United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
The court will decide whether OSHA can utilize a "controlling employer doctrine" to support a citation against a general contractor if the contractor did not create the hazard or did not have its own employees exposed to the hazard. OSHA's long-standing policy of citing general contractors for safety violations committed by sub-contractors at construction sites was overturned by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. In overturning OSHA's controversial, more than 30-year multi-employer work site policy, the Review Commission held that OSHA may no longer cite a "controlling employer" when that employer did not create or subject its employees to the cited hazard. OSHA's policy was problematic because the applicable regulation cannot be interpreted to permit citations against employers who neither created the hazard nor had employees exposed to the hazard. Moreover, this policy allowed OSHA to issue multiple citations for the same violation. The government appealed OSHRC's decision to the Eighth Circuit.
Status: PENDING. Amicus brief filed.
