Violations in burn injury case reversed

A federal appeals court Tuesday ruled that an order by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission be reversed and remanded due to an error by an administrative law judge.

In November 2017, Eric Marsh, an employee of New River Electrical Corp., suffered severe burns when he picked up a live electrical wire at a job site. The commission investigated the accident and determined New River had committed three serious violations and fined the company $38,802, according to the ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, in New River Electrical Corp. v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission.

On appeal, an administrative law judge affirmed the commission’s decision but decreased the penalty to $12,934. The commission declined to review the judge’s decision, making it a final order, which New River appealed to the 4th Circuit.

A three-judge appeals court panel determined that the ALJ had improperly relieved the Secretary of the Department of Labor of the burden of proving that New River had constructive knowledge of the three violations. The panel reversed the order and remanded the case for further proceedings “that properly allocate the burdens of proof between the parties.”