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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J.M., III and U.S. Postal Service, Point Breeze Station, Philadelphia, PA
Board reverses end of postal carrier's back injury benefits (ECAB 21-1213)
A postal letter carrier received FECA benefits after a 2017 lifting injury to his back. OWCP accepted several lumbar conditions and later ended his wage loss and medical benefits based on an impartial medical examination. The Board found that the examiner questioned whether conditions that OWCP had…
M.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
Board upholds denial of postal worker's multi-condition claim (ECAB 21-1132)
A postal delivery worker claimed that 25 years of physical work aggravated carpal tunnel, back, knee, ankle, and shoulder conditions. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim for insufficient medical proof of work causation. The Board found that reports diagnosing several conditions gave no…
K.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service, Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Board orders inquiry into air marshal's jogging injury during temporary duty (ECAB 21-0308)
A federal air marshal was struck by a vehicle while jogging during a temporary duty assignment and sought compensation for shoulder and knee injuries. OWCP denied the claim because it found he was outside the performance of duty. The Board found that the incident occurred as described but that the…
W.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, St. Albans Harbor Healthcare System, Jamaica, NY
Board orders new impairment review for VA worker's wrist injury (ECAB 21-0295)
A Veterans Affairs recreation assistant sought a larger schedule award after an accepted left wrist fracture. OWCP had awarded three percent permanent impairment of her left upper extremity. Its medical adviser used a diagnosis based rating and discarded motion measurements because two examiners'…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Madison, WI
Board grants waiver of postal carrier's $12,887 overpayment recovery (ECAB 21-0097)
A postal city letter carrier received $12,887.77 more in FECA wage loss compensation than allowed while also receiving Social Security age-related retirement benefits. An earlier Board decision upheld the overpayment but found him without fault, leaving OWCP to decide whether to waive recovery…
Secretary of Labor obo Frank Cafego v. Civil, LLC
Equipment complaints supported temporary reinstatement
Frank Cafego alleged that Civil, LLC fired him after he repeatedly complained about equipment conditions while working as an equipment operator and truck driver. His complaints included an antifreeze leak and missing air conditioning that forced him to drive with open windows amid heavy dust. The…
Secretary of Labor v. GMS Mine Repair
Final-order dates controlled violation-history calculation
GMS Mine Repair accepted five citations and their gravity and negligence findings but disputed how MSHA calculated the contractor's violation history for penalty purposes. MSHA counted citations and orders that became final during the preceding 15 months, even if they had been issued earlier, while…
Colin DeBuse v. Corr Flight S. d/b/a Nicholas Air
Suspension findings vacated for missing protected-activity analysis
Pilot Colin DeBuse reported that a captain left the cockpit during a passenger flight, later refused to train with that captain, and was placed on unpaid leave before his employment ended. The ALJ found the safety report protected, held that it contributed to the suspension, awarded $2,703.24 in…
Darrin Muenzberg v. APL Maritime, LTD
SPA settlement approved and complaint dismissed
Darrin Muenzberg appealed after an ALJ rejected his Seaman's Protection Act retaliation complaint, and the parties settled while the appeal was before the Board. The Board reviewed only the SPA portion of the agreement because other covered claims fell outside its delegated settlement authority. It…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, USDOL v. E.T. Simonds Construction Company
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. E.T. Simonds Construction Company (DOL ARB 2021-0054): on-site truck time covered by prevailing wages
E.T. Simonds used subcontractor truck drivers to haul waste from an Illinois highway project to off-site locations. The drivers stayed in their trucks while others loaded them, but repeated trips kept them on the construction site for about 15 minutes per hour, or an estimated quarter of each…
C.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Shreveport, LA
Board confirms overpayment but remands amount and recovery (ECAB 21-1299)
A VA physician assistant continued to receive full disability compensation after returning to work for part of each day. OWCP calculated an $11,208.60 overpayment and found her at fault, which would prevent waiver. The Board agreed that some overpayment had occurred, but the payment records…
K.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Phoenix, AZ
Board remands postal worker's request for replacement work shoes (ECAB 21-1266)
A postal carrier with an accepted toe condition requested replacement work shoes after his prescribed wider shoes wore out. OWCP denied the request as a recurrence of a medical condition. The Board found that OWCP had treated the shoe request under the wrong question and had not determined whether…
A.A. and Department of the Air Force, Air Education & Training Command, Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, MS
Board reverses $28,484 overpayment finding without proof of FERS coverage (ECAB 21-1181)
An Air Force food service worker received FECA wage loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits. OWCP calculated a $28,484.11 overpayment using a form for employees covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System, or FERS, and ordered recovery from continuing benefits. The Board…
P.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI
Board orders timely reconsideration of VA worker's stress claim (ECAB 21-0364)
A Veterans Affairs contracting officer sought compensation for a stress related condition that she attributed to workload and workplace conflict. After OWCP denied the claim, she sent a letter addressing the deficiencies it had identified and later formally requested reconsideration. OWCP treated…
T.H. and Department of the Navy, Naval Base Kitsap, Keyport, WA
Board upholds benefit termination after refusal of suitable work (ECAB 19-1143)
A Navy firefighter's accepted hearing loss prevented him from continuing his firefighter job. The Navy offered a permanent security clerk position that OWCP found compatible with his limitations. After he declined the offer, OWCP gave him notice, time to explain, and another chance to accept before…
Gary Mansell v. Tennessee Valley Authority
Summary dismissal affirmed after adequate notice
TVA truck operator Gary Mansell alleged that he received an electrical shock at work and that his foreman told him not to discuss the injury. After workers' compensation proceedings, Mansell filed an Energy Reorganization Act retaliation complaint. The ALJ converted TVA's dismissal motion into a…
W.T. and Department of the Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, LA
Board confirms overpayment but orders recalculation (ECAB 22-0225)
An Air Force mechanic received federal workers' compensation and Social Security retirement benefits tied to his federal service during the same period. OWCP said this created a $39,065.45 overpayment, denied a waiver, and ordered deductions from his continuing benefits. The Board agreed that an…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Park Hills Post Office, Park Hills, MO
Board returns rural carrier's medical appointment wage claim for policy review (ECAB 22-0130)
A postal rural carrier associate sought eight hours of wage-loss compensation for each of two days when she attended medical appointments for an accepted shoulder condition. OWCP allowed four hours on each day but denied the remaining hours under its usual limit for routine appointments. The Board…
M.L. and Department of the Air Force, Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, CO
Board upholds refusal to reopen Air Force analyst's injury claim (ECAB 22-0120)
An Air Force intelligence analyst filed an injury claim after reporting a fall on ice in a parking lot. OWCP denied the claim, and he later asked it to reconsider. OWCP refused to reopen the merits, and the Board upheld that refusal. The Board found no showing that OWCP had applied a specific legal…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Processing & Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
Board orders impartial medical review of mail handler's carpal tunnel claim (ECAB 21-1388)
A postal mail handler claimed that repeatedly gripping and twisting controls on power equipment caused carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists. OWCP denied the claim after its second opinion physician found no work-related condition. Her treating physician described how years of repetitive pallet…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
Board returns postal carrier's neck and arm claim for medical review (ECAB 21-1360)
A postal carrier claimed that repeated turning and reaching while casing and delivering mail caused neck and left arm symptoms. OWCP accepted the work activities but denied the claim because it found the medical evidence insufficient to establish causation. The Board found that his doctor's opinion…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
Board grants OWCP's request to develop mail carrier's knee claim (ECAB 21-1283)
A postal worker appealed OWCP's denial of her claim for a bilateral knee condition. OWCP's Director asked the Board to remand, explaining that an orthopedic surgeon's opinion supported a work connection but did not yet establish the claim. The Director proposed giving the surgeon an accepted…
J.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs North Florida/South Georgia Health Care, Ocala West Specialty Clinic, Ocala, FL
Board upholds denial of medical clerk's upper extremity claim (ECAB 21-1169)
A Veterans Affairs medical clerk attributed hand and elbow conditions to repetitive typing, scheduling, folding letters, stuffing envelopes, and writing at work. OWCP accepted that she had several diagnoses but denied the claim because it found no sufficient medical explanation linking them to…
P.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
Board returns postal worker's knee claim for review with earlier files (ECAB 21-1036)
A postal mail handler claimed that her work caused or aggravated osteoarthritis in both knees. OWCP denied the claim after finding the medical evidence insufficient to establish a work connection. The worker also had two earlier claim files involving knee injuries. The Board held that the files had…
A.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, San Francisco, CA
Board upholds one life insurance overpayment and returns another for recalculation (ECAB 21-0887)
A postal worker received FECA compensation while life insurance premiums were deducted from her payments. OWCP later found that it had underwithheld premiums for two kinds of coverage and sought to recover $12,840.49 and $678.06. The Board upheld the larger overpayment because the post-retirement…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2814 and United States Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, D.C.
Federal Railroad Administration and AFGE Local 2814 (FLRA 0-AR-5754): Authority dismisses premature mileage exception
AFGE Local 2814 challenged the Federal Railroad Administration's unilateral change to the mileage-reimbursement rate for employees using personal vehicles for work. An arbitrator rejected a pre-implementation bargaining claim because government-wide regulations set the rate but allowed other…
United States Department of the Army, Military District of Washington, Fort Myer, Virginia and International Association of Firefighters, Local F-253
Fort Myer and IAFF Local F-253 (FLRA 0-AR-5621): Authority upholds training backpay
The president of IAFF Local F-253 requested official time for a six-week labor-relations training program. Fort Myer approved 40 hours, while the applicable local agreement allowed up to 120 annual training hours per union officer. An arbitrator found that the Union had shown additional courses…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs and American Federation of Government Employees, National Veterans Affairs Council
VA and AFGE National VA Council (FLRA 0-AR-5482): Authority upholds mutual-consent limit on midterm bargaining
The Department of Veterans Affairs proposed new procedures for requesting and tracking official time in its timekeeping system. AFGE declined midterm bargaining because existing agreements covered the subject and offered to address it in ongoing term negotiations. An arbitrator found that the…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, West Milwaukee Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
Board affirms denial of carrier's knee injury claim (ECAB 22-0114)
A postal carrier reported twisting his left knee while trying to avoid a mail cart at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim because it found no sufficient medical link between the incident and the diagnosed knee tears. The Board's analysis agreed: one doctor's opinion was…
B.B. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Three Rivers, CA
Board upholds denial of renewed back treatment claim (ECAB 21-1359)
A National Park Service forestry technician had an accepted lumbar sprain from carrying a person on a backboard down a trail in 2005. In 2021 he reported worsening back pain and asked for additional medical treatment, while stating that he had not missed work. OWCP asked for a physician's…
B.B. and Department of the Interior, National Park Services, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Three Rivers, CA
Board upholds denial of renewed right knee treatment claim (ECAB 21-1358)
A National Park Service firefighter had an accepted right knee injury from 1997 and received several authorized surgeries. In 2021 he reported worsening knee pain and sought further medical treatment under that claim. OWCP asked for evidence showing why the new treatment need was related to the…
S.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Shelby Township Post Office, Shelby Township, MI
Board upholds one knee benefit termination and reverses another (ECAB 21-0989)
A postal carrier received benefits for an accepted meniscus tear and an aggravation of osteoarthritis in his left knee. OWCP ended benefits for both conditions, relying in part on a second opinion examination. The Board upheld the termination for the tear because the medical evidence showed it had…
L.W. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Hyattsville, MD
Board upholds refusal to reopen Census worker's impairment award (ECAB 21-0942)
A Census Bureau worker had received a schedule award for one percent permanent impairment of her left upper extremity after an accepted injury. She asked OWCP to reconsider the award, arguing that it had overlooked other conditions, and submitted a later medical report. OWCP declined to reopen the…
S.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Broadway Station, Astoria, NY
Board returns carrier's renewed disability claim for full medical review (ECAB 21-0904)
A postal carrier with an accepted work injury returned to limited-duty work and later claimed that she could no longer work beginning June 6, 2020. OWCP denied further wage-loss compensation and then denied reconsideration. It had also asked an impartial medical examiner questions about her ability…
M.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Miami, FL
Board recognizes delivery incident as work factor and returns emotional condition claim (ECAB 21-0379)
A postal carrier reported anxiety after men ran close to him and he heard gunshots while delivering mail. OWCP rejected his emotional condition claim without evaluating the medical evidence because it found no compensable work factor. The Board found that he reasonably feared for his safety during…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
Board returns carrier's left knee claim for review with earlier case (ECAB 21-1410)
A postal letter carrier reported left knee swelling and stiffness after standing and walking at work. OWCP treated the filing as a new occupational disease claim and denied it for insufficient medical evidence of causation. The worker already had an accepted claim involving the same knee, but OWCP…
H.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Brooklyn, NY
Board upholds late reconsideration refusal in mail handler's back claim (ECAB 21-1218)
A postal mail handler challenged OWCP's denial of a claimed 2018 lumbar injury associated with lifting mail. After a prior Board merits decision in February 2020, he asked OWCP to reconsider in April 2021. The Board held that the request came after the one-year reconsideration period. It also found…
Summit Contracting Group, Inc.
Controlling-employer fall citation vacated
Summit Contracting Group was the general contractor for a multi-building residential project where OSHA observed nine framing-subcontractor employees working without fall protection at heights of 12 to 34 feet. OSHA cited Summit as a controlling employer even though none of Summit's own employees…
Secretary of Labor v. Westfall Aggregate & Materials, Inc.
No final order without proof of a written citation
Westfall Aggregate & Materials, Inc. asked the Commission to reopen a $16,400 special assessment tied to Citation No. 6559330, about seven years after the assessment allegedly became final. The Commission majority found that the record contained MSHA's internal special-assessment documentation but…
Matter of B-Z-R-
Mental health evidence may inform particularly serious crime analysis
The Attorney General reviewed a Board decision involving a Mexican respondent who sought withholding of removal after a burglary conviction and a finding that the conviction was for a particularly serious crime. The Attorney General overruled Matter of G-G-S- and held that immigration adjudicators…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
Board returns postal worker's left knee claim for combined review (ECAB 22-0095)
A postal worker claimed that sorting and handling mail caused a left knee meniscus tear. OWCP denied the claim and later refused to reconsider it. She also had an earlier accepted left knee contusion claim, but OWCP had not combined the related files. The Board held that both files should be…
O.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Brunswick, GA
Board reverses denial of continuation of pay for ICE worker (ECAB 22-0026)
An ICE employee contracted COVID-19 while traveling to a new duty station, and OWCP accepted the illness as work related. OWCP denied continuation of pay because it considered his injury claim late. The Board found that he filed the required CA-1 form on January 8, 2021, within 30 days of the…
D.C. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Medical Command, Evans Army Community Hospital, Fort Carson, CO
Board upholds benefit overpayment but returns waiver question (ECAB 22-0007)
An Army hospital worker received FECA wage-loss payments alongside Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service. OWCP did not make the required offset and found a $43,308.75 overpayment, for which it found the worker was without fault. The Board upheld the overpayment amount…
K.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford, CT
Board orders medical review of carrier's lumbar injury claim (ECAB 21-1303)
A postal carrier reported back pain after moving a heavy package into his truck. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied his claim for a lumbar condition. The Board found that a treating doctor's later explanation raised an uncontroverted inference linking the diagnosed conditions to…
R.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Asbury Park Post Office, Asbury Park, NJ
Board upholds disability recurrence and lumbar claim expansion denials (ECAB 21-1238)
A postal carrier fell down stairs at work, and OWCP accepted left knee and hip contusions that later resolved. He claimed a recurrence of disability in June 2020, then sought to add a lumbar disc condition to the accepted injury later that year. The Board found that his physicians did not…
D.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT
Board upholds refusal to reopen VA driver's injury claim (ECAB 21-0251)
A VA driver claimed injury after a dispute with a passenger during a work trip. OWCP denied the claim and later refused to reopen it when his reconsideration request arrived more than a year after its last merits decision. The Board held that the receipt date, October 20, 2020, controlled the…
M.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Crenshaw Imperial Post Office, Inglewood, CA
Board splits overpayment fault and upholds right arm award (ECAB 20-1353)
A postal worker returned to full-time work while OWCP continued paying temporary total disability benefits. The Board upheld OWCP's finding of a $4,044.50 overpayment. It held that the worker was without fault when she received the first incorrect direct deposit, but at fault for accepting a later…
Ocean Era, Inc.
In re Ocean Era, Inc. (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 20-08 and 20-09): Permit remanded for ocean-degradation clarification
Ocean Era, Inc. sought an NPDES permit for a pilot-scale offshore aquaculture facility in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental organizations challenged the permit under the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, NEPA, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Environmental Appeals Board found…
Ocean Era, Inc.
In re Ocean Era, Inc. (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 20-08 and 20-09): permit remanded in part and review denied in part
Ocean Era, Inc. received an NPDES permit from EPA Region 4 for discharges from a pilot-scale offshore marine aquaculture facility in the Gulf of Mexico. The petitions challenged the permit under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Marine Mammal…
Patrick Alston v. HH Xpress LLC
Appeal dismissed for failure to prosecute
An ALJ dismissed Patrick Alston's STAA complaint as filed beyond the 180-day deadline without grounds for equitable tolling. Alston appealed but missed the Board's December 20, 2021 opening-brief deadline and did not submit a brief until February 17, 2022 after a show-cause order. He cited…
M.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Lyons, NJ
Board upholds denial of VA nursing assistant's back claim (ECAB 22-0091)
A VA nursing assistant reported a back injury while helping a patient with a safety belt. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because the medical reports did not explain how it caused the diagnosed back condition. The Board agreed that the reports provided findings and…
S.M. and Department of State, Foreign Service, Washington, DC
Board upholds thumb claim denial and late written review refusal (ECAB 22-0075)
A State Department storekeeper reported left thumb pain after packing supplies into a truck. OWCP accepted that the work incident occurred but denied the injury claim because the medical report before it did not give a firm diagnosis. The Board agreed that the report described symptoms without…
B.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
Board upholds denial of continuation of pay for postal carrier (ECAB 21-0865)
A postal carrier sought continuation of pay after OWCP accepted his work-related COVID-19 claim. OWCP had accepted January 2, 2021 as the injury date. He filed the required CA-1 form on March 8, 2021, more than 30 days later. The Board held that this missed the filing deadline for continuation of…
N.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Margaret L. Sellers Processing & Distribution Facility, San Diego, CA
Board orders combined review of mail handler's right knee claims (ECAB 21-0581)
A mail handler reported hurting his right knee while unloading a trailer at work. OWCP accepted the incident and a diagnosed knee condition but denied a causal connection between them. It had previously accepted a right knee meniscus injury in a separate claim. The Board held that the two related…
B.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Roxbury, MA
Board upholds postal worker's overpayment and waiver denial (ECAB 21-0277)
A retired postal carrier received FECA wage-loss benefits and Social Security retirement benefits without the required offset. OWCP found a $25,186.27 overpayment and found him without fault for receiving it. It denied waiver after he did not provide the requested financial information. The Board…
S.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Board orders merit review of VA worker's emotional condition claim (ECAB 20-1661)
A VA physician assistant sought benefits for emotional symptoms after an accepted workplace assault and later work events. OWCP treated her filing as a new occupational disease claim and denied it. She requested reconsideration and supplied a report from a Board-certified psychologist addressing…
M.C. and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Boston, MA
Board upholds denial of OSHA investigator's emotional condition claim (ECAB 20-1051)
An OSHA investigator attributed an emotional condition to workplace training, personnel decisions, and alleged harassment and discrimination. The Board found no evidence substantiating his claim that he lacked required travel system training. It held that the challenged personnel actions would…
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 290 and United States Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Boilermakers Local 290 (FLRA 0-AR-5753): Authority upholds untimely-grievance award
Boilermakers Local 290 requested employee records from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in October 2020, and the Shipyard denied the request that day. The Union made the identical request again in January 2021 and filed a grievance after the second denial. An arbitrator found the grievance untimely…
Matter of Jose Miguel GERMAN SANTOS
Controlled-substance identity treated as an element
The Board reviewed a Dominican respondent's challenge to removability after a Pennsylvania conviction for possessing marijuana with intent to deliver. It held that any fact that establishes or increases the permissible punishment range is an element for the federal categorical approach, even if…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Hockessin Post Office, Hockessin, DE
Board upholds denial of ankle injury claim for missing incident details (ECAB 22-0260)
A rural postal delivery specialist reported twisting her left ankle while carrying a heavy parcel at work. The Postal Service said she finished her shift without reporting an injury, then returned later and mentioned rolling an ankle while wearing flip flops. OWCP asked her for a detailed…
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.