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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Burlington Northern, Inc.
Railroad exemption rejected and amended citation affirmed
Burlington Northern argued that Department of Transportation authority over railroad safety exempted it from the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Commission rejected that position because no Department of Transportation regulation covered the specific working conditions in the citation. It…
Boise Cascade Corporation
Serious radial-saw violation and $600 penalty affirmed
Boise Cascade's pulp and paper facility used a 16-inch radial arm saw whose lower blade was unguarded. Employees used the saw daily, their hands and bodies came within four to twelve inches of the blade, and the blade rotated at 3,600 revolutions per minute. The employer challenged the guarding…
Boise Cascade Corporation
Serious radial-saw guarding citation affirmed
Boise Cascade was cited for failing to guard the lower exposed portion of a radial-saw blade. The administrative law judge affirmed the citation as serious and assessed $250. The employer challenged the validity of the woodworking-machine standard. Relying on its Noblecraft decision, the Commission…
Johnson Brothers Planing Mill, Inc.
Millwork machine-guarding citations affirmed
Johnson Brothers manufactured wood products using radial and table saws, sanding equipment, belt-driven machinery, and electrical equipment with several cited guarding or grounding deficiencies. The serious citation involved unguarded lower portions of two radial-saw blades and an unguarded…
The Wirth Corporation
Serious radial-saw citation affirmed with reduced penalty
The Wirth Corporation operated a small millwork plant that primarily made studs for mobile homes. Two radial arm saws lacked guards over the lower exposed blade, although the employer had ordered guards months earlier and knew they had not arrived. The Commission upheld the validity of the guarding…
Shar Lo Homes
Nonserious radial-saw guarding violation affirmed
Shar Lo Homes was cited for failing to comply with the radial-saw lower-blade guarding standard. The administrative law judge classified the violation as nonserious and assessed $40. On review, the only identified issue was whether the cited standard had been validly promulgated. Applying its…
W. N. Couch Construction Co.
Trench citation vacated for lack of soil proof
W. N. Couch Construction excavated a 10-to-12-foot-deep pipeline trench with vertical lower walls, horizontal benches, and vertical upper walls. OSHA cited the trench under the rule for soft or unstable soil, but the compliance officer described the material as soft and crumbly while the…
Emery Smiser Construction Co.
Serious scaffold citation vacated, nonserious item affirmed
Emery Smiser Construction used scaffolds while repairing a church steeple in Oklahoma City. The judge affirmed a nonserious item for an unguarded material-hoist scaffold platform but reduced the proposed $55 penalty to $25 because exposure was brief, injury was unlikely, and the employer showed…
Matter of Silva
Brief family visit did not establish a new entry
The applicant was a lawful permanent resident who spent a night in Mexico visiting his wife and children, then faced exclusion proceedings when he returned. The Service argued he was a commuter because his family lived in Mexico and he visited them regularly. The Board held that the Service had not…
Matter of Geronimo
Adopted child did not yet meet the two year custody rule
A United States citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for a child adopted by his wife in the Philippines. The district director revoked the petition's approval because the child had not been in the adoptive mother's legal custody for two years. The Board held that a child who did not…
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Co.; Winston-Salem Southbound Railway Co.
Railroad safety citations affirmed
Seaboard Coast Line admitted three nonserious safety violations, and Winston-Salem Southbound was cited because employees used a stationary caboose office without a fire extinguisher reliably available within 50 feet. Both railroads argued that Federal Railroad Administration authority exempted the…
Matter of Mata
Visa petition revocation required a chance to answer adverse evidence
A United States citizen petitioner's visa petition for immediate relative status for her spouse was approved and later revoked by the district director based on an investigation. The Board found that the record did not show whether the petitioner had been allowed to inspect and rebut the adverse…
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company
Posting citation reversed and remanded after stipulation set aside
Seaboard Coast Line was cited for failing to post the notice informing employees of their rights and duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The railroad and the Secretary stipulated to noncompliance and agreed that the only disputed issue was whether railroad safety regulation…
Matter of Chukumerije
Refugee status ended after changed conditions in Nigeria
The respondent was a stateless native of Biafra, Nigeria, who entered the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor and remained after his authorized stay. He argued that a refugee certificate issued by the United Nations delegation in Belgium protected him from deportation and that he feared…
Matter of Teng
Sham marriage defeated stepchild status and led to remand on voluntary departure
The respondents were brothers and sisters from the Philippines who held immigrant visas as the claimed stepchildren of a United States citizen. The Board found that their mother's marriage to the citizen was a sham, that no actual familial relationship existed, and that the respondents were…
Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Co.
Railroad exemption rejected and citations affirmed
Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad admitted the cited working conditions and agreed that the proposed penalties were reasonable. Its remaining defense was that Department of Transportation authority over railroad safety exempted it from OSHA. The Commission rejected that industry-wide exemption…
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Co.
Housekeeping and posting items remanded for a hearing
Seaboard Coast Line received five nonserious items for poor housekeeping, failure to post the OSHA notice, and recordkeeping deficiencies. The judge vacated the three recordkeeping items because railroad recordkeeping was exempt, but affirmed the housekeeping and posting items without holding a…
Matter of Villagomez
Deportation charges failed for lack of proof
The respondent entered as a lawful permanent resident in 1965 after telling a United States consul he was married to a citizen, although that marriage was void because of an earlier undissolved marriage. The immigration judge found him deportable on the labor certification and valid visa charges…
Central Steel & Tank Co.
Press-brake guarding affirmed, shear item vacated
Central Steel custom-fabricated steel using two hydraulic press brakes, three mechanical power presses, and a mechanical shear cited for inadequate point-of-operation guarding. Operators held and aligned metal by hand close to the press-brake dies, which descended slowly but with enough force to…
W. N. Couch, Inc.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Atlantic Coast Development Corp.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Jack Moorman Electrical Contractor, Inc.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
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. It explained that the issue Commissioner Moran raised on the Commission's own initiative had not been raised, tried, or argued by the parties. The Commission also characterized the…
Atlas Construction Company
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Crescent Wharf & Warehouse Co.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in these consolidated cases. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question…
Ocean Electric Corp.
Serious electrical citation and $700 penalty affirmed
Ocean Electric was installing switchgear beside energized equipment when a foreman left a cabinet door open, exposing energized bus bars. An apprentice following the foreman's direction contacted a bus bar and was electrocuted. The company admitted that the electrical-safety standard was breached…
Weinap Construction Corp.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Noblecraft Industries, Inc.
Radial-saw guarding violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Noblecraft manufactured kitchen cabinets and used a radial-arm saw whose lower blade lacked the automatic guard required by 29 C.F.R. § 1910.213(h)(1). The judge had vacated the citation after concluding that the Secretary improperly adopted the rule from an ANSI standard without an advisory…
R. Zoppo Co., Inc.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Richard C. Mugler Co., Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Richard C. Mugler Co. case. It explained that the issue Commissioner Moran had raised on the Commission's own initiative had not been raised, tried, or argued by the parties. The Commission also characterized the issue as one of publication…
Warner Brothers, Inc.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Metropolitan Stevedore Company
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in these consolidated Metropolitan Stevedore Company cases. It explained that the issue Commissioner Moran raised on the Commission's own initiative had not been raised, tried, or argued by the parties. The Commission also characterized the issue as…
Thiele, Inc.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Globe, Incorporated
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in these consolidated cases. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question…
Columbia Paint Co.
Commission review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in this case. It explained that the issue had been raised by a Commissioner rather than by the parties and had not been tried or argued. The issue concerned publication policy, which the Commission held was not an adjudicative question under the…
Matter of Li
Prior deportation and missing reentry permission established deportability
The immigration judge found the respondent deportable after the record showed a 1968 warrant of deportation and reentry notice issued to a person with the respondent's name. The respondent declined to testify about deportability and offered no evidence that he had obtained permission to reapply…
Matter of Rehman
Punjab law did not recognize the claimed adoption
A United States citizen sought preference classification for a person he claimed was his adopted brother. The claimed adoption took place in Punjab, Pakistan, under customary law. The Board relied on a Library of Congress report stating that Punjab's Muslim personal law governed adoption and did…
Matter of Pioquinto
Temporary disability retiree protected from exclusion proceedings
A Filipino national enlisted in the United States Navy, was placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List, and later arrived in the United States under Navy orders for a physical evaluation. He did not have an immigrant visa and was placed in exclusion proceedings after his parole was revoked…
Otis Elevator Company
Safety-belt violation and $100 penalty affirmed
Two Otis elevator mechanics worked in an open elevator shaft while standing on a single unsecured plank about 20 feet above the next complete platform, without wearing safety belts. Otis had issued protective equipment, maintained a safety handbook, and held safety meetings, but its working foreman…
Matter of Rehman
New York relief certificate did not erase conviction for deportation
A Pakistani student pleaded guilty to possessing hashish in New York and received a conditional discharge and a state Certificate of Relief from Disabilities. The immigration judge ordered deportation under the law then governing drug convictions. The Board held that the guilty plea and court…
GAF Corporation; United Engineers & Constructors, Inc.
Asbestos medical-examination requirements affirmed
The consolidated cases asked whether employers had to provide periodic medical examinations only when asbestos exposure exceeded the permissible exposure limits, or whenever employees worked in occupations exposed to airborne asbestos fibers. The Commission held that 29 C.F.R. § 1910.93a(j)…
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company
Railroad exemption and bankruptcy defenses rejected
OSHA cited the railroad after inspections at its Kansas City and Joliet workplaces, and the company argued that Department of Transportation authority displaced OSHA jurisdiction and that a bankruptcy injunction barred the proceedings. The Commission held that the statutory exemption for another…
American Airlines, Inc.
Radiation-safety citation preempted and vacated
American Airlines admitted that employees at its LaGuardia cargo facility were not receiving the radiation surveys, personal monitoring, caution signs, and exposure records required by OSHA's radiation standards. The airline argued that Federal Aviation Agency rules governing radioactive materials…
Nelco, Incorporated
Excavation citation vacation affirmed
Nelco dug a six-foot-deep, 65-foot-long, 35-foot-wide cavity for a cistern, with vertical unshored walls and an employee working in a roughly two-and-a-half-foot space between an earthen wall and a reinforcing-steel lattice. OSHA initially cited the excavation standard and later alleged the more…
Queen City Sheet Metal and Roofing, Inc.
Punch-press citation vacation affirmed
OSHA cited Queen City because its mechanical punch presses lacked point-of-operation guards under the general machine-guarding standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.212(a)(3)(ii). The judge vacated the citation, reasoning that the more specific mechanical-power-press standard governed and relying on…
J. W. Black Lumber Company
Chemical-protection and chipper-item vacations affirmed
Two disputed sawmill items were before the Commission from a larger citation. One alleged that employees handling lumber treated with the preservative Super Noxtane were not required to wear rubber gloves; the judge vacated it because the Secretary had not established that the solution's…
Matter of Barreto
Preflight admission stamps did not complete an entry
An immigration inspector in Toronto initially stamped the applicant's visa and passport for admission to the United States, then cancelled both stamps before her flight. The Board held that she had not made an entry because she was still outside United States territory when the stamps were…
Matter of Mody
Student employment request denied for lack of economic necessity
A community college student asked to work part time, citing the cost of buying a car to commute to school. His application listed $2,915 from his father and $3,755 in annual expenses. Earlier applications showed that his brother had offered room, board, and school expenses and that a brother-in-law…
Matter of Li
Reconsideration of student school transfer denial rejected
A student entered the United States with a visa naming Mississippi University for Women but enrolled at California State University at Sacramento. After her transfer request was denied, she asked the District Director to reconsider. She said friends attended the California school and argued that…
Boise Cascade Corporation
Sawmill guarding violations and $300 penalty affirmed
OSHA cited Boise Cascade's sawmill for inadequate guarding of end saws on board and cant trimmers and of components on a Bolter saw. The equipment had some guards, but the judge found that the cited guards did not adequately protect employees and that 29 C.F.R. §§ 1910.265(e)(4)(ii)(b) and…
Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc.
Five longshore hard-hat violations affirmed
Atlantic & Gulf's longshore employees repeatedly worked without protective hats where falling objects could injure their heads. The company supplied hats at no charge and promoted their use through meetings, signs, pay-envelope messages, and hiring tapes, but many employees continued to refuse…
Northern Metal Company
Hard-hat violations affirmed but repeat claims and penalties removed
Northern Metal's longshore employees repeatedly worked without protective hats despite the company's efforts to encourage their use. The Commission held that Northern Metal remained their employer under the economic realities of the hiring-hall arrangement because it paid the workers, determined…
Matter of Rojas
Hearing testimony established deportability; voluntary departure denied
The respondent admitted at her deportation hearing that she had entered the United States without inspection with a professional smuggler's assistance. The Board held that this testimony established deportability regardless of her objection to evidence from the initial interrogation and arrest. It…
Independent Pier Company; Holt Marine Terminal, Inc.; I.T.O. of Ameriport, Inc.; Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc.
Longshore hard-hat violations affirmed but employee order vacated
Six consolidated cases involved stevedoring companies whose longshore employees refused to wear supplied hard hats at the Port of Philadelphia. The judge held the employers responsible under 29 C.F.R. § 1918.105(a), affirmed or modified the citations, and assessed penalties totaling $545 across the…
A & M Sheet Metal, Inc.
Ironworker guarding citation vacation affirmed
A & M operated a multipurpose Ironworker that cut and punched metal through three sets of dies activated by a foot treadle. The machine lacked a point-of-operation guard, but the operator stood about 18 inches away, held material with one hand on each side of the danger area, and the record did not…
Matter of Diaz
Commuter's original admission could be reviewed in exclusion proceedings
A Mexican commuter had obtained permanent resident status using a labor certification for maid work that she never intended to perform. When she later sought readmission, the Board held that her regular travel between her home and work was not the kind of brief, innocent, casual trip protected by…
Grand Union Company
Retail-butcher mesh-glove citations vacated
Grand Union operated retail grocery stores where butchers trimmed and deboned meat with sharp knives but did not wear steel mesh gloves. OSHA cited two stores under the general personal-protective-equipment rule, and the administrative law judges found that hand protection was required. The…
Southern Railway Company
Locomotive-derailer violation and $200 penalty affirmed
Southern Railway employees worked in maintenance pits where moving locomotives could strike locomotives under repair, and the company relied on its industry-standard blue-flag or blue-light rule rather than installing derailers. The Commission held that industry custom helped establish recognition…
Coughlan Construction Company, Inc.
Two trench-exit violations and $90 penalty affirmed
Coughlan Construction Company was a Boston trenching contractor whose employees worked in two trenches deeper than four feet without ladders or steps. At one site, employees climbed shoring cross braces to exit, and at the other they pulled themselves up and over the trench side. OSHA cited the…
Worcester Pressed Steel Company
Duplicate aisle item vacated, higher penalties sustained
Worcester Pressed Steel Company operated a large metal-stamping plant cited for 40 nonserious safety violations. The cited conditions included poor housekeeping and floors, obstructed and unmarked aisles, missing exit signs and eye protection, forklift hazards, inadequate machine guarding, and…
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.