29 U.S.C. § 661(g)

§ 661

TITLE 29—LABOR

court of appeals may assess the penalties provided in section 666 of this title, in addition to
invoking any other available remedies.
(c) Discharge or discrimination against employee
for exercise of rights under this chapter; prohibition; procedure for relief
(1) No person shall discharge or in any manner
discriminate against any employee because such
employee has filed any complaint or instituted
or caused to be instituted any proceeding under
or related to this chapter or has testified or is
about to testify in any such proceeding or because of the exercise by such employee on behalf
of himself or others of any right afforded by this
chapter.
(2) Any employee who believes that he has
been discharged or otherwise discriminated
against by any person in violation of this subsection may, within thirty days after such violation occurs, file a complaint with the Secretary
alleging such discrimination. Upon receipt of
such complaint, the Secretary shall cause such
investigation to be made as he deems appropriate. If upon such investigation, the Secretary
determines that the provisions of this subsection have been violated, he shall bring an action in any appropriate United States district
court against such person. In any such action
the United States district courts shall have jurisdiction, for cause shown to restrain violations
of paragraph (1) of this subsection and order all
appropriate relief including rehiring or reinstatement of the employee to his former position with back pay.
(3) Within 90 days of the receipt of a complaint
filed under this subsection the Secretary shall
notify the complainant of his determination
under paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(Pub. L. 91–596, § 11, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1602;
Pub. L. 98–620, title IV, § 402(32), Nov. 8, 1984, 98
Stat. 3360.)
AMENDMENTS
1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–620 struck out provision
requiring expeditious hearing of petitions filed under
this subsection.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1984 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–620 not applicable to cases
pending on Nov. 8, 1984, see section 403 of Pub. L. 98–620,
set out as a note under section 1657 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

§ 661. Occupational Safety and Health Review
Commission
(a)

Establishment; membership; appointment;
Chairman
The Occupational Safety and Health Review
Commission is hereby established. The Commission shall be composed of three members who
shall be appointed by the President, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate, from
among persons who by reason of training, education, or experience are qualified to carry out
the functions of the Commission under this
chapter. The President shall designate one of
the members of the Commission to serve as
Chairman.
(b) Terms of office; removal by President
The terms of members of the Commission
shall be six years except that (1) the members of

Page 160

the Commission first taking office shall serve,
as designated by the President at the time of appointment, one for a term of two years, one for
a term of four years, and one for a term of six
years, and (2) a vacancy caused by the death,
resignation, or removal of a member prior to the
expiration of the term for which he was appointed shall be filled only for the remainder of
such unexpired term. A member of the Commission may be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.
(c) Omitted
(d) Principal office; hearings or other proceedings at other places
The principal office of the Commission shall
be in the District of Columbia. Whenever the
Commission deems that the convenience of the
public or of the parties may be promoted, or
delay or expense may be minimized, it may hold
hearings or conduct other proceedings at any
other place.
(e) Functions and duties of Chairman; appointment and compensation of administrative
law judges and other employees
The Chairman shall be responsible on behalf of
the Commission for the administrative operations of the Commission and shall appoint such
administrative law judges and other employees
as he deems necessary to assist in the performance of the Commission’s functions and to fix
their compensation in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5 relating to classification and
General Schedule pay rates: Provided, That assignment, removal and compensation of administrative law judges shall be in accordance with
sections 3105, 3344, 5372, and 7521 of title 5.
(f) Quorum; official action
For the purpose of carrying out its functions
under this chapter, two members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum and official action can be taken only on the affirmative vote
of at least two members.
(g) Hearings and records open to public; promulgation of rules; applicability of Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure
Every official act of the Commission shall be
entered of record, and its hearings and records
shall be open to the public. The Commission is
authorized to make such rules as are necessary
for the orderly transaction of its proceedings.
Unless the Commission has adopted a different
rule, its proceedings shall be in accordance with
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
(h) Depositions and production of documentary
evidence; fees
The Commission may order testimony to be
taken by deposition in any proceeding pending
before it at any state of such proceeding. Any
person may be compelled to appear and depose,
and to produce books, papers, or documents, in
the same manner as witnesses may be compelled
to appear and testify and produce like documentary evidence before the Commission. Witnesses
whose depositions are taken under this subsection, and the persons taking such depositions, shall be entitled to the same fees as are

Page 161

TITLE 29—LABOR

paid for like services in the courts of the United
States.
(i) Investigatory powers
For the purpose of any proceeding before the
Commission, the provisions of section 161 of this
title are hereby made applicable to the jurisdiction and powers of the Commission.
(j) Administrative law judges; determinations; report as final order of Commission
A1 administrative law judge appointed by the
Commission shall hear, and make a determination upon, any proceeding instituted before the
Commission and any motion in connection
therewith, assigned to such administrative law
judge by the Chairman of the Commission, and
shall make a report of any such determination
which constitutes his final disposition of the
proceedings. The report of the administrative
law judge shall become the final order of the
Commission within thirty days after such report
by the administrative law judge, unless within
such period any Commission member has directed that such report shall be reviewed by the
Commission.
(k) Appointment and compensation of administrative law judges
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
the administrative law judges shall be subject to
the laws governing employees in the classified
civil service, except that appointments shall be
made without regard to section 5108 of title 5.
Each administrative law judge shall receive
compensation at a rate not less than that prescribed for GS–16 under section 5332 of title 5.
(Pub. L. 91–596, § 12, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1603;
Pub. L. 95–251, § 2(a)(7), Mar. 27, 1978, 92 Stat.
183.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
The General Schedule, referred to in subsec. (e), is set
out under section 5332 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to in
subsec. (g), are set out in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
CODIFICATION
Subsec. (c) of this section amended sections 5314 and
5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
In subsec. (e), reference to section 5372 of title 5 was
substituted for section 5362 on authority of Pub. L.
95–454, § 801(a)(3)(A)(ii), Oct. 13, 1978, 92 Stat. 1221, which
redesignated sections 5361 through 5365 of title 5 as sections 5371 through 5375.
AMENDMENTS
1978—Subsecs. (e), (j), (k). Pub. L. 95–251 substituted
‘‘administrative law judge’’ and ‘‘administrative law
judges’’ for ‘‘hearing examiner’’ and ‘‘hearing examiners’’, respectively, wherever appearing.
REFERENCES IN OTHER LAWS TO GS–16, 17, OR 18 PAY
RATES
References in laws to the rates of pay for GS–16, 17,
or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General
Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable
under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(1)]
1 So

in original. Probably should be ‘‘An’’.

§ 662

of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376
of Title 5.

§ 662. Injunction proceedings
(a) Petition by Secretary to restrain imminent
dangers; scope of order
The United States district courts shall have
jurisdiction, upon petition of the Secretary, to
restrain any conditions or practices in any place
of employment which are such that a danger exists which could reasonably be expected to cause
death or serious physical harm immediately or
before the imminence of such danger can be
eliminated through the enforcement procedures
otherwise provided by this chapter. Any order
issued under this section may require such steps
to be taken as may be necessary to avoid, correct, or remove such imminent danger and prohibit the employment or presence of any individual in locations or under conditions where
such imminent danger exists, except individuals
whose presence is necessary to avoid, correct, or
remove such imminent danger or to maintain
the capacity of a continuous process operation
to resume normal operations without a complete cessation of operations, or where a cessation of operations is necessary, to permit such
to be accomplished in a safe and orderly manner.
(b) Appropriate injunctive relief or temporary
restraining order pending outcome of enforcement proceeding; applicability of Rule
65 of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Upon the filing of any such petition the district court shall have jurisdiction to grant such
injunctive relief or temporary restraining order
pending the outcome of an enforcement proceeding pursuant to this chapter. The proceeding
shall be as provided by Rule 65 of the Federal
Rules, Civil Procedure, except that no temporary restraining order issued without notice
shall be effective for a period longer than five
days.
(c) Notification of affected employees and employers by inspector of danger and of recommendation to Secretary to seek relief
Whenever and as soon as an inspector concludes that conditions or practices described in
subsection (a) of this section exist in any place
of employment, he shall inform the affected employees and employers of the danger and that he
is recommending to the Secretary that relief be
sought.
(d) Failure of Secretary to seek relief; writ of
mandamus
If the Secretary arbitrarily or capriciously
fails to seek relief under this section, any employee who may be injured by reason of such
failure, or the representative of such employees,
might bring an action against the Secretary in
the United States district court for the district
in which the imminent danger is alleged to exist
or the employer has its principal office, or for
the District of Columbia, for a writ of mandamus to compel the Secretary to seek such an
order and for such further relief as may be appropriate.
(Pub. L. 91–596, § 13, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1605.)