Instructions for Electronically Filing Motions to Approve Settlements and Orders
Table of Contents
- Process and Judges’ Email Addresses
- Content
- Signatures
- Filing Date
- Delivery Confirmation
- Service and Certificate of Service
- Attachments
- Non-Acceptance for Filing
- No Electronic Filing for Settlement of Discrimination and Individual Liability Cases
- Sensitive Information
- Suggestions
- Access to Forms
Procedures for filing motions to approve settlement are set forth in 29 C.F.R. § 2700.31. The instructions set forth below provide guidance to assist parties in filing motions to approve settlement and proposed orders in accordance with section 2700.31(d).
1. Process and Judges’ Email Addresses
In all penalty proceedings, except for discrimination proceedings arising under section 105(c) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 815(c), parties seeking to settle a case must submit a proposed order with a motion to approve settlement. The filing party must submit the motion and proposed order electronically. A party may file a motion to approve settlement and proposed order non-electronically only with the permission of a Judge.
Motions to approve settlement and proposed orders approving settlement may be drafted using any standard word processing program such as WordPerfect X3 or Microsoft Word. Parties shall file a motion to approve settlement and proposed order by attaching those documents to an email. The documents shall be separate, and shall be named using the case name, lead docket number, and type of pleading (e.g., Acme Coal_LAKE 2008-123_Settlement Motion or Acme Coal_LAKE 2008-123_Proposed Order). Emails in cases assigned to a Judge shall be sent to the address listed below of the Judge assigned to the proceeding:
Judge Andrews kandrews.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Barbour dbarbour.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Bulluck jbulluck.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Feldman jfeldman.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Gill zgill.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Harner jharner.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Koutras gkoutras.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Lewis jlewis.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Manning rmanning.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge McCarthy tmccarthy.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Melick gmelick.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Miller mmiller.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Moran wmoran.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Paez apaez.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Pope wpope.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Rae prae.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Tureck jtureck.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Weisberger aweisberger.filings@fmshrc.gov
Judge Zielinski mzielinski.filings@fmshrc.gov
Emails in cases that have not yet been assigned to a Judge shall be sent to the following address: rlesnick.filings@fmshrc.gov
Parties must not email documents to the Commission’s Docket Office address.
2. Content
A motion to approve a penalty settlement or a proposed order must include for each violation the amount of the penalty proposed by the Secretary, the amount of the penalty agreed to in settlement, and facts in support of the penalty agreed to by the parties. A filing party may set forth this information in the proposed order and incorporate the proposed order by reference in the motion.
The party filing the motion must also certify that the opposing party has authorized the filing party to represent that the opposing party consents to the granting of the motion and the entry of the proposed order approving settlement.
If a motion has been filed by a Conference and Litigation Representative (“CLR”) on behalf of the Secretary, the proposed order shall include a provision in which the Judge accepts the CLR to represent the Secretary in accordance with the notice of either limited or unlimited appearance previously filed with the Commission.
Forms for proposed orders are available on the Commission’s website at Settlement Order Flow Chart.
3. Signatures
Any signature line set forth within a motion to approve settlement submitted electronically must include the notation “/s/” followed by the typewritten name of the party or representative of the party filing the document. Such representation of the signature shall be deemed to be the original signature of the representative for all purposes unless the party representative shows that such representation of the signature was unauthorized. See 29 C.F.R. § 2700.6.
4. Filing Date
Filing is effective upon the date of the electronic transmission of the motion and proposed order.
5. Delivery Confirmation
The transmitting party has the responsibility to retain records showing the date of transmission, including receipts. Filers should request a delivery receipt when filing electronically with the Commission using the option for a delivery receipt, if available on the filer’s email program. This receipt is automatically generated when the email is delivered to the Commission’s email server. Parties may also use the option of a read receipt, which is generated when the email is opened.
6. Service and Certificate of Service
A settlement motion and proposed order must be served on the opposing party as expeditiously as possible and at least five business days before the motion and proposed order are filed with the Commission. Some parties may not have the capability of being served by email, facsimile transmission, or commercial delivery. In such circumstances, the filing party may serve the motion and proposed order on the opposing party by mail. Permission of the Judge is unnecessary for service by non-electronic means.
A certificate of service shall accompany the motion and proposed order setting forth the date and manner of service. An example of an electronic certificate of service is set forth below:
Certificate of Service
I certify that copies of a Motion to Approve Settlement and Proposed Order were electronically served on [date] on the following parties:
[Name of party served]
[Email address of party served]
/s/
[Name of filing party or representative of filing party]
7. Attachments
If a party electronically files a motion to approve settlement and proposed order before the Secretary has filed a petition for assessment of penalty, the filing party must also file as attachments electronic copies of the proposed penalty assessment and citations and orders at issue. Under such circumstances, the Secretary need not file a petition for assessment of penalty.
8. Non-Acceptance for Filing
If a party filing a motion to approve settlement and proposed order fails to include in the motion and proposed order information required by section 2700.31 and these instructions, the Commission will not accept the motion and proposed order for filing. Rather, the Commission will return the motion and proposed order to the filing party for correction and resubmission.
9. No Electronic Filing for Settlement of Discrimination Cases
Discrimination proceedings are specifically excepted from section 2700.31(b). Thus, in discrimination proceedings, a party will submit a hard paper copy of a motion to approve settlement to the Judge that includes for each violation the amount of the proposed penalty, the amount of the penalty agreed to in settlement, and the supporting facts. The filing party need not submit a proposed order. Filing and service in such proceedings shall be accomplished in accordance with the provisions of 29 C.F.R. §§ 2700.5 and 2700.7.
10. Sensitive Information
Pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 2700.5(d), persons submitting information to the Commission shall protect information that tends to identify certain individuals or tends to constitute an unwarranted intrusion of personal privacy in the following manner:
a. all but the last four digits of social security numbers, financial account numbers, driver’s license numbers, or other personal identifying numbers, shall be redacted or excluded;
b. Minor children shall be identified only by initials;
c. If dates of birth must be included, only the year shall be used;
d. Parties shall exercise caution when filing medical records, medical treatment records, medical diagnosis records, employment history, and individual financial information, and shall redact or exclude certain materials unnecessary to a disposition of the case.
11. Suggestions
The Commission welcomes suggestions for the improvement of this process for electronic filing of motions to approve settlement and proposed orders. Suggestions may be submitted to Michael A. McCord, General Counsel, at: mmccord@fmshrc.gov.
12. Access to Forms
Use one of the two following options to create a proposed settlement order.
Use one of the two following options to create a proposed settlement order.
An Excel-based spreadsheet requiring data input to create a proposed settlement decision (using MS Word)
Settlement Order Flow Chart Washington, DC Office
Settlement Order Flow Chart Denver Office
Instructions for using the settlement order flow chart:
This flow chart has a series of questions to help you determine which template to use to draft your proposed order.
- Answer the questions, beginning at the top of the page, and follow the directional arrows until you reach a circled number in the chart.
- Click on the circled number. Clicking on the number will link you to a template of a proposed order in MS Word format.
- Review the template. Use the tab button on your keyboard to move from field to field. Insert the relevant information in each data field as instructed. Where included, click on the words “CHOOSE OPTION.” A pull-down menu will appear that will give you language choices. Choose the appropriate language option for your case. When you have completed the proposed order, save the document on your computer. After you have saved it, you may make further changes to the remaining portions of the document, such as adding facts as described in #4 below, by selecting “Unprotect Document” under “Tools” in your toolbar.
- A motion to approve settlement must include, among other things, the amount of a proposed penalty, the amount of the penalty agreed to in the settlement, and facts that support the penalty agreed to by the parties. A filing party may set forth this information in the proposed order and incorporate the proposed order by reference in the motion. If you are going to include facts in the order and rely on the order in your motion, remember to insert such facts in the proposed order where appropriate. Remember: to further edit the document by inserting facts, you need to “unprotect” the document. See the instructions in #3 above.