Opinion ID: 444416
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the commission's authority to review the secretary's withdrawal of the citation.

Text: 17 The first issue that must be resolved in this case is whether the Commission had the authority to vacate the decision of the ALJ and remand the matter to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for further proceedings. Petitioners argue that the Secretary, as the sole prosecutor of the Act, has the power to withdraw a citation as he sees fit. Accordingly, they argue that the Commission lacks the authority to require the Chief Administrative Law Judge to consider the merits of this case. The resolution of this issue depends upon the interpretation given to this Court's decision in Marshall v. OSHRC, 635 F.2d 544 (6th Cir.1980). 18 In Marshall the Secretary issued a citation against IMC Chemical Group, Inc. (IMC) for alleged OSHA violations. IMC filed a notice of contest. The matter was then referred to the Solicitor of Labor to prepare a complaint for filing with the Commission. The Solicitor determined that IMC had not created a hazard to its employees and that a complaint should not be filed. The Secretary agreed with the Solicitor that the citation was not warranted, decided not to file a complaint, and filed a motion with the Commission to vacate the citation. The union representing the IMC employees wrote a letter objecting to the withdrawal of the citation. The Administrative Law Judge granted the motion of the Secretary to vacate the citation, holding that the Secretary had the absolute and unconditional right to vacate a citation prior to the filing of a complaint and answer. The Commission subsequently vacated the decision of the Administrative Law Judge and remanded the matter to him for further proceedings, holding that the affected employees or their union could proceed to prosecute the citation originally issued by the Secretary if they elected party status. 19 On petition for review of the Commission's decision, this Court held: 20 [T]he Act, by its terms, makes the Secretary the exclusive prosecutor of OSHA violations. It follows that, prior to the filing of a complaint and answer, the Secretary has the right to withdraw a contested citation. 21 635 F.2d at 550 (emphasis added). While this court noted that the Secretary is the exclusive prosecutor of OSHA violations, we also acknowledged the fact that the Commission is the body that adjudicates disputes arising under the Act. See also, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 651(b)(3). 22 The key issue in the case at bar is whether the Secretary has an absolute right to withdraw a citation subsequent to the filing of a complaint and answer. The Union contends that in a case such as this, in which a formal complaint and answer are filed with the Commission prior to the Secretary's attempt to withdraw the citation, the Secretary's role as prosecutor becomes much more limited, and the Commission's role as the adjudicative body takes over. We agree. This Court's holding in Marshall was specifically limited to cases in which a formal complaint and answer had not yet been filed. In formulating the issue in Marshall this Court stated: 23 (4) Prior to the filing of a complaint and answer, can the Commission refuse to permit the Secretary to withdraw a contested citation over the objection of a Union representing affected employees? 24 635 F.2d at 546 (emphasis added). In answering this question this Court again specifically held that prior to the filing of a complaint and answer, the Secretary has the right to withdraw a contested citation. 635 F.2d at 550 (emphasis added). If we adopt respondent's argument that the holding in Marshall controls the case at bar, we would have to ignore a factor that this Court considered significant in Marshall, i.e., that no complaint or answer had been filed. In essence, Marshall held that the Secretary has the sole authority to determine whether to prosecute. In the case at bar, the Secretary had already made the decision to prosecute by filing a complaint and that complaint had been answered at the time the Secretary attempted to withdraw the citation. The adversarial process was well-advanced at the time the Secretary attempted to withdraw the citation. The Commission, therefore, as the adjudicative body, had control of the case and the authority to review the Secretary's withdrawal of the citation. 25