Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Tempe Apache Post Office, Tempe, AZ
Board orders new decision after OWCP used an incomplete mailing address (ECAB 23-0086)
A postal mail handler claimed neck, jaw, and shoulder injuries after a vehicle collision. OWCP sent its development letter and initial denial to an address missing the city, then treated his later reconsideration request as untimely. The Board found that the incorrect address had effectively denied…
J.P. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Anchorage, AK
Board upholds end of FAA employee’s PTSD benefits (ECAB 23-0075)
An FAA supervisory personnel specialist received compensation for an accepted work-related PTSD condition. After conflicting medical opinions, OWCP obtained an impartial psychiatric examination. The Board found that the examiner gave a well-supported opinion that the accepted condition had resolved…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 4012 and Social Security Administration, Denver, Colorado
AFGE Local 4012 and SSA Denver (FLRA 0-AR-5848): Authority upholds attorney-fee denial after reduced suspension
The Social Security Administration suspended an employee for fourteen days for displaying profane material and lacking candor during an investigation. An arbitrator upheld the charges but reduced the suspension to seven days based on information the agency did not have when imposing discipline. She…
Todd Descutner v. Nevada Gold Mines LLC
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Todd Descutner complained to Nevada Gold Mines about mask use and social distancing on buses carrying miners to the Leeville Mine, then received progressive discipline and was ultimately discharged after damaging property while moving a loader. Applying the Ninth Circuit's but-for causation…
M.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, San Antonio Military Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX
Board grants withdrawal of VA employee’s appeal (ECAB 23-0298)
A VA employee appealed an October 26, 2022 OWCP nonmerit decision. The employee later asked to withdraw the Board appeal. The Board granted the request and dismissed the case. It did not review the underlying claim.
J.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
Board grants withdrawal of postal employee’s appeal (ECAB 23-0209)
A postal employee appealed an August 19, 2022 OWCP merits decision. The employee later asked the Board to withdraw that appeal. The Board granted the request and dismissed the case. It did not decide the underlying compensation issue.
F.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Union Point, GA
Board upholds denial of postal carrier’s knee claim (ECAB 23-0132)
A postal city carrier assistant said she injured her knee while sliding down wet grass beside her mail truck. Her physician attributed meniscal and cartilage conditions to the event. The Board found that his description of a direct fall onto the knee conflicted with her account and that he did not…
C.V. and Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Mastead Annex, Albuquerque, NM
Board grants withdrawal of Forest Service employee’s appeal (ECAB 23-0115)
A Forest Service employee appealed an August 23, 2022 OWCP nonmerit decision. He later asked to withdraw his Board appeal so he could seek OWCP reconsideration. The Board granted his request and dismissed the appeal. It did not decide the underlying claim.
J.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Hampton VA Medical Center, Hampton, VA
Board orders medical review of VA nurse’s nerve conditions (ECAB 22-1308)
A VA nurse attributed carpal and cubital tunnel conditions to an incident while assisting a patient and to repetitive typing work. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim. The Board found that her physician’s opinion was not strong enough to establish entitlement but gave a plausible medical…
N.B. and Department of Health & Human Services, Food & Drug Administration, Takoma, WA
Board upholds one percent leg impairment award (ECAB 22-1295)
An FDA consumer safety officer sought a larger schedule award after a dog attacked her during a work inspection. OWCP had awarded one percent permanent impairment of her left lower extremity. The Board found that the medical ratings supporting that figure followed the sixth edition of the A.M.A…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford, CT
Board dismisses appeal docketed from hearing request (ECAB 22-0678)
A postal employee checked the box requesting an oral hearing before OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review. The Board’s clerk mistakenly assigned a Board appeal docket to that request. The Board found no indication that the employee intended to appeal to it. It dismissed the improperly docketed…
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc.
Mine Act jurisdiction and electrical citations sustained
Cactus Canyon argued that its Fairland Plant was a manufacturing facility outside MSHA jurisdiction because it no longer extracted rock onsite. The Judge found that repeatedly crushing and sizing dimension stone into terrazzo material constituted mineral milling, independently bringing the…
P.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board orders related knee claim files combined (ECAB 23-0113)
A postal electronic technician claimed that work worsened knee osteoarthritis and had several earlier knee injury files. OWCP denied the new claim and later refused to reopen it, although a physician referred to an earlier accepted knee injury. The Board found that the separate files needed to be…
H.S. and Department of the Navy, Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet, Long Beach, CA
Board upholds suspension for missed medical examination (ECAB 23-0106)
A Navy employee receiving benefits for an accepted hand injury was directed to attend a medical examination. OWCP mailed the appointment notice to her address of record, but she missed the examination and did not reschedule in advance. After OWCP warned her of a proposed suspension, she did not…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service, North Houston Processing & Distribution Center, Houston, TX
Board upholds refusal to reopen mail handler’s disability claim (ECAB 23-0026)
A mail handler with an accepted lumbar strain sought compensation for disability from April 11 through June 5, 2021. OWCP denied that period and later declined to reopen the claim. The Board found that her reconsideration arguments and evidence did not provide a relevant new basis for merit review…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, South Mountain Post Office, Phoenix, AZ
Board upholds denial of wage-loss claim after insect bite (ECAB 22-1370)
A postal window clerk sought wage-loss compensation after an accepted insect bite to her lower left leg. Medical reports described cellulitis and other symptoms, but the Board found that they did not adequately explain why the accepted injury kept her from working during the claimed period. One…
O.A. and Department of Health & Human Services, Phoenix Indian Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ
Board upholds refusal to reopen nurse’s impairment claim (ECAB 22-1350)
A medical center nurse had an accepted COVID-19 claim and sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. After OWCP denied the award, he submitted reports describing lasting cognitive symptoms in a reconsideration request. The Board found that the new reports did not rate impairment of a…
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Amended parking-brake settlement approved
A personnel carrier used to transport miners had a nonfunctioning parking brake, and MSHA cited the condition as reasonably likely, significant and substantial, and moderately negligent. The settlement changed the likelihood to unlikely, removed the S&S designation, and cut the proposed penalty…
Secretary of Labor v. Canyon Fuel Company, LLC, et al.
Rib and accident-reporting orders affirmed
A rib burst at Canyon Fuel's Skyline Mine #3 knocked a miner into equipment, buried him in coal, fractured his skull, and caused other serious injuries. The Judge affirmed an S&S rib-control violation but reduced negligence to moderate, removed the unwarrantable-failure designation, and assessed…
S.J. and Department of the Army, Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
Board finds reconsideration timely after weekend and holiday (ECAB 23-0179)
An Army mechanic sought reconsideration of a denied emotional condition claim. OWCP called the request late because it was received one year and three days after the denial. The Board found that the one-year date fell on a Saturday and the following Monday was a legal holiday, making the Tuesday…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
Board finds shoulder diagnosis and orders causation review (ECAB 23-0080)
A postal employee hurt her right shoulder while pulling a mail truck door. OWCP denied the claim for lack of a diagnosed condition. The Board found that her physician had diagnosed right rotator cuff syndrome connected to the accepted incident. It reversed the denials on that threshold issue and…
D.S. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Bridgeton, MO
Board upholds denial of hearing loss schedule award (ECAB 23-0048)
An FAA maintenance mechanic reported hearing loss after years of work at an airfield. A physician attributed some sensorineural loss to federal workplace noise. The Board found that the audiometric results nevertheless did not produce a ratable impairment under the schedule award calculation. It…
I.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
Board upholds initial denial but orders review of new ankle diagnosis (ECAB 22-1287)
A postal employee claimed a foot or ankle injury from a January 2022 work incident. The Board found that the records before OWCP’s first denial lacked a firm physician diagnosis. On reconsideration, however, she submitted a physician report diagnosing ankle conditions that OWCP had not previously…
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Texarkana, TX
Board orders clearer medical opinion on postal worker’s foot claims (ECAB 22-1242)
A postal employee sought recognition of additional foot and ankle conditions and a period of disability connected to earlier accepted injuries. OWCP relied on an impartial examiner to deny those requests. The Board found the examiner’s opinion equivocal about whether work aggravated preexisting…
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Original parking-brake settlement decision superseded
This original decision approved a settlement concerning a personnel carrier with a nonfunctioning parking brake. The agreement changed the citation from reasonably likely and S&S to unlikely and non-S&S and reduced the proposed penalty from $1,069 to $535 based on the fact that the carrier's…
Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility; Department of the Navy, Trident Refit Facility; Bremerton Metal Trades Council; and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 12
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Trident Refit Facility unit consolidations (FLRA SF-RP-22-0032, SF-RP-23-0004): Authority approves consolidated units
Two unions sought to consolidate their professional, technical, and nonprofessional bargaining units across Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Trident Refit Facility. A regional director found the larger units appropriate because employees shared related naval-maintenance missions, similar work, a…
Matter of POUGATCHEV
Displaying an apparent firearm made this New York burglary a crime of violence
The Board reviewed a respondent’s challenge to removability based on a conviction under New York Penal Law § 140.25(1)(d). It held that the burglary statute was overbroad and indivisible as to the definition of a building, so the conviction was not categorically an aggravated-felony burglary…
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina; American Federation of Government Employees; and Erin Lamm
Blue Ridge Parkway decertification petition (FLRA AT-RP-22-0007): Authority applies certification bar after unit consolidation
An employee petitioned to decertify AFGE about three months after two National Park Service bargaining units were consolidated and the union was certified for the combined unit. The Authority held that the statute's twelve-month election bar did not apply because consolidation occurs under 5 U.S.C…
L.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Lamar Station, Memphis, TN
Board keeps lung impairment rating but orders award duration recalculated (ECAB 23-0212)
A postal worker sought a schedule award after an accepted accident injured both lungs. The Board upheld the medical finding of eight percent permanent respiratory impairment. OWCP had calculated the payment period using 156 weeks for one lung, though the applicable schedule uses 312 weeks for both…
R.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Cernon Post Office, Vacaville, CA
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's back injury claim (ECAB 23-0190)
A rural postal carrier reported back pain after moving a parcel in her vehicle. Her physician initially diagnosed lumbar conditions without offering a causation opinion. A later report linked them to the incident but did not medically explain how the incident caused or aggravated them. The Board…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Memorial Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Board upholds denial of postal worker's foot claim and reconsideration (ECAB 23-0148)
A postal carrier technician reported a right lower leg tendon injury while unloading a postal vehicle. His physician's notes documented the diagnosis and time away from work but did not address whether the work incident caused the condition. The Board affirmed the claim denial. It also upheld…
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Morris Brown Post Office, Duluth, GA
Board upholds denial of postal worker's right-hand claim (ECAB 23-0051)
A postal employee alleged a right-hand injury in a March 2022 work incident. The Board accepted that the incident occurred but found that the medical reports did not explain how it caused the diagnosed condition. Hand imaging described findings without addressing work causation. The Board affirmed…
R.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Colorado Springs Post Office, Colorado Springs, CO
Board orders independent exam on postal worker's massage therapy (ECAB 22-1389)
OWCP had accepted a postal worker's neck and shoulder conditions and previously authorized massage therapy. His treating physician said continuing weekly sessions relieved muscle spasm and improved his ability to use his arms. OWCP's medical adviser disagreed, saying the record lacked objective…
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
Board upholds denial of postal worker's arm impairment award (ECAB 22-1277)
A postal distributor sustained an accepted left wrist fracture after tripping over a pallet. She later sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of her left upper extremity. OWCP asked for a physician's impairment evaluation using the applicable guides, but she submitted no medical evidence…
R.S. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC
Board upholds suspension of Park Service employee's wage-loss benefits (ECAB 22-0773)
A former National Park Service engineer had received wage-loss compensation after accepted work injuries. OWCP sent him a Form EN-1032 requesting information on earnings and other matters, with a warning that failure to return it within 30 days would suspend benefits. He did not return the form…
John W. Hill v. Heritage Coal Company, LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Hill v. Heritage Coal (BRB 22-0399 BLA): disability finding sent back for review
John Hill appealed the denial of his black lung benefits claim. The administrative law judge found that his objective tests did not establish total disability and gave them more weight than medical opinions supporting disability. The Board held that the judge had not identified the demands of…
Leonard Galloway v. North Florida Shipyards, Incorporated and Abercrombie, Simmons & Gillette
Galloway v. North Florida Shipyards (BRB 22-0179): denial of additional injury benefits affirmed
Leonard Galloway injured his left knee after falling into a hole on a shipyard pier in 2009, and the employer paid benefits for that injury. He later sought benefits for right knee, right shoulder, and back conditions that he attributed to the same accident. The administrative law judge denied…
M.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Dallas VA Medical Center, Dallas, TX
Board upholds VA worker's benefit overpayment and recovery (ECAB 23-0129)
A VA food service worker received FECA wage-loss compensation while also receiving Social Security age-related retirement benefits without the required offset. The Board upheld OWCP's $8,337.31 overpayment finding and found she was without fault. It also upheld denial of a waiver and recovery at…
R.H. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO
Board orders more review of IRS worker's disability recurrence (ECAB 22-1379)
An IRS computer assistant sought benefits for a recurrence of disability from accepted spine conditions. Her physician's reports were insufficiently explained but raised an uncontroverted inference that worsening conditions kept her from working after October 11, 2016. The Board directed OWCP to…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Bedford Park Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Board upholds back claim denial and abandoned hearing finding (ECAB 22-1352)
A postal letter carrier claimed a back injury after lifting a box. The Board found that her medical reports did not adequately link a diagnosed back condition to the accepted work incident. She also missed a scheduled telephone hearing and did not request postponement or explain her absence within…
C.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Fort Worth Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
Board orders OWCP to clarify postal carrier's wrist injury claim (ECAB 22-1292)
A rural postal carrier reported left wrist pain while picking up mail on a particular workday. His physician also described symptoms worsening through repeated gripping and grasping. OWCP asked whether he was claiming a single traumatic injury or an occupational disease, but its letter was returned…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oklahoma City, OK
Board upholds denial of mail clerk's injury claim and reconsideration (ECAB 22-1238)
A mail clerk said a box fell from a machine onto her head at work. Her medical notes recorded neck pain and headache but did not supply a firm diagnosis of an injury linked to the incident. The Board affirmed the claim denial. It also upheld OWCP's refusal to reopen the merits because her…
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Stoughton, MA
Board upholds postal carrier's 31 percent leg impairment rating (ECAB 22-1009)
A postal carrier sought an increased schedule award after an accepted leg fracture and later knee treatment. His physicians offered impairment ratings that the Board found inconsistent with the applicable guides. The Board accepted OWCP's medical adviser's 31 percent rating and found no compliant…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
Board orders new review of postal worker's shoulder impairment (ECAB 22-0962)
A postal mail processor sought an increased schedule award for left upper extremity impairment. OWCP relied on a two percent rating using a diagnosis-based method, while its examining physician reported a higher rating using shoulder range of motion. The Board found that the record lacked complete…
Secretary of Labor v. Maryland Energy Resources, LLC
Battery-charger settlement approved
MSHA found undersized electrical conductors serving battery chargers at Maryland Energy Resources' Casselman Mine, including melted receptacles and repeated replacements, and also found that required examination records for 14 chargers had not been kept for at least eight months. The two actions…
Secretary of Labor v. Duininck, Inc.
Deliberate payment barred reopening
Duininck paid $1,359 for all three citations and sent a letter expressly stating that it did not intend to contest them. The operator later asked the Commission to reopen the case, but still did not seek to contest the citations and instead wanted to discuss its safety practices with MSHA. The…
Paul Jones v. The Marshall County Coal Company and Murray Energy Corporation Trust
Jones v. The Marshall County Coal Company (BRB 22-0488 BLA): attorney fee award affirmed
After Paul Jones won black lung benefits, his attorney requested $6,110 in fees and $343.17 in expenses for work before the administrative law judge. The employer did not object, and the judge approved the amounts. The employer then appealed, arguing that the fee award should be reversed if the…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Northtown Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board orders postal worker's back claim files combined (ECAB 23-0186)
A postal distribution clerk filed a new occupational disease claim for lower back conditions after earlier back claims. OWCP denied the new claim while referring to those earlier cases, but the files had not been administratively combined. The Board found that review of the related injury files was…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
Board upholds postal worker's wage-loss overpayment (ECAB 23-0139)
A postal worker continued receiving wage-loss compensation after returning to full-time work. The Board upheld OWCP's finding of a $1,952.39 overpayment and found that he was without fault. He did not provide the financial information OWCP requested to evaluate a waiver. The Board therefore upheld…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Kilmer Post Office, Edison, NJ
Board upholds denial of postal driver's back injury claim (ECAB 23-0035)
A postal delivery specialist said his back was strained when his vehicle hit a pothole on his route. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. The only medical note was from a physician assistant and did not establish a diagnosed condition through a qualified physician. The Board affirmed the claim…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Roger P. McAuliffe Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of postal worker's disability recurrence (ECAB 22-1386)
A postal worker with accepted left shoulder conditions claimed another period of total work disability. His physician said he could not work during the claimed period. The Board found that the reports did not adequately explain how the accepted shoulder conditions kept him from performing his…
S.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service, Atlanta, GA
Board upholds denial of air marshal's knee condition claim (ECAB 22-1317)
A federal air marshal claimed that a work training incident caused or aggravated conditions in both knees. His physician diagnosed knee conditions and at times attributed them to the incident. The Board found that the reports did not explain physiologically how the incident caused or aggravated…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Jacksonville Main Office Walk Up Post Office, Jacksonville, FL
Board upholds postal worker's seven percent leg impairment rating (ECAB 22-0525)
A postal worker sought more schedule award compensation for an accepted left knee condition. OWCP's medical advisers calculated seven percent permanent left leg impairment using the diagnosis-based method in the impairment guides. They explained why a separate range-of-motion rating was unnecessary…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
Board upholds denial of postal worker's neck surgery request (ECAB 21-0854)
A postal worker sought authorization for another cervical spine operation following an accepted work injury. Her treating physician and OWCP's examiner disagreed about its need, so OWCP appointed an impartial examiner. That examiner concluded the proposed operation was not medically necessary for…
Secretary of Labor obo Paul Kirk v. Cemex Construction Materials Florida, LLC
Summary decision denied
CEMEX sought summary decision against claims that it disciplined Paul Kirk after he raised concerns about hot dust escaping from a kiln and after MSHA received related complaints. The Judge found genuine disputes over the kiln's condition, what management did and communicated about shutting it…
Jimmy R. Hensley v. Andalex Resources Incorporated and American Resources Insurance Company
Hensley v. Andalex Resources (BRB 22-0493 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Jimmy Hensley appealed the denial of his fourth black lung benefits claim without a lawyer. The administrative law judge credited 13.16 years of coal mine work, below the fifteen years required for one statutory presumption, and found no evidence of complicated pneumoconiosis for the other…
Janice P. Miller (widow of Gary Miller) v. Eastern Associated Coal, LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Miller v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 21-0626 BLA): survivor award sent back for evidence review
Janice Miller sought survivor benefits after her husband Gary Miller's death. The administrative law judge credited 16.63 years of qualifying coal mine work, found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld Eastern…
S.L. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation-Houston, Houston, TX
Board upholds denial of FBI worker's hearing loss award (ECAB 23-0241)
An FBI employee had accepted work-related hearing loss and tinnitus. Audiometric testing, however, produced zero percent ratable hearing loss in each ear under the applicable impairment guides. Without ratable hearing loss, the Board also found no schedule award available for tinnitus. It affirmed…
R.P. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Tucson, AZ
Board upholds denial of border officer's knee claim (ECAB 23-0131)
A Customs and Border Protection employee sought benefits for bilateral knee conditions after an accepted work incident. A physician named several knee diagnoses and attributed them to the incident but did not explain the physical mechanism connecting the event to those conditions. Other reports did…
D.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Agency, Union, NJ
Board upholds denial of TSA worker's ankle claim (ECAB 23-0092)
A TSA employee sought benefits for a right ankle wound or ulcer after a work incident. His physician checked that work contributed to the condition but did not explain medically how the incident caused or aggravated it. Other notes recorded treatment and time away without addressing causation. The…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and 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.