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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Shah v. Albert Fried & Co.
SOX summary dismissal affirmed
Sachin Shah alleged that Albert Fried and TD Securities terminated him for reporting suspected securities violations. The ALJ assumed protected activity but found no evidence that TD Securities knew of it and found clear and convincing evidence that the company would have eliminated Shah's…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
Postal carrier's knee claim denied without medical explanation of work causation (ECAB 22-0872)
A city letter carrier reported left knee pain after prolonged walking, lifting, and standing at work. An MRI showed a medial meniscus tear and osteoarthritis. OWCP accepted the described work factors but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not connect them to her knee condition. The…
K.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
Letter carrier's knee injury claim denied without reasoned medical link to stair incident (ECAB 22-0698)
A city letter carrier reported pain in both knees while walking up stairs at work. Medical records described knee symptoms, a right meniscus tear, and prior left knee surgery. OWCP accepted that the July 26, 2021 incident occurred but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the physicians'…
V.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Northport VA Medical Center, Northport, NY
VA pipe fitter's back claim returned for combined review with earlier injury (ECAB 22-0577)
A VA pipe fitter claimed renewed low back symptoms after returning to modified work following an accepted 2018 injury. OWCP converted his recurrence claim to a new occupational disease claim and denied it. The Board found that both claims involved the lumbar region and that the earlier accepted…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
Postal carrier's reported ankle incident accepted for further claim review (ECAB 22-0448)
A postal carrier said he twisted his right ankle after stepping from his delivery vehicle into a hole covered by leaves. OWCP denied the claim because it found the incident unproven. The Board found his account consistent with the treatment record and noted that his supervisor had acknowledged an…
S.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Miami VA Medical Center, Miami, FL
VA nursing assistant's wage capacity decision returned for review of accepted pain condition (ECAB 22-0253)
A former VA nursing assistant sought modification of a 1997 finding that her alternate duty job represented her ability to earn wages. OWCP had since accepted chronic pain syndrome in her injured leg. Its impartial examiner did not specifically address whether that condition affected her ability to…
E.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, East Orange VA Medical Center, East Orange, NJ
VA nurse's Social Security offset overpayment and repayment schedule upheld (ECAB 22-0081)
A VA nurse received federal injury compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service without the required offset. OWCP calculated a $235,858.48 overpayment and reduced the debt to $183,569.82. The Board upheld the calculation and found that being without fault did…
C.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Anaheim, CA
Postal clerk's wage loss reduction upheld after suitable part time duty offer (ECAB 21-0543)
A postal mail processing clerk received compensation for accepted left arm conditions. Her employer offered a temporary modified clerk assignment for 30 hours a week, with duties assigned to her right hand. She declined, and OWCP reduced her wage loss compensation to account for the wages the…
A.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Imperial, CA
Border officer's duplicate appeal dismissed (ECAB 21-0432)
A Customs and Border Protection worker filed two appeals from the same December 2020 OWCP decisions. The Board had already assigned the first appeal Docket No. 21-0346 when it received the second filing. It dismissed the second appeal, Docket No. 21-0432, as duplicative. The order contains no…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, Florida and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3690, Council of Prison Locals 33
FCI Miami and AFGE Local 3690 (FLRA 0-AR-5771): Authority reinstates but denies overtime exceptions
An arbitrator found that FCI Miami misclassified teachers as exempt from federal overtime requirements and later awarded backpay and liquidated damages. The Authority initially dismissed the agency's exceptions after not receiving its response to a show-cause order. Delivery records showed that the…
T.D. and Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Guaynabo, PR
Census worker's appeal dismissed without a final adverse OWCP decision (ECAB 22-0570)
A Census Bureau worker appealed from what he described as a February 18, 2022 OWCP decision. The Board found no final adverse OWCP decision in the transmitted record that had been issued within 180 days of his appeal. Without such a decision, it had no jurisdiction to review the case. The Board…
S.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Castaic Station Post Office, Santa Clarita, CA
Postal clerk's needle injury claim returned for review of overlooked medical report (ECAB 22-0392)
A postal distribution clerk reported a puncture to his right wrist from a needle protruding from a package at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the claim for lack of a diagnosed condition. Before issuing that decision, OWCP had received a physician's emergency department report describing…
W.S. and Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
Army worker's duplicate appeal docket dismissed after clerical assignment (ECAB 22-0389)
An Army depot worker appealed a December 2021 OWCP decision. The Board's clerk assigned one docket number to the appeal and inadvertently assigned another to a duplicate copy. The Board dismissed the duplicate docket, 22-0389. Its order notes that the Board had already issued a separate decision in…
N.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Lyndonville Post Office, Lyndonville, VT
Postal carrier's suitable work termination reversed, recurrence denial upheld (ECAB 21-0710)
A rural postal carrier returned to a modified job after accepted left shoulder injuries, then stopped working after several days. OWCP ended her wage loss compensation and schedule award eligibility, finding that she had abandoned suitable work. The Board reversed that termination because the…
K.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Denver Colorado Processing & Distribution Center, Denver, CO
Postal operator's shoulder awards returned for complete range of motion measurements (ECAB 20-1675)
A postal tractor trailer operator sought schedule awards for impairment of both shoulders. OWCP awarded five percent for the right arm and two percent for the left after its medical adviser used a diagnosis based rating. The treating physician's range of motion rating suggested larger impairments…
Riverdale Mills Corporation
Lockout items mostly vacated, health items affirmed
Riverdale Mills manufactures coated wire mesh on a long production line at its Massachusetts facility. After an employee suffered a severe arm injury while adjusting moving mesh, OSHA issued safety and health citations involving lockout/tagout, machine guarding, chemical training, and access to…
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries Inc.
Late-petition dismissal denied after extension was met
Cactus Canyon asked to dismiss its penalty case because the Secretary did not file the petition within the usual 45-day period after the operator's contest. Before the petition was filed, the Chief Judge had found good cause and extended the deadline to January 18, 2022; the Commission declined…
C.Q. and U.S. Postal Service, Dover Post Office, Dover, NJ
Postal carrier's back claim denied without medical explanation linking fracture to slip (ECAB 22-0375)
A postal letter carrier slipped on snow while leaving her vehicle before work and reported back pain. OWCP accepted the incident but denied her claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused a diagnosed back condition. Imaging showed a compression fracture, and physicians…
C.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Kansas City Network Distribution Center, Kansas City, MO
Postal clerk's injury claim denied without reasoned medical link to pallet incident (ECAB 22-0310)
A postal computer operation clerk reported injuries after a moving pallet of mail struck boxes near her and pinned her between them. OWCP accepted the incident and found diagnoses in the record but denied the claim for lack of medical causation evidence. Several reports recorded pain or listed…
D.J., Executrix of the Estate of L.J., and Department of the Air Force, Kelly Air Force Base, TX
Air Force worker's estate overpayment returned for required recovery procedures (ECAB 22-0012)
OWCP said it had underwithheld basic and postretirement life insurance premiums from an Air Force worker's compensation payments. After his death, it told his estate to repay $2,144.58. His daughter, as executrix, appealed. The Board found no evidence that OWCP first followed its required process…
R.N. and Department of the Army, National Museum of Health & Medicine, Silver Spring, MD
Army analyst's injury and disability claims returned for another medical opinion (ECAB 21-0948)
An Army management analyst injured her right arm at work in February 2014. OWCP accepted a shoulder and upper arm sprain, but denied her request to recognize additional conditions and disability beginning in September 2014. A new physician's report did not establish those claims by itself, but the…
W.N. and Department of the Interior, Salt Lake District, Salt Lake City, UT
Board reverses termination of Interior worker's back injury benefits (ECAB 20-1600)
An Interior Department engineering aide injured his lower back while hand cranking a generator in 1982. OWCP accepted the injury and paid compensation for many years, then ended wage-loss and medical benefits in 2019 based on a second-opinion surgeon's report. The Board found that the surgeon did…
B.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Knoxville, TN
Postal worker's dual benefit overpayment and waiver denial upheld (ECAB 20-1437)
A Postal Service rural carrier received workers' compensation while also receiving Social Security retirement benefits partly earned through federal service. OWCP found that it had not applied the required offset and had overpaid her $27,940.06 from July 2018 through January 2020. The Board upheld…
Secretary of Labor v. Covol Fuels No. 3 LLC
Massive roof-fall penalty reduction rejected
MSHA cited Covol Fuels after a roof collapse in the primary escapeway measured about 20 feet wide, 35 feet long, and 9 feet thick. The citation treated the event as having occurred, with fatal gravity and an S&S designation, and proposed a $3,546 penalty. The parties sought to change likelihood to…
Matter of V-A-K-
Attempted burglary conviction barred cancellation of removal
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security’s appeal from a grant of cancellation of removal to a Ukrainian lawful permanent resident. It held that the respondent’s New York conviction for attempted second-degree burglary was an aggravated felony burglary offense under the categorical…
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Carol Stream, IL
Postal worker's injury denial and late hearing request upheld (ECAB 22-0766)
A Postal Service mail handler reported injuring his shoulder and neck against a machine in July 2021. The Board found that an emergency physician documented pain but no diagnosed compensable condition. A chiropractor's diagnoses did not qualify as medical evidence under FECA because the records did…
M.D. and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Arlington, VA
Late reconsideration request in FDIC worker's injury claim remains denied (ECAB 22-0542)
An FDIC financial analyst sought benefits after a fall in an employer parking garage in 2015. His injury claim was denied for insufficient medical evidence connecting his conditions to the incident. He later sought reconsideration after the one-year deadline, submitting orthopedic reports. The…
R.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing & Distribution Center, New York, NY
Postal worker's back condition claim returned for combined file review (ECAB 22-0256)
A Postal Service mail handler claimed that repeated mail lifting caused neck and back conditions. OWCP denied his claim for insufficient medical evidence connecting a back condition to his work. The Board found that OWCP had not combined this case with an earlier accepted claim for a lumbosacral…
E.T. and Selective Service System, Support Services Directorate, Rosslyn, VA
Selective Service worker's overpayment and recovery schedule upheld (ECAB 22-0234)
A Selective Service administrative assistant received workers' compensation after a 1993 ankle injury. OWCP later found that her compensation had not been offset for Social Security retirement benefits attributable to her federal service, creating a $14,309.80 overpayment between April 2009 and…
C.M. and U.S. Courts, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Little Rock, AR
Board reverses benefit reduction based on worker's minister earnings (ECAB 22-0205)
A federal public defender's office investigator received compensation after a work fall injured her knee. She later worked part time as a minister, and OWCP reduced her benefits based on those earnings. The Board found no written description of the minister job's duties and physical requirements in…
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Boerne Post Office, Boerne, TX
Postal clerk's retirement benefit overpayment and waiver denial upheld (ECAB 21-1415)
A Postal Service clerk received workers' compensation after a 2002 back injury. OWCP later found that it had not offset her compensation for Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service from November 2017 through March 2021. The Board upheld the resulting $58,263.92…
A.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Imperial, CA
Border patrol agent's 15 percent knee impairment rating upheld (ECAB 21-0346)
A border patrol agent injured his left knee during firearms training and received schedule awards totaling 15 percent impairment of his left lower extremity. He sought a larger award based on a doctor's 20 percent rating using reduced knee motion. The Board found that the applicable impairment…
S.F. and U.S. Postal Service, University Station, Dallas, TX
Postal carrier's cervical condition claim sent to an impartial examiner (ECAB 20-1492)
A Postal Service letter carrier attributed shoulder and neck conditions to repeated carrying, lifting, and handling mail. OWCP accepted sprains but declined to recognize additional cervical conditions. His treating physician linked cervical discopathy and related conditions to the work duties…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, University City Post Office, St. Louis, MO
Postal carrier's late hearing requests remain denied (ECAB 22-0530)
OWCP ended a Postal Service carrier's back injury benefits in June 2021. Her hearing request was postmarked August 11, more than 30 days after that decision, and she later repeated the request. The Board upheld both hearing denials because the requests were late and OWCP reasonably directed her to…
A.M. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Station Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, San Diego, CA
Navy mechanic's upper extremity claim returned for medical development (ECAB 22-0313)
A Navy testing mechanic claimed that repeated lifting, reaching, and handling parts caused right shoulder and hand conditions. His physician linked rotator cuff tendinitis and aggravated carpal tunnel syndrome to those duties. The Board majority found that the report did not yet prove the claim but…
F.G. and Department of the Army, Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
Army mechanic's request to add knee arthritis to injury claim denied (ECAB 22-0268)
An Army depot mechanic injured his right knee after falling over a welding machine at work. OWCP accepted a ligament sprain, but declined to add worsening of preexisting knee arthritis. His surgeon had diagnosed both conditions soon after the fall, yet did not explain how the work injury caused the…
J.G. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Charlotte, NC
Marshal's knee impairment award returned for complete rating analysis (ECAB 21-0434)
A federal marshal injured his left knee while jogging during approved training and underwent a partial meniscectomy. OWCP awarded a two percent permanent impairment of his left lower extremity, while his surgeon estimated five percent. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser had not reviewed…
C.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Rosemont, IL
TSA worker's impairment awards and wage-loss termination upheld (ECAB 21-0237)
A TSA supervisor injured her left knee and shoulder after tripping while boarding an employer shuttle. OWCP awarded eight percent permanent impairment of her left upper extremity and 25 percent of her left lower extremity, then ended wage-loss compensation in May 2020 while continuing medical…
M.D. and Department of the Navy, Child Development Center, Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Ceiba, PR
Navy child care worker's wage-loss termination upheld (ECAB 21-0080)
A Navy child development center worker injured her back while lifting a child in 2001 and later had an approved lumbar fusion. OWCP accepted additional postlaminectomy and adjacent disc conditions, but ended wage-loss compensation after a second-opinion surgeon found she could return to her…
O.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Urbana, IL
Postal janitor's continuing back disability claim remains denied (ECAB 20-1343)
A Postal Service janitor injured his back in a 1993 work fall and received compensation for many years. OWCP ended his wage-loss and medical benefits in 2016, and the Board had previously upheld that termination. In this appeal, the Board considered later submissions but found no reasoned physician…
T.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Garden City, NY
Postal worker's retirement overpayment returned for recalculation (ECAB 20-1294)
A Postal Service motor vehicle operator received workers' compensation and Social Security retirement benefits partly earned through federal service. The Board agreed that this created a prohibited dual benefit, but found that OWCP's overpayment calculation had not accounted for $200 monthly…
United States Department of Defense, Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools and Federal Education Association, Stateside Region
DOD schools and Federal Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-5590): Authority denies impasse-order reconsideration
The Defense Department and the Federal Education Association reached an impasse while negotiating a successor agreement for stateside schools. An arbitrator later found that the Federal Service Impasses Panel lacked jurisdiction over one provision and that the Department violated bargaining law by…
Janice Collins, on behalf of and widow of Hurley C. Collins, v. Clinchfield Coal Company/Pittson Company
Collins v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0437 and 22-0025): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Janice Collins pursued her late husband's subsequent black lung claim and her own survivor claim. After an earlier Board remand, the judge again found that the employer had not rebutted the fifteen-year presumption and awarded miner benefits. A second judge awarded derivative survivor benefits…
Joyce A. Whitaker, on behalf of and widow of Ivan Whitaker, v. Cook & Sons Mining, Incorporated and National Union Fire/Chartis
Whitaker v. Cook & Sons Mining (BRB 21-0582 and 21-0583): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Joyce Whitaker pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The judge found Ivan Whitaker had 23 years of qualifying coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The fifteen-year presumption applied, and the employer failed to rebut it. On appeal, the…
Virginia E. Castle, on behalf of and widow of Bernard S. Castle, v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Castle v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0455 and 21-0456): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Virginia Castle pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The judge credited Bernard Castle with 21.81 years of underground coal mine work and found total respiratory disability. She applied the fifteen-year presumption, found Clinchfield Coal had not rebutted it, and…
Virginia E. Castle, on behalf of and widow of Bernard S. Castle, v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Castle v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0455 and 21-0456): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Virginia Castle pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The judge credited Bernard Castle with 21.81 years of underground coal mine work and found total respiratory disability. She applied the fifteen-year presumption, found Clinchfield Coal had not rebutted it, and…
Alice F. Gaylor, widow of Billy G. Gaylor, v. Consolidation Coal Company
Gaylor v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0451 BLA): survivor benefits affirmed while miner appeal pending
Alice Gaylor sought black lung survivor benefits after Billy Gaylor was found eligible for miner benefits. Consolidation Coal argued that her survivor claim should wait until its appeal of the miner award was final. The Board held that the pending appeal did not require delaying the derivative…
Janice Collins, on behalf of and widow of Hurley C. Collins, v. Clinchfield Coal Company/Pittson Company
Collins v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0437 and 22-0025): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Janice Collins pursued her late husband's subsequent black lung claim and her own survivor claim. After an earlier Board remand, the judge again found that the employer had not rebutted the fifteen-year presumption and awarded miner benefits. A second judge awarded derivative survivor benefits…
Earl Caudill v. Sapphire Coal Company and Old Republic Insurance Company
Caudill v. Sapphire Coal (BRB 21-0395 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Earl Caudill sought black lung benefits after working for 26 years in underground coal mines. The administrative law judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, applied the statutory presumption that the disability was due to pneumoconiosis, and awarded benefits. Sapphire Coal and its…
Donnie E. Ramey v. ICG Knott County LLC
Ramey v. ICG Knott County (BRB 21-0369 BLA): benefit eligibility affirmed, start date remanded
Donnie Ramey sought black lung benefits after 30 years of underground coal mine work. The administrative law judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment and awarded benefits beginning in December 2013, when Ramey filed his claim. ICG Knott County challenged the disability finding and the…
Edward A. Lidwell v. Consolidation Coal Company
Lidwell v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0353 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Edward Lidwell sought black lung benefits after 12 years of surface coal mine work. The administrative law judge found that coal dust exposure and smoking both contributed to his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and that the disease caused total disability. Consolidation Coal disputed the…
Diane F. Haight, widow of Robert A. Haight, v. Helen Mining Company
Haight v. Helen Mining (BRB 21-0334 BLA): survivor award vacated for evidence review
Diane Haight sought survivor benefits after the death of her husband, coal miner Robert Haight. A judge initially denied the claim, but a second judge granted modification after finding that Robert had complicated pneumoconiosis. Helen Mining argued that the second judge had admitted a medical…
Richard E. Pollard, Sr. v. Consolidation Coal Company
Pollard v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0128 BLA): black lung denial sent back for disability review
Richard Pollard sought black lung benefits after 18 years of underground coal mine work. The administrative law judge denied his claim because he found no totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the finding that the pulmonary function tests did not themselves establish total…
Tony D. Setliff v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Setliff v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 20-0463 BLA): benefits and carrier liability affirmed
Tony Setliff sought black lung benefits after 28 years of qualifying coal mine work. The administrative law judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, applied the statutory presumption that it was due to pneumoconiosis, and awarded benefits. Eastern Associated Coal and Peabody Energy…
Leroy Workman v. Hobet Mining Company, self-insured through Arch Resources
Workman v. Hobet Mining (BRB 20-0132 BLA): black lung benefits award and carrier liability affirmed
Leroy Workman sought benefits on a subsequent black lung claim after 29.5 years of underground coal mine work. The administrative law judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, applied the statutory presumption that it was due to pneumoconiosis, and awarded benefits. Hobet Mining and…
L.J. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Yuma, AZ
Border Patrol worker's 13 percent shoulder impairment award upheld (ECAB 22-0584)
A Border Patrol mission support specialist injured her left shoulder in a work fall. OWCP awarded a schedule award for 13 percent permanent impairment of her left upper extremity, while an examining surgeon rated it at 14 percent. The Board agreed with OWCP's medical adviser that the surgeon had…
J.R. and Department of Defense, Financial & Business Operations Logistics Division, Alexandria, VA
Defense worker's trip injury claim denied without medical evidence (ECAB 22-0326)
A Defense Department motor vehicle operator reported tripping over an engine cover during a school bus inspection and injuring his head, arm, and lower back. OWCP accepted that the September 2021 work incident occurred, but he submitted no medical evidence with his claim. The Board held that the…
N.G. and U.S. Postal Service, La Salle Post Office, Niagara Falls, NY
Postal carrier's overpayment and deduction schedule upheld (ECAB 22-0172)
A Postal Service letter carrier received workers' compensation and Social Security retirement benefits partly attributable to federal service. OWCP found that a missing offset created a $37,213.62 overpayment from January 2015 through April 2021. The Board upheld the calculation and found him…
C.D. and Department of the Army, Army National Guard, Latham, NY
Wage-loss termination upheld, medical benefit termination reversed for Army worker (ECAB 22-0089)
An Army National Guard tools attendant received compensation for an accepted mild depressive disorder after a work altercation. OWCP later ended both wage-loss compensation and medical benefits based on a psychiatrist's second opinion. The Board found his report supported a return to work without…
Walker Industrial, LLC
Scissor-lift capacity violation affirmed, struck-by item vacated
A boom lift backed into an elevated scissor lift at a Texas warehouse project, causing the scissor lift to fall with three Walker Industrial employees in its basket. All three employees were seriously injured and one died. The judge vacated a general duty clause item because OSHA did not prove that…
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.