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.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Omaha, NE
Board upholds denial of retired carrier’s carpal tunnel claim (ECAB 22-0062)
A retired letter carrier attributed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome to decades of handling mail. OWCP asked him for a more detailed description of the work activities he believed caused the condition. The Board found that his account remained too general and that he did not respond to the request…
L.I. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
Board orders combined review of postal worker’s wrist claims (ECAB 21-1396)
A postal clerk reported a right wrist condition after repetitive lifting, pushing, and pulling at work. OWCP denied the new claim for lack of medical causation proof. The Board found that three earlier claims concerning the same wrist had not been combined with the current file. It set aside the…
T.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Salisbury W.G. Hefner Veterans Medical Center, Salisbury, NC
Board orders combined review of VA worker’s shoulder claims (ECAB 21-1335)
A VA medical support assistant attributed left shoulder symptoms to holding a telephone while typing. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim for lack of medical causation proof. The Board found that OWCP had separately accepted and continued treating an earlier injury to the same shoulder. It…
T.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Medrano Post Office, Dallas, TX
Board confirms overpayment but orders recalculation (ECAB 21-1271)
A postal carrier continued receiving total disability compensation after returning to part-time work. The Board agreed that this created an overpayment and found that she was without fault. It could not verify OWCP's $1,691.23 figure because the agency had separately paid her $951.61 for leave…
D.F. and Department of Homeland Security, Alpine, TX
Board upholds denial of continuation of pay and hearing request (ECAB 21-0952)
A border patrol agent contracted COVID-19 during work training, and OWCP accepted the claim. It denied continuation of pay because he filed the injury form more than 30 days after the incident. The Board upheld that ruling. It also upheld OWCP's finding that he abandoned an oral hearing after…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Locals 222 and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD and AFGE Council of Locals 222 (FLRA 0-AR-5728): Authority upholds split bad-faith-bargaining award
AFGE Council of Locals 222 alleged that HUD bargained in bad faith during official-time negotiations and mishandled related information requests. An arbitrator found bad-faith bargaining on the official-time article but found that the evidence did not establish bad faith in responding to the…
Quentin La Grande v. Owens Corning
Reconsideration of voluntary dismissal denied
Quentin La Grande withdrew his appeal of OSHA's dismissal after reporting that he and Owens Corning had reached a mutual settlement. He changed his mind after the ALJ dismissed the case and unsuccessfully asked the ALJ and then the Board to reopen it. Two days after the Board affirmed the voluntary…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Lake Otis Station Post Office, Anchorage, AK
Board orders OWCP to review omitted wrist injury evidence (ECAB 21-1421)
A postal delivery worker reported renewed right wrist pain while sorting mail after an earlier accepted wrist sprain. OWCP combined the two injury files but denied the later claim. The Board found that OWCP had omitted several medical reports from the earlier file when deciding the claim. It set…
K.G. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Norfolk, VA
Board upholds denial of continuation of pay for late injury report (ECAB 21-1350)
A customs deployment officer filed a COVID-19 injury claim in March 2021 for an incident in January. OWCP accepted the condition as work related but denied continuation of pay. The Board found that he submitted the injury form after the 30-day deadline, even though he said he had not known about…
T.D. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard
T.D. (ECAB 21-1160 and 21-1161): Right ankle claims returned for combined review
A Coast Guard contract specialist filed several claims concerning right ankle injuries he attributed to security gate incidents. OWCP denied the claims separately, even though the Board had previously directed it to combine two of the files. The Board found that all three claims involved the same…
T.D. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC
Board orders combined review of three right ankle claims (ECAB 21-1160)
A Coast Guard contract specialist filed several claims involving right ankle injuries at a security gate and later ankle conditions. OWCP denied the two decisions on appeal, although the Board had previously directed it to combine related claim files. The Board found that OWCP still had not joined…
C.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
Board upholds denial of renewed wage-loss benefits (ECAB 21-1048)
A federal worker with accepted hand and nerve conditions later worked as a lead contract specialist for a different agency. She stopped working after new restrictions and sought wage-loss compensation beginning July 23, 2020. The Board found that her physician did not establish disability from her…
R.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Roosevelt, NY
Board dismisses appeal from void OWCP decision (ECAB 21-0923)
R.O. appealed an April 22, 2021 OWCP decision that denied modification of an earlier ruling. OWCP had issued it while a related appeal was pending before the Board. The Board had already declared the April decision void because both bodies could not decide the same issues at the same time. It…
G.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, East Orange VA Hospital, New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ
Board reverses $21,340.71 retirement offset overpayment (ECAB 20-1285)
A VA medical instrument technician received FECA compensation and Social Security retirement benefits. OWCP found a $21,340.71 overpayment and ordered recovery by deductions from her continuing payments. The Board found conflicting evidence about whether she was covered by the Federal Employees…
E.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Dominick V. Daniels Processing & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
Board orders clarification of medical opinion on added injury conditions (ECAB 20-1171)
A postal mail handler sought to add shoulder, knee, spine, and wrist conditions to an accepted injury claim after falling at work. OWCP denied expansion of the claim. The Board found that the impartial specialist had not directly addressed those specific conditions or explained why they were…
J.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Olathe, KS
Board orders combined review of carrier’s disability claims (ECAB 20-0788)
A letter carrier sought wage-loss compensation for intermittent disability related to his left shoulder. OWCP denied some of the claimed periods. The Board found that two accepted injury files concerning that shoulder had not been combined. It set aside the denial and directed OWCP to review the…
JRD, LLC dba Maslonka Powerline Services
Loader design-limits citation vacated
Two Maslonka Powerline Services employees were killed when a multi-ton utility-pole section fell from a loader's fork attachment during unloading. OSHA alleged that the loader was operated outside its design limitations because the pole was not cradled against the carriage and because the carriage…
Secretary of Labor v. Lo Down Energy, Inc.
Staff illness supported reopening
Lo Down Energy, Inc. did not contest a proposed penalty within 30 days, so the assessment became a final Commission order. The employee responsible for penalty contests was out sick when the assessment arrived and later left the job because of the illness. Lo Down said the staffing disruption…
Secretary of Labor v. Las Vegas Paving Corp.
Strong filing record supported relief from default
Las Vegas Paving Corporation did not answer the Secretary's penalty petition, and a second show-cause order became a default order. The company said it never received the petition, could not determine why, and acknowledged that a mistake occurred. It described a methodical system for tracking…
Secretary of Labor v. LRock Industries
Split-docket confusion supported relief from default
LRock Industries received citations written one minute apart, but the related penalties were placed in two separate dockets without the operator realizing it. LRock answered the petition in the first docket but not the petition in the second, and the second case went into default. The plant manager…
Vorbeck Materials
In re Vorbeck Materials (EAB TSCA 22-01Q): export-notice penalty settlement approved
EPA alleged that Vorbeck Materials violated Section 12(b) of the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Notice of Export rule requirements in 40 C.F.R. part 707, Subpart D. The complaint sought an $8,277 penalty. Vorbeck paid the penalty in full, which waived its right to contest the allegations and…
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Cement Company, LLC
Timely contest sent to the wrong office was reopened
Lehigh Cement Company LLC tried to contest part of a proposed penalty assessment within the Mine Act's deadline. It mistakenly mailed the contest with payment for uncontested citations to MSHA's St. Louis payment office instead of the correct office in Arlington, Virginia. Lehigh supplied proof of…
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc.
Brake alarm violation affirmed, wiper citations vacated
Cactus Canyon Quarries operates a small Texas mine that produces marble for the terrazzo industry. Judge David P. Simonton found that a dump truck's nonfunctioning low brake-pressure alarm violated the rule requiring every braking-system component to remain functional, even though the truck's…
C.C. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard Fire & Rescue, Kodiak, AK
Board orders combined review of firefighter’s back claims (ECAB 22-0094)
A Coast Guard firefighter reported a back injury after moving in and out of a vehicle while carrying equipment. OWCP denied the claim for lack of medical causation proof. The Board found that an earlier accepted lower back strain file was missing from the record under review. It set aside the…
R.S. and Department of the Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base, Tinker, OK
Board orders merits review of chemical exposure claim (ECAB 22-0087)
An Air Force mechanic claimed that chemical exposure at work contributed to his lymphoma. OWCP denied the claim and later refused to reopen it. The Board found that an amended physician report submitted with reconsideration newly addressed the link between accepted work factors and the diagnosis…
K.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Carmel, NY
Board recognizes carrier’s visible tooth injury at work (ECAB 21-1409)
A postal carrier reported that a large metal object in a package chipped his front teeth. A coworker witnessed the incident, and the supervisor confirmed the prompt report. OWCP denied the claim because no medical diagnosis was submitted. The Board found that the visible tooth injury could be…
T.D. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Tonasket, WA
Board orders impartial dental opinion on jaw condition (ECAB 21-1292)
A Forest Service worker sought to add a jaw condition to a claim accepted after a heavy trap door struck her in 2011. Her treating dentist and OWCP's referral dentist disagreed on whether the condition was caused by that injury. The Board found the opposing opinions of equal weight. It directed…
J.C. and Department of the Air Force, 309th Maintenance Support Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, UT
Board orders fuller disability opinion for retired Air Force worker (ECAB 21-1216)
A retired Air Force worker sought compensation for total work disability related to accepted back and other conditions. An OWCP referral physician offered an opinion that generally supported his claim for part of the period. The Board found that the physician had not addressed the full period…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Absecon, NJ
Board reverses carrier’s wage and medical benefit termination (ECAB 21-1129)
A rural postal carrier received benefits for accepted back and shoulder injuries. OWCP later terminated wage-loss compensation and medical benefits based on a medical opinion. The Board found that the statement of accepted facts given to the physician omitted right shoulder tendinitis, one of the…
Amiel Gross v. Saint-Gobain Corp. et al.
Media-statement retaliation theory remanded
Former in-house counsel Amiel Gross alleged that Saint-Gobain retaliated after he raised drinking-water contamination concerns. The Board left intact the dismissal of five untimely acts and agreed that a March 2021 settlement email was a routine communication rather than an adverse action. A…
J.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Fayetteville, AR
Board upholds denial of nurse’s continuation of pay (ECAB 22-0158)
A VA nurse filed a COVID-19 injury claim on July 30, 2021, and OWCP accepted it as work related. OWCP denied continuation of pay because the form was filed more than 30 days after the June 28 injury date. The Board upheld that separate filing deadline. OWCP had noted that the denial did not bar a…
M.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of alleged workplace hernia injury (ECAB 21-1328)
A postal support employee attributed a hiatal hernia to lifting and moving heavy equipment at work. OWCP asked him to clarify whether he claimed a sudden injury or an occupational disease, and he chose a traumatic injury claim. The Board found that he gave no specific date and description of an…
S.W. and General Services Administration, Washington, DC
Board upholds denial of knee treatment linked to earlier foot injury (ECAB 21-1094)
A GSA analyst sought treatment for a left knee condition she said resulted from limping after an accepted right foot injury. The Board found that her physician did not adequately explain how the accepted injury caused or worsened the knee condition, including the gap in medical evidence. It also…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, USDOL v. Five M's, LLC and John Morgavan
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. Five M's, LLC and John Morgavan (DOL ARB 2019-0014): late penalty reconsideration denied
The Wage and Hour Division assessed Five M's businesses and owner John Morgavan $38,500 in penalties for underpaying 35 employees, the ALJ reduced that amount to $8,750, and the Board previously set it at $19,250. Morgavan sought reconsideration nearly 16 months after the Board's decision. The…
R.W. and Department of the Army, Training Management Directorate, Fort Leavenworth, KS
Board finds Army worker's after-hours fall occurred at work (ECAB 21-1182)
An Army employee fell on a sidewalk just outside her workplace about 30 minutes after her scheduled shift. OWCP denied her injury claim on the ground that the fall was outside the performance of duty. The Board found that she had stayed to update a work laptop for an upcoming assignment and had…
E.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bronx, NY
Board upholds postal clerk's life insurance premium overpayment (ECAB 21-1046)
A postal clerk received $663.37 too much compensation because OWCP had not withheld postretirement basic life insurance premiums between July 18 and December 5, 2020. OWCP found him without fault but denied a waiver and arranged to collect $50 every 28 days from his continuing benefits. The Board…
P.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Bellmawr, NJ
Board orders new impairment review for postal worker (ECAB 21-0821)
A postal clerk sought a schedule award for lower extremity impairment after an accepted 2014 back injury. OWCP denied the schedule award claim based on medical opinions that discounted the accepted spinal conditions, and a hearing representative affirmed that denial. The Board found that both…
J.V. and Department of the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, UT
Board accepts mechanic's workplace fall and orders medical review (ECAB 21-0029)
An Air Force aircraft mechanic said he slipped while maneuvering a floor scrubber and injured his spine. OWCP denied his claim because it found the incident itself unproven. The Board found his account consistent with his supervisor's acknowledgment, a coworker's report of the fall, and his…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Holland Post Office, Holland, MI
Board orders combined review of postal carrier's left wrist files (ECAB 20-1292)
A postal rural carrier reported another left wrist injury after two earlier accepted left wrist sprain claims. OWCP denied the new claim after finding insufficient proof that the accepted workplace incident caused the diagnosed condition. The Board found that OWCP had not combined the three related…
Midwest Equipment Company
Three crane-assembly items affirmed
A Midwest Equipment employee was seriously injured when a 3,400-pound crane jib separated from the boom during assembly and fell on him. The Commission affirmed that Midwest failed to follow the manufacturer's lifting-strap and pivot-pin procedures, failed to ensure crew members understood their…
BC Quarries, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. BC Quarries, LLC
Most withdrawal orders upheld, two vacated
BC Quarries operates the Shirvan Quarry, a Pennsylvania surface mine that produces dimension stone. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy dismissed eight citation contests because BC Quarries did not timely contest the related penalty assessments, which had already become final Commission orders. Of the eleven…
Vimalraj Manoharan v. HCL America, Inc.
Wage period and retaliation dismissal affirmed
Vimalraj Manoharan sought H-1B wages for periods before he reported to HCL America and after the end of his latest approved employment petition. The Board held that he entered employment on July 17, 2015, when he first reported for work, and that his authorized employment ended March 1, 2017 under…
T.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Dayton VA Medical Center, Dayton, OH
Board upholds denial of VA nurse's continuation of pay (ECAB 21-1348)
A VA nurse reported COVID-19 after one-on-one patient observation on February 5, 2021. OWCP accepted the workplace illness but denied continuation of pay for February 5 through March 10. The nurse filed the required injury form on March 10, more than 30 days after the accepted injury date. The…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's continuation of pay (ECAB 21-1064)
A postal carrier technician reported COVID-19 after exposure to coworkers in November 2020. OWCP accepted the November 5 workplace injury but denied continuation of pay. She did not file the required traumatic injury form until May 18, 2021, well past the 30-day deadline. The Board upheld the…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
Board upholds denial of rural carrier's continuation of pay (ECAB 21-0983)
A postal rural carrier reported COVID-19 from handling and delivering mail on December 11, 2020. OWCP accepted the workplace illness but denied continuation of pay for December 11, 2020 through March 1, 2021. She filed the required injury form on February 27, 2021, more than 30 days after the…
J.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco VA Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
Board upholds denial of VA food worker's continuation of pay (ECAB 21-0767)
A VA food service worker contracted COVID-19 in an accepted July 10, 2020 workplace injury. She filed her traumatic injury form on January 13, 2021. OWCP denied continuation of pay because the filing came more than 30 days after the injury. The Board upheld the denial under the separate filing rule…
R.N. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Miami, FL
Board upholds denial of border officer's continuation of pay (ECAB 21-0573)
A Customs and Border Protection officer contracted COVID-19 in an accepted workplace injury on January 11, 2021. He filed his injury form on February 11, 2021. OWCP denied continuation of pay for January 11 through 31 because the form arrived more than 30 days after the injury. The Board upheld…
P.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Royersford Post Office, Royersford, PA
Board restores postal worker's hearing right after remand (ECAB 21-0723)
The Board had previously sent a postal worker's knee claim back to OWCP for a new decision. OWCP instead labeled its October 20, 2020 ruling a reconsideration decision and omitted the right to request a hearing. The worker requested a hearing eight days later. The Board held that its earlier remand…
T.M. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, GA
Board orders new review of mechanic's chemical exposure claim (ECAB 21-0556)
A former Navy equipment mechanic filed a claim for sleep apnea and pulmonary disease that he attributed to chemical exposure at work. OWCP rejected it as a duplicate of an older chemical exposure claim. The Board found that the older claim concerned different conditions, including tachycardia, and…
C.G. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Little Creek Commissary, Norfolk, VA
Board reverses wage reduction and overpayment for commissary worker (ECAB 21-0495)
A commissary worker with an accepted back injury returned to a front desk position. OWCP used those earnings to reduce her wage-loss compensation and then found a $3,794 overpayment. The Board found that the position's standing and lifting demands exceeded her doctor's permanent restrictions and…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Del Mar Post Office, Del Mar, CA
Board reverses termination of carrier's wage benefits (ECAB 21-0302)
A postal carrier with accepted hand and elbow injuries was offered a modified carrier job. OWCP ended her wage-loss compensation and schedule award entitlement after she refused it. The Board found that the treating doctor restricted repetitive gripping, pushing, and pulling, which the offered work…
U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review (Agency) and National Association of Immigration Judges, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Judicial Council 2 (Union)
EOIR and immigration judges' union (FLRA WA-RP-19-0067): Second reconsideration denied
The National Association of Immigration Judges asked the Authority again to reconsider its earlier ruling that immigration judges are management officials outside the bargaining unit. The Authority dismissed challenges to its 2020 decision as untimely and denied the remaining reconsideration…
Quentin La Grande v. Owens Corning
Voluntary withdrawal and dismissal affirmed
Quentin La Grande withdrew his appeal of OSHA's environmental whistleblower findings after telling the ALJ that he and Owens Corning had reached a settlement. The ALJ dismissed the case with prejudice, and La Grande changed his mind a week later and sought to vacate the dismissal. The Board held…
E.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Highland, NY
Board upholds denial of postal clerk's lumbar injury claim (ECAB 21-0936)
A postal clerk reported back pain after lifting a heavy package at work. OWCP accepted that the lifting incident occurred but denied the claimed lumbar condition. The Board found that the emergency physician described symptoms and diagnoses without explaining how the incident caused the condition…
T.M. and Small Business Administration, Boston, MA
Board reverses unproved retirement benefit overpayment (ECAB 20-0967)
A Small Business Administration employee elected federal retirement benefits effective August 3, 2019 while OWCP continued paying injury compensation through October 12. OWCP treated the overlap as a $7,937.70 overpayment. The Board found that an election date alone did not prove she had received…
G.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kennedy, NY
Board orders combined review of postal clerk's injury files (ECAB 20-0945)
A postal clerk claimed a recurrence of disability after a fall in April 2019. She also had an accepted February 2018 injury involving her neck and back. OWCP denied the later claim without combining the two related files. The Board found that reviewing both files together was needed for a full…
Bonnie Houston v. San Francisco Longshore Labor Relations Committee
Houston v. San Francisco Longshore Labor Relations Committee (BRB 21-0444): hiring hall injury claim denied
Bonnie Houston, a longshore worker, reported an ankle injury after being knocked down at a dispatch hall while waiting for a job call. An administrative law judge granted summary decision against her because she was not employed by the named entities when the incident occurred. The Board affirmed…
Robert J. Hafner v. Dakota Westmoreland Corporation
Hafner v. Dakota Westmoreland (BRB 21-0254 BLA): black lung benefits affirmed
Robert Hafner sought black lung benefits after at least thirty years of qualifying surface coal mine work. The judge found that an exercise blood gas study met the Department of Labor's disability threshold and that the employer failed to rebut the resulting fifteen year presumption. Dakota…
Wanda LeMarr, widow of and on behalf of Floyd LeMarr v. Consolidation Coal Company
LeMarr v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0247 and 21-0248 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Wanda LeMarr pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim against Consolidation Coal. The administrative law judge found 19.75 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, invoking the fifteen year presumption. The employer challenged…
Wanda LeMarr, widow of and on behalf of Floyd LeMarr v. Consolidation Coal Company
LeMarr v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 21-0247 and 21-0248 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Wanda LeMarr pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim against Consolidation Coal. The administrative law judge found 19.75 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, invoking the fifteen year presumption. The employer challenged…
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.