Opinion ID: 672025
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: OSHA's Warrantless Inspection

Text: 11 Whether a governmental search or seizure implicates the Fourth Amendment usually involves a two-fold analysis. To come under the rubric of the Fourth Amendment, the subject of the search must show that it has manifested a subjective expectation of privacy in the object of the challenged search. California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207, 211, 106 S.Ct. 1809, 1811, 90 L.Ed.2d 210 (1986). In addition, society must be willing to recognize that expectation as reasonable. Id. Whether a party has manifested a subjective expectation of privacy is a question of fact, reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Welliver, 976 F.2d 1148, 1151 (8th Cir.1992). Whether that subjective expectation is objectively reasonable is a matter of law subject to de novo review. Id. Because we conclude that the contractual arrangements between Petitioners, the general contractor, and the federal government preclude Petitioners from establishing any reasonable expectation of privacy in the open areas of Project 8, we need not assess the subjective element of Petitioners' claimed privacy interest. Similarly, in disposing of Petitioners' claims through conventional Fourth Amendment analysis, we need not reach the more novel question of whether Petitioners' construction site falls within the Fourth Amendment's open fields exception. 12 The contract between the State of Ohio and the general contractor provides that [w]hen the United States Government pays all or any portion of the cost of a project, the Federal laws and the rules and regulations made pursuant to such laws must be observed by the Contractor, and the work shall be subject to the inspection of the appropriate Federal agency. That federal funds were used in Project 8 is undisputed. Because National's subcontract with the general contractor specifically incorporated ... the Principal Contract between the Owner and the Contractor, National and, derivatively, Tri-State were on notice that appropriate federal inspectors could enter the construction site without further consent from Petitioners. In addition, the State of Ohio Department of Transportation had contractually reserved the right to enter Project 8. We find the contractual right of entry that Petitioners and the general contractor afforded appropriate federal inspectors and the State of Ohio to be incompatible with any expectation of privacy that Petitioners may have manifested in the open areas of Project 8. Accordingly, we uphold OSHA's warrantless inspection of Petitioners' construction site. 13 Petitioners miss the Fourth Amendment mark in arguing that OSHA is not the appropriate federal agency to which the contract refers. The reasonableness of Petitioners' subjective expectation of privacy cannot turn on which governmental agency is empowered to enforce Petitioners' compliance with safety and health standards. Whether it be OSHA or the Federal Highway Administration, the reasonableness of Petitioners' subjective expectation of privacy is unchanged. Moreover, although Petitioners challenge OSHA's jurisdiction over Project 8 indirectly, through their Fourth Amendment claim, they do not do so directly. Consequently, we leave undisturbed the Commission's finding that OSHA was the appropriate federal agency to enforce safety and health standards at the construction site.