U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

James Knight v. Ntsb

August 18, 2026

Summary

The court denied Knight’s petition for review of the Board’s denial of attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. It held that substantial evidence supported the Board’s determination that the Administrator’s position was substantially justified both when initiating the enforcement proceeding and when continuing to seek revocation after the ALJ reduced the sanction. The court reasoned that the regulatory violation and proposed revocation had a reasonable basis in law and fact, and that resolving Knight’s accidental-ingestion claim depended on credibility determinations requiring a hearing.