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 obo Miguel Pugmire v. Nevada Gold Mines, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Miguel Pugmire v. Nevada Gold Mines, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2021-0148 DM): Ventilation allegation added to complaint
Miguel Pugmire alleged that Nevada Gold Mines terminated him after he removed four headings from service because of low airflow readings. Discovery produced evidence that he had also raised ventilation concerns at an earlier meeting attended by the manager who later terminated him. The Secretary…
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2021-0090): Interlocutory review denied
Cactus Canyon Quarries sought immediate Commission review after an administrative law judge refused to certify earlier discovery and summary-judgment rulings. The Commission found that those rulings did not present a controlling question of law. It also found that immediate review would not…
Secretary of Labor v. Champlain Stone, Ltd.
Secretary of Labor v. Champlain Stone, Ltd. (FMSHRC YORK 2021-0048): Misaddressed contest excused
Champlain Stone timely prepared a contest of proposed penalties but mailed it to MSHA's St. Louis payment office with payment for uncontested violations. The company discovered the mistake after receiving a delinquency notice and then sought reopening. The Secretary did not oppose relief but urged…
Secretary of Labor v. Blue Mountain Minerals
Secretary of Labor v. Blue Mountain Minerals (FMSHRC WEST 2021-0182): Reopening motion dismissed as moot
Blue Mountain Minerals asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that appeared to have become final because no contest was recorded. The Secretary later confirmed that the operator had timely requested a hearing and that MSHA's mail processing had delayed discovery of the contest. MSHA…
Secretary of Labor v. Marfork Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Marfork Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2021-0186): Caption correction authorized
An administrative law judge's settlement decision became final after 40 days but contained the wrong docket number in its caption. The judge asked the Commission for permission to correct the clerical error. Commission procedural rules allow correction of a clerical error in a final decision with…
Secretary of Labor v. DelHur Industries, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. DelHur Industries, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2021-0107): Unreceived assessment never became final
DelHur Industries did not receive a proposed penalty assessment that the Postal Service returned to the Secretary as unclaimed. The company learned of the penalties from a delinquency letter and filed a reopening motion within 30 days. The Commission held that the assessment never became final…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2021-0036): Three mailed contests reopened
Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company sought to reopen three penalty assessments after contests it said it mailed were not received. MSHA's collection office had received partial payments for the uncontested penalties, but the payments were applied to the wrong citations because the agency did not know…
Secretary of Labor v. Buzzi Unicem USA
Secretary of Labor v. Buzzi Unicem USA (FMSHRC CENT 2021-0051 M): Mailing error excused
Buzzi Unicem intended to contest part of a proposed penalty assessment but sent the contest to MSHA's St. Louis collections office instead of agency headquarters. It learned of the error from a delinquency notice and promptly moved to reopen. The Secretary did not oppose the motion and confirmed…
Wayne J. Sand and Gravel, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Wayne J. Sand and Gravel, Inc.
Wayne J. Sand and Gravel, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2019-0111): Sixteen-month delay bars reopening
A penalty case defaulted and the related contest was dismissed in 2019 after Wayne J. Sand and Gravel did not respond. The company waited until December 2020, more than 16 months after the orders became final, to seek reopening. It said it had not received the penalty petition or show-cause order…
Palm Beach Aggregates LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Palm Beach Aggregates LLC
Palm Beach Aggregates LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC SE 2020-0067 RM): Pandemic mail delay excused
Palm Beach Aggregates began working remotely one day before a proposed assessment arrived in March 2020. The assessment did not reach the safety director until after the contest deadline, and the company filed a contest about two weeks later. The Commission found the moderate delay excusable under…
Secretary of Labor obo Jason Hargis v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Jason Hargis v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2021-0163): Economic reinstatement granted
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Jason Hargis at Vulcan Construction Materials. Vulcan did not request a hearing, and the parties agreed to economic reinstatement terms. Judge Michael G. Young found that the discrimination complaint was not frivolously brought and ordered economic…
Secretary of Labor obo Darcy White v. Prairie State Generating Co.
Secretary of Labor obo Darcy White v. Prairie State Generating Co. (FMSHRC LAKE 2021-0158): Economic reinstatement approved
Darcy White and Prairie State Generating reached an agreement for temporary economic reinstatement while her discrimination complaint was investigated. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found the agreement fair, reasonable, and consistent with the Mine Act's purpose. He ordered Prairie State to provide…
Secretary of Labor v. Mingo Logan Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Mingo Logan Coal, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2019-0320): Unmailed contest form excused
Mingo Logan Coal's assistant safety manager timely completed a form identifying ten citations for contest. A clerical error left the completed form unmailed, and an internal audit found the mistake about six weeks after the assessment became final. The company then contacted counsel to seek…
Secretary of Labor v. Pedrotti Materials, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Pedrotti Materials, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2020-0275 M): Misaddressed assessment never became final
Pedrotti Materials did not receive a proposed penalty assessment because MSHA mailed it to the wrong address. The Secretary confirmed the agency's addressing error. The Commission held that the assessment never became final because the operator had not received it, so Rule 60 reopening relief was…
Secretary of Labor v. Arnold Hoskins
Secretary of Labor v. Arnold Hoskins (FMSHRC KENT 2015-0644): Reopening motion denied as moot
Arnold Hoskins asked the Commission to reopen a $4,800 penalty matter after MSHA sent him a delinquency notice. The Chief Administrative Law Judge had previously ordered the Secretary to file a penalty petition and explain the delay. When the Secretary did not comply, the case was dismissed on…
Secretary of Labor v. RJ Valente Gravel
Secretary of Labor v. RJ Valente Gravel (FMSHRC YORK 2018-0019): Duplicate dockets consolidated and reopened
RJ Valente Gravel asked the Commission to reopen default orders in four penalty dockets, and the Secretary did not oppose the motion. Two dockets covered one assessment and two covered another, so the Commission treated each pair as duplicates. It consolidated all four dockets, reopened the…
Michael Deuso v. Shelburne Limestone Corp.
Michael Deuso v. Shelburne Limestone Corp. (FMSHRC YORK 2019-0015-DM): New safety allegation required prior MSHA investigation
Michael Deuso filed a discrimination case nearly 19 months after MSHA told him it could not assist with his age-discrimination and assault allegations. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy excused the late filing because MSHA had not told the self-represented miner about his right to bring his own Commission…
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.