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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Marshall Justice v. Rockwell Mining, LLC
Interference claims allowed to proceed
Marshall Justice, a non-employee miners' representative, alleged that Rockwell Mining interfered with his rights to inspect the mine map and accompany MSHA inspectors at the Gateway Eagle Mine. Rockwell asked to dismiss the pro se complaint, arguing that Justice had no right to a copy of the map…
Secretary of Labor v. Dana Mining Company, Inc.
Accident victim's estate denied intervention
The estate administrator of a miner killed in a roof fall sought to intervene in an MSHA penalty case against Dana Mining. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held that she was neither a miner nor a representative of affected miners under the Commission's intervention rule. He also found that the Secretary could…
Kerr-McGee Coal Corporation
Nonemployee miners' representatives permitted to accompany inspections
Kerr-McGee operated a nonunion surface coal mine where miners designated two United Mine Workers of America agents as their representatives for mine inspections. The Commission held that section 103(f) of the Mine Act and Part 40 allow miners to choose nonemployees, including union agents, as…
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 When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.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.