Background
After a December 2021 explosion and fire at Exxon Mobil Corporation’s Baytown, Texas, refinery, an Exxon process technician twice entered the burning unit with firefighters to help close valves. Multiple providers later diagnosed the employee with post-traumatic stress disorder arising from the incident. Exxon ultimately relied on another provider’s records review concluding that the employee did not have work-related PTSD and declined to record the diagnosis on OSHA Forms 300 and 301.
OSHA cited Exxon under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.5(b)(2)(ix), which required employers to record a work-related mental illness when an employee voluntarily supplied an opinion from an appropriately trained and experienced physician or licensed health care professional. An administrative law judge affirmed the citation as to this employee and imposed a $691 penalty. When the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission declined review, the ALJ’s decision became the Commission’s final order, and Exxon petitioned the Fifth Circuit.
The Court’s Holding
The Fifth Circuit granted Exxon’s petition, vacated the citation and penalty, and vacated 29 C.F.R. § 1904.5(b)(2)(ix). Exercising independent judgment under Loper Bright, the court held that OSHA exceeded its statutory authority because the best reading of 29 U.S.C. § 657(c)(2) permits recordkeeping regulations for physical, but not mental, work-related illnesses.
The court relied on the statutory context, including the pairing of “injuries and illnesses,” the exclusion for minor injuries involving first aid and related physical consequences, and the broader recordkeeping and inspection provisions addressing workplace accidents, toxic materials, harmful physical agents, equipment, and other physical hazards. It found contemporaneous dictionary definitions consistent with that narrower reading and rejected OSHA’s reliance on a broader dictionary definition, legislative history, and the Act’s general purpose. Because the statutory-authority issue resolved the case, the court did not reach Exxon’s separate Administrative Procedure Act and due-process arguments.
Key Takeaways
- Section 657(c)(2) does not authorize OSHA to require employers to record work-related mental illnesses.
- The Fifth Circuit vacated the mental-illness recordkeeping rule itself, as well as Exxon’s citation and $691 penalty.
- The court independently determined the best reading of OSHA’s statutory authority rather than deferring to the agency’s plausible interpretation.
Why It Matters
The decision removes the regulatory basis for OSHA’s requirement that employers record employee-reported work-related mental illnesses under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.5(b)(2)(ix). Its reasoning also underscores that an agency’s general statutory mission cannot enlarge a specific delegation of rulemaking authority.
Although the underlying facts involved a severe workplace trauma and multiple PTSD diagnoses, the court emphasized that the outcome turned on statutory authority, not on the importance of workplace mental health or the validity of the employee’s condition.