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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M.Z. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Stratton VA Medical Center, Albany, NY
Board upholds denial of VA housekeeper's stairway fall claim (ECAB 20-1078)
M.Z., a housekeeper at the Stratton VA Medical Center, fractured her left little finger after falling on stairs at the facility while she was on leave. She had come to return uniforms after a supervisor left a message asking her to call and arrange a time to return them and sign forms. The Board…
Eustis Cable Enterprises, Ltd.
Training and equipment violations affirmed after fatal line-work incident
Eustis Cable Enterprises was a communications contractor installing fiberoptic cable in rural upstate New York. A foreman died while traversing a support strand about twenty feet above the ground to repair a malfunctioning lasher at an offroad worksite. The judge found that Eustis failed to ensure…
P.D. and Department of the Army, Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, AR
Board upholds denial of Pine Bluff Arsenal worker's crash claim (ECAB 20-0604)
P.D., an industrial worker at the Department of the Army's Pine Bluff Arsenal, was injured in a motor vehicle crash at the facility's security checkpoint after a voluntary off-premises holiday party. She was returning to pick up a passenger for a voluntary vanpool after management had released…
Secretary of Labor v. Rulon Harper Construction, Inc.
Settlement denial accepted for immediate review
A judge denied amended settlement motions because the submitted facts did not show that the proposed terms were fair, reasonable, appropriate, or protective of the public interest. The judge certified that denial for interlocutory review. The Commission accepted the certification and agreed to…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Auburn Post Office
Board upholds postal overpayment but orders waiver and impairment review (ECAB 22-0118)
A.C., a postal rural carrier, received wage loss compensation for five days after returning to full time work. The Board upheld OWCP's finding that the $635.47 payment was an overpayment, but found she was without fault in receiving the first incorrect direct deposit. OWCP must decide whether to…
Dale E. Johnson v. The Ohio County Coal Company and Murray Energy Corporation Trust
Johnson v. Ohio County Coal (BRB 22-0115 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Dale Johnson filed a later black lung claim after an earlier claim had been denied. The parties agreed he had twenty-five years of coal mine work, including at least fifteen years underground. A judge found his respiratory impairment totally disabling, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and…
Charles E. Robinson v. Heritage Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Robinson v. Heritage Coal (BRB 20-0305 BLA): benefit award and carrier liability affirmed
Charles Robinson worked more than twenty-one years in qualifying coal mine employment. A judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. Heritage Coal and its former parent and self-insurer, Peabody Energy, argued that liability…
Garry T. Cavinee v. Heritage Coal Company, LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Cavinee v. Heritage Coal (BRB 20-0268 BLA): benefits award and carrier liability affirmed
Garry Cavinee sought black lung benefits after work at underground coal mines and a coal preparation plant. A judge credited him with more than fifteen years of qualifying mine work, found total respiratory disability, and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. Heritage Coal and…
R.K. and U.S. Postal Service, North Long Beach Carrier Annex
Board upholds $83,824.35 postal worker overpayment recovery (ECAB 22-1193)
R.K., a retired postal carrier receiving wage loss compensation, also received Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld OWCP's $83,824.35 overpayment finding for February 1, 2008 through July 17, 2021, though she was without…
R.C. and Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services
Board upholds refusal to reopen officer's schedule award claim (ECAB 22-1118)
R.C., a Defense Department police officer, challenged a schedule award based on his accepted left ankle and Achilles tendon injury. His reconsideration request disputed the impairment rating and pay rate but offered no new evidence or specific explanation of error. The Board found that these…
A.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations
Board upholds refusal to reopen investigator's injury claim (ECAB 22-1052)
A.G., a Homeland Security investigator, reported neck and back symptoms after a government vehicle was rear-ended at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim for lack of a qualifying medical diagnosis. He asked OWCP to reconsider. The Board found that the new physician assistant…
D.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Lexington VA Medical Center
Board upholds denial of VA nurse's later disability claim (ECAB 22-1030)
D.T., a VA nurse, had an accepted adjustment disorder after an assault by a patient in 2019. She later sought compensation for a new period away from work beginning in February 2021. The Board found that her physician described anxiety symptoms and disability but did not explain how the accepted…
T.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Fenkell Post Office, Detroit, MI
Board dismisses postal worker's appeal of missing OWCP decision (ECAB 22-0881)
T.L., a postal worker, appealed a purported April 7, 2022 OWCP decision. The Board found no such final adverse decision in the record. It noted a March 31 decision, but counsel had not appealed that decision. With no appealed decision to review, the Board dismissed the case. It did not address the…
R.K. and Social Security Administration, New York, NY
Board upholds denial of Social Security worker's parking-lot fall claim (ECAB 20-1638)
R.K., a Social Security claims representative, slipped on black ice while walking from a parking lot toward the employee entrance before work. OWCP denied the injury claim because it found the fall did not occur in the performance of duty. The Board found that the lot was shared with another…
Y.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing & Distribution Center, New York, NY
Board accepts workplace remarks as compensable factor and remands postal claim (ECAB 20-1023)
Y.L., a mail handler at a New York postal processing center, fainted and struck her head after a supervisor relayed a manager's accusation that she was not working and acted as though she had special privileges because she was on light duty. OWCP denied her claim, finding no compensable work…
L.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
Board accepts workplace fume exposure and remands postal worker's injury claims (ECAB 20-0998)
L.J., a rural postal carrier in Greensboro, reported dizziness, nausea, and breathing trouble after noticing an unusual smell near her work area on January 9, 2018. Coworker statements and a furnace inspection supported exposure to a gas or fume-like substance, although the substance was not…
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC
Failure-to-abate order disclosure certified
This reallocated docket included a haul-truck citation under 30 C.F.R. § 77.1606(c) for ten safety defects. The inspector granted additional time for repairs, but the record then showed that a section 104(b) failure-to-abate order had been issued. The Secretary sought settlement approval at the…
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC
Failure-to-abate disclosure question certified
The Secretary sought approval of a settlement covering numerous mobile-equipment citations but refused the Judge’s repeated requests for seven associated section 104(b) failure-to-abate orders. Counsel for Appalachian Resource West Virginia confirmed the orders and supplied information that the…
Secretary of Labor obo Moses Ortiz v. Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating, Inc., et al.
Secretary of Labor obo Moses Ortiz v. Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2022-0028): Discrimination complaint dismissed
The Secretary alleged that Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating discharged Moses Ortiz for safety complaints and for asserting a right to contact MSHA. The evidence centered on an April 2021 call after Ortiz objected to his supervisor’s conduct, declined a transfer, demanded that the supervisor be…
Granville Sesco v. Brooks Run Mining Company, LLC
Sesco v. Brooks Run Mining (BRB 22-0069 BLA): subsequent black lung claim award affirmed
Granville Sesco filed a second black lung benefits claim after his first was denied for lack of total disability. A judge credited him with 30.23 years of underground coal mine work and found that his respiratory condition kept him from performing the heavy labor required of his maintenance foreman…
Lonnie D. Ross v. Shamrock Coal Company, Incorporated
Ross v. Shamrock Coal (BRB 21-0391 BLA): subsequent black lung claim award affirmed
Lonnie Ross sought black lung benefits after working underground for Shamrock Coal. A judge credited him with 15.24 years of mine employment, found total respiratory disability, and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. Shamrock argued that the work-history calculation wrongly…
F.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Richmond Post Office
Board requires reasoned ruling on postal worker's reconsideration request (ECAB 22-1239)
F.K., a Richmond mail processing clerk, requested reconsideration of a denied injury claim arising from an assault by a coworker. OWCP called the request untimely and said it lacked clear evidence of error, but did not analyze the evidence submitted with it. The Board found that OWCP had not…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Houston Post Office
Board dismisses postal worker's appeal filed one day late (ECAB 22-1226)
D.H. appealed a February 16, 2022 OWCP decision on August 16, 2022, one day after the 180-day filing deadline. Her representative requested more time for unspecified medical reasons. The Board found that the general assertion did not show circumstances beyond her control that prevented timely…
B.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Albany Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's vehicle incident claim (ECAB 22-1106)
B.F., an Albany postal carrier assistant, reported head and neck symptoms after his vehicle struck a deer. OWCP asked for more information about how and where the incident occurred, but received no further response. The Board found that the brief claim description did not establish the incident as…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Chicago Post Office
Board grants Chicago postal worker's request to withdraw appeal (ECAB 22-0952)
R.B. appealed a May 13, 2022 OWCP merit decision. Through counsel, she later asked to withdraw the appeal. The Board granted that request and dismissed the appeal without deciding the underlying claim.
B.W. and Department of the Army, Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC
Board orders further review of Army worker's icy parking lot fall (ECAB 22-0907)
B.W., a dietetic technician at an Army medical center, fell on ice in the employer's parking lot before work. OWCP denied her injury claim because it questioned whether she was on duty when she arrived around 4:55 a.m. The Board found that the employer's oral account of her schedule conflicted with…
T.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Charlotte, NC
Board finds postal handler's sciatica diagnosed and orders causation review (ECAB 22-0715)
T.C., a postal mail handler, reported back pain radiating into his leg after lifting a package at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied his claim because it said he had not established a diagnosed condition. The Board found that a physician's report diagnosed sciatica…
F.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan VA Medical Center, San Juan, PR
Board remands emotional condition claim for further evidence (ECAB 20-0793)
F.R., an information technology specialist at the San Juan VA Medical Center, claimed that discrimination, retaliation, hostile treatment, and other workplace events caused anxiety, insomnia, memory and concentration problems, and anhedonia. OWCP denied the emotional condition claim after finding…
Secretary of Labor vs. Genesis Alkali, LLC
Amended settlement denial accepted for review
A judge denied amended settlement filings in three Genesis Alkali proceedings. She found inadequate support for deleting a significant and substantial designation in one case and for preserving seven citations while vacating eighteen others in the related cases. The Commission treated earlier…
Anita D. Deel, widow and on behalf of Donald Deel, v. Bullion Hollow Enterprises, Incorporated and Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois
Deel v. Bullion Hollow (BRB 21-0027 and 20-0551 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Anita Deel pursued her late husband's pending black lung claim and her own survivor claim. A judge found that Donald Deel had complicated pneumoconiosis arising from coal mine work and awarded benefits in both claims. Bullion Hollow and its insurer argued that the lung masses reflected cancer and…
Anita D. Deel v. Bullion Hollow Enterprises, Incorporated
Deel v. Bullion Hollow Enterprises (BRB 20-0551 BLA and 21-0027 BLA): Miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Anita Deel pursued her late husband's subsequent black lung claim and her own survivor's claim after his coal mine employment. The administrative law judge found that he had complicated pneumoconiosis despite evidence of lung cancer, and awarded benefits in both claims. Bullion Hollow challenged…
Charles L. Jarrell v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Jarrell v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 20-0474 BLA): benefit award and carrier liability affirmed
Charles Jarrell sought black lung benefits after at least fifteen years of underground coal mine work. A judge found him totally disabled by a respiratory impairment, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. Eastern Associated Coal and Peabody Energy challenged Peabody's carrier…
J.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center
Board sends VA employee's COVID-19 pay claim back for review (ECAB 22-1222)
J.D., a VA support services administrator, reported a workplace COVID-19 exposure and a positive test on January 12, 2022. OWCP denied continuation of pay because he filed his injury form more than 30 days after the injury date it used. The Board found that OWCP had not applied its COVID-19…
A.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Houston Post Office
Board sends postal carrier's COVID-19 pay claim back for review (ECAB 22-0956)
A.B., a Houston postal carrier, contracted COVID-19 and sought continuation of pay after OWCP accepted her claim. OWCP denied the pay request because she filed her injury form more than 30 days after the date it used for the injury. The Board found that OWCP had not applied its COVID-19 guidance…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Coppell Post Office
Board upholds postal carrier's injury claim denial after fall (ECAB 22-0779)
J.M., a postal rural carrier associate, reported falling beside his work van and injuring his neck and left arm. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of proof linking a diagnosed condition to it. The Board found that one doctor's history described a fall while…
A.A. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Columbus, OH
Board upholds Agriculture inspector's dependent benefit overpayment (ECAB 22-0751)
A.A., a Food Safety and Inspection Service inspector, received wage loss compensation at the higher rate for a worker with an eligible dependent. Her daughter had turned 18 and finished high school without enrolling in college, so the Board upheld OWCP's $7,466.01 overpayment calculation for July…
S.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tompkinsville, KY
Board orders impartial review of rural carrier's left leg impairment (ECAB 20-1476)
S.C., a rural postal carrier, injured her left leg in a work-related vehicle crash on an icy road and later received a schedule award for 13 percent permanent impairment of that leg. Her physician rated impairment at 31 percent, while OWCP's second-opinion physician and medical adviser rated it at…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mamaroneck, NY
Board reverses termination of postal carrier's knee injury benefits (ECAB 20-1474)
C.P., a postal carrier assistant, had an accepted left knee injury after being struck by a metal object at work. OWCP ended her wage-loss and medical benefits after its examiner concluded that the knee injury had resolved. Her treating physician reported continuing pain, weakness and atrophy…
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Washington, D.C. and Independent Union of Pension Employees for Democracy and Justice
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and IUPEDJ (FLRA WA-CA-20-0196): Authority dismisses dues-withholding complaint
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the Union had a memorandum setting three dues-withholding tiers based on employees' pay grades. The General Counsel alleged that the agency repudiated the memorandum by not automatically raising individual deductions when employees moved into higher…
Matter of Fermin MARISCAL-HERNANDEZ
Routine traffic stop did not require a suppression hearing
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent’s challenge to evidence obtained during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement stop and arrest. It held that a routine law-enforcement stop, without more, did not establish a prima facie or egregious Fourth Amendment violation. Unsupported assertions and…
Susan Shultz
In re Susan Shultz (EAB CERCLA No. 22-01, RCRA No. 22-01, CAA No. 22-04): filing dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Susan Shultz asked the Environmental Appeals Board to review concerns arising from a reported mercury release at a residence in Ridgecrest, California. Her filing sought an imminent and substantial danger order, review of a preliminary site assessment issue, a site assessment, criminal sanctions…
Kenneth M. Wallace v. E & B Coal Company, Incorporated and Ashland Coal, Incorporated
Wallace v. E & B Coal (BRB 21-0373 BLA): black lung benefits award after remand affirmed
Kenneth Wallace's black lung claim returned to a judge after the Board set aside an earlier denial. On remand, the judge credited 15.34 years of underground coal mine work, found total respiratory disability, and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. E & B Coal challenged the…
Donald Sizemore v. Left Fork Mining Company, Incorporated and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Sizemore v. Left Fork Mining (BRB 21-0323 BLA): dependent son's augmented benefits affirmed
A judge awarded Donald Sizemore black lung benefits and added benefits for his adult son, Eric Cody Sizemore, as a dependent. Left Fork Mining and its insurer did not challenge Sizemore's benefit entitlement or his son's relationship and dependency status. They argued that Sizemore had waived the…
S.D. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Board upholds $1,373.82 Navy employee overpayment (ECAB 22-1111)
S.D., a Norfolk Naval Shipyard electrician, received FECA wage loss payments and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service for the same period. The Board upheld OWCP's finding of a $1,373.82 overpayment for July 3 through August 31, 2021, though he was without fault. It…
R.P. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort Belkamp Agency
Board upholds $33,994.42 compensation overpayment recovery (ECAB 22-1008)
R.P., a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee, received federal workers' compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service during the same period. The Board upheld OWCP's finding that this caused a $33,994.42 overpayment, though R.P. was without fault. It also upheld…
T.P. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service, Atlanta, GA
Board finds air marshal's hotel shower fall occurred on travel duty (ECAB 22-0893)
T.P., a federal air marshal on a work trip to Paris, fell in her hotel shower and reported a knee injury. OWCP accepted that the fall happened but denied the claim because it found she was outside her job duties while showering. The Board held that showering at the hotel was reasonably incidental…
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Tri City Gainesville Post Office
Board upholds postal carrier's fall claim denial for lack of diagnosis (ECAB 22-0884)
T.D., a postal rural carrier associate, fell while stepping out of her delivery vehicle. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the physicians' reports described back and knee pain without a firm medical diagnosis, while separate reports from a…
B.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Roy Royall Post Office, Houston, TX
Board upholds postal worker's dependent benefit overpayment (ECAB 22-0857)
B.F., a postal carrier, received compensation at the higher rate for a worker with an eligible dependent after telling OWCP her daughter no longer qualified. The Board found that an OWCP payment setup error led to a $21,524.43 overpayment from March 2017 through June 2021 and that B.F. was without…
J.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Tustin Post Office
Board orders new medical review of postal carrier's foot claim (ECAB 22-0829)
J.Z., a postal letter carrier, claimed that years of walking, casing mail, and entering and exiting his delivery vehicle caused a right foot condition. OWCP denied the claim after its medical adviser said the activities could not have caused the condition. The Board found that the adviser had not…
A.L., widow of G.L., and Department of the Air Force, Malmstrom Air Force Base, MT
Board reverses Air Force worker's estate overpayment decision (ECAB 22-0747)
A.L., the widow of a former Air Force airfield worker, appealed an overpayment assessed against his estate. OWCP said his FECA compensation should have been offset against Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service. The Board found that the record showed he was a temporary…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mahwah, NJ
Board orders new impairment review for postal worker's thumb and leg (ECAB 20-0905)
T.H., a retired postal letter carrier, had received a schedule award for 13 percent permanent impairment of his right arm but sought a higher arm rating and an award for his right leg. The impartial examiner gave different arm ratings depending on whether impairment of T.H.'s right thumb was…
United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2018
Marine Corps Twentynine Palms and AFGE Local 2018 (FLRA 0-AR-5703): Authority preserves temporary-promotion award
A GS-9 Marine Corps protocol specialist sought a temporary promotion after performing the established duties of a GS-12 protocol officer. An arbitrator found that the parties' agreement required the promotion and awarded up to 120 days of higher-grade backpay. The Authority returned to its earlier…
TForce Freight, Inc.
In re TForce Freight, Inc. (EAB RCRA 3008 22-03C): hazardous-waste compliance settlement approved
TForce Freight, Inc. operated 174 freight distribution and transportation facilities that generated hazardous waste. EPA alleged that the company failed in some instances to file accurate hazardous-waste notifications, meet generator requirements, complete land-disposal determinations, submit…
James R. Faine v. Buck Branch Rebuild & Manufacturing and National Union Fire/Chartis
Faine v. Buck Branch Rebuild (BRB 22-0174 BLA): November 2014 benefit start date affirmed
James Faine had already won black lung benefits, but the Board previously sent his case back for a decision on when payments should begin. The judge again chose November 2014, the month Faine filed his claim. Buck Branch Rebuild argued that the medical evidence placed total disability later, in…
Steven Franke v. Force Protection, Incorporated and Allied World National Assurance Company
Franke v. Force Protection (BRB 21-0622): partial disability modification affirmed
Steven Franke received permanent total disability benefits after work injuries in Kuwait. His employer sought to modify the award, arguing that his condition had improved and that suitable work was available. The judge found four jobs within his physical and vocational abilities and found that…
Carole F. Hughes, widow of Raymond H. Hughes, v. Greenwich Collieries Company
Hughes v. Greenwich Collieries (BRB 21-0349 BLA): survivor award remanded for disability findings
Carole Hughes sought survivor benefits after her husband Raymond's death. A judge credited him with 18.25 years of underground coal mine work, found total respiratory disability, applied the fifteen-year presumption of death due to pneumoconiosis, and awarded benefits. Greenwich Collieries…
A.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Jacksonville Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's left foot claim (ECAB 22-1221)
A.F., a Jacksonville letter carrier, tripped over a stump while working and reported a left foot injury. OWCP accepted the incident but denied her claim because the medical evidence did not adequately link it to a diagnosed foot condition. The Board found that some reports gave diagnoses without a…
K.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Houston Post Office
Board upholds postal worker's claim denial and hearing abandonment (ECAB 22-1168)
K.A., a Houston postal employee, reported that a machine crushed her finger while she freed a jammed package. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the claim because the medical reports did not adequately explain how it caused the diagnosed hand condition. The Board agreed that the medical evidence…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, South Suburban Processing and Distribution Center, Bedford Park, IL
Board reverses suitable-work penalty and remands postal worker's claim expansion (ECAB 21-0649)
M.W., a postal mail handler, had an accepted lumbar sprain after a jolt while driving a work vehicle. OWCP ended wage-loss compensation and eligibility for a schedule award because it found he had abandoned a suitable modified job. His treating physicians and OWCP's examiner disagreed about whether…
F.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Ida Jean Haxton Post Office, Huntington Beach, CA
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal carrier's hip condition claim (ECAB 20-1650)
F.M., a postal letter carrier in Huntington Beach, claimed that repetitive walking, carrying mail, and entering and leaving a vehicle caused or aggravated several right hip conditions. OWCP had denied the claim for insufficient evidence linking those conditions to the accepted work factors. His…
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.