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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Q.S. and Department of Defense, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Cleveland, OH
Board reverses termination of Q.S.'s wage-loss compensation (ECAB 20-0701)
Q.S., a Defense Department contact representative, received compensation after a workplace fall caused several accepted injuries. OWCP ended her wage-loss benefits effective January 30, 2018. The Board found that one examiner's opinion did not properly use the accepted statement of facts, so it…
Secretary of Labor v. Solvay Chemicals, Inc.
Delayed injury report affirmed, negligence reduced
Solvay Chemicals operates an underground trona mine in Wyoming. A miner was struck by a roof fall while repairing a bore miner, suffered visible head injuries, and was later diagnosed with a shattered orbital socket. MSHA cited Solvay under 30 C.F.R. § 50.10(b) because management did not notify the…
Joe W. Frye v. West Virginia Electric Corporation
Frye v. West Virginia Electric (BRB 21-0066 BLA): attorney fee award affirmed
Joe Frye's lawyer requested $6,898.19 for services and expenses after the Board had affirmed an award of black lung benefits. The district director reduced the request and awarded $3,354.44. West Virginia Electric appealed, arguing that the fee petition was filed too late, but did not challenge the…
Larry Keith Simpkins v. Universal Coal Services Incorporated
Simpkins v. Universal Coal Services (BRB 21-0064 BLA): employer's appeal dismissed
An administrative law judge denied Larry Simpkins's subsequent black lung claim because he had not shown a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The judge also named Universal Coal Services as the responsible operator. Although it prevailed on the benefit claim, the employer appealed the…
Thomas W. Culver v. Peabody Coal Company, LLC
Culver v. Peabody Coal (BRB 21-0033 BLA): fee order returned for further review
Thomas Culver's lawyer sought $1,819 for work and expenses after the district director awarded black lung benefits. The district director awarded $1,275, reducing the hourly rates for a paralegal and legal assistant to $50 and rejecting a $6.50 medical records expense. The Board upheld the…
James R. Jenkins v. Mountaineer Mining d/b/a Marrowbone Mining Company
Jenkins v. Mountaineer Mining (BRB 20-0466 BLA): benefit award affirmed
An administrative law judge found that James Jenkins had worked underground in coal mines for 29 years and had a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Those findings invoked the 15-year presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Mountaineer Mining argued that missing records from a prior…
James L. Wilson v. Powell Mountain Coal Company, Incorporated
Wilson v. Powell Mountain Coal (BRB 20-0440 BLA): benefit award affirmed
An administrative law judge found that James Wilson had 30 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. This triggered the 15-year presumption that his disability was due to pneumoconiosis. Powell Mountain Coal challenged the validity of several pulmonary…
Regina M. Werzbicke, widow of Jack Werzbicke, v. Consolidated Energy, Incorporated
Werzbicke v. Consolidated Energy (BRB 2020-0117 BLA): reconsideration denied and fees awarded
Consolidated Energy asked the Board to reconsider its February 2021 decision affirming survivor benefits for Regina Werzbicke. No panel member voted to vacate or change that decision, so the Board denied reconsideration. Werzbicke's lawyer also requested $1,925 for 5.5 hours of work defending the…
Charlene Gale Kilgore, on behalf of and survivor of Judy Wagner, v. Guest Mountain Mining Corporation
Kilgore v. Guest Mountain Mining (BRB 18-0260 and 18-0416 BLA): attorney fees awarded
After the Board's earlier decision on Joe Wagner's and Judy Wagner's black lung claims, claimant's counsel requested $1,850 for work on the appeals. The employer objected to the hourly rates for three attorneys and legal assistants. Counsel submitted prior fee awards supporting the requested rates…
D.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Orlando, FL
Board requires OWCP to review D.B.'s submitted evidence (ECAB 21-0693)
D.B., a transportation security officer, had an accepted right foot and ankle injury after tripping at work. She later sought reconsideration and submitted medical reports and other records. OWCP denied her request without addressing some of the evidence received before its decision. The Board held…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, High Point Post Office, High Point, NC
Board sends K.B.'s knee claim back to combine earlier files (ECAB 21-0594)
K.B., a retired letter carrier, claimed that years of postal duties caused or worsened arthritis in both knees. OWCP denied his occupational disease claim. The Board found that OWCP had previously accepted separate left and right knee claims, but those files were absent from the record before it. A…
R.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Surfside, FL
Board upholds denial of R.G.'s late reconsideration request (ECAB 21-0540)
R.G., a former letter carrier, sought reconsideration of the denial of his right shoulder occupational disease claim. OWCP found the request untimely and found no clear evidence of error in its earlier ruling. The Board agreed that the submitted material did not shift the weight of the evidence…
A.C. and Small Business Administration, Office of Disaster Assistance, Herndon, VA
Board upholds denial of A.C.'s lumbar injury claim (ECAB 21-0087)
A.C., a Small Business Administration loss verifier, fell in her home work space after her foot caught a printer cord. OWCP accepted that the September 1, 2017 incident occurred, but denied her lumbar injury claim. The Board found that medical records described pain and imaging findings without a…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newark, NJ
Board orders another medical opinion on D.L.'s disability claim (ECAB 20-0886)
D.L., a postal letter carrier, claimed intermittent disability beginning May 3, 2013 after an accepted work injury. OWCP denied wage-loss compensation. The Board found that a second opinion physician had not clarified whether the accepted injury caused disability during the claimed periods, even…
Judy v. Covenant Transport, Inc.
Late STAA complaint dismissed
Kevin Judy alleged that Covenant Transport required him to drive while fatigued and terminated him after he reported the issue. He filed timely complaints with FMCSA and OSHA in 2017, but OSHA first found no jurisdiction and later closed a second complaint when he withdrew it. Judy refiled with…
C.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Lexington, KY
Board orders combined review of C.H.'s right arm claims (ECAB 21-0832)
C.H., a VA nursing assistant, sought a schedule award and compensation for time spent attending medical appointments after right hand and arm injuries. OWCP decided those claims while referring to an earlier right upper extremity case without putting its evidence in the current record. The Board…
S.P. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
Board sends S.P.'s recurrence claim back for evidence review (ECAB 21-0630)
S.P., a Navy shipyard insulator, sought further benefits after an accepted fall injured her elbow and knees. OWCP denied her recurrence claim. The Board found that OWCP had received two reports from her physician on the date of the denial, but had not considered them. Those reports addressed her…
N.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Chicago Cesar Chavez Station, Chicago, IL
Board reverses termination of N.A.'s compensation and medical benefits (ECAB 21-0542)
N.A., a postal carrier assistant, sustained accepted injuries when a vehicle struck her postal vehicle while she unloaded parcels. OWCP terminated her wage-loss compensation and medical benefits effective January 20, 2021. Her treating physician reported continuing disability and residuals, while…
G.H. and U.S. Postal Service, South Suburban Vehicle Maintenance Facility, Bedford Park, IL
Board orders combined review of G.H.'s schedule award claim (ECAB 21-0416)
G.H., a postal general clerk, received a schedule award for upper extremity impairment. Her record also included separate accepted injuries affecting overlapping body parts. OWCP had combined two files but had not added two other related files when it decided her award. The Board found that all…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, East/Lamar Carrier Annex Post Office, Memphis, TN
Board upholds denial of L.M.'s wage-loss claim (ECAB 21-0063)
L.M., a postal mail carrier, had an accepted 2014 back injury after climbing stairs at work. He claimed disability from work for a later period from November 2019 through January 2020. The Board found that the medical evidence did not give a sufficiently reasoned explanation linking his inability…
R.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Ambler Post Office, Ambler, PA
Board upholds reduction and suspension of R.D.'s benefits (ECAB 20-1551)
R.D., a postal city carrier, received benefits after an accepted left wrist injury. OWCP reduced his wage-loss compensation after he declined a temporary light-duty assignment that fit the medical restrictions in the record. It later suspended compensation and medical benefits when he missed a…
D.B. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Hartford, CT
Board upholds denial of D.B.'s emotional condition claim (ECAB 20-1517)
D.B., an IRS management assistant, claimed an emotional condition after workplace disputes. The Board accepted a proposed five-day suspension notice as a compensable employment factor. It found, however, that the medical evidence did not provide a reasoned opinion connecting a diagnosed condition…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Tampa, FL
Board upholds denial of C.G.'s reconsideration request (ECAB 21-0444)
C.G., a postal forklift operator, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied her claim for conditions she linked to repetitive work. The new medical reports did not address whether her diagnosed conditions were caused by her work duties. Her own account could not supply the required medical causal…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Trenton, NJ
Board orders impartial rating of L.P.'s leg impairment (ECAB 21-0409)
L.P. sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of her right lower extremity. Her attending physician rated an eight percent impairment based on sensory testing, while OWCP's second opinion physician found no objective impairment. The Board found a genuine conflict in those medical opinions…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Greensboro Post Office, Greensboro, NC
Board recognizes J.C.'s ankle swelling but rejects additional conditions (ECAB 21-0406)
J.C., a postal employee, fell while stepping off a curb at work. The Board found that medical records established visible lateral swelling of her right ankle from the incident. It also found that the reports and imaging did not give a medical causal opinion for the separately diagnosed fractures…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Birmingham Post Office, Birmingham, AL
Board reverses denial of D.S.'s workplace dog-bite claim (ECAB 21-0325)
D.S., a postal employee, reported being bitten by a dog while working on her mail route. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim. The Board found that a physician diagnosed dog bite wounds to her thigh and buttock and that the visible injury was linked to the accepted…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Sunman Post Office, Sunman, IN
Board moves D.H.'s wage-earning capacity change to March 2019 (ECAB 21-0294)
D.H., a postal rural carrier, contested the start date of an adjustment to her loss of wage-earning capacity. OWCP had used January 8, 2020, but OWCP’s second opinion physician consistently reported since March 19, 2019 that she could not perform sedentary work. The Board read his reports together…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Cleveland Heights Post Office, Cleveland Heights, OH
Board orders impartial review of S.W.'s labral tear claim (ECAB 21-0290)
S.W., a postal mail carrier, sought to add a right labral tear to a previously accepted injury claim. OWCP treated an earlier examination as impartial, but the Board found that the medical opinions at that time did not create a genuine conflict. After evaluating that examination as a second…
S.C. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Westbury, NY
Board recognizes S.C.'s work factor and remands emotional claim (ECAB 20-0603)
S.C., an air traffic controller, reported stress after giving landing instructions to a pilot whose plane later crashed. The Board found that his contact with the aircraft arose from his assigned duties and established a compensable employment factor. The record still needed development on whether…
Matter of M-F-O-
Voluntary departure rule changed after Niz-Chavez
The Board reviewed a Guatemalan respondent's applications for asylum, withholding of removal, Convention Against Torture protection, and voluntary departure. It upheld the denials of asylum, withholding, and Convention Against Torture protection, finding no required connection between the gang harm…
Land O'Lakes, Inc. (Hudson Oil Refinery Superfund Site)
In re Land O'Lakes, Inc. (Hudson Oil Refinery Superfund Site) (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 15-01): reimbursement petition dismissed after consent decree
Land O’Lakes, Inc. asked the Environmental Appeals Board to dismiss its CERCLA section 106(b)(2) petition for reimbursement concerning the Hudson Oil Refinery Superfund Site. The petition had been stayed while overlapping liability issues were litigated in federal court. The parties reported that…
Land O’Lakes, Inc. (Hudson Oil Refinery Superfund Site)
In re Land O’Lakes, Inc. (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition 15-01): petition dismissed with prejudice
Land O’Lakes sought reimbursement under CERCLA section 106(b)(2) for the Hudson Oil Refinery Superfund Site. The petition had been stayed while a related cost-recovery case proceeded in federal court. After the parties reported a settlement in that case and a federal court entered a consent decree…
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Brookshire Post Office, Brookshire, TX
Board upholds recovery deductions from S.S.'s benefits (ECAB 20-0800)
S.S., a postal employee receiving FECA compensation, challenged OWCP's rate for recovering an overpayment. She had not supplied a completed financial questionnaire or supporting documents before the decision. The Board held that OWCP could use the financial information available to set deductions…
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs v. Enterprise RAC Company of Baltimore, LLC
OFCCP v. Enterprise RAC Company of Baltimore, LLC (DOL ARB 2019-0072): hiring-discrimination findings vacated and remanded
OFCCP alleged that Enterprise's management-trainee hiring process discriminated against African-American applicants under Executive Order 11246. The ALJ found liability under both intentional disparate-treatment and facially neutral disparate-impact theories, relying on statistically significant…
M.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Northport VA Medical Center, Northport, NY
Board upholds denial of M.G.'s injury claim (ECAB 21-0898)
M.G., a VA nurse, reported neck and left arm symptoms after moving an examination table at work. OWCP accepted the November 22, 2019 incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the medical opinions did not give a sufficient explanation of how that incident caused her diagnosed…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Logistics & Distribution Center, Tampa, FL
Board upholds denial of C.G.'s late reconsideration request (ECAB 21-0443)
C.G., a postal mail handler operator, sought reconsideration of an earlier claim decision. OWCP found the request untimely and found no clear evidence of error. The Board held that the submitted material did not meet that demanding standard. It affirmed the nonmerit denial without deciding the…
K.A. and Department of the Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Downers Grove, IL
Board vacates mistaken dismissal of K.A.'s appeal (ECAB 21-0408)
K.A. had two Board appeal dockets. The Board had mistakenly issued a dismissal under docket 21-0408 when the dismissal belonged to docket 21-0089. This erratum vacated the prior 21-0408 dismissal and issued the corrected order for 21-0089. It expressly stated that the appeal under 21-0408 would go…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Houston Processing & Distribution Center, Houston, TX
Board upholds denial of R.R.'s schedule award (ECAB 21-0212)
R.R., a postal tractor trailer operator, sought a schedule award for right upper and lower extremity impairment after an accepted work accident. His physicians and OWCP advisers disagreed on impairment ratings. OWCP obtained an impartial specialist's opinion and clarification, which attributed the…
K.A. and Department of the Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Downers Grove, IL
Board dismisses K.A.'s appeal for lack of a reviewable decision (ECAB 21-0089)
K.A. appealed a purported May 1, 2020 OWCP decision. The Board found that the document was an informational letter rather than a final adverse decision. Its jurisdiction required a reviewable final adverse OWCP decision within the applicable period. The Board dismissed appeal 21-0089 without ruling…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mayfield Heights, OH
Board upholds denial of M.M.'s expanded claim and recurrence (ECAB 20-1557)
M.M., a postal employee, sought to expand an accepted injury claim to another condition and sought compensation for a later recurrence of disability. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately connect the additional condition to the accepted injury. It also found that the…
Rew v. CSX Transportation, Inc.
FRSA settlement approved
An ALJ found that CSX retaliated against Eric Rew for reporting a work injury and following his physician's treatment plan, awarded damages, and later awarded attorney fees. CSX appealed both rulings, and the parties then submitted a confidential settlement covering the FRSA dispute and other…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mayfield Heights, OH
Board upholds denial of M.M.'s intermittent disability claim (ECAB 21-1342)
M.M., a postal letter carrier, sought compensation for periods of missed work after an accepted 2015 injury. The Board reviewed the medical reports for the claimed February through November 2016 period. It found that they did not provide a reasoned link between her accepted injury and disability on…
K.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Tampa, FL
Board upholds denial of K.E.'s reconsideration request (ECAB 21-0194)
K.E., a postal employee, sought reconsideration after denial of a left knee injury claim. He disputed the account of how he stepped from a vehicle and argued that his imaging established a torn meniscus. The Board found that his arguments repeated matters OWCP had already considered and that he…
L.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
Board reverses termination of L.T.'s disability and medical benefits (ECAB 20-1473)
L.T., a postal employee, had accepted cervical sprain and spasmodic torticollis after a workplace injury. OWCP terminated her wage-loss and medical benefits based on a second opinion examination. The examiner rejected the accepted torticollis diagnosis instead of using OWCP's statement of accepted…
R.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Panorama City, CA
Board orders medical development of R.T.'s occupational claim (ECAB 20-0846)
R.T., a postal employee, claimed medical conditions from accepted factors of his work. His physician identified work demands, objective diagnoses, and a possible mechanism connecting them. The Board found the opinion insufficient by itself to prove the claim, but substantial enough to require OWCP…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
Board upholds D.S.'s existing 13 percent arm impairment rating (ECAB 20-0670)
D.S., a postal employee, had already received schedule award compensation for 13 percent right upper extremity impairment. He sought a greater rating. The Board reviewed the medical assessments and found no sufficient basis to rate his accepted injury above 13 percent. It affirmed OWCP's decision…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
D.H. (ECAB 21-0577 and 21-0867): Left shoulder claims returned for combined review
A postal worker had an accepted 2017 injury involving his left shoulder and filed a later claim for shoulder symptoms he attributed to repeated pushing and pulling at work. OWCP denied the newer claim for lack of a medical diagnosis tied to the work factors, and issued a separate decision on the…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
Board orders combined review of D.H.'s two shoulder claims (ECAB 21-0577)
D.H., a postal mail handler equipment operator, had two appeals concerning shoulder claims. One concerned an occupational disease claim and the other an accepted traumatic injury. The Board found that the two records needed to be combined because both involved the left shoulder. It set aside both…
J.K. and Department of the Air Force, Kansas Air National Guard, Topeka, KS
Board reverses denial of J.K.'s hearing request (ECAB 21-0487)
J.K., an Air Force employee, sought review of the written record after an OWCP injury decision. OWCP called the request untimely based on its receipt date. The Board found that the envelope or other proof of the mailing date was missing from the record, so the request had to be treated as timely…
Petrongolo Contractors, Inc.
Repeat cave-in protection item affirmed
Petrongolo Contractors excavated a roughly 10-foot-deep street trench to replace a sewer manhole. OSHA cited the company for allegedly failing to classify the soil when designing timber shoring and for allowing employees to work in the trench before an adequate protective system was installed. The…
Ruth Blankenship (on behalf of Harlon D. Blankenship) v. Clinch Valley Coal Company and Pittston Company
Blankenship v. Clinch Valley Coal (BRB 20-0510 BLA): disability denial remanded
Ruth Blankenship pursued her late husband's black lung claim after an administrative law judge denied benefits. The judge found that Harlon Blankenship was totally disabled and had clinical pneumoconiosis but concluded that the evidence did not establish legal pneumoconiosis or a link between the…
Charles Freeman v. Patriot Mining, LLC
Freeman v. Patriot Mining (BRB 20-0452 BLA): black lung award affirmed
Charles Freeman received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his coal mine employment and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Patriot Mining argued that the judge should not have credited a doctor's…
Randy D. Hill v. Kiah Creek Mining Company, Incorporated and Quaker Coal Company
Hill v. Kiah Creek Mining (BRB 20-0424 BLA): black lung award affirmed
Randy Hill received black lung benefits after a judge found that coal dust contributed to his disabling lung disease. Kiah Creek Mining and its carrier challenged the medical finding and disputed whether Quaker Coal covered Kiah Creek when Hill last worked there. The Board upheld the carrier…
Ray Johnson v. Racheal Mining Company, Incorporated and Old Republic Insurance Company
Johnson v. Racheal Mining (BRB 20-0289 BLA): benefit award and operator finding remanded
Ray Johnson received black lung benefits after a judge found that he had a disabling lung disease caused by coal mine dust. Racheal Mining disputed both the medical finding and its designation as the responsible operator. The Board held that the judge had not addressed evidence suggesting another…
Bonita Gay Clark (widow of George Nick Clark) v. Miller Brothers Coal LLC and National Union Fire/Chartis
Clark v. Miller Brothers Coal (BRB 19-0483 BLA): survivor award affirmed
Bonita Clark received survivor benefits after a judge found that her husband's surface coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption that pneumoconiosis caused his death. Miller Brothers Coal disputed the judge's findings about the mine conditions and its failure…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Vanderveer Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
Board requires review of C.S.'s hospital records (ECAB 21-0839)
C.S., a postal worker, claimed an injury after being struck by a vehicle during work. OWCP denied his claim while describing one physician's report as the only relevant medical record. The Board found that OWCP had also received hospital treatment records on the decision date and had not considered…
J.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Richmond, VA
Board dismisses J.T.'s appeal of a missing OWCP decision (ECAB 21-0684)
J.T. appealed a purported April 9, 2019 OWCP decision. The Board found no final adverse decision of that date in the transmitted record. Without a reviewable OWCP decision, it lacked jurisdiction and dismissed docket 21-0684. The Board noted that J.T.'s separate appeal from a September 2020…
S.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Denver-Montebello Station Post Office, Denver, CO
Board dismisses S.T.'s late appeal (ECAB 21-0668)
S.T. appealed OWCP's May 7, 2020 decision on February 8, 2021. The Board found that the 180-day filing period had expired on November 3, 2020. The record contained no later final adverse decision within the appeal period, and she had not supplied documentation establishing compelling circumstances…
R.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Lexington Post Office, Lexington, SC
Board dismisses R.Z.'s appeal filed one day late (ECAB 21-0441)
R.Z. appealed an August 5, 2020 OWCP nonmerit decision. The Board calculated that the 180th day was February 1, 2021, but his appeal was filed on February 2. It found no supported compelling circumstances explaining the delay and no later reviewable OWCP decision. The Board dismissed the appeal…
J.Y. and Department of the Army, Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, AK
Board dismisses J.Y.'s late appeal (ECAB 21-0206)
J.Y. sought Board review of a January 14, 2020 OWCP decision. He filed the appeal on November 5, 2020, after the July 12 deadline identified by the Board. He did not provide a supported explanation establishing compelling circumstances for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of…
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.