Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3403 and United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3403 and U.S. Department of Agriculture (FLRA 0-NG-3576): Authority dismisses annual dues-window petition
American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403 challenged the Agriculture Department's disapproval of a contract provision that limited dues-withholding cancellations to annual windows. The Authority denied the union's severance request because it did not explain how any severed part would…
Finley Farmers Grain & Elevator
Partial EAJA fee award granted after fall-protection citation was vacated
Finley operates a grain elevator in North Dakota, where an employee was seriously injured after falling from a railcar while preparing it for loading. OSHA cited Finley under the personal protective equipment standard and, in the alternative, the general duty clause for not requiring fall…
Chase Cooling Systems LLC
In re Chase Cooling Systems LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 26-09C): HFC chiller import settlement ratified
Chase Cooling Systems LLC agreed to settle EPA’s allegation that it imported one stand-alone chiller for industrial process refrigeration using R-410A with a global warming potential of 2,087.5. The chiller arrived at the Port of Norfolk on March 27, 2026, and the agreement lists its value as…
Matter of R-P-L-
$3,000 voluntary-departure fine upheld
The respondent, a citizen of India, received voluntary departure in 2003 and did not leave the United States after the Board reinstated a 30-day departure period in 2004. The Department of Homeland Security later imposed a $3,000 civil monetary penalty. The Board found that both the Immigration…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 246
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and NTEU Chapter 246 (FLRA 0-AR-5884): Authority sets aside full-time telework award
Two Customs and Border Protection employees sought to continue full-time telework after the COVID-19 emergency, but the agency approved four telework days per week instead. An arbitrator found that the agency violated its collective-bargaining agreement and reintegration memorandum and ordered it…
Yoder & Frey Auctioneers LLC
In re Yoder & Frey Auctioneers LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 26-08C): uncertified excavator imports settled
Yoder & Frey Auctioneers LLC is an Ohio auction house for industrial, construction, and agricultural equipment. EPA alleged that the company imported or caused the importation of 20 excavators with new nonroad diesel engines that lacked required certificates of conformity. The company agreed to…
Matter of W-F-D-
Bond order vacated after final removal order
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's order releasing the respondent from custody on a $1,500 bond. The respondent, a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had an administratively final removal order and had been granted withholding…
Matter of Sarah J. M. JONES
Reinstatement denied after attorney restriction
The Board considered a petition by an attorney who had been indefinitely suspended from practice before the Board, the Immigration Courts, and the Department of Homeland Security in 2011. She argued that reinstatement was available because she had been restored to good standing in Illinois. The…
Matter of M-M-L-J-
Fourth motion to reopen denied under the one-motion number bar
The Board considered a fourth motion to reopen filed by a Jordanian national whose removal order became final after the Board dismissed his appeal in 2020. He sought reopening based on a Form I-130 filed by his third wife and again raised ineffective assistance of former counsel. The Board held…
Matter of A-K-R-
Appeal dismissed after denial of further continuance
The Board reviewed an appeal by an Indian national who was detained after entering the United States and was ordered removed after he did not file an application for relief. He had received two continuances to seek counsel and requested another continuance because he had not obtained a lawyer or…
Matter of Milagro DELCARMEN-LARA
Advance parole departure rule applied prospectively
The Board reviewed a second motion to reopen filed by a Salvadoran national seeking adjustment of status after a temporary trip abroad under advance parole. The Board overruled Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly and held that a departure under advance parole is a departure under the inadmissibility…
City of Manchester, New Hampshire, Conservation Law Foundation
In re City of Manchester (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 25-04): Review denied in part and permit remanded for PFAS analysis
The Conservation Law Foundation challenged EPA Region 1's renewal of the City of Manchester's NPDES permit for a wastewater treatment facility discharging to the Merrimack River. The Environmental Appeals Board denied review of the permit's revised benthic survey language and the Region's decision…
Matter of Nii Ahene Nunoo BOYE
Sentence clarification order rejected and proceedings remanded
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision terminating removal proceedings against a Ghanaian lawful permanent resident. The Immigration Judge had relied on a Georgia state court order issued more than six years after the original sentence…
United States Railroad Retirement Board and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 375
Railroad Retirement Board and AFGE Local 375 (FLRA 0-AR-5999): Authority strikes remote-work remedy
An arbitrator found that the Railroad Retirement Board violated its collective-bargaining agreement and a career-ladder memorandum by denying an employee a GS-12 promotion. The award ordered a retroactive promotion with backpay and also provided that the employee could continue working remotely…
Matter of A-Q-R-K-
Asylum ruling remanded for a new credibility analysis
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's decision granting asylum to a citizen of Afghanistan. The Board found that the Immigration Judge did not adequately address numerous inconsistencies among the respondent's testimony, documentary evidence, and credible fear…
Matter of L-L-R-
Alien-smuggling conduct triggered cancellation bar
The Board dismissed an appeal from the pretermission of a Guatemalan national's application for cancellation of removal. The Immigration Judge found that the respondent hired and paid a smuggler to bring his minor son from Guatemala to the United States, knowing the child lacked authorization to…
A&D Construction, LLC
Appeal dismissed without prejudice as premature
A&D Construction was under investigation by the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division for alleged Davis-Bacon Act violations, including worker misclassification. The company wrote to the investigator and the investigator's supervisor disputing preliminary findings, then sent a letter to the…
National Treasury Employees Union and United States Department of Health and Human Services
NTEU and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (FLRA 0-AR-6106): Authority remands unilateral-change claim
The National Treasury Employees Union challenged the Health and Human Services Department's decision to offer early-retirement and separation incentives without first giving the union notice and an opportunity to bargain. An arbitrator found that the agency violated the parties' contract but did…
Cargill, Incorporated
In re Cargill, Incorporated (EAB CAA Appeal No. 26-07C): biodiesel sulfur-testing settlement approved
Cargill operates a biodiesel fuel manufacturing facility in Iowa Falls, Iowa. EPA alleged that Cargill used an unqualified sulfur test method for biodiesel produced during ten months of 2023 and three months of 2024, even though the data provided to EPA showed sulfur levels below the applicable 15…
Ingrodi v. CSX Transportation Inc.
ARB affirms dismissal of FRSA retaliation complaint
Nicholas Ingrodi, a CSX conductor, alleged that CSX violated the Federal Rail Safety Act by terminating him after he refused to work while suffering from a non-work-related illness. The ARB held that Ingrodi did not establish protected activity under the provision covering refusal to violate a…
Matter of A-L-S-
Bond order vacated and flight-risk analysis remanded
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's order releasing a Mexican national on a $7,500 bond. The Board held that the Immigration Judge relied on speculative future eligibility for relief and did not adequately address whether the respondent would…
Matter of L-F-R-
Asylum fee ruling with withholding and CAT claims remanded
The Board reviewed an appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision finding that a Cuban national abandoned her asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture applications after she did not pay the required annual asylum fee. The Board held that the fee is mandatory for an asylum…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC, et al.
Remand penalty set at $50,000
Canyon Fuel operated the Skyline Mine #3, where a rib burst seriously injured a miner. MSHA alleged that the mine violated the rib-fall protection standard and failed to report an immediately reportable injury, and the ALJ's earlier decision had assessed a $25,000 penalty for the rib-fall order…
Matter of Omar Eliodoro LOPEZ RICO
Appeal dismissed after unlawful voting finding
The Board reviewed an appeal by a Mexican lawful permanent resident whose removal charges included unlawful voting and falsely claiming United States citizenship. The Immigration Judge sustained the unlawful voting charge and denied cancellation of removal as a matter of discretion. The Board held…
Robles v. Lazer Spot, Inc.
ARB affirms dismissal as discovery sanction
Sergio Robles, a Lazer Spot driver, alleged that the company retaliated against him for safety complaints in violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act. The ALJ dismissed his complaint with prejudice after he repeatedly failed to provide discovery responses and did not comply with…
Secretary of Labor v. Phoenix Industrial Inc.
Default order vacated and case remanded
Phoenix Industrial asked the Commission to reopen a penalty proceeding after a default order was entered when it did not answer the Secretary's petition or respond to an Order to Show Cause. Phoenix said it had mailed an answer, emailed opposing counsel, missed the Commission's email because of its…
Secretary of Labor v. Responsible Energy Operations, LLC
Penalty proceeding reopened and remanded
Responsible Energy Operations missed the deadline to contest a proposed penalty after its safety manager miscalculated the due date. The company discovered the mistake the next day, promptly sent the assessment to counsel, and filed a motion to reopen after MSHA rejected the late contest. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Heidelberg Materials Midwest Agg. Inc.
Motion to reopen dismissed as moot
Heidelberg Materials received a proposed civil penalty assessment and later learned that its payment check had not reached MSHA, so the assessment became a final Commission order when no Notice of Contest appeared within 30 days. The company requested reopening after the check was returned and…
Secretary of Labor v. Cyber Square
Penalty proceeding reopened and remanded
Cyber Square sent its notice of contest to MSHA's St. Louis payment address instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office in Arlington, Virginia, and the penalty assessment became final. The company said it had also paid the assessments for citations it did not wish to contest. The Commission…
Larson v. Family Dollar
ARB denies interlocutory appeal
Genevieve Larson alleged that Family Dollar violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and she sought review of two ALJ orders in an ongoing case. One order denied her request to use a non-attorney representative after the ALJ found that representative's communications were inappropriate, and the other…
Hukman v. American Airlines, Inc.
ARB affirms AIR21 retaliation decision
Sheida Hukman, a customer service agent for American Airlines, reported concerns about aircraft weight-and-balance procedures, passenger manifests, and other aviation-safety practices. The company required her to undergo an independent mental examination and placed her on unpaid leave while…
Matter of Jeobany Alexander LOPEZ-DAVILA
Cancellation grant vacated and hardship issue remanded
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from a grant of cancellation of removal to a Guatemalan parent whose qualifying relative was his United States citizen daughter. The Board held that a parent cannot establish the exceptional and extremely unusual hardship standard…
South Essex Sewerage District
In re South Essex Sewerage District (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 26-03): petition dismissed after settlement
South Essex Sewerage District petitioned for review of an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region 1. The Board stayed the proceedings while the parties explored settlement, and the parties then reached an agreement. After Region 1 issued a draft permit modification and satisfied its obligations under the…
Wanda Palo v. United States Steel Corp.
Discrimination dismissal reversed and case remanded
Wanda Palo reported that a coworker struck her with a bag of heavy tools and later reported an injury. United States Steel suspended and discharged her for violating company injury-reporting rules while she was subject to a Last Chance Agreement. The Commission majority held that Palo established a…
Matter of L-R-M-C- & V-A-M-M-
Bar complaint proof required for motion to reopen
The Board considered a motion to reopen by a Honduran mother and her minor daughter after the Tenth Circuit vacated an earlier denial. The Board clarified that a motion based on ineffective assistance of counsel must include the substance of the bar complaint filed with disciplinary authorities and…
STIS, Inc., dba Southeast Texas Industrial Services
Crane overload and operator-evaluation violations affirmed
STIS was a construction subcontractor working at a steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado. OSHA cited the company after a carry deck crane tipped while lifting four pipes weighing about 800 pounds each, resulting in the crane operator's death. The judge found that the crane exceeded its rated capacity when…
Cecil Matney, Jr. v. Rockwell Mining, LLC
Part 90 rights violation affirmed in result
Cecil Matney, a miner with Black Lung disease and Part 90 protections, alleged that Rockwell Mining kept him in a move-crew foreman position where dust exposure exceeded the applicable limit and arranged non-representative dust sampling. The Commission held that Rockwell interfered with Matney's…
Simmons v. Fourteenth Avenue Cartage Co., Inc.
Appeal dismissed after failure to file opening brief
Raymond Simmons appealed an ALJ decision denying his Surface Transportation Assistance Act claim. The ARB first dismissed the appeal after he did not file an opening brief or respond to an order to show cause. The Board later granted reconsideration because an electronic filing-system error…
Matter of N-E-R-S-
Asylum cooperative agreement bar applied without implementing instrument
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's interlocutory appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision denying a motion to pretermit asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection applications filed by Venezuelan respondents. DHS argued that the respondents…
Matter of E-A-R-M-
Oral asylum cooperative agreement notice was sufficient
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's interlocutory appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision denying a motion to pretermit asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection applications filed by Venezuelan and Colombian respondents. DHS had orally moved…
United States Department of Agriculture, Research, Education and Economics, Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Area and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1752
USDA Agricultural Research Service and NFFE Local 1752 (FLRA AT-RP-26-0003): Authority leaves election order in place
The Agriculture Department questioned whether NFFE Local 1752 still represented a majority of employees in an existing bargaining unit. The regional director found a good-faith doubt because the union had undertaken no identified bargaining, grievance, appeal, or officer activity and had no…
Hall v. Eastern Panhandle Anesthesia Associates Inc.
ARB affirms lack of AIR21 coverage
Timothy Hall, an anesthesiologist for Eastern Panhandle Anesthesia Associates, alleged that the company and City Hospital retaliated against him for reporting safety concerns under AIR21. The ARB affirmed the ALJ's determination that the respondents were not covered entities under the pre-2020…
Secretary of Labor v. Asarco LLC
Penalty assessment reopened and remanded
Asarco did not timely contest a proposed penalty after the assessment was delayed during a management staffing change. The company emailed its contest two days after the penalty became final and filed its motion to reopen three days after discovering the error. The Commission found that the short…
Montalban Oil and Gas Operations, Inc.
In re Montalban Oil and Gas Operations, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal No. 26-02): petition dismissed as untimely
Angela Otero petitioned for review of two Class V Underground Injection Control permits issued by EPA Region 8 to Montalban Oil and Gas Operations, Inc. The Region served notice of the final permit decisions on May 1, 2026, making June 1 the filing deadline because the thirtieth day fell on a…
Matter of R-A-N-
Conscription was not a standalone asylum ground
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision granting asylum to a Russian citizen who feared forced military conscription because of his political views. The Board held that conscription is not a standalone basis for asylum and that any…
Christopher v. Prime Logistics Corp
Case administratively closed after STAA kick-out
Wesley Christopher alleged that Prime Logistics and related respondents retaliated against him in violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act. While the case was pending before the Department of Labor, he filed a civil action in federal district court under the STAA's kick-out provision…
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists and United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists and FAA (FLRA 0-AR-5968): Authority finds identity-login change de minimis
Federal Aviation Administration employees had to begin using Login.gov or ID.me to access a Veterans Affairs training system, which required Social Security numbers and government-issued identification. An arbitrator found the login change de minimis and denied the union's grievance alleging that…
Secretary of Labor v. Big Spring Sands LLC
Front-end loader brake order affirmed
Big Spring Sands operates a surface mine and processing facility that mines, cleans, and sells sand. MSHA found that the parking or emergency brake on a CAT 980M front-end loader could not hold the equipment with its typical load, and the pre-shift reports had identified the brake problem for at…
Reitz v. Moderna, Inc.
Appeal dismissed as untimely
Naomi Reitz appealed an ALJ's dismissal of her Sarbanes-Oxley Act complaint after she failed to comply with discovery and deposition orders. She filed her petition for review eight days after the 14-day deadline and asked the ARB to excuse the delay through equitable tolling, equitable estoppel, or…
Matter of Juan Andres VIZCAINO AYBAR
Bond venue follows the place of detention
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision releasing a detained respondent on an $8,000 bond. The respondent had been transferred from Massachusetts to a detention facility in Texas before filing the custody redetermination request at issue…
C Pacific Corporation, dba Five Star Builders
Three scaffold violations affirmed with a grouped penalty
C Pacific Corporation was a construction subcontractor installing aluminum cladding on a car dealership in Puerto Rico, Saipan. OSHA found employees working on a four-level scaffold with incomplete planking, missing stair rails, and missing guardrails, creating fall exposures of 5 to 20 feet. The…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers locals, National Federation of Federal Employees locals, and individual petitioners
IFPTE locals, NFFE locals, and individual petitioners (FLRA 0-MC-0037): Authority denies proposed abeyance rules
Unions and individuals affected by presidential orders excluding agencies from federal labor-management law asked the Authority to amend its rules for cases held in abeyance during litigation over those orders. Their proposal would allow requests for temporary relief or immediate jurisdictional…
Matter of T-D-E-
Credibility finding remanded for fuller review
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision granting asylum to respondents from Burkina Faso. The Board held that an Immigration Judge may not find a respondent credible solely because the respondent candidly admitted to lying on earlier visa…
Duggan v. FreedomRoads LLC
Case remanded to resolve motion for reconsideration
Daniel Duggan petitioned the Administrative Review Board after an ALJ dismissed his Consumer Financial Protection Act case. The ARB had already remanded the matter so the ALJ could decide Duggan's pending motion for reconsideration. Duggan then treated an email from the ALJ's chambers rejecting a…
Matter of Y-S-P-T-
Motion to reopen denied for lack of waiver eligibility
The Board considered a timely motion to reopen filed by a Jamaican national who sought adjustment of status after his United States citizen wife obtained approval of an immigrant petition for him. He had convictions for sexual offenses and sought a waiver of inadmissibility under section 212(h) of…
Matter of A-G-O-F-, et al.
Humanitarian asylum grant vacated and CAT issue remanded
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from a grant of humanitarian asylum to a Brazilian lead respondent and derivative family members. The Board held that the proposed groups of “Brazilian children” and “abandoned Brazilian children” were not sufficiently particular, and…
Gloss v. Tata Chemicals North America
CAA claims affirmed, SOX findings reversed and remanded
Rodney Gloss was a finance executive at Tata Chemicals North America, a company that mines trona ore and processes it into soda ash. He alleged that the company retaliated against him after he reported environmental reporting and accounting concerns to auditors. The ARB affirmed the ALJ's rulings…
Matter of A-W-M-K-
Bond appeal dismissed based on flight risk
The Board dismissed an appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of bond. It held that a USCIS denial of the respondent's adjustment application and related records were admissible because they were probative of the respondent's prospects for lawful status and flight risk. The Board agreed that…
National Treasury Employees Union and United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection
NTEU and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (FLRA 0-NG-3528): Authority denies reconsideration of VERA and VSIP ruling
The National Treasury Employees Union asked the Authority to reconsider an earlier ruling that a proposal requiring Customs and Border Protection to offer early-retirement authority and separation incentive payments was outside the duty to bargain. The union argued that the Authority had failed to…
Matter of T-A-G-
Motion to pretermit remanded for a new decision
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's interlocutory appeal from an Immigration Judge's order denying a motion to pretermit three asylum applications while the respondents awaited decisions on pending Form I-130 petitions. The respondents were citizens of Belize and were…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.