OSHRC Finds Potential Hearsay Evidence Admissible Because Employer Did Not Object

The secretary of labor offered enough proof to show that an employer could be liable for workplace violations that led to a fatal electrocution, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ruled April 19, reversing a decision by one of its administrative law judges (Secretary of Labor v. Monroe Drywall Constr. Inc.).

In a case involving a multiemployer worksite, the decisions by the judge and commission turned, in large part, on the failure of the employer, who defended herself before the judge, to recognize and object to potential hearsay testimony that indicated that the worker who was killed—and ...