Opinion ID: 1274318
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Stale information.

Text: As a fall-back position, Titan contends the information in the complaint was stale. In support of this contention, Titan relies on Iowa Code section 88.7, which provides in relevant part:
a. If, upon inspection or investigation, the commissioner or the commissioner's authorized representative believes that an employer has violated the requirements of section 88.4, of any standard, rule or rules promulgated pursuant to section 88.5, or of any regulations prescribed pursuant to this chapter, the commissioner shall with reasonable promptness issue a citation to the employer.... .... 3. Statute of limitations. No citation may be issued under this section after the expiration of six months following the occurrence of any violation. Iowa Code § 88.7. Titan contends that if IOSHA cannot issue a citation for violations more than six months old pursuant to section 88.7(3), it cannot search based on allegations of violations that are more than six months old. Titan points out that because Peno had not been in the Titan plant since April 30, 1998, the information he provided was stale. This argument fails in two respects. First, Peno's information was based on alleged existing violations at the Titan plant. His complaint and Bryant's affidavit stated the violations existed at the time of the complaint. Judge Huscher, the judge who issued the warrant, could correctly assume the information in Bryant's affidavit was true and correct. See Gilbert & Bennett Mfg., 589 F.2d at 1340. Second, the Seventh Circuit rejected a similar argument in In the Matter of Establishment Inspection of Microcosm, 951 F.2d 121, 125 (7th Cir.1991). In that case, the company argued the warrant was untimely, citing 29 U.S.C. § 658(c) (which is identical to Iowa Code section 88.7), because the employee complaint was filed more than six months following the occurrence of any violation. Id. In rejecting this argument, the court stated: [The company] has misread the statute, for the statute refers to issuing a citation for an OSHA violation within six months of the inspection revealing the violation. The section is unrelated to the time period from the filing of a complaint with OSHA to the time when OSHA responds. Id. Similarly, the time period in section 88.7 is unrelated to the time period between when the alleged violation occurs and when IOSHA responds to a complaint. The occurrence of a violation can only be determined upon inspection. To require IOSHA to determine exactly when the violation originally occurred would be an absurd result. It would mean that, even after an inspection reveals an existing violation, IOSHA could not issue a citation unless it could determine that violation had only been going on for less than six months. We adopt the interpretation in Microcosm and reject the one Titan suggests. See State v. Byers, 456 N.W.2d 917, 919 (Iowa 1990) (the court seeks a reasonable interpretation that will best effect the legislative purpose and avoid absurd results). In Burkart Randall, the employer argued that the information in the warrant application was stale because OSHA received it five and six months, respectively, before the issuance of the warrant. 625 F.2d at 1322. In rejecting the argument, the Seventh Circuit said: In this case, the conditions alleged in the employee complaints are not of a type that will likely disappear through mere passage of time; affirmative action to correct them appears necessary. We therefore agree with the district court that the nature of the alleged conditions makes reasonable the conclusion that violations of the Act remained on Burkart's premises at the time of the warrant application. The information contained in the application is thus not stale. Id. Likewise, here, the conditions alleged were not of a type that would likely disappear through the mere passage of time. It was reasonable therefore for Judge Huscher to conclude that violations of the IOSH Act remained on the Titan premises at the time of the warrant application.