Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Secretary of Labor obo Jeffrey S. Brewer v. Monongalia County Coal Company
Late discrimination complaints survive without prejudice
Monongalia County Coal moved to dismiss Jeffrey Brewer's Mine Act discrimination case because Brewer filed his MSHA complaint 29 days after the 60-day period and the Secretary filed the Commission complaint 21 days late. Brewer said he misunderstood the filing requirements and believed he first had…
Black Hills Bentonite
Mine Act discrimination complaint dismissed after injury
Jason C. Sheperd, a loader operator and laborer at Black Hills Bentonite's Casper plant, alleged that the company discriminated against him after he injured his neck and back and was required to keep doing heavy work despite doctors' light-duty restrictions. Judge Richard W. Manning held that…
Mineral Recovery Specialists, Inc.
Subpoena revoked as moot and overbroad
Thomas P. Dye sought a subpoena for broad records from Cotter Corporation, a nonparty, in his discrimination case against Mineral Recovery Specialists. Dye alleged that MRSI terminated him after he insisted that repaired equipment be fully safety-tested before it returned to service. Judge Richard…
U.S. Borax, Inc.
Prehearing order sets discrimination case and settlement steps
Robert G. Jungers alleged that U.S. Borax retaliated against him after he spent time with OSHA compliance officers and that a supervisor removed workplace cleanup assignments. Judge Richard W. Manning explained that the case would turn on whether Jungers engaged in protected Mine Act activity and…
Mineral Recovery Specialists, Inc.
Thomas P. Dye v. Mineral Recovery Specialists, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2002-408-DM): Motion to add related companies denied
Thomas P. Dye alleged that Mineral Recovery Specialists, Inc. discriminated against him after he insisted that repaired equipment be fully safety-tested before it returned to service. He sought to add Recovery Dynamics LLC and TBD LLC as respondents, arguing that the companies shared owners…
Jacobs Ranch Coal Company
Untimely discrimination complaint dismissed
Hazel Olson alleged that Jacobs Ranch Coal Company fired her from the Jacobs Ranch Mine because she had engaged in protected Mine Act activity. She filed her discrimination complaint with MSHA more than 14 months after her December 4, 1999 termination, although section 105(c)(2) generally allows 60…
Mineral Recovery Specialists, Inc.
Discrimination case set for answer and settlement conference
Thomas P. Dye alleged that Mineral Recovery Specialists did not hire him as a permanent employee because he insisted that repaired equipment be fully safety-tested before it returned to service. The ALJ explained that the case concerned protected safety activity under the Mine Act, outlined the…
Flaget Fuels, Inc.
Request to dismiss discrimination complaint denied
Thomas J. McIntosh alleged that Flaget Fuels discharged him after he refused to operate a bulldozer he reasonably and in good faith believed was unsafe and after he raised safety complaints. Flaget asked the judge to dismiss the complaint as untimely. Judge George A. Koutras found that the…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, 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.