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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Leslie C. Sturgill v. Paramont Coal Company, VA, LLC
Sturgill v. Paramont Coal (BRB 20-0480 BLA): benefit award remanded for lung test review
Leslie Sturgill received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Paramont Coal disputed the judge's reliance on a qualifying pulmonary function study…
Hiram Hogg v. Rich, Incorporated
Hogg v. Rich (BRB 20-0461 BLA): black lung benefit award on modification affirmed
Hiram Hogg received black lung benefits after a request to modify the earlier denial of his claim. An administrative law judge found that qualifying coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Rich challenged the judge's…
Martha A. Johnson, on behalf of Raymond L. Johnson, v. Consolidation Coal Company
Johnson v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 20-0373 and 20-0443 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Raymond Johnson's daughters pursued his black lung claim and their late mother Martha Johnson's survivor claim. The administrative law judge awarded benefits in both claims. Consolidation Coal argued that the miner's pulmonary fibrosis was unrelated to coal dust. The Board held that the judge…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
Board dismisses appeal filed after 180 days (ECAB 21-1249)
The appeal was filed on February 12, 2021, more than 180 days after OWCP’s August 12, 2020 decision. The Board’s review period had expired. The Board found no documented compelling circumstances to excuse the delay. It dismissed the appeal without reaching the compensation claim.
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
Board dismisses appeal filed after 180 days (ECAB 21-1212)
The appeal was filed on August 2, 2021, more than 180 days after OWCP’s December 22, 2020 decision. The Board’s review period had expired. The Board found no documented compelling circumstances to excuse the delay. It dismissed the appeal without reaching the compensation claim.
S.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Elkins Post Office, Elkins Park, PA
Board dismisses appeal filed after 180 days (ECAB 21-1156)
The appeal was filed on July 21, 2021, more than 180 days after OWCP’s May 3, 2019 decision. The Board’s review period had expired. The Board found no documented compelling circumstances to excuse the delay. It dismissed the appeal without reaching the compensation claim.
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Phoenix, AZ
Board grants request to dismiss appeal (ECAB 21-1074)
P.C. asked the Board to dismiss the pending appeal. The Board granted that request and dismissed the docket. It made no ruling on the underlying OWCP compensation decision. The order closes this Board docket following the appellant’s voluntary withdrawal, without deciding whether OWCP was correct.
E.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Kansas City VA Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
Board grants request to dismiss appeal (ECAB 21-1057)
E.W.’s counsel asked the Board to dismiss the pending appeal. The Board granted that request and dismissed the docket. It made no ruling on the underlying OWCP compensation decision. The order closes this Board docket following the appellant’s voluntary withdrawal, without deciding whether OWCP was…
K.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Sterling Post Office, Sterling, IL
Board upholds five percent leg schedule award (ECAB 21-0021)
K.F. sought more than the five percent left leg impairment award she had received. Her physician calculated a higher rating using range of motion even though the applicable impairment guides required a diagnosis-based method in this circumstance. The Board found that the higher proposed rating was…
D.T. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone, MN
Board denies higher leg impairment award (ECAB 20-1666)
D.T. sought a schedule award exceeding the 3 percent right leg and 11 percent left leg impairment previously compensated. The Board examined the medical ratings submitted for his spinal injury and resulting leg impairment. It found that the record did not establish a greater compensable impairment…
F.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Board reverses termination based on opinion rejecting accepted injury (ECAB 20-1274)
OWCP ended F.M.’s wage-loss compensation and medical benefits for accepted lumbar conditions. Its physician disputed whether some accepted disc injuries existed, rather than evaluating them as stated in OWCP’s accepted facts. The Board held that this opinion could not support termination of…
Nicholas J. Simko v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company
Simko v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal (BRB 20-0539 BLA): black lung award affirmed
Nicholas Simko received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his qualifying coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Consol Pennsylvania Coal argued that its doctors disproved legal…
Steven E. Hinkle v. Pammlid Coal Company
Hinkle v. Pammlid Coal (BRB 20-0516 BLA): black lung benefit denial affirmed
Steven Hinkle appealed a denial of black lung benefits, and Pammlid Coal filed a cross-appeal concerning the weight of its medical evidence. The administrative law judge found that Hinkle had lengthy underground coal mine work but had not established total respiratory disability. The Board held…
Patrick R. Weinert v. XE Services, LLC and Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania
Weinert v. XE Services (BRB 20-0431): ongoing disability award remanded
Patrick Weinert developed post-traumatic stress symptoms after he was shot while working for XE Services in Afghanistan. An administrative law judge awarded total disability benefits even during Weinert's later employment as a driver. The Board upheld the finding that Weinert could not return to…
Garnet Tracy, on behalf of Gerald Tracy, v. Consolidation Coal
Tracy v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 20-0407 and 20-0408 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Garnet Tracy pursued her late husband Gerald Tracy's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. An administrative law judge awarded benefits after finding that Gerald's qualifying surface coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to…
Kolehmainen v. CS Auto HND, LLC
SOX settlement approved
Daniel Kolehmainen appealed after an ALJ dismissed his Sarbanes-Oxley Act retaliation complaint against CS Auto HND. The parties then settled, and Kolehmainen asked to dismiss the appeal with prejudice. The Board found the settlement fair, adequate, reasonable, and consistent with the public…
District Council of Iron Workers of the State of California v. Wage and Hour Div., USDOL
District Council of Iron Workers v. Wage and Hour Division (DOL ARB 2020-0035): three ironworker classifications upheld
A California ironworkers council challenged a federal prevailing-wage survey that treated structural, reinforcing, and ornamental ironwork as three separate job classifications. The Wage and Hour Division found too little data to publish a residential prevailing wage for any of the three…
R.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Market Street Post Office, St. Louis, MO
Board orders combined review of hand and shoulder injury files (ECAB 21-0618)
R.W. reported a March 2020 fall that injured both hands and an April 2020 fall involving her right shoulder. OWCP decided the later shoulder claim without combining the earlier hand injury file, while a physician reported that her shoulder symptoms began on the date of the March fall. The Board…
D.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chesterland, OH
Board orders causation opinion on higher arm impairment (ECAB 21-0591)
D.N. sought an increased schedule award for both arms after receiving two percent awards for carpal tunnel syndrome. Two physicians found seven percent impairment in each arm, but OWCP questioned whether the added impairment came from federal work or later private employment. The Board found that…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Franklin D. Roosevelt Station Post Office, New York, NY
Board orders review of statement before overpayment decision (ECAB 21-0448)
OWCP finalized an overpayment decision on the same day it received T.B.’s statement disputing her work and pay dates. It did not address that statement before issuing the decision. The Board held that OWCP had to consider relevant evidence received before its final ruling. It set aside the…
S.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Irvine, CA
Board orders two arm injury files combined (ECAB 21-0396)
S.G. sought reconsideration of a denied occupational disease claim involving her hands and arms. She also had an earlier accepted carpal tunnel and ulnar tunnel claim, but that file was absent from the record under review. The Board held that the related files had to be combined to assess whether…
E.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Fayetteville, NC
Board upholds one percent left leg award (ECAB 21-0129)
E.R. sought more than the one percent left leg impairment already compensated after a work injury. A physician proposed a higher rating, but his report lacked enough examination detail to support it. A second opinion found no greater compensable impairment under the applicable rating method. The…
E.W. and Department of Justice, U.S. Penitentiary, Florence, CO
Board dismisses late appeal and repeat reconsideration petition (ECAB 20-1436)
E.W. appealed an OWCP decision more than 180 days after it was issued, leaving the Board without jurisdiction to review it. He also sought reconsideration of an earlier Board order that had dismissed a reconsideration petition. The Board held that its rules provide no petition to reconsider that…
Y.J. and Department of Defense, Construction Supply Center, Columbus, OH
Board upholds termination of longstanding injury benefits (ECAB 20-1123)
OWCP ended Y.J.’s wage-loss compensation and medical benefits for an accepted older employment injury. The Board found that OWCP had met its burden to show the accepted conditions no longer caused disability or residuals. It also found her later medical evidence insufficient to establish continuing…
M.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, East Orange VA Medical Center, East Orange, NJ
Board upholds earlier right leg impairment rating (ECAB 20-1109)
M.H. sought a schedule award greater than the 23 percent right leg impairment for which he had already been compensated. The Board examined his doctors’ ratings and the accepted knee conditions under the applicable guides. It concluded that the medical evidence did not establish a greater…
A.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Chicago Bulk Mail Center, Chicago, IL
Board denies higher left arm impairment award (ECAB 20-0370)
A.T. sought a schedule award above the seven percent left arm impairment already paid. Her physician’s assessment did not establish a rating greater than that prior award and contained an inconsistency under the applicable guides. The Board found the record insufficient to prove increased…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Kansas City, Missouri (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 906 (Union)
Kansas City VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 906 (FLRA 0-AR-5512): Reconsideration of labor-management meeting award denied
The Kansas City VA Medical Center stopped participating in joint labor-management meetings after an executive order rescinded a requirement for such forums. An arbitrator found that the hospital had violated its agreement with the union, but the Authority vacated that award. The union then asked…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5451): Authority denies transit-tax reconsideration
NTEU had challenged the IRS's withholding of taxes from retroactive transit-subsidy payments. The Authority previously set aside an award requiring reimbursement because deciding whether the payments were taxable under 26 U.S.C. § 132(f) did not concern employees' working conditions and therefore…
Secretary of Labor obo Barbara E. Cassidy v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Barbara E. Cassidy v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (FMSHRC PENN 2020-0101): Safety-report retaliation proven
Barbara Cassidy, a section supervisor at Consol's Enlow Fork Mine, raised concerns about shortages of personnel rides, emergency transportation, and roof-bolting practices. Management counseled her after two safety emails and later imposed an unpaid suspension following a loud disagreement with her…
Secretary of Labor obo Darcy White v. Prairie State Generating Co.
Economic reinstatement remains in effect
Darcy White and Prairie State Generating had agreed to temporary economic reinstatement while the Secretary investigated her discrimination complaint. After White amended the complaint to add a staffing agency, the Secretary requested more time to investigate, and Prairie State asked the judge to…
Bobby Henry v. Ceres Gulf, Incorporated
Henry v. Ceres Gulf (BRB 21-0242 and 21-0242A): disability award affirmed
Bobby Henry sustained a back injury while working for Ceres Gulf. The administrative law judge awarded total disability benefits from August 12 through September 21, 2016, partial disability benefits through May 25, 2017, and no disability benefits thereafter. Henry sought a longer period of total…
Phyllis J. Moore, on behalf of Delmus K. Moore, v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Moore v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0039 and 21-0040 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Phyllis Moore pursued her late husband Delmus Moore's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. An administrative law judge awarded benefits after finding two separate routes to entitlement in the miner's claim. Clinchfield Coal challenged only the finding of complicated pneumoconiosis. The…
Clark Brinegar v. Kentucky Processing Company, Incorporated
Brinegar v. Kentucky Processing (BRB 21-0029 BLA): benefit start date remanded
Clark Brinegar received black lung benefits, and Kentucky Processing challenged only the date from which they were payable. The administrative law judge had set the start date at February 2015, when Brinegar filed his claim. The Board found that the judge had also credited evidence showing Brinegar…
Rickey D. Mays v. Sidney Coal Company, Incorporated
Mays v. Sidney Coal (BRB 20-0512 BLA): black lung benefit award affirmed
Rickey Mays received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his underground coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Sidney Coal argued that its doctors had rebutted the presumption. The Board…
Finnie D. Coleman v. Consolidation Coal Company
Coleman v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 20-0511 BLA): benefit denial remanded for disability review
Finnie Coleman appealed a denial of black lung benefits without a lawyer. The administrative law judge found that Coleman had lengthy underground coal mine work but had not established total respiratory disability. The Board held that the judge could not prefer a nonqualifying blood gas study…
Layton Cline v. Brandy Mining, Incorporated
Cline v. Brandy Mining (BRB 20-0490 BLA): benefit award remanded for work year calculation
Layton Cline received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge applied the statutory presumption based on his coal mine work and total respiratory disability. Brandy Mining challenged the calculation of Cline's qualifying work years, while Cline cross-appealed the treatment of a…
Todd O. Brown v. Global Integrated Security, Incorporated and Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania
Brown v. Global Integrated Security (BRB 20-0435): back injury claim returned for review
Todd Brown hurt his back while lifting weights during his employment in Iraq and later sought Defense Base Act compensation. The administrative law judge ruled that his claim for the 2013 injury was filed too late, although she awarded some medical benefits. The Board held that scheduling surgery…
Margaret Woosley, on behalf of Johnny R. Woosley, v. Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation
Woosley v. Jewell Ridge Coal (BRB 20-0394 BLA): benefit award remanded for causation review
Margaret Woosley pursued her late husband Johnny Woosley's black lung claim. An administrative law judge awarded benefits after finding that his coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Jewell Ridge Coal disputed whether…
Linda S. Gumm v. Molloy Mining, Incorporated
Gumm v. Molloy Mining (BRB 20-0382 BLA): survivor benefit award affirmed
Linda Gumm sought survivor benefits after the death of her husband, coal miner Gary Gumm. An administrative law judge found that his coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption that pneumoconiosis contributed to his death. Molloy Mining argued that obesity and…
Arthur P. Sublett, Jr. v. Kingwood Mining Company, Incorporated
Sublett v. Kingwood Mining (BRB 20-0355 BLA): black lung benefit award affirmed
Arthur Sublett received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that forty-one years of underground coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Kingwood Mining challenged the disability finding and argued…
Joseph S. Nixon v. Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Nixon v. Keystone Coal (BRB 20-0340 BLA): black lung benefit award affirmed
Joseph Nixon received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Keystone Coal argued that it had rebutted the presumption. The Board held that the…
Donnie Deel v. Big Track Coal Company, Incorporated
Deel v. Big Track Coal (BRB 20-0301 BLA): benefit award remanded for work history and medical review
Donnie Deel received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Big Track Coal challenged its designation as the responsible employer, the length of…
S.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh, PA
Board rejects shoulder claim without reasoned causation (ECAB 21-0332)
S.O. sought acceptance of a left shoulder condition after an incident at work. Her physicians diagnosed a sprain and repeated her account of the event, but did not supply a reasoned medical opinion connecting the condition to it. A statement of shoulder pain did not itself establish a compensable…
R.C. and General Services Administration, Heartland Region, Kansas City, MO
Board denies short period of renewed disability (ECAB 20-1637)
R.C. claimed a recurrence of disability for four days in February 2020 after an accepted workplace knee injury. His medical reports discussed treatment and other absences but did not explain that the accepted injury disabled him during the claimed four-day period. The Board held that he had not…
K.W. and Department of the Army, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, Command Element, Fort Leonard Wood, MO
Board orders fuller inquiry into holiday party injury (ECAB 20-1237)
K.W. fractured her leg in a fall at an office holiday party and claimed compensation for an injury in the performance of duty. The Army said participation was voluntary, but OWCP had not obtained all facts needed to assess the employer’s role, benefit, and direction of the event. The Board set…
Armstrong Utilities, Inc. d/b/a Armstrong Cable Services
Electrical citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
An Armstrong Utilities crew was installing fiber-optic cable below an energized electrical line in rural Ohio when an experienced lineman contacted the 7.8-kilovolt line and suffered electrical shocks and burns. OSHA originally cited the construction electrical standard and later alleged the…
Matter of Josefina ARAMBULA-BRAVO
Incomplete notice did not defeat removal jurisdiction
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's challenge after a notice to appear omitted the time and place of the initial removal hearing. It held that the omission did not deprive the Immigration Court of jurisdiction because the governing regulations treat the notice as a charging document and a…
James Menear v. Coastal Coal-West Virginia, LLC
Menear v. Coastal Coal-West Virginia (BRB 20-0486 BLA): black lung award affirmed
James Menear received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his qualifying surface coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Coastal Coal challenged the disability finding and argued that its…
Darrell G. Meade v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Meade v. Dominion Coal (BRB 20-0367 BLA): benefit denial remanded for scan review
Darrell Meade appealed a denial of black lung benefits without a lawyer. The administrative law judge found that Meade was not totally disabled by a respiratory impairment and did not have complicated pneumoconiosis. The Board held that the judge had not adequately resolved conflicting CT scan…
Clarence A. Harding v. Lone Mountain Processing, Incorporated
Harding v. Lone Mountain Processing (BRB 20-0357 BLA): benefit award and start date affirmed
Clarence Harding received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that his long underground coal mine work and total respiratory disability invoked the statutory presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Lone Mountain Processing challenged both the finding that it had not…
Robert L. Smith v. Dean Knuckles Enterprises
Smith v. Dean Knuckles Enterprises (BRB 20-0284 BLA): black lung benefit denial affirmed
Robert Smith appealed a denial of black lung benefits without a lawyer. The administrative law judge found that Smith had a disabling respiratory impairment but had not established pneumoconiosis. The Board majority held that the judge reasonably found the only medical opinion supporting legal…
J,V. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Topeka, KS
Board upholds refusal to reopen foot award claim (ECAB 21-0252)
J,V. sought reconsideration of a schedule award decision following an accepted gunshot wound to the foot. Counsel repeated an earlier disagreement about which impairment rating method should apply, but supplied no new pertinent legal argument or medical evidence. The Board held that OWCP properly…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Irving Main Post Office, Irving, TX
Board reverses termination based on incomplete medical opinion (ECAB 20-1511)
OWCP terminated C.B.’s wage-loss compensation and medical benefits after an impartial medical examination. The Board found that the examiner characterized the accepted neck and back injuries too narrowly and did not adequately address all accepted conditions. His report could not carry OWCP’s…
Meek v. BNSF Railway Co.
Railroad withdrew its appeal
Stephen Meek's case against BNSF Railway arose under the Federal Railroad Safety Act's employee-protection provisions. After an ALJ issued a decision, BNSF petitioned the Board for review. BNSF later moved to withdraw its petition before the ALJ decision became final. The Board granted the request…
S.G. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Health Clinic, Baumholder, Germany
Board orders three claim files combined (ECAB 21-0642)
S.G. claimed new knee injuries after a fall at work, while an earlier accepted claim already covered knee conditions and continuing treatment. OWCP decided the newer claim without combining two other claim files. The Board held that the three records were needed for a fair determination of the new…
N.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Blue Bell, PA
Board denies schedule award without impairment evidence (ECAB 21-0508)
N.S. sought a schedule award for permanent impairment after an accepted lumbosacral condition. He did not submit a medical evaluation establishing impairment of a scheduled body member or function under the applicable guides. The Board held that the record did not support an award. It affirmed…
M.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC
Board orders combined review of related arm injury files (ECAB 20-1377)
M.W. sought to expand acceptance of her injury claim to additional neck, shoulder, arm, and hand conditions. OWCP relied on evidence from an earlier claim file that had not been combined with the current record. The Board could not review that evidence or fully assess the expansion claim. It set…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fayetteville, NC
Board denies claimed period of foot disability (ECAB 20-1092)
C.G. sought wage-loss compensation for October 16 through November 22, 2019 because of a foot condition. Her physician described symptoms and limitations but did not adequately connect total disability during those dates to the accepted employment conditions. The Board held that she had not met her…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Tallahassee, FL
Board treats vehicle retrieval trip as work duty (ECAB 20-0759)
C.C., a rural mail carrier, had his wife drive him to a repair shop to pick up his personal vehicle after being told no postal vehicle would be available for his next delivery route. He crashed while driving that vehicle home and claimed an injury in the performance of duty. The Board held that the…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Troy, MI
Board recognizes disability after arm work restrictions (ECAB 20-0419)
M.M. sought wage-loss compensation for a period when restrictions connected to an accepted work injury kept her from normal postal duties. Her physician barred use of her right arm and hand, and the employer did not accommodate that restriction. The Board held that she established total disability…
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.