Federal agency decisions, searchable in plain English.
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), 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 v. The American Coal Company and United Mine Workers of America and United Steel, et al.
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company, et al. (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-13): Settlement penalty cuts require factual support
MSHA issued The American Coal Company 32 citations, including 14 designated significant and substantial, for conditions cited between July and August 2010. The Secretary proposed a settlement that left every citation and its gravity and negligence allegations unchanged but reduced every penalty by…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc.
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2013-362-D): Retaliatory state lawsuit had to be dismissed
Armstrong filed a Kentucky tort lawsuit against welder Reuben Shemwell after he used the Mine Act process to allege that his discharge was retaliatory. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the lawsuit interfered with Shemwell's protected right to file a discrimination complaint and would discourage…
What these documents are
- Commission decisions: Rulings by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission itself, the highest level of agency review. These are citable as Commission precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by OSHRC Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.
- 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 OSHRC public release, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.