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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Western Industrial, Inc.
Unsafe scaffolding access violation affirmed
Western Industrial Insulating installed insulation and sheet metal at a cement plant using scaffolding around a vertical cyclone. An MSHA inspector found that workers had to cross a 15-inch gap, pass through closely spaced rails, and crouch under an I-beam to reach an elevated platform. The…
Danny Foust v. Manalapan Mining Company
Post-hearing exhibits limited to violation history
After a hearing on Danny Foust's discrimination complaint, the Secretary attached prior settlement orders and related records to her post-hearing brief. Manalapan Mining moved to strike those materials, sought sanctions and attorney's fees, and argued that the late exhibits had not been disclosed…
BGS Construction, Inc.
Motion for reconsideration and interlocutory review denied
BGS Construction asked the judge to reconsider a ruling that denied its motion to dismiss a civil penalty case based on delay in proposing the penalty. The company argued that the Secretary specially assessed penalties unnecessarily, failed to consider cited authority and policy guidance, and did…
Black Diamond Construction, Inc.
EAJA award affirmed and remanded for additional fees
Black Diamond Construction performed work to eliminate a coal refuse impoundment so longwall mining could proceed beneath it. MSHA cited two Black Diamond employees under the Part 48 training rules, but the Secretary later vacated the citations before trial. An ALJ awarded Black Diamond $14,390.25…
White Oak Mining and Construction, Inc.
Motion to dismiss denied
Randy Howell asked the judge to dismiss an individual civil-penalty proceeding based on delay between the underlying orders and notice of the proposed penalty. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that MSHA adequately explained the investigation and review period. Howell did not show actual prejudice from…
White Oak Mining and Construction, Inc.
Motions to dismiss denied
White Oak and two individual respondents asked the judge to dismiss civil-penalty proceedings because of delay between the underlying orders and notice of proposed penalties. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that MSHA adequately explained the investigation and review period. He also found that the…
Secretary of Labor v. Topper Coal Company, Inc.
Advance warning of inspection upheld
Topper Coal operated an underground Kentucky coal mine where its president warned miners that federal inspectors were on their way, despite being told not to give advance notice. The Commission affirmed that the warning violated section 103(a) of the Mine Act and upheld the $5,000 civil penalty…
James Lee Hancock, employed by Pittsburgh & Midway Coal Company
Motion to dismiss denied and penalty filing accepted
James Lee Hancock, an employee of Pittsburgh and Midway Coal Company at the Cimmarron Mine, asked the judge to dismiss a personal civil-penalty case because the Secretary had taken too long to file the penalty petition. Judge Paul Merlin accepted the Secretary’s explanation for the filing delays…
Cedar Creek Quarries, Inc.
Dismissal motions denied and cases consolidated
Cedar Creek Quarries' president and a foreman asked the judge to dismiss civil-penalty petitions alleging knowing violations of mine safety standards. They argued that the delay between the alleged violations and notice of personal liability was unfair, that Mine Act section 110(c) was…
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.