Peter J. Brennan, Secretary of Labor v. Winters Battery Manufacturing Company

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge.

For the first time this court is called upon to interpret an act of Congress which provides that our Clerk, “unless otherwise ordered by the court,” shall enter “forthwith” a decree enforcing an order of an administrative agency. The agency is the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC). The statute, 29 U.S.C. § 660(b), is a part of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA).

The Secretary of Labor filed a petition with the Clerk of this court for the summary enforcement of an OSHA order. The respondent, Winters Battery Manufacturing Company,…