and $700 penalty affirmed
During bridge demolition in Superior, Montana, a Sletten employee worked without a safety harness on a steel beam only nine inches wide and about 34 feet above the river. The judge affirmed a serious personal-protective-equipment citation and assessed a $700 penalty. Neither party sought review…
Florida Power Corporation
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Florida Power case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran's dissent states that the judge had vacated all contested…
Matter of Flores
Trial testimony supported alien smuggling charge
A Mexican citizen challenged an immigration judge's deportation order and denial of voluntary departure after a criminal conviction related to helping two other people enter the United States. The two witnesses could not be located for the deportation hearing, but they had testified under oath and…
Atlantic Sugar Association
Standing-worker transport case remanded
Atlantic Sugar transported field workers standing in trucks that lacked adequate seating or substantial rear barriers. The judge dismissed the serious general-duty citation at the close of OSHA's evidence, finding insufficient proof that the practice was a recognized hazard. The Commission held…
S. S. C. Corporation
Unsupported-wall hazard and $550 penalty affirmed
S. S. C. excavated a utility trench about 11 feet from an unsupported masonry wall that was 8 to 11 feet high. The ground was wet, soft fill, and an 18.5-ton backhoe straddled the trench end and transmitted vibration through the soil. The wall collapsed into the trench, injuring two employees and…
C. N. Stemper Company, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the C. N. Stemper case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The appended judge's decision had vacated an exit item because the food warehouse had several usable means of egress and its size, occupancy, and arrangement did not create the alleged…
Travenol Alaska Laboratories, Inc., Travenol New Hampshire Laboratories, Inc.
Directions for review vacated
The Commission vacated its directions for review in the two Travenol Laboratories cases by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying safety standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran dissented, arguing that canceling…
James Baker, d/b/a Baker Roofing & Sheet Metal Co.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Baker Roofing & Sheet Metal case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The official release does not identify the underlying safety standards, workplace facts, or proposed penalties. Commissioner Moran dissented, arguing that canceling…
Bay Iron Works, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Bay Iron Works 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…
J.A. McCarthy, Inc
Hardhat violations reduced to nonserious with no penalties
J.A. McCarthy conducted longshoring operations in Philadelphia and supplied hardhats, but many employees refused to wear them. The Commission held that urging employees to comply without using available disciplinary measures did not satisfy the longshoring hardhat standard. It reversed the judge's…
Matter of Munguia
Louisiana age rule barred cosmetology study
A 14-year-old visitor from Honduras applied to change to student status to study cosmetology in Louisiana. The district director denied the application because state law required cosmetology students to be at least 15 years and 3 months old, questioned the financial support evidence, and suspected…
George T. Gerhardt Company, Inc.
Failure-to-correct penalties reduced to $300
George T. Gerhardt Company was a small sheet-metal manufacturer cited for unguarded belts and pulleys, unguarded machinery, and a spliced electrical cord. It did not contest the original citation, and a reinspection found the three conditions had not been corrected within the stated abatement…
Matter of Ghong
Visa priority date qualified case for abeyance
A Korean nonimmigrant sought to reopen deportation proceedings so he could apply to adjust his status. A visa number was not immediately available to him, but his priority date was within ninety days of the date in the State Department's visa bulletin when he filed the motion. The Board found that…
Matter of Ko
Adjustment denied for labor certification failure
A Chinese national who entered as a student sought adjustment of status as a nonpreference immigrant. The immigration judge denied the application because a visa was unavailable, and the respondent also argued that the Service should hold the case in abeyance while his labor certification was…
Matter of Ho
Reconsideration allowed visa abeyance processing
A husband and wife from China sought adjustment of status during deportation proceedings. They filed their applications while nonpreference visa numbers were available, but those numbers became unavailable before the applications were processed. The Board held that the Service's instruction for…
Matter of Teberen
An ungranted stay extension did not prevent an overstay finding
A Nigerian student remained in the United States after his authorized stay expired on June 1, 1975. He said he had mailed an extension application before that date but the immigration service had not decided it. The Board assumed the application was mailed and lost, yet held that a pending or…
Anchor Construction Co.
Amended trench citation affirmed with a $400 penalty
Anchor Construction employees worked in an 11-foot-deep trench dug in clay soil with water entering it. Evidence showed sloughing at the bottom, a cracked wall, and soil that would not support weight without extra protection. The Commission allowed the Secretary to replace the originally cited…
Ringland-Johnson, Inc.
Fall-hazard citations affirmed with $605 in penalties
Ringland-Johnson employees poured concrete while standing on planks laid across a scaffold inside a circular concrete structure. Gaps between the planks were 30 to 40 inches wide, and employees could fall 19.5 feet; an elevated runway also lacked guardrails, and the scaffold had no ladder or…
Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida
Unsafe worker transportation citation affirmed
Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative transported agricultural workers to and between fields while they stood in stake-body trucks without seats. Loose water coolers, blocks of ice, and ice tongs traveled in the same truck bed. The Commission held that an employer-provided truck used to advance the…
Bethlehem Fabricators, Inc.
Spray-booth citation vacated for lack of hazard proof
Bethlehem Fabricators spray painted steel girders in an unenclosed area of its fabrication plant. The inspector did not test the combustible lead-primer paint or its fumes, while later industrial-hygiene testing presented by the employer found no hazardous level of lead or solvent vapor. The…
Paul Hutchinson & Sons
Pneumatic-tool and trench citations vacated
Paul Hutchinson & Sons was the general contractor on a sewer-line excavation where subcontractor employees drilled rock in a trench. The subcontractor's pneumatic tool lacked the required positive connection to its hose, but the Commission found that Hutchinson neither created nor controlled that…
The Weatherhead Co.
Grinder-blotter citation reinstated
A Weatherhead employee operated an abrasive-wheel grinder without blotters between the wheel and its flanges. The company had previously been cited for the same condition on the same machine and had supplied blotters, but it showed no enforced work rule or instructions ensuring their use. The…
Leader Evaporator, Inc.
Incorporated electrical requirements upheld
Leader Evaporator manufactured maple-sugar equipment and admitted that its plant wiring and portable electric tools were not grounded. It argued that the electrical standards were invalid because they incorporated National Electrical Code provisions instead of printing the full requirements in the…
Water Works Installation Corp.
Trench violations affirmed with increased penalties
Water Works Installation employees worked in a 9-foot-deep trench in hard or compact soil that was not shored, sloped, or otherwise protected. The site also involved employees without hard hats and a person standing beneath a load handled by a hoist. The judge affirmed a serious trench-support…
Matter of Pasquini
Bahamian marijuana conviction supported deportation
An Italian citizen appealed an immigration judge's deportation order and denial of adjustment of status. He conceded that he had overstayed his visitor admission but disputed the separate charge based on his Bahamian marijuana possession conviction. The Board distinguished a prior case involving a…
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.