The firm handled oral argument before the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento, California relating to Cal/OSHA citations alleging a contractor’s failure to use respirators to combat the fungus-caused disease known as Valley Fever. The firm argued there was inadequate evidence of exposure to support the citations, and a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal agreed. In its published decision, the court held there was no evidence to support requiring respirators. The court reversed the decision of the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board, vacating the two serious citations against the firm’s client. This published decision preserved the client’s spotless history of safety compliance, and set precedent to help contractors defeat overzealous prosecution by Cal/OSHA.
Counsel: Chad T. Wishchuk and Marlene C. Nowlin