Idaho lumber company challenges OSHA’s power to judge its own case
July 28, 2026
Boise, Idaho; July 28, 2026: A small family-run lumber company filed its opening brief yesterday challenging the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission’s administrative enforcement process. Willmore Lumber Company alleges that OSHRC’s process violates its constitutional rights by denying the company a neutral judge and jury when the government seeks monetary penalties.
“OSHA should not get to investigate, prosecute, and judge its own cases. The Constitution guarantees that when the government seeks civil penalties, Americans can defend themselves in a real court before an independent judge and a jury of their peers,” said Oliver J. Dunford, a senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation. “Willmore deserves the same basic protection every American is promised.”
Willmore Lumber Company is a small lumber business in Eastern Idaho run by Jim Willmore and his three sons. In 2024, a compliance officer from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspected the lumber yard and cited the company over alleged forklift-related violations, including seatbelt use, training practices, and an illegible forklift “dataplate.” OSHA issued three citations and seeks $2,765 in penalties.
When Willmore contested the citations, the dispute was routed to an in-house judge appointed by OSHRC instead of going to a neutral court. Willmore’s lawsuit challenges that process as unconstitutional. It also challenges the law Willmore was cited under: Congress gave the Department of Labor open-ended authority to write safety rules without meaningful limits, and the specific rule at issue was so vague that an ordinary person cannot tell what it requires.
A victory would protect Willmore and others facing monetary penalties by ensuring the government cannot bypass independent courts and juries through agency-run proceedings. The case also aims to overturn Atlas Roofing v. OSHRC, closing off the loophole agencies have relied on for nearly 50 years to avoid jury trials altogether — a precedent the Supreme Court itself has said “represents a departure from our legal traditions.”
Pacific Legal Foundation represents Willmore free of charge. The case is Willmore Lumber Company, Inc. v. United States Department of Labor, et al.
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About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is a national nonprofit law firm that defends Americans threatened by government overreach and abuse. Since our founding in 1973, we challenge the government when it violates individual liberty and constitutional rights. With active cases in 34 states plus Washington, D.C., PLF represents clients in state and federal courts, with 18 wins of 21 cases litigated at the U.S. Supreme Court.