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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Jeffrey Pappas v. Calportland Company and Riverside Cement Company
Jeffrey Pappas v. Calportland Company and Riverside Cement Company (FMSHRC WEST 2016-264 DM): Discrimination dismissal affirmed
Jeffrey Pappas alleged that Riverside Cement gave negative employment references and that CalPortland refused to hire him because of earlier safety complaints and a settled discrimination case. The Commission affirmed dismissal. The judge reasonably credited Riverside's human-resources manager that…
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 v. Kopper Glo Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Kopper Glo Mining, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2014-403): Late review petition considered but denied
The Secretary filed a petition for discretionary review based on the date of a corrected ALJ decision rather than the earlier original decision. Rule 69(c) normally provides that correcting a clerical error does not restart the review deadline, but the corrected decision was not labeled amended and…
Secretary of Labor v. Big Laurel Mining Corporation
Secretary of Labor v. Big Laurel Mining Corporation (FMSHRC VA 2012-56, VA 2012-337): Bankruptcy notice did not establish grounds for review
An ALJ assessed $252,304 in penalties against Big Laurel Mining, after which the operator notified the Commission that its corporate family had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and invoked the automatic stay. The Commission explained that Mine Act enforcement is an exercise of the government's…
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.