The Acting Secretary has moved to dismiss the employer’s notice of contest to an OSHA citation that the employer’s non-attorney representative filed after the employer and OSHA had executed an “expedited informal settlement agreement” (wherein the employer waived its right to contest the citation) but within the statutory fifteen-working-day period for contesting a citation.
The dispositive issue presented by the motion to dismiss is whether there is prima facie evidence in the motion record that the employer’s execution of the agreement was the result of improper conduct by OSHA officials that would render the settlement agreement voidable by the employer. As discussed below, there is no such evidence of record, and so the motion is granted and the employer’s attempted contest is dismissed.