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 Annang
Claimed Ghanaian customary marriage lacked proof
A lawful permanent resident sought preference status for a child he said was his unmarried son. He claimed a customary marriage in Ghana to the child's mother made the child legitimate from birth, but his petition listed no earlier marriages and the child's records used the mother's maiden name…
Matter of Kwan
Refugee classification denied after Hong Kong residence
A Chinese man sought refugee classification during deportation proceedings after his immigrant visa was found to rest on a false family relationship. He had lived in Hong Kong for more than 13 years before coming to the United States. The Regional Commissioner treated him as a Hong Kong resident…
Matter of Alzona
Child born in D.C. did not qualify father for waiver
An immigration judge found a Philippine citizen deportable because he obtained an immigrant visa through a marriage while already married to someone else. The respondent sought relief based on his United States citizen child, who was born in the District of Columbia and later moved with him to…
Cable Car Advertisers, Inc.
Ship-repair and posting citations partly affirmed
Cable Car Advertisers was converting the burned-out ferryboat San Leandro into a floating office while it was moored in San Francisco Bay. The Commission held that work on the floating, towable structure was covered by the maritime standards and that maintaining a workplace on navigable waters…
Mississippi Valley Erection Co. of Tennessee
Lifeline item reinstated but final order is missing
Mississippi Valley Erection received multiple citations involving float scaffolds, fall protection, temporary flooring, ladders, ropes, planking, air hoses, welding, and safety nets during structural steel work. The Commission held that an air-hose item had become a final order because the company…
Bi-Co Pavers, Inc.
Trench citation vacated because required slope was provided
Bi-Co Pavers dug a clay-soil trench for a municipal sewer line and sloped its sides at a two-to-one ratio without installing shoring. A portion collapsed after employees undermined a side to tighten pipe bolts, injuring two employees. The Secretary argued that a note in the trenching tables…
Matter of Castro
Six years in Mexico defeated returning resident claim
A Mexican citizen admitted as a permanent resident moved his family to Mexico, bought land, built a house, and worked there for six years while making short business trips to the United States. The Board held that his stay in Mexico was not a temporary visit abroad, so he could not use his resident…
McCrory Sumwalt Construction Co.
Transformer-proximity citation affirmed with a $300 penalty
McCrory Sumwalt built a temporary enclosure around three energized 7,200-volt transformers at a shopping-center project. To reinforce the enclosure for a scaffold, the superintendent directed an employee to measure inside it near a transformer but did not specify how to make the measurement. The…
F.F. Green Construction Co., Inc.
Safety citations affirmed and reporting penalty removed
F.F. Green was laying a water line in Anchorage when a backhoe contacted or came too close to a 115,000-volt transmission line and an employee guiding pipe was electrocuted. The judge affirmed three serious violations involving power-line clearance, spoil piled at the excavation edge, and…
Matter of Anaya
Refusal to depart within 90 days defeated voluntary departure
A married couple from Mexico conceded that they had entered the United States without inspection. They sought voluntary departure extending until their expected visa availability in December 1974, while the immigration judge offered 90 days. The Board held that having United States citizen children…
Southern Soya Corp.
Cottonseed cave-in violation affirmed with a $750 penalty
Southern Soya operated a cottonseed mill with a large storage tank and a steel tunnel that protected employees while seed was removed. Packed cottonseed could form vertical and undercut walls that might collapse if employees left the tunnel before the seed reached a safe level. A foreman…
Remodeling By Oltmann's, Inc.
Amended citation affirmed after contest withdrawal
The Secretary amended Remodeling By Oltmann's citation by deleting several items and reducing the proposed penalties. The parties jointly stipulated to those changes, represented that the remaining conditions had been or would be abated, and requested withdrawal of the employer's contest. The…
Armor Elevator Co., Inc.
Floor-opening violation affirmed and ladder item vacated
Armor Elevator was installing elevators in a New York building where elevator-shaft openings were not protected by compliant railings or secured covers. The judge affirmed a serious floor-opening violation and assessed $500, while vacating a separate item alleging that a wooden ladder was used at…
Blaisdell Manufacturing, Inc.
Settlement disclaimer required revision
Blaisdell Manufacturing entered a settlement covering two serious citations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Commission affirmed the vacation of citation 2 because the Secretary said he could not produce enough evidence to prove it. It set aside approval of citation 1 because the…
Dixie Electric, Inc.
Unguarded-floor penalty increased
Dixie Electric employees performed electrical work close to the unguarded edge of a third floor, 35 feet above the ground, and used stairs without railings. The judge affirmed non-serious violations for the open-sided floor and stairways, assessed penalties of $35 and $25, and vacated an item…
Swan Lake Moulding Co.
Seven violations and $265 penalty affirmed
Swan Lake Moulding operated a cabinet shop and retail building-materials yard where OSHA cited electrical, machine-guarding, housekeeping, and floor hazards. The company contested the penalties for seven items but did not dispute the cited conditions. The judge affirmed those seven violations and…
Harvey Wrecking Co.
Demolition-sequence item vacated
Harvey Wrecking was demolishing a 14-story Chicago building where an employee worked beside an unguarded wall opening and equipment operated near floor openings without curbs or stoplogs. The Commission affirmed those two conditions as serious violations of specific standards under section 5(a)(2)…
Matter of Palma
Departure executed deportation order and ended reopening request
A man under a final deportation order left the United States in April 1973 and returned the same day. An immigration judge initially reopened his deportation case so he could seek suspension of deportation, then vacated that reopening after learning of the departure. The Board held that departure…
Healy-Kruse Company
Serious and non-serious citations withdrawn
OSHA issued Healy-Kruse two citations containing two serious items and five non-serious items, with proposed penalties totaling $1,010. After the company contested them, the Secretary moved to withdraw both citations because he lacked the evidence needed to prove the alleged violations. The…
Matter of Polanco
Marriage before entry invalidated child-based visa status
A Dominican citizen received an immigrant visa because he was classified as an unmarried child of a lawful permanent resident, exempt from the labor certification requirement. He married after the visa was issued but before entering the United States. The Board held that he no longer had the status…
State Sheet Metal & Roofing Co.
Flat-roof citation vacated with prejudice
State Sheet Metal employees installed flashing and guttering at the unguarded edge of a flat roof nearly 25 feet above the ground. The judge vacated the serious citation because he concluded that section 1926.500(d)(1) did not apply to flat roofs. The Commission stated that the standard does apply…
Glen Construction Company, Inc.
Flat-roof guardrail citation affirmed
Glen Construction contested a non-serious citation alleging that an open-sided roof lacked guarding required by section 1926.500(d)(1). The judge granted summary judgment to the company because he concluded that the standard did not apply to flat roofs. The Commission rejected that interpretation…
Mushroom Transportation Company, Inc.
Truck-chocking item preempted by federal motor-carrier rules
Mushroom Transportation was cited for using allegedly inadequate wooden blocks instead of wheel chocks while powered industrial trucks boarded highway trucks at its terminal. The company argued that Department of Transportation motor-carrier rules already regulated the same working condition. The…
Molinos de Puerto Rico, Inc.
Contested citations vacated with prejudice
The judge vacated Molinos de Puerto Rico's amended citations because OSHA issued them 131 days after its inspection and did not explain the delay. On review, the Secretary filed a notice attempting to withdraw every contested citation and penalty but did not state the factual reason for doing so…
Matter of Plata
Deportation recommendation failed for lack of notice
A Mexican permanent resident was convicted of theft and placed on probation after a prison sentence was suspended. His probation order said he “will not be deported,” and he argued that this was a judicial recommendation against deportation under the statute then in force. The Board held that the…
BN Transport, Inc.
Contested citation item affirmed after withdrawal
BN Transport received a four-item non-serious citation and contested only item 3 and its proposed penalty. The company later sought to withdraw that notice of contest, stated that the cited conditions had been corrected, and tendered the proposed penalty. The Commission confirmed that a later…
Kehm Construction Company, Inc.
Scaffold-access items affirmed and ladder-defect item vacated
Kehm Construction was cited at two Nebraska job sites for failing to provide safe ladder access to scaffolds and for using an aluminum ladder with a crimped rung and bent side rail. The Commission affirmed the two scaffold-access violations because employees had to climb the scaffold structure to…
Matter of Butterly
Adult adoption did not establish sibling visa eligibility
A United States citizen petitioned for a preference visa for a man adopted by her mother. He was adopted at age 18. The district director denied the petition because the adoption did not meet the immigration statute's age requirement for an adopted child. The Board held that an adopted sibling must…
Ark Wrecking Co., Inc.
Recordkeeping violation affirmed without penalty
An Ark Wrecking employee was killed when the loader he was operating fell through the second floor of a building being demolished. OSHA alleged that the company failed to conduct the required engineering survey and used equipment on a floor too weak to support it. The Commission agreed with the…
Matter of Maldonado-Sandoval
Exclusion ruling later vacated by a federal court
A Mexican citizen entered the United States with a visa based on his claimed marriage to a U.S. citizen, then sought readmission after a short visit to Mexico. The Board found that he had concealed an earlier marriage and had not lawfully acquired permanent residence through the visa. It held that…
Longview Brass & Aluminum Company
Case reinstated after answer located
A Commission judge dismissed Longview Brass & Aluminum's notice of contest because the company appeared not to have answered the Secretary's complaint. The Commission's file showed that it had received an undated letter intended to serve as the company's answer in both docketed cases. That answer…
Matter of Moncayo
Unrecognized Ecuadorian divorce defeated spouse petition
A U.S. citizen petitioned for immediate relative status for her Ecuadorian husband. To show that his earlier marriage had ended, she submitted an Ecuadorian divorce decree. The Board held that New York, where the later marriage took place, would not recognize that divorce: he had not been present…
Maher Distribution Center
Unguarded-forklift violation affirmed
A Maher Distribution employee operated a forklift without an overhead guard while moving motorcycle crates in a warehouse. His supervisor knew the guard was absent and permitted him to use the truck for transport, although the supervisor instructed him not to stack with it. The employee later…
Brown & Kerr, Inc.
Flat-roof citation vacated with prejudice
Brown & Kerr employees were installing guttering at the outside edge of a flat roof when OSHA issued a serious citation under the open-sided-floor guarding standard. The judge vacated the citation because he concluded that the standard did not apply to flat roofs. The Commission stated that the…
Heyse Sheet Metal & Roofing Co., Inc.
Roof guardrail and access violations affirmed
Heyse Sheet Metal employees installed a virtually flat roof about 30 feet above the ground without perimeter railings and used a material-hoist frame instead of a ladder for access. The judge affirmed the ladder-access violation with a $500 penalty but vacated the roof-edge item. The Commission…
S. D. Mullins Company, Inc. and Diamond Roofing Company, Inc.
Flat-roof guardrail violations affirmed
Employees of S. D. Mullins and Diamond Roofing worked on an unguarded flat roof about 25 feet above the ground. The judge vacated both roof-edge citations because he concluded that the open-sided-floor standard did not cover roofs. The Commission reversed, holding that a flat roof on which…
Hersman Construction Co.
Three guarding violations affirmed and failure-to-abate penalties rejected
Hersman Construction received citations covering fall protection, floor and stair guarding, debris disposal, citation posting, and housekeeping at a building project. The judge found that OSHA proved only two open-sided-floor guarding violations and one inadequately covered floor opening. He…
Rogge Lumber Sales, Inc.
Posting and failure-to-abate penalties affirmed
Rogge Lumber failed to post an earlier uncontested citation and did not timely correct three items involving drinking water, toilet facilities, and a walkway near a gang trimmer. The judge rejected OSHA's mechanically calculated proposals because they imposed fixed minimums without proper…
Gerry Division of Outdoor Sports Industries, Inc.
Machine-guarding items affirmed and rivet-machine item vacated
Gerry manufactured outdoor equipment and apparel using industrial sewing machines, a rivet machine, and an abrasive grinder. The company admitted four items involving compressed-air cleaning, stair railings, fan guarding, and a separate rivet-machine guarding condition, with a single $30 penalty…
Milprint, Inc.
Fixed-stair item vacated for lack of proof
OSHA issued Milprint 13 non-serious citation items covering conditions at its Milwaukee plant. The judge affirmed nine items and vacated four, assessing penalties totaling $280. On review, the Commission reversed the fixed-stair item because OSHA did not prove that employees regularly used the…
Arizona Public Service Co.
Transformer-work citations vacated
Arizona Public Service employees worked around energized lightning arresters while repositioning lifting equipment above a transformer. An experienced journeyman electrician contacted an arrester and was killed after disregarding known clearance rules. The judge found no violation based on his…
Gurney Manufacturing Division, Gurney Industries, Inc.
Withdrawal dispute remanded for further proceedings
Gurney Manufacturing contested a citation under section 1910.93(a)(2) and later moved to withdraw its notice of contest. A judge granted withdrawal, but the employee representative had opposed the motion, and the Commission directed review. After remand, the judge dismissed further proceedings on…
Associated Meat Packers, Inc.
Meat-saw guarding citation vacated with prejudice
Associated Meat Packers was cited for allegedly inadequate guarding on three circular meat-cutting saws at its Portland abattoir. The judge approved a settlement affirming the serious citation and $550 penalty while extending abatement to allow time for a variance request. On review, the Secretary…
W.W. Arnold Construction Co., Inc.
Contest reinstated after complaint-service issue
A Commission judge dismissed W.W. Arnold Construction's notice of contest because the company had not answered the Secretary's complaint. The company stated that it never received a copy of the complaint. The Commission directed review, reinstated the case, and gave the company 15 days after…
Genco, Inc.
Construction citation vacated after inspection violations
OSHA issued Genco a 13-item non-serious citation after inspecting its construction work at Honolulu International Airport. The judge vacated the citation because the compliance officer began the inspection before presenting credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in charge as required by the…
Apex Paper Box Co.
Fire-extinguisher inspection item vacated
OSHA issued Apex Paper Box 19 non-serious citation items covering fire protection, electrical conditions, exits, housekeeping, industrial trucks, records, and first aid. The judge affirmed all 19 items and assessed penalties totaling $731.25. The Commission vacated only the fire-extinguisher…
Gilles & Cotting, Inc.
General contractor scaffold citation vacated
Gilles & Cotting was the general contractor on a construction project where a scaffold used and controlled by a glass subcontractor collapsed, killing two subcontractor employees. OSHA cited the general contractor under three scaffold standards because it controlled the jobsite and other…
Matter of Pierre et al.
Applicants aboard vessel had not entered the United States
Haitian applicants arrived at West Palm Beach aboard a boat that had been towed into port. They remained on board awaiting immigration inspection and asked to be admitted as political refugees. The Board held that they had not made an entry because immigration officers had neither admitted them nor…
Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Specific crane violation affirmed
Sun Shipbuilding was cited after employees used a crane and a non-locking clamp to move a 40-foot angle beam, which slipped and struck an employee. OSHA alleged both a general-duty violation and a violation of the specific crane standard governing secure and balanced loads. The Commission dismissed…
Matter of Hermosa
Philippine birth did not establish U.S. citizenship
A woman born in the Philippines in 1943 sought to reopen her deportation case after the Board had upheld an immigration judge's ruling. She claimed United States citizenship based on her birth before Philippine independence. The Board held that the Philippines were not part of the United States for…
Container Corporation of America
Withdrawal order corrected
Container Corporation of America contested four non-serious citation items and their proposed penalties. The Secretary later withdrew two items, and the employer withdrew its contest of the other two after the parties agreed to extend one abatement date. The judge approved the stipulation but did…
Matter of Gutierrez
Deportation relief denied after narcotics conviction
A Mexican citizen appealed an immigration judge's finding of deportability and denial of two forms of relief. He argued that deportation would violate the constitutional rights of his United States citizen children and challenged the use of a Mexican drug conviction. The Board said his…
Matter of Jimenez
Exclusion upheld for forgery-device conviction
A Colombian permanent resident sought admission as a returning resident after travel to Puerto Rico. An immigration judge ordered his exclusion based on a New York conviction for possessing forgery devices with intent to use them for forgery. He challenged his guilty plea and argued that the…
Matter of Siffre
Premature overstay charge terminated
A Nigerian student was admitted through April 1, 1973. The district director later ordered him to leave by February 2 and charged him with remaining longer than permitted when he did not. The Board held that the early departure notice did not establish an overstay before the original authorized…
Matter of Gilikevorkian
Adjustment granted despite long-used assumed name
A Syrian citizen entered the United States under a name he had used for years after moving to Lebanon to find work. An immigration judge treated that identity as a material misrepresentation, denied adjustment of status, and allowed voluntary departure. The Board found that he had adopted the name…
Matter of Julianus
Father could not establish son's visa preference eligibility
A permanent resident in Ohio sought an immigrant visa preference for his unmarried son, who lived in Guadeloupe. The Board held that the father had not shown the son was born legitimate or was legitimated before age 18 under the law of Guadeloupe or Ohio. The parents had never married, and the…
Boston Elevator and Machine Company
Serious citation affirmed
Boston Elevator and Machine Company contested a serious citation, a non-serious citation, and their proposed penalties. The Secretary amended the serious citation to allege a general-duty violation and withdrew the proposed penalty for the non-serious item. The employer later withdrew its contest…
Albert and Maguire Securities Company, Inc.
Toilet-facility citation dismissed
Albert and Maguire Securities operated a stock brokerage office with male and female employees and one toilet in its leased space. Women employees customarily used public restrooms in a department store about 50 feet away in the same shopping center. OSHA cited the company for not providing…
Matter of Valdovinos
Brief trip for unlawful entry assistance counted as an entry
A Mexican lawful permanent resident traveled to Mexico and returned to the United States the same day. The immigration judge found that he had arranged, for payment, to help three Mexican citizens enter unlawfully and ordered his deportation. The Board agreed with that finding. It held that his…
Louis P. Anesi d/b/a Anesi Packing Company
Contest reinstated
Louis P. Anesi, representing himself, did not file a formal answer to the Secretary's complaint. The judge dismissed his notice of contest and affirmed the citation and proposed penalties. The Commission found that Anesi had timely sent the Secretary a letter denying every citation identified in…
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.