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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Walmart, Inc.
Unsecured pallet-storage citation affirmed on remand
Walmart stored merchandise pallets on high back-to-back racks at a New York distribution center where forklifts regularly tipped pallets and caused products to fall. An employee suffered neck and spinal injuries when merchandise fell from a pallet dislodged by a forklift. After the Second Circuit…
David M. Tilley v. Pinnacle Mining Company
Tilley v. Pinnacle Mining (BRB 22-0012): benefit award sent back for rebuttal review
David Tilley sought black lung benefits on a subsequent claim. The judge found at least fifteen years of underground coal mine work and total respiratory disability, applied the statutory presumption, and awarded benefits. Pinnacle Mining argued that it had rebutted the presumption. The Board found…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Tombstone Post Office, Tombstone, AZ
Board orders review of both knee claims before deciding causation (ECAB 22-1220)
A postal sales and service associate claimed a left knee condition caused by favoring her right knee, for which OWCP had accepted a separate work-related claim. OWCP denied the left knee claim, and a hearing representative affirmed while recommending that the two claim files be combined. The Board…
A.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Northern New Jersey Mail Recovery Center, Edison, NJ
Board upholds denial of continuation of pay for late injury notice (ECAB 22-1183)
A postal clerk reported that he contracted COVID-19 after exposure to a co-worker on May 1, 2022, and requested continuation of pay for missed work. He submitted his injury claim on July 18, more than 30 days after the exposure date. Under the applicable FECA bulletin, the Board treated the last…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indianapolis, IN
Board upholds denial of carrier's disputed shoulder injury claim (ECAB 22-1164)
A city carrier claimed that he hurt his right shoulder while loading mail and packages into a truck on January 3, 2022. The medical records gave different injury dates, and the employing establishment disputed the account. OWCP asked him to explain the circumstances in a questionnaire, but he did…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grand Rapids, MI
Board dismisses appeal from proposed benefit termination (ECAB 22-0997)
A postal worker appealed after OWCP sent her a notice proposing to terminate compensation. OWCP had not issued a final termination decision when she filed the appeal. The Board's jurisdiction extends to final adverse OWCP decisions, and its rules do not allow an appeal from an interlocutory matter…
T.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Board upholds denial of carrier's knee condition claim (ECAB 22-0093)
A city carrier claimed that repeated walking and stair climbing at work caused a knee condition. OWCP asked her for more factual and medical evidence, granted an extension, and received no response. The Board found that the record did not adequately establish the employment factors alleged to have…
R.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
Board accepts carrier's knee incident and remands for medical review (ECAB 21-1370)
A postal carrier said he hurt his right knee while entering a mail truck. OWCP denied the claim because it found the workplace incident had not been established. The Board found his account supported by a supervisor's signed claim form and by his prompt medical treatment. It held that the incident…
D.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Tomah VA Medical Center, Tomah, WI
Board orders combined review of VA pharmacist's repetitive injury claims (ECAB 21-0807)
A VA pharmacist claimed neck, hand, and wrist conditions from repeated computer work. OWCP denied his occupational disease claim for lack of medical evidence linking the diagnosed right wrist arthritis to his work. The pharmacist had an earlier claim involving similar neck and hand complaints from…
Onekey, LLC
Judge's decision vacated after contest withdrawn
An administrative law judge had affirmed the citations against Onekey, and the case was directed for Commission review. Onekey later withdrew its notice of contest under the Commission's procedural rules. The Commission therefore vacated the judge's decision and order. This final order does not…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert M. Carlucci v. Spartan Mining Company, LLC
Economic temporary reinstatement granted
Robert Carlucci took a shuttle car out of service after its brakes failed and notified mine management. A section foreman responded that Carlucci would be allowed to operate only a shovel, and an evening-shift foreman warned that traveling to the surface to speak with safety personnel or the…
Kevin B. Weeks v. JAZ Industries of Florida, LLC and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association, Ltd.
Weeks v. JAZ Industries (BRB 21-0633): repetitive injury claim sent back
Kevin Weeks injured his left knee while working as a refrigeration technician, then sought benefits for right knee pain. He argued that repetitive work caused the right knee condition and, separately, that favoring his injured left knee caused it. The judge denied both theories. The Board held that…
Wayne E. Gambrel v. Navistar
Gambrel v. Navistar (BRB 21-0549): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Wayne Gambrel sought black lung benefits, asserting that much of his coal trucking work had been paid in cash. The judge found 6.33 years of qualifying coal mine employment, which was too little for the fifteen-year presumption, and found that his disabling respiratory impairment had not been…
Rutland Melton v. Apogee Coal Company, Incorporated and Arch Coal, Incorporated
Melton v. Apogee Coal (BRB 20-0115R): en banc reconsideration denied
Apogee Coal and its self-insuring carrier asked the Benefits Review Board to reconsider en banc an earlier decision affirming black lung benefits for Rutland Melton. The Director opposed the motion, and the employer replied. A majority of the Board's permanent members did not vote to grant…
G.H. and Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service, Manistee, MI
Board upholds denial of late reconsideration request (ECAB 22-0394)
A Fish and Wildlife Service technician sought reconsideration of OWCP's 2017 denial of his occupational disease claim. His request arrived in May 2021, more than one year after the merit decision. To reopen such a late request, he had to show clear evidence that OWCP had erred. His counsel cited…
C.R. and Department of the Navy, Naval Hospital Lemoore, Hornet Health Clinic, Lemoore, CA
Board remands Navy nurse's knee claim for combined-file review (ECAB 22-0284)
A Navy clinic nurse claimed that work aggravated preexisting knee conditions and caused right foot pain. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim for insufficient medical evidence of causation. She also had an earlier traumatic injury claim involving her knees. The Board found that OWCP needed to…
A.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Loma Linda Post Office, Loma Linda, CA
Board orders specialist review of carrier's knee injury claim (ECAB 22-0005)
A city carrier said he injured his right knee while climbing into a postal vehicle. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of proof that it caused his meniscus tears. A later orthopedic report explained why the physician attributed the tears to the work incident…
M.L. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Tulsa, OK
Board reverses wage-loss reduction based on flawed job assessment (ECAB 21-1419)
A U.S. Marshals Service specialist received wage-loss benefits for accepted neck and arm conditions. OWCP reduced her compensation based on estimated earnings as a receptionist clerk. The Board accepted an impartial orthopedic examiner's work restrictions, but found that the vocational counselor…
J.M. and Department of the Air Force, Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, TX
Board orders merit review of Air Force painter's respiratory claim (ECAB 21-1208)
A retired Air Force painter supervisor claimed a respiratory condition from years of chemical exposure at work. OWCP accepted that the exposures occurred but denied the claim for insufficient medical evidence of causation. He then submitted a physician's report diagnosing respiratory conditions and…
A.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, City of Industry, CA
Board remands custodian's back claim for combined-file review (ECAB 21-1099)
A postal custodian claimed that he injured his lower back while straightening up after mopping beneath a machine. OWCP accepted that the 2020 work incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical proof of causation. He also had an earlier accepted back injury claim involving a lumbar…
D.C. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, El Monte, CA
Board upholds refusal to reopen IRS employee's injury claim (ECAB 21-0947)
An IRS revenue agent sought compensation after a chair rolled away and she fell at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting her conditions to it. In a later reconsideration request, she argued that OWCP had recognized the incident…
Knibb v. New Jersey Transit Rail Operations, Inc.
FRSA appeal dismissed for missed briefing orders
Fitz Knibb appealed an administrative judge's dismissal of his FRSA complaint after repeated problems with conferences, discovery, and an ordered amended complaint. The Board set an opening-brief deadline, but Knibb filed no brief. He opposed the railroad's motion to dismiss by citing his…
W.B. and Department of the Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD
Board dismisses Army employee's late appeal (ECAB 23-0260)
An Army employee appealed an April 2, 2021 OWCP decision on December 14, 2022. The Board's rules require an appeal within 180 days of the OWCP decision, a period that ended September 29, 2021. The employee offered no documented compelling reason for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal as…
J.W. and Department of Justice, Federal Corrections Center, Allenwood, White Deer, PA
Board dismisses correctional employee's late appeal (ECAB 23-0259)
An employee at a federal corrections center appealed an OWCP decision issued May 12, 2022. The appeal was filed December 14, after the 180-day deadline of November 8. The employee did not provide a documented compelling reason for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction…
J.L. and Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Washington, DC
Board dismisses Labor employee's appeal filed after extended deadline (ECAB 23-0249)
A Department of Labor employee appealed an OWCP decision issued June 7, 2022. The 180th day fell on a Sunday, so the Board's rules extended the deadline to Monday, December 5. The appeal was filed December 8, and the employee offered no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board…
M.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service, Washington, DC
Board dismisses protective service employee's late appeal (ECAB 23-0244)
A Federal Protective Service employee appealed an OWCP decision issued February 25, 2021. The 180-day period for an appeal ended August 24, 2021, but he did not file until December 6, 2022. He provided no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of…
A.T. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Edgefield, SC
Board upholds ten percent awards for each leg (ECAB 22-0002)
A correctional officer ruptured both patellar tendons while restraining an inmate and later received a schedule award for 10 percent permanent impairment of each leg. He sought a higher rating. His treating evaluation rated each leg at seven percent, while OWCP's medical adviser rated each at 10…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Belleville Post Office, Belleville, NJ
Board reverses unproven $865.88 benefit overpayment (ECAB 21-1073)
A retired postal carrier elected federal retirement benefits instead of FECA wage-loss compensation, effective December 9, 2020. OWCP continued FECA payments into January and assessed an $865.88 overpayment, assuming she had also received retirement payments for the same period. The Board found no…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Hazleton Post Office, Hazleton, PA
Board upholds denial of carrier's middle finger condition claim (ECAB 21-0855)
A letter carrier claimed that years of handling mail caused or aggravated arthritis in his left middle finger. OWCP had denied the occupational disease claim, and he submitted a new hand surgeon's report on reconsideration. The surgeon attributed the condition to repetitive work and noted that…
B.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Bedford Park Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Board dismisses postal worker's late appeal (ECAB 23-0242)
A postal worker appealed an OWCP nonmerit decision issued March 10, 2022. The 180-day appeal period ended September 6, but she did not file until December 7. She supplied no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely and did not review the underlying…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Greens North Post Office, Houston, TX
Board dismisses Houston postal worker's late appeal (ECAB 23-0223)
A Houston postal worker appealed an OWCP nonmerit decision issued March 10, 2022. The 180-day appeal deadline was September 6, but she filed on December 2. She provided no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without reaching the…
S.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Dyker Heights Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
Board grants withdrawal of postal worker's appeal (ECAB 23-0221)
A Brooklyn postal worker timely appealed an OWCP nonmerit decision. One week later, his counsel asked to withdraw the appeal. The Board granted the request and dismissed the appeal. It did not address the underlying OWCP decision.
T.C. and Department of the Army, William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, TX
Board grants withdrawal of Army medical center employee's appeal (ECAB 22-1288)
An Army medical center employee timely appealed an OWCP merit decision. She later requested withdrawal of the appeal. The Board granted her request and dismissed the case without reviewing the OWCP decision.
I.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
Board grants withdrawal of Brooklyn postal worker's appeal (ECAB 22-1042)
A Brooklyn postal worker timely appealed an OWCP nonmerit decision through counsel. Counsel later requested withdrawal of the appeal. The Board granted that request and dismissed the appeal without reviewing the OWCP decision.
A.G. and Department of Defense, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Indianapolis, IN
Board orders review of same-day evidence in home-work fall claim (ECAB 21-0738)
A Defense Finance contact representative reported falling while preparing to sit at her desk during authorized work from home. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim, saying it had received no medical evidence. The record showed that OWCP received diagnostic reports…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of two weeks' total disability pay (ECAB 21-0640)
A mail handler with an accepted left shoulder condition worked a six-hour limited-duty assignment and sought total disability pay for March 30 through April 10, 2020. Her physician reported worsening symptoms and restricted use of the left arm, but did not explain why the accepted condition…
Z.O. and National Labor Relations Board, Chicago Regional Office, Chicago, IL
Board dismisses labor board employee's appeal filed three days late (ECAB 23-0320)
An NLRB regional office employee appealed an OWCP nonmerit decision issued June 30, 2022. The 180-day deadline ended December 27, but she filed on December 30. She gave no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without reviewing the underlying…
B.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Buffalo Post Office, Buffalo, NY
Board dismisses Buffalo postal worker's late appeal (ECAB 23-0315)
A Buffalo postal worker appealed an OWCP merit decision issued November 3, 2021. The 180-day appeal period ended May 2, 2022, but she filed on December 29, 2022. She offered no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without reviewing…
S.F. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Baker City, OR
Board dismisses Interior employee's late appeal (ECAB 23-0313)
A Bureau of Land Management employee appealed an OWCP decision issued September 22, 2017. The 180-day appeal period ended March 21, 2018, but he did not file until December 19, 2022. He offered no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of…
M.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Whitewater Post Office, Whitewater, WI
Board dismisses Whitewater postal worker's late appeal (ECAB 23-0310)
A Whitewater postal worker appealed an OWCP merit decision issued January 4, 2022. She did not file her appeal until December 28, well after the 180-day review period. She provided no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without…
R.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Sykesville Post Office, Sykesville, MD
Board dismisses Sykesville postal worker's late appeal (ECAB 23-0308)
A Sykesville postal worker appealed an OWCP nonmerit decision dated December 8, 2021. The 180-day appeal period ended June 6, 2022, but she filed on December 8, 2022. She offered no documented compelling explanation for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without reviewing the…
M.E. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, South Central Regional Office, Grand Prairie, TX
Board upholds denial of emotional condition claim over telework dispute (ECAB 21-1340)
A Bureau of Prisons safety manager reported a panic attack after being told that her requested telework accommodation was denied. She alleged error, harassment, and discrimination in the handling of telework, accommodation, and a compensation portal account. The Board treated these as…
D.C. and Department of Agriculture, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, Raleigh, NC
Board upholds denial of ankle claim lacking physician diagnosis (ECAB 21-0806)
An Agriculture Department biological scientist said he hurt his right ankle after stepping into a hole at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but found no valid medical diagnosis from a qualified physician in the record. One physical therapy note had an illegible signature, and another…
Eldon R. McCoy v. Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC and AIG Property Casualty Company
McCoy v. Dickenson-Russell Coal (BRB 22-0187): black lung benefits award affirmed
Eldon McCoy filed a black lung claim after more than thirty-eight years of underground coal mine work. The judge found that a respiratory impairment prevented him from performing his usual heavy coal mine work and applied the fifteen-year presumption. Dickenson-Russell Coal challenged the total…
Rickey D. Dunn v. Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated and Walter Energy, Incorporated
Dunn v. Jim Walter Resources (BRB 22-0149): benefit denial sent back for study review
Rickey Dunn sought modification of a denial of his subsequent black lung claim. The judge accepted at least thirty-four years of qualifying coal mine work but found no total respiratory disability. The Board held that the judge had improperly discounted a pulmonary function study by independently…
Leonard Clark v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Clark v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 21-0355): black lung award and carrier liability affirmed
Leonard Clark worked at least eighteen years in qualifying coal mine employment and was found totally disabled by a respiratory impairment. The judge applied the fifteen-year presumption and awarded black lung benefits. Eastern Associated Coal and Peabody Energy challenged Peabody's carrier…
Deloris Posey v. NEXCOM
Posey v. NEXCOM (BRB 21-0285): limited knee award and other denials affirmed
Deloris Posey injured her left knee while working in security for NEXCOM and pursued several related compensation claims over many years. A judge awarded benefits for a 3% permanent impairment of her left leg but denied claims involving psychological symptoms, fibromyalgia, and a gastrointestinal…
Randall E. Hood v. Reefer Express, LLC and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association Limited
Hood v. Reefer Express (BRB 21-0245): later back injury claims sent back
Randall Hood worked as a container and refrigeration mechanic and reported three back injury incidents in 2015 and 2016. The judge denied further benefits for all three. The Board upheld the finding that his June 2015 injury had resolved by October of that year. For the November 2015 and August…
Shah v. Albert Fried & Co.
Second SOX reconsideration motion denied
The Board had affirmed summary dismissal of Sachin Shah's SOX complaint based on the employer's affirmative defense. Shah's first reconsideration motion exceeded the briefing limits and was denied without prejudice. He then filed a compliant second motion with hundreds of pages of exhibits. The…
B.C. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Patuxent River, MD
Board upholds suspension of benefits after missed examination (ECAB 21-1327)
A former Navy systems accountant received benefits for accepted cervical conditions after a work injury. OWCP scheduled a second-opinion neurological examination to evaluate his current condition. He did not attend and argued that existing medical evidence made the examination unnecessary. The…
L.C. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Corrections Complex Beaumont, Beaumont, TX
Board upholds denial of injury claim after prison officer carried crates (ECAB 21-0811)
A correctional officer reported back and shoulder symptoms after carrying heavy crates up five flights of stairs when elevators were out. OWCP accepted that the June 2020 incident occurred but denied the injury claim for lack of a qualifying physician diagnosis tied to it. The Board found that an…
T.A. and Department of the Army, Alabama National Guard, Florence, AL
Board denies added tendon-graft conditions but remands impairment rating (ECAB 21-0798)
An Alabama National Guard mechanic had an accepted right little finger injury treated with tendon graft surgery and received an eight percent right arm impairment award. He sought acceptance of ankle and forearm conditions he attributed to tendon removal and challenged the award percentage. The…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Jackson Post Office, Jackson, GA
Board upholds denial of carrier's shoulder injury claim (ECAB 21-0533)
A rural carrier said she hurt her right arm and shoulder when she caught herself on a postal vehicle door after missing a step. OWCP accepted that the 2017 incident occurred but denied the claim because the medical record did not establish causation. Her physicians diagnosed shoulder and other…
K.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Harrisburg, PA
Board remands postal mechanic's left hand and wrist claim (ECAB 21-0389)
A postal maintenance mechanic reported left hand, thumb, wrist, and forearm pain after increased work and repeated use of his hands on sorting equipment. OWCP denied his occupational disease claim, finding that he had not established a diagnosed condition connected with accepted work factors, and…
Joe A. Hicks v. Mill Branch Coal Company and Old Republic General Insurance Corporation
Hicks v. Mill Branch Coal (BRB 21-0619): black lung benefits award affirmed
Joe Hicks had at least thirty years of underground coal mine employment and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. After an earlier Board remand, the judge awarded black lung benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. Mill Branch Coal argued that its doctors attributed Hicks's condition to…
Carol Rager, on behalf of Ronald E. Rager v. Kingwood Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund
Rager v. Kingwood Coal (BRB 21-0306): black lung benefits award affirmed
Ronald Rager worked seventeen years in qualifying surface coal mine employment and was found totally disabled by a respiratory impairment. His widow continued his black lung claim after his death. The judge applied the fifteen-year presumption and awarded benefits. Kingwood Coal argued that medical…
Arturo Champi Apaza v. SOC-SMG, Incorporated and Continental Insurance Company
Apaza v. SOC-SMG (BRB 21-0076): benefits denial affirmed
Arturo Apaza, a Peruvian citizen, worked as a security guard in Iraq from 2006 to 2012 and sought benefits for a claimed psychological injury and left ear hearing loss. The administrative law judge denied both claims. The Board held that the conditional stipulation and an unreliable audiogram did…
G.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Nashua Logistics & Distribution Center, Nashua, NH
Board upholds denial of postal clerk's back injury claim (ECAB 21-1225)
A postal clerk reported back pain after bending to unhook a mailbag at work in May 2021. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied his traumatic injury claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused a diagnosed back condition. The Board found that a physician's…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Charles A. Hayes Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board recognizes carrier's abrasion and remands for benefits (ECAB 21-0223)
A postal carrier fell while delivering mail and reported injuries after a support column gave way near stairs. OWCP accepted that the October 2018 fall occurred but denied his traumatic injury claim for lack of a medical diagnosis connected to it. The Board found that a physician observed an…
Rosemary Bailey, Widow of Sherman Bailey v. Heritage Coal Company, LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Bailey v. Heritage Coal (BRB 22-0190 BLA): miner benefits award affirmed
Rosemary Bailey pursued her late husband Sherman's black lung claim after his death. The judge found that he had 21.14 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, then awarded benefits under the fifteen year presumption. Heritage Coal and Peabody Energy…
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.