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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hammond, IN
Board upholds finding that postal worker abandoned hearing request (ECAB 22-0705)
A postal maintenance mechanic sought compensation for a shoulder injury after falling while feeding mail into a machine. OWCP denied the injury claim, and he requested an oral hearing. The Board found that OWCP properly mailed notice of the scheduled telephone hearing to his address of record…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
Board orders review of physician-signed records in postal carrier's wage-loss claim (ECAB 22-0532)
A postal carrier sought wage-loss compensation after a dog bite fractured her right index finger. OWCP denied the request, saying the submitted work restriction records came only from a nurse practitioner and physical therapists. The Board found that a hand surgeon had co-signed several of the work…
M.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Orlando, FL
Board orders fuller review of TSA worker's psychiatric condition evidence (ECAB 22-0411)
A TSA screener sought to add psychiatric conditions to a claim already accepted for neck and shoulder injuries. He submitted several medical reports in support of reconsideration. The Board found that OWCP had reviewed only two of the reports and had not addressed the other evidence submitted…
W.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Clarksdale Post Office, Clarksdale, MS
Board orders combined review of postal carrier's shoulder claims (ECAB 22-0312)
A postal letter carrier sought wage-loss compensation for October 24, 2020 through January 1, 2021 after right shoulder injuries. OWCP denied the request under her 2018 claim, but a separate 2019 claim involving the same shoulder had not been included in the record before the Board. The Board found…
S.M. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC
Board orders new medical review of FAA worker's leg fracture claim (ECAB 21-0848)
An FAA computer specialist sought to add a right leg fracture from a later fall at home to her accepted back injury claim. OWCP's referral physician had described foot drop related to the work injury, but later said the fall and fracture were unrelated without reconciling those statements. The…
E.G. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Houston, TX
Board orders corrected review of investigator's leg impairment claim (ECAB 21-0113)
A federal criminal investigator sought a larger schedule award for permanent impairment of both legs and feet. OWCP relied on a medical adviser who had received a statement of accepted facts with incorrect figures for the worker's earlier awards. The record showed prior awards of 29 percent right…
J.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Alexandria VA Health Care Systems, Alexandria, LA
Board majority upholds denial of VA worker's neck condition claim (ECAB 20-1662)
A VA medical technologist sought compensation for a neck condition that he attributed to repeated bending and leaning while drawing blood. The Board majority found that his physician's reports did not adequately explain how those duties caused or aggravated his cervical condition, including how…
Fujimi Corporation
In re Fujimi Corporation (EAB TSCA 22-04C): significant-new-use settlement approved
Fujimi Corporation voluntarily disclosed potential noncompliance involving a confidential chemical substance subject to a TSCA Significant New Use Rule. EPA alleged that Fujimi imported and processed a product containing the chemical before submitting the required Significant New Use Notice, failed…
Matter of Shlomo BADOR
Fraud waiver could not replace the good-faith waiver for conditional residence
The Board reviewed an Israeli respondent’s appeal after his conditional permanent resident status was terminated for failing to file a joint petition to remove the conditions on residence. He argued that the fraud waiver in section 237(a)(1)(H) could waive the separate removability ground tied to…
I.J. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Memphis, TN
Board dismisses Army worker’s appeal for lack of a recent OWCP decision (ECAB 22-0732)
An Army Corps of Engineers worker appealed what he described as a March 24, 2022 OWCP decision. The Board found that the document from that date was its own earlier order. The most recent OWCP decision in the record was from February 2020, outside the 180-day appeal period. The Board dismissed the…
B.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Martech Carrier Annex, Atlanta, GA
Board upholds denial of postal carrier’s wage-loss claim (ECAB 21-1369)
A postal carrier sought wage-loss compensation for several weeks after an accepted lower back injury. Her employer offered a full-time modified position based on the restrictions her doctor had provided. The Board found that later medical reports did not explain why she could not perform the…
B.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, North Little Rock, AR
Board accepts VA worker’s stairway fall and orders medical review (ECAB 21-0299)
A VA contract specialist sought compensation after falling on stairs at work. OWCP denied his claim because it doubted the account of the fall. The Board found that his account was consistent with emergency records, witness statements, and stair maintenance work orders. It established that the fall…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Corning, NY
Board orders OWCP to decide postal carrier’s recurrence claim (ECAB 20-0861)
A rural mail carrier sought compensation after her right shoulder symptoms returned following an accepted work injury. The Board had previously ordered OWCP to develop her filing as a recurrence claim and issue a new decision. OWCP combined the claim files and sent a development letter, but it…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 and United States Department of the Army, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
AFGE Local 1858 and Redstone Arsenal (FLRA 0-AR-5793): Authority dismisses late response
AFGE Local 1858 filed exceptions after an arbitrator denied its grievance. The Authority directed the Union to provide the related grievance and an earlier unfair-labor-practice charge, but the Union did not respond by the deadline. The order reached the agency mailroom before the deadline, and the…
B.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board accepts postal worker’s machine incident and orders medical review (ECAB 22-0817)
A postal letter carrier reported cutting his right index finger while replacing a belt on a machine at work. OWCP denied the claim, but the Board found his account consistent and noted that the Postal Service acknowledged the incident. It established that the incident happened during work and sent…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Carroll Reece Post Office, Johnson City, TN
Board finds documented back strain and orders further claim review (ECAB 22-0551)
A postal rural carrier reported feeling a pop in his lower back while sorting mail at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because it found no physician’s diagnosis. The Board identified an emergency physician’s report diagnosing a lumbar strain. It reversed that part…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
Board upholds denial of mail handler’s new back injury claim (ECAB 22-0405)
A postal mail handler reported renewed back pain after returning to work following an earlier accepted injury. OWCP accepted that a January 3, 2017 work incident occurred but denied a new injury claim. The Board found that medical reports either attributed the conditions to the earlier injury…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of mail handler’s rotator cuff claim (ECAB 21-0284)
A postal mail handler claimed that daily lifting, pushing, and pulling caused a right shoulder rotator cuff tear. The Board found that her doctor diagnosed the tear but did not give a sufficiently reasoned opinion connecting it to her work. It described one opinion as conclusory and another as…
A.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Irving, TX
Board upholds denial of officer’s training injury claim (ECAB 20-0658)
A Customs and Border Protection officer sought compensation for physical conditions she attributed to a December 2016 training exercise. Her treating doctor and an OWCP examiner disagreed about whether the incident caused an injury, so OWCP obtained an impartial medical examination. The Board found…
L.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, North Chicago, IL
Board orders new review of VA worker’s COVID-19 continuation-of-pay claim (ECAB 22-0651)
A VA nursing assistant sought continuation of pay after reporting workplace exposure to COVID-19. OWCP denied the request because it found that she filed her injury form more than 30 days after the claimed injury date. The Board found that OWCP had failed to apply its COVID-19 guidance, which…
A.G. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Minneapolis, MN
Board denies additional hearing-loss award for retired marshal (ECAB 22-0582)
A retired U.S. marshal sought a larger schedule award for accepted work-related hearing loss. OWCP had already paid an award based on 32 percent binaural impairment. The Board accepted the district medical adviser’s calculation of 31.3 percent current impairment, rounded to 31 percent under OWCP…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Atlanta Logistics & Distribution Center, Atlanta, GA
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal worker’s surgery claim (ECAB 22-0527)
A postal mail handler requested reconsideration after OWCP denied authorization for right cubital tunnel release surgery. The Board reviewed whether her new submission required OWCP to reopen the claim, not whether the surgery was medically necessary. It found that her physician’s new report…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Waterford Post Office, Waterford, WI
Board upholds late reconsideration denial in carrier’s shoulder claim (ECAB 22-0541)
A postal rural carrier asked OWCP to reconsider denial of her shoulder injury claim. OWCP received her request more than one year after its last merits decision. The Board found that her new medical report did not show clear evidence that OWCP had erred in the earlier decision. It affirmed OWCP’s…
S.I. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL
Board upholds VA worker’s injury denial and late hearing refusal (ECAB 22-0538)
A VA hospital worker reported injuring his leg after tripping over a floor outlet while carrying a surgical tray. OWCP accepted the work incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the physician reports did not adequately explain how the incident caused the claimed conditions. It…
C.D. and U.S. Postal Service, North Texas Processing & Distribution Center, Coppell, TX
Board orders employer evidence in postal technician’s stress claim (ECAB 20-1445)
A postal electronic technician claimed that work conditions, including workload and staffing, contributed to anxiety and stress symptoms. OWCP asked the Postal Service for information about his duties and staffing but received no response. The Board found that OWCP should have pursued that employer…
J.D. Abrams, L.P.
Trench and ladder violations affirmed
J.D. Abrams was installing a waterline at a highway construction project in Austin, Texas. OSHA found an employee working in an unprotected trench measured at more than five feet deep and using a ladder that extended only two feet eight inches above the landing surface. The judge found that the…
Huen Electric, Inc.
Commission dismisses case after full settlement
The case arose after a powered stacker truck and a 1,370-pound electrical splice box fell into a below-floor vault at a Chicago museum, seriously injuring an employee. OSHA cited Huen Electric for powered-industrial-truck training and for allegedly using lifting straps as an unapproved modification…
William Ross v. M.T.C. East d/b/a Ports America, Incorporated
Ross v. Ports America (BRB 21-0559): longshore disability claim remanded
William Ross injured his shoulder and head while working as a longshoreman when a metal rod fell on him. His employer paid disability and medical benefits, but a judge later denied further benefits after finding that other jobs were available and Ross had not searched for them. The Board held that…
Larry A. Herron v. Drummond Company, Incorporated
Herron v. Drummond Company (BRB 21-0525 BLA): employer liability for benefits affirmed
Larry Herron's award of black lung benefits had already been upheld in an earlier Board appeal. The remaining question was which coal mine operator had to pay. Drummond argued that Herron had later worked for Warrior Investment Company, but it had not identified him as a liability witness during…
Evelee Rhodes v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Rhodes v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0500 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Evelee Rhodes pursued her late husband Ralph's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The parties agreed he had at least 15 years of qualifying coal mine work, and the judge found a disabling respiratory impairment that invoked the 15-year presumption. Clinchfield Coal argued that an autopsy…
Evelee Rhodes v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Rhodes v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0499 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Evelee Rhodes pursued her late husband Ralph's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The parties agreed he had at least 15 years of qualifying coal mine work, and the judge found a disabling respiratory impairment that invoked the 15-year presumption. Clinchfield Coal argued that an autopsy…
Bassim Albonajim v. AECOM
Albonajim v. AECOM (BRB 21-0495): overseas wage loss remanded
Bassim Albonajim worked as an interpreter for AECOM in Iraq and later received a diagnosis of work-related post-traumatic stress disorder. A judge awarded medical benefits but denied disability compensation because Albonajim held stateside jobs when he learned of the condition. The Board held that…
Linda Waters v. Florence Mining Company
Waters v. Florence Mining (BRB 21-0424 BLA): benefits denial reversed, start date remanded
Linda Waters pursued her late husband Gary's black lung claim after a judge denied benefits on remand. The judge found that Gary's disabling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was related in part to coal mine dust but separately concluded that the disease did not cause his disability. The Board…
Beverly Holt v. Consolidation Coal Company
Holt v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0419 BLA): benefit start date remanded
Beverly Holt pursued her late husband Thomas's black lung claim after a labor judge awarded benefits on remand. The Board upheld the judge's finding that Consolidation Coal failed to rebut the 15-year presumption. On Beverly Holt's cross-appeal, it found that the judge had not adequately explained…
Charles R. Miller v. CAM Mining, LLC
Miller v. CAM Mining (BRB 21-0249 BLA): black lung benefits award and start date affirmed
Charles Miller sought black lung benefits after at least 23 years of underground coal mine work. A labor judge found that a CT scan established complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggers an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. The Board upheld the judge's assessment of…
Beulah Dykes v. Consolidation Coal Company
Dykes v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0139 BLA): miner and survivor claims remanded
Beulah Dykes pursued her late husband Lowell's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. A labor judge awarded benefits after finding 16.58 years of qualifying coal mine work and a disabling respiratory impairment. The Board held that the judge had not explained how he calculated the years of…
Beulah Dykes v. Consolidation Coal Company
Dykes v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0138 BLA): miner and survivor claims remanded
Beulah Dykes pursued her late husband Lowell's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. A labor judge awarded benefits after finding 16.58 years of qualifying coal mine work and a disabling respiratory impairment. The Board held that the judge had not explained how he calculated the years of…
Danny Stiltner v. Race Fork Coal Corporation
Stiltner v. Race Fork Coal (BRB 21-0041 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Danny Stiltner filed a later black lung claim after an earlier denial. A labor judge found 15.55 years of underground coal mine work and a disabling respiratory impairment, enough to invoke the 15-year presumption and establish a change since the earlier denial. The Board upheld the disability…
Millard R. Sluss v. Hosanna, LLC
Sluss v. Hosanna (BRB 21-0038 BLA): district director’s attorney fee award affirmed
Millard Sluss won black lung benefits after a judge found that the employer had not rebutted the 15-year presumption. In a related fee appeal, the employer challenged the district director's decision to pay one attorney at $175 per hour. The Board held that the district director had considered the…
Millard R. Sluss v. Hosanna, LLC
Sluss v. Hosanna (BRB 21-0037 BLA): judge’s attorney fee award affirmed
Millard Sluss won a black lung benefits award after a judge found he qualified for the 15-year presumption and the employer failed to rebut it. The employer also appealed the judge's $15,423.66 award of attorney fees and costs. The Board held that the employer had not filed its fee objections by…
Clarence B. Wade v. Eastern Associated Coal, LLC
Wade v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 20-0485 BLA): benefits award and carrier liability affirmed
Clarence Wade sought black lung benefits after more than 23 years of underground coal mine work. A labor judge found that he had a disabling respiratory impairment and invoked the 15-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's finding that Peabody Energy remained the responsible carrier for…
Millard R. Sluss v. Hosanna, LLC
Sluss v. Hosanna (BRB 20-0456 BLA): black lung benefits and fee awards affirmed
Millard Sluss sought black lung benefits after more than 20 years of qualifying coal mine work. The judge found a disabling respiratory impairment and applied the 15-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's finding that Hosanna and its insurer were responsible for the claim. It also upheld…
Rhodes Ooten, III v. Pittston Coal Management Company
Ooten v. Pittston Coal Management (BRB 18-0066 BLA): black lung benefits denial reversed
Rhodes Ooten had 29 years of coal mine work and developed severe pulmonary fibrosis that required a left lung transplant. A labor judge found that coal dust had contributed to his disease but denied benefits on the view that the transplant ended his respiratory disability. The Board reversed…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, USDOL v. Goldstar Amusements, Inc.
Interlocutory subpoena appeal denied
Goldstar Amusements and Lee's Concessions were defending H-2B enforcement cases involving alleged wage, transportation-expense, temporary-need, worker-treatment, and recordkeeping violations. The employers obtained ALJ subpoenas for depositions of representatives from USCIS and the Labor…
Perkins v. Cavicchio Greenhouses, Inc.
Summary dismissal vacated for unresolved ACA facts
Stephen Perkins alleged that Cavicchio Greenhouses ended his employment after he repeatedly asked for health coverage that he believed a permanent position entitled him to receive. The ALJ granted summary decision to the company after concluding that Perkins had not engaged in conduct protected by…
B.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Mobile, AL
Board dismisses postal worker's appeal for lack of a reviewable decision (ECAB 22-1334)
A postal worker, through counsel, filed an appeal on August 31, 2022 and identified a purported March 13, 2020 OWCP decision. The Board found no final adverse OWCP decision in the record issued within 180 days of the appeal. It therefore dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without…
W.R. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Region West, Texarkana, TX
Board upholds finding that defense worker abandoned hearing request (ECAB 22-1016)
A Defense Logistics Agency worker requested a telephone hearing after OWCP denied his claim for injuries from a workplace fall. OWCP mailed notice of the hearing to his address of record, but he did not join the call or request another hearing within ten days. The Board applied the presumption that…
M.P. and Department of the Army, Communications Electronics Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD
Board dismisses second appeal without a recent OWCP decision (ECAB 22-0949)
An Army employee appealed what he identified as a May 24, 2022 decision. That date belonged to an earlier Board ruling affirming that he had abandoned a hearing request. The most recent OWCP decision was issued in March 2021, more than 180 days before this new appeal. The Board dismissed the appeal…
S.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Columbia, SC
Board upholds denial of postal worker's neck and back claim (ECAB 22-0891)
A rural mail carrier reported falling while unloading her truck in October 2019. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied her claim for neck and lower back conditions. The Board found that her doctors diagnosed conditions and described symptoms but did not give a medical opinion…
D.A. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM
Board upholds denial of Forest Service worker's knee claim (ECAB 22-0762)
A Forest Service equipment operator reported left knee pain after a work fitness test. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim because the medical record did not establish a diagnosed condition caused by it. The Board agreed that a doctor's diagnosis of knee pain…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indian Orchard, MA
Board upholds denial of postal worker's late reconsideration request (ECAB 22-0686)
A postal letter carrier had received compensation for an accepted 1998 back injury. OWCP terminated her benefits in January 2021, and she asked for reconsideration more than one year later. The Board found the request untimely and concluded that her submissions did not show clear evidence that OWCP…
L.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Buffalo VA Medical Center, Buffalo, NY
Board returns VA worker's COVID-19 continuation-of-pay claim (ECAB 22-0676)
A food service worker at a Veterans Affairs medical center sought continuation of pay after testing positive for COVID-19. OWCP denied the request because it measured the 30-day notice period from the December 22, 2021 date on her injury claim form. The Board held that OWCP had failed to apply FECA…
E.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Bushwick Station, Brooklyn, NY
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's back and hand injury claim (ECAB 22-0604)
A postal carrier reported back and hand symptoms after bending to lift a bucket of mail. OWCP accepted that the June 8, 2021 workplace incident occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the medical reports diagnosed conditions or linked them to work without explaining how that…
F.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Long Beach Healthcare System, Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center, Long Beach, CA
Board returns VA manager's COVID-19 continuation-of-pay claim (ECAB 22-0596)
A financial manager at a Veterans Affairs medical center sought continuation of pay after reporting COVID-19 symptoms and a positive test. OWCP denied her request because she filed her injury claim more than 30 days after the December 21, 2021 exposure date she reported. The Board found that OWCP…
M.V. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Flushing, NY
Board returns air traffic controller's COVID-19 pay claim (ECAB 22-0515)
An air traffic controller reported close contact with a coworker who had COVID-19 and later tested positive. OWCP denied continuation of pay because he filed his injury claim more than 30 days after the December 23, 2021 contact date. The Board found that OWCP had not applied FECA Bulletin No…
I.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Swanton, VT
Board remands COVID-19 continuation of pay claim for date review (ECAB 22-0514)
A Customs and Border Protection officer reported workplace exposure to COVID-19 and later tested positive. OWCP denied continuation of pay because it treated his claim form as filed more than 30 days after the injury. The Board found that OWCP had failed to apply FECA Bulletin No. 21-09, which uses…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Ashley Post Office, Ashley, OH
Board upholds postal worker's $36,800 benefit overpayment (ECAB 22-0441)
A retired postmaster received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits for the same period. Part of his Social Security benefit reflected federal service, requiring an offset that OWCP had not applied. The Board affirmed OWCP's $36,800.11 overpayment calculation for…
T.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Network Distribution Center, Des Moines, IA
Board upholds denial of postal worker's recurrence claim (ECAB 22-0244)
A postal mail handler with an accepted left sciatica injury stopped work in April 2021 and sought compensation for a recurrence of disability. OWCP denied the claim, and the Board affirmed. The Board found that her physicians documented pain and time away from work but did not explain how the…
N.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Katy, TX
Board orders OWCP to review overlooked medical reports (ECAB 21-0357)
A postal worker sought compensation for back symptoms after moving mail in October 2018. OWCP denied her claim, finding the medical evidence did not establish that work caused her diagnosed conditions. The Board found that OWCP's decision did not address four medical reports from her physician that…
R.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Asheville Processing & Distribution Facility, Asheville, NC
Board reverses termination of postal worker's knee injury benefits (ECAB 20-1611)
A postal mail handler received compensation for accepted right knee injuries after a 2002 workplace accident. OWCP ended his wage-loss and medical benefits based on medical opinions it said showed the injury had resolved. The Board found that one physician's report lacked enough reasoning to create…
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.