FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P EALS E LEV EN T HC IRC U IT MAY 14, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 06- 14425

________________________ O S H R C N o. 04- 1405 J O H N C A R L O , I N C ., P e titio n e r , v ersu s S E C R E T A R Y O F L A B O R , R e s p o n d e n t.

________________________ P e t i t i on f orR e vi e w of

a D e c i s i on of

the O c c upa t i ona l S a f

e ty & H e a l th R e vi e w C om m i s s i on

_________________________ ( M ay 14, 2007) B efo re C A RN E S , W IL S O N an d H IL L , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M: John C ar l o, Inc. (“ JC I” ) s ee ks re vi ew of a f i nal order of the O cc up at i on al S af ety a nd H ea l th R evi ew C om m i ss i on i n favor of the S ec re t ary of L abor. A ft era2

tr e nc h c ol l aps e f

a t a l l y i nj ur e d a J C I e m pl oy e e , the A dm i ni s tr a t i ve L a w J udge (“ A L J” ) f

ou nd thatJC I w i l l ful l y vi ol at ed 29 C . F . R . § 1 92 6. 65 2(a) (1) a nd as se ss ed a $50 , 00 0 p enal ty. T he C om m i ss i on adop t ed the deci si on of the A L J, w hi ch b e c a m e th e f

in a l o r d e ro f

th e C o m m is s io n . J C I a r g u e s th a t th e S e c r e ta ry f a ile d to es t abl i sh a vi ol at i on before the A L J a nd as ks us t o revers e the C om m i ss i on ’ s f i nal o r d e r . W e f

in d th a t s u b s ta n tia l e v id e n c e s u p p o r ts th e A L J ’s d e c is io n . A c c o r d in g ly , w e a f

f irm . JC I part i ci pat ed i n a road i m prov em entproj ec ti n Jac kson vi l l e, F l ori da, w hi ch re qu i re d cre w m em bers t o i nst al l a s ew erl i ne do w n the m i dd l e of a n exi st i ng roadw ay . A ton e l ocat i on , the new l i ne w ou l d cross un der a n exi st i ng gas l i ne tha tw a s pe rpe ndi c ul a rt o the pr opos e d s e w e rl i ne . R unni ng pa r a l l e l t o the prop osed se w erl i ne w er e buri ed gas, w at er , and t el epho ne l i nes. JC I s up ervi sors b eg an d i scu ssi n g th e p o t en t i al p ro b l em s p o sed b y th e o th er u t i l i ty l i n es, s pe c i f i c a l l y the pe rpe ndi c ul a rga s l i ne , m onths i n a dva nc e of a c tua l l y e nc ount e r i ng thos e l i ne s i n the e xc a va t i on. J C I a tt e m pt e d t o ha ve the ga s c om pa ny r e l oc a t e the perpendi cul argas l i ne, bu tthe com pany w ou l d n otcoop er at e. JC I’ s s up ervi sors re sol ved t o add re ss the prob l em of the perpendi cul argas l i ne w hen they e n c o u n te r e d it. O S H A r e g u la tio n s r e q u ir e e m p lo y e r s to p r o te c t e m p lo y e e s w o rk in g in e x c a v a tio n s f

r o m c a v e - in s w ith a n a d e q u a te p r o te c tio n s y s te m . 2 9 C .F .R . §3

1926. 652( a ) ( 1) . T he r e a r e va r i ous ty pe s of pr ot e c t i on s y s t e m s i nc l udi ng s l opi ng and sho ri ng . O n M ar ch 30 , 20 04 , the JC I c re w w orked i n tw o st ac ked tre nch b ox es l ay i ng pi pe up t o the l ocat i on w here the gas l i ne cr osse d the tre nch for the se w er l i n e. O n M arch 3 1 , 2 0 0 4 , h o w ev er, th e crew rem o v ed th e t o p tren ch b o x b ecau se b o th b o x e s c o u ld n o t f

it u n d e rth e p e rp e n d ic u la rg a s lin e . T he c r e w pul l e d the bott om box unde rthe pe rpe ndi c ul a rga s l i ne a nd prepare d the bo tt om of the tre nch t o l ayon e j oi ntof the se w erpi pe. T w o cre w m e m be r s e nt e r e d the tr e nc h a nd w orke d i ns i de the tr e nc h box f ora tl e a s t20- 30 m i nu t es . T he tre nch w al l s abo ve the bo x (approx i m at el y s i x fee t ) w er e notsl op ed orothe rw i s e pr ot e c t e d, w hi c h undi s put e dl y vi ol a t e d O S H A s t a nda r ds . W hi l e the tw o e m pl oy e e s w e r e i n the tr e nc h, a l a r ge c l a y ba l l di s l odge d, f e l l i nt o the tr e nc h, and struck on e e m pl oyee w ho eventual l y di ed as a r es ul t . S ub se qu entt o the ca vei n, J C I w a s abl e t o s l ope the tr e nc h w a l l s a c c or di ng t o O S H A s t a nda r ds a nd c om pl e t e the l a y i ng of

the pi pe a tthe s a m e l oc a t i on w i thoutm ovi ng orr e m ovi ng th e g a s lin e . A f t e rhe a r i ng t e s t i m ony f

r om the pr oj e c ts upe r i nt e nde nt( L e s t e rC ox) , the f o r e ma n ( J a me s J a c o b s ) , a n d th e e mp l o y e e wh o s u rv i v e d th e a c c i d e n t , th e ALJ c onc l ude d tha tC ox i ns truc t e d J a c obs t o us e onl y the bott om tr e nc h box w he r e the tr e n c h c r o s s e d u n d e rth e g a s lin e . J a c o b s te s tif ie d th a t h e r e m in d e d C o x th a t th is w ou l d l ea ve the t op po rt i on of the tre nch u np rot ec t ed. Ja cobs sa i d C ox expl ai ned4

tha the r e a l i z e d the pr obl e m , butbe c a us e J C I ha d bi d the pr oj e c tba s e d on s i x- f oot - w i de tr e nc he s , the y c oul d nots l ope the tr e nc h. J a c obs w a s pr e s e nta nd s u p e r v is e d th e c r e w a t th e tim e o f th e a c c id e n t. Th e ALJ i mp u t e d J a c o b s ’ a c tu a l k n o wl e d g e o f th e v i o l a t i o n t o J CI . Th e ALJ de t e r m i ne d tha t , i n l i ghtof the e m pl oy e e ’ s de a th a nd the na tur e of the ha z a r d, the

“ vi ol at i on w as a s er i ou s vi ol at i on i n thatthere w as a s ub st ant i al prob abi l i ty that de a th ors e r i ous phy s i c a l ha r m c oul d r e s ul tf r om the vi ol a t i ve c ondi t i ons . ” T he A L J a l s o de t e r m i ne d tha tthe vi ol a t i on w a s w i l l f ul a nd he l d tha tJ C I , “ thr ough C ox and Jac ob s, w as ac tual l y a w ar e, atthe t i m e of the vi ol at i ve ac t , thatthe ac tw as unl a w f ul . ” B oth C ox a nd J a c obs “ know i ngl y a nd de l i be r a t e l y ” vi ol a t e d the st andard because i t“ w as m ore e xp edi entt o p l ac e e m pl oyee s i n an u np rot ec t ed tr e n c h f o r1 5 m in u te s to la y o n e jo in t o f p ip e th a n to ta k e th e tim e to a d e q u a te ly shore or s l op e the tre nch t o p rot ec tem pl oyee s. ” T he A L J a l s o r e

j e c t e d J C I ’ s a s s e r t i on tha tthe m i s c onduc tof C ox a nd J a c obs w a s u n p r e v e n tab le . J a c o b s h a d f o llo w e d th e d ir e c tio n s o f C o x , J C I ’s h ig h e s tra nk i ng supervi sor on the proj ec t . M oreover, the A L J f ou nd thatJC I’ s w ri tt en s a f e ty p r o g r a m h a d “m a te r ia l e rr o r s a s to O S H A ’s tr e n c h in g r e q u ir e m e n ts re gardi ng the approp ri at e degree of sl op i ng . . . and the m i ni m um hei gh tof a tre nch box above s urr oundi ng s oi l , ” a s w e l l a s s e ve n othe re rr or s . Y e tJ C I di d not

“ corr ec tthese ob vi ou s e rr ors or c om m un i ca t e the corre cti nform at i on t o em pl oyee s5

on thi s proj ec tpri or t o the ac ci dent . ” T hu s, JC I “ fa i l ed t o est abl i sh spec i fi c w ork rul e s de s i gne d t o pr e ve ntthi s vi ol a t i on” a nd “ e l i m i na t e e m pl oy e e e xpos ur e t o the haza rd covered by the st andard. ” I n add i t i on , the A L J f ou nd thatJC I had i nadequ at el y tra i ned Jac ob s, C ox , and o ther e m pl oyee s a nd i neff ec t i vel y e nforced its s a f e ty p r o g r a m . T he C om m i s s i on’ s de c i s i on i s “ e nt i t l e d t o c ons i de r abl e de f e r e nc e on appel l at e r evi ew . ” Fluo r D an i el v. O cc up at i on alSa

f et y & H eal th R ev i ew C om m ’n , 295 F . 3d 1232, 1236 ( 11th C i r . 2002) . “ W e r e vi e w the C om m i s s i on’ s f i ndi ngs of fa ctt o d et erm i ne w hether they a re supp ort ed by subst ant i al evi dence on the re cord as a w ho l e; i f s o, they a re deem ed concl usi ve. ” J . A . M. B ui lde rs , I

nc . v . H e rm an , 23 3 F . 3d 13 50 , 13 52 (11th C i r. 20 00 ). S ub st ant i al evi dence i s “ som ethi ng m ore than a sc i nt i l l a of e vi dence, bu tsom ethi ng l es s than the w ei gh tof the evi dence” a n d is e n o u g h r e le v a n t e v id e n c e a s a r e a s o n ab le m in d w o u ld a c c e p t a s a d e q u a te to s u p p o r t ac o n c lu s io n . McH e nr y v . B ond , 6 6 8 F .2 d 1 1 8 5 , 1 1 9 0 ( 1 1 th C ir . 1 9 8 2 ) . M oreover, w e m ustup ho l d the C om m i ss i on ’ s l egal det erm i nat i on s unl es s they a re a rb itr a ry , c ap r ic io u s , a n ab u s e o f d is c r e tio n , o ro th e rw is e n o t in a c c o r d a n c e w ith th e la w . Fluo r D an i el , 2 9 5 F .3 d a t 1 2 3 6 . A f t e rc a r e f ul l y c ons i de r i ng the br i e f s , r e vi e w i ng the r e c or d on appe a l , a nd havi ng had the benefi tof oral ar gu m ent , w e f i nd thatsubst ant i al re cord evi dence su p p o rt s th e A L J’ s fi n d i n g s an d th e d eci si o n i s i n acco rd an ce w i th th e l aw . T h u s,6

w e deny J C I’ s pet i t i on for r evi ew and u ph ol d the C om m i ss i on ’ s f i nal order. AF F I RME D.