What happened

The Eighth Circuit said the federal government waited too long to sue I-44 Truck Center and Wrecker Service to collect delinquent OSHA penalties, reversing a Missouri federal court judgment and ordering the collection case dismissed as time-barred.

The panel held that 28 U.S.C. § 2462's five-year limitations period covers government actions to collect previously imposed civil fines, penalties or forfeitures, even when the government proceeds under the Debt Collection Improvement Act. The court rejected the government's position that turning the penalties into delinquent debts placed the collection suit outside the statute.

The case arose from two OSHA citations issued in 2017 after inspections at I-44's Rolla, Missouri, facility. OSHA assessed penalties of $5,541 and $65,184, and the penalties became final orders when I-44 did not contest or pay them.

After the penalties were delinquent, OSHA referred the debts to Treasury, which referred them to private collection agencies. The Justice Department later sent demand letters in March 2022, and the government sued in January 2023 under the DCIA seeking $124,567.78.

A district court denied I-44's motion to dismiss, struck its no-notice defense and granted summary judgment to the government. On appeal, the Eighth Circuit said the debt remained a penalty because the underlying OSHA assessments punished regulatory violations rather than compensating a victim.

The panel also distinguished a Tenth Circuit decision involving repayment of an overpayment, saying that case did not control where the government's underlying purpose was punishment. Because the OSHA assessments were punitive, the court said the government's collection action remained subject to § 2462.

The Eighth Circuit separately rejected the government's argument that the claim did not accrue until the debts had been delinquent for 180 days and could be transferred to Treasury. The DCIA does not require agencies to wait 180 days before suing to collect a delinquent debt, the panel said, so the clock began when the penalties became final orders.