Maryland Commissioner of Labor & Industry v. Cole Roofing Co.

WILNER, Judge.

This appeal arises from a final order of the Commissioner of Labor and Industry entered under the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Act (Maryland Code, §§ 5-101 through 5-901 of the Labor and Employment Article) (MOSHA). It presents two issues:(1) When an employer is charged with a MOSHA violation and claims that the violation was due to unforeseeable or unpreventable employee misconduct, who has the burden of proof on that issue: must the Commissioner prove that the employee misconduct was foreseeable or preventable, or must the employer prove that it was not; and(2) In…