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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Floyd Dowlin, III
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Floyd Dowlin alleged that Western Energy Company reassigned him and ended his employment in retaliation for complaining to MSHA about a dragline boom and a haul truck. The Judge credited that Dowlin engaged in protected activity but found no adverse action motivated by that activity. The company…
Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination dismissal vacated and remanded again
Reading Anthracite discharged haulage-truck driver Leonard Bernardyn after he drove slowly on foggy, slippery roads and complained that driving faster was unsafe. During a radio complaint to a union safety committeeman, Bernardyn used profanity and allegedly threatened a supervisor, and Reading…
Dotson Trucking Company, Incorporated
Haul-road and brake citations affirmed after fatal accident
A truck driver died after losing control of a refuse truck on a steep, slick haul road at the Long Fork Preparation Plant. The Secretary alleged that the truck lacked adequate brakes and was operated at an imprudent speed for the road conditions. Judge Gary Melick found that Dotson Trucking…
Bluestone Coal Corporation
Citations mixed and $500 penalty
Bluestone Coal operated the Keystone No. 6 Strip Mine. After a coal truck overturned on a haulage road and the driver died, MSHA issued an imminent-danger order and citations involving haulage-road signs and equipment speed. MSHA later vacated the withdrawal order and one citation. Judge David F…
Ramar Coal Company, Incorporated
One citation affirmed, two settled, $1,125 in penalties assessed
Ramar Coal agreed to pay the proposed $500 penalties for two respirable dust sampling citations. The remaining citation concerned a refuse hauler that nearly collided with an MSHA inspector on a wet, steep haul road. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed that citation and assessed a $125 penalty, while…
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.