Insituform Technologies, Inc. v. Employment Appeal Board

728 N.W.2d 781 (Iowa 2007) · Supreme Court of Iowa · February 16, 2007 · No. No. 05-0740

Summary

The Iowa Supreme Court reviewed occupational-safety citations and penalties imposed against Insituform Technologies following a sewer-relining accident that killed two people and seriously injured five others. The court upheld the application of general-industry permit-required confined-space standards to the sewer-relining work, rejected Insituform’s vagueness and fair-warning challenge, and examined whether substantial evidence supported the cited violations and their classification as serious violations.

Holdings

  1. The general-industry permit-required confined-space standards apply to Insituform's sewer-relining work because the Board properly treated the work as maintenance rather than repair, and substantial evidence supported that determination.
  2. Application of the general-industry permit-required confined-space standards to Insituform's sewer-relining project was constitutional because Insituform had fair warning that those standards applied.
  3. Substantial evidence supported the Board's findings that Insituform committed eight serious violations and ten willful violations of the IOSH standards.
  4. The district court erred by combining the penalties for separate violations; the Board had broad discretion to assess a penalty for each distinct violation, even when a single abatement action might cure overlapping conditions.

Questions Presented

  1. Whether the Employment Appeal Board properly applied the general-industry permit-required confined-space standards rather than the construction standards to Insituform's sewer-relining work.
  2. Whether application of the general-industry permit-required confined-space standards violated due process because Insituform allegedly lacked fair warning.
  3. Whether substantial evidence supported the Board's findings that Insituform committed eight serious violations and ten willful violations.
  4. Whether the district court improperly combined the civil penalties assessed for separate violations.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded

Cases Cited (14)

  • City of Des Moines v. Employment Appeal Board, 722 N.W.2d 183, 187-95 (Iowa 2006)(followed)
  • IBP, Inc. v. Harpole, 621 N.W.2d 410, 414 (Iowa 2001)(followed)
  • United Fire & Casualty Co. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., 677 N.W.2d 755, 759 (Iowa 2004)(followed)
  • ABC Disposal Sys., Inc. v. Department of Natural Resources, 681 N.W.2d 596, 605 (Iowa 2004)(followed)
  • State v. Todd, 468 N.W.2d 462, 465 (Iowa 1991)(followed)
  • Ohio Cast Products, Inc. v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission, 246 F.3d 791, 798-99 (6th Cir. 2001)(followed)
  • State v. Holway, 644 N.W.2d 624, 629 (S.D. 2002)(followed)
  • City of Marion v. Iowa Department of Revenue & Finance, 643 N.W.2d 205, 206 (Iowa 2002)(followed)
  • IBP, Inc. v. Iowa Employment Appeal Board, 604 N.W.2d 307, 321 (Iowa 1999)(followed)
  • Ensign-Bickford Co. v. Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission, 717 F.2d 1419, 1422 (D.C. Cir. 1983)(followed)

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