ComTran Group, a Georgia communications-utilities company, was cited under OSHA after its supervisor dug a six-foot trench with an unprotected five-foot spoil pile at the edge, creating a serious cave-in hazard. The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission affirmed the citations and assessed a $5,000 penalty, reasoning that the supervisor’s knowledge of his own conduct was imputable to ComTran. The Eleventh Circuit treated the issue as one of first impression and reversed. OSHA requires the Secretary to prove a prima facie violation, including employer knowledge; only after that showing does an employer bear the burden of proving unforeseeable employee misconduct. The court held that a supervisor’s knowledge of his own “rogue” misconduct cannot, by itself, be imputed to the employer. The Secretary instead had to present independent evidence of the employer’s actual or constructive knowledge, such as lax safety standards making the conduct foreseeable. The Commission’s approach improperly eliminated an element of the government’s case and shifted the burden prematurely. The error was not harmless because ComTran may have developed different evidence had it known the safety-program issue remained the Secretary’s burden. The petition for review was granted, the Commission’s decision was reversed, and the case was remanded for further proceedings.