Court Opinion

ID: 9470093
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:57:01.006354+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:43.365019
License: Public Domain

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Fall River defied the magistrate’s inspection warrant, and after a show cause order was adjudged in civil contempt by Judge Crabb. That order permitted Fall River to purge itself of contempt, if it chose, by permitting a compliance officer of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enter its premises to determine whether the employees “are free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical injuries.” It is now approaching two years since the unsatisfied warrant was issued.
There is no authority or persuasive argument that Fall River is entitled as a matter of right to a stay in this type of contempt proceeding. A stay has routinely been considered to be a matter of discretion of the district court or of this court. Federal Casting Division, Chromalloy American Corp. v. Donovan, 684 F.2d 504, 506 (7th Cir.1982); Marshall v. Milwaukee Boiler Mfg. Co., 626 F.2d 1339, 1341 (7th Cir.1980). In Donovan v. Wollaston Alloys, Inc., No. 82-1219 (1st Cir., docketed March 1,1982), a panel considered an application for a stay pending appeal in a similar case and denied it commenting that “we are not convinced that the likelihood of success on these points is great enough for issuance of a stay especially when viewed in light of the potentially adverse impact on worker safety should the stay be granted.” The Second Circuit likewise views it implicitly as a matter of discretion. Marshall v. Wisteria Plaza, Ltd., No. 80-6223 (2d Cir. Dec. 3, 1980). Nor has it been shown to be otherwise in any other circuit.
I, therefore, fully concur that Fall River is neither entitled to a stay as a matter of right or in the exercise of our discretion.