Opinion ID: 718328
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: citation enforcement

Text: 24 In July of 1994, while the respondent was in the midst of contesting the subpoena's validity, OSHA issued a citation charging the company with failure to produce certain subpoenaed documents. The respondent requested that the district court prohibit enforcement of the citation. The court refused, citing a perceived lack of jurisdiction. See Sturm, Ruger, 903 F.Supp. at 250. 25 As the district court recognized, id. at 249-50, it is questionable whether OSHA citations issued for failure to comply with a subpoena that the employer is in the process of challenging may be enforced. See, e.g., Lone Steer, 464 U.S. at 415, 104 S.Ct. at 773 (explaining that an employer may question the reasonableness of [a] subpoena, before suffering any penalties for refusing to comply with it, by raising objections in an action in the district court) (emphasis supplied); See v. City of Seattle, 387 U.S. 541, 544-45, 87 S.Ct. 1737, 1739-41, 18 L.Ed.2d 943 (1967) (similar); Brock v. Emerson Elec. Co., 834 F.2d 994, 997 (11th Cir.1987) (similar). But as the district court also recognized, Sturm, Ruger, 903 F.Supp. at 250, the law lodges exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to the validity of citations with OSHRC, subject to review by the court of appeals. See 29 U.S.C. §§ 659(c) & 660(a); see also Northeast Erectors, 62 F.3d at 39-40 (explaining jurisdictional structure of OSH Act and holding that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over a pre-enforcement challenge to an OSHA citation). 26 The OSH Act provides only a few limited bases for original jurisdiction in the district court, and none of those bases exists here. The administrative review and appeals process thus remains the exclusive procedure through which an employer can obtain review of OSHA [citation] enforcement proceedings. Northeast Erectors, 62 F.3d at 39. 5 Consequently, the district court did not err in refusing, on jurisdictional grounds, to entertain Sturmco's complaint anent the citation.