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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James A. Brewster, Jr. v. Brooks Run Coal Company, LLC and Chartis Casualty Company
Brewster v. Brooks Run Coal (BRB 20-0332 BLA): disability finding remanded
James Brewster sought black lung benefits after at least fifteen years of coal mine work. A judge found him totally disabled based on medical opinions, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. The Board majority agreed that the judge could discount a doctor whose view that…
Rocky A. Jenkins v. C & D Services, Incorporated and American Resources Company
Jenkins v. C & D Services (BRB 20-0327 BLA): black lung award affirmed
Rocky Jenkins had eleven years and five months of coal mine employment and a totally disabling respiratory condition. Because he had fewer than fifteen years of mine work, he could not use the statutory presumption and had to prove his subsequent black lung claim through medical evidence. A judge…
Joyce Mullins, on behalf of and widow of William R. Mullins, v. ICG Hazard, LLC and Arch Resources, Incorporated
Mullins v. ICG Hazard (BRB 20-0285 and 20-0300 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Joyce Mullins pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The judge found complicated pneumoconiosis after weighing x-rays, medical opinions, CT scans, and treatment records, and awarded benefits in both claims. The Board majority upheld his reliance on a July 2014 x-ray…
Ronald David Robinette v. Sturgon Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Fund
Robinette v. Sturgon Coal (BRB 20-0296 BLA): black lung award affirmed
Ronald Robinette filed a subsequent black lung claim after eight earlier claims had been denied. A judge found that he had more than fifteen years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory condition, invoking the fifteen-year presumption. The employer's doctors attributed…
Joyce Mullins, on behalf of and widow of William R. Mullins, v. ICG Hazard, LLC and Arch Resources, Incorporated
Mullins v. ICG Hazard (BRB 20-0285 and 20-0300 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Joyce Mullins pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The judge found complicated pneumoconiosis after weighing x-rays, medical opinions, CT scans, and treatment records, and awarded benefits in both claims. The Board majority upheld his reliance on a July 2014 x-ray…
Eddie D. Johnson v. Harman Mining Corporation and Old Republic Insurance Company
Johnson v. Harman Mining (BRB 20-0220 BLA): black lung award affirmed
Eddie Johnson sought black lung benefits after 13.82 years of coal mine work, so he had to prove his subsequent claim without the fifteen-year presumption. A judge found qualifying lung function studies and a doctor's supported opinion established total disability, and credited her explanation that…
Phyllis E. Graham, on behalf of and widow of Bobby H. Graham, v. Presley Trucking Company, Incorporated and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Graham v. Presley Trucking (BRB 20-0091 and 21-0198 BLA): miner and survivor claims remanded
Phyllis Graham pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. A judge awarded the miner benefits under the fifteen-year presumption, and a second judge awarded Phyllis automatic survivor benefits based on that award. The Board found that the first judge had not identified…
Ralph Napier v. R & R Mining, LLC and American Mining Insurance Company
Napier v. R & R Mining (BRB 20-0060 BLA): benefits upheld, payment liability remanded
Ralph Napier worked for several coal mine operators and sought black lung benefits. A judge awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption and assigned payment liability to R & R Mining. The Board upheld the findings that Napier was totally disabled and that the employer had not rebutted the…
Laidler v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad Co.
Hazardous-work refusal award affirmed
Train conductor Wayne Laidler declined to conduct an on-the-ground inspection when an unexpected train approached at track speed in dark, foggy conditions near dangerous bridge terrain. Grand Trunk Western Railroad disciplined only Laidler and terminated him. On remand, the ALJ found that it was…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Des Moines, IA
Postal carrier's incident on an icy road recognized; injury question remanded (ECAB 21-0600)
M.S., a rural postal carrier associate, reported that his vehicle slid on an icy road during work and that he hurt his ribs. OWCP denied his traumatic injury claim because it found insufficient proof that the incident happened as described. The Board relied on his account, his supervisor's…
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jacksonville, FL
Board upholds loss of wage benefits but restores earlier continuation of pay (ECAB 21-0596)
D.P., a postal truck driver with an accepted back strain, declined a modified job that fit his medical lifting and movement restrictions. He sought a shift that would keep him away from work between midnight and 6:00 a.m. because he cared for his wife and described increased anxiety, but the Board…
J.B. and AIS Inc, Marion, MA
Board upholds denial of ankle injury claim for lack of physician evidence (ECAB 20-1566)
J.B., a fisheries observer, reported twisting his right ankle when a fishing vessel hit a wave as he descended stairs. OWCP accepted that the September 15, 2019 incident happened but denied his injury claim. The medical record contained reports from a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner, and…
C.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Coronado Station Post Office, El Paso, TX
Board reverses denial based on a rescission OWCP never completed (ECAB 20-1366)
OWCP accepted C.F.'s work related major depressive disorder claim, then proposed to rescind that acceptance. Without issuing a final rescission decision, it denied her wage loss claim on the premise that no employment factor had been accepted. The Board held that a proposed rescission alone did not…
M.D. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, Moorefield, WV
Board orders medical adviser review of shoulder impairment claim (ECAB 20-0900)
M.D., a federal poultry inspector, had an accepted left shoulder condition and sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. OWCP denied the claim, although a physician's report estimated 13 percent impairment of her left arm. The Board found that OWCP had not sent that report to a district…
D.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pasadena, CA
Board order remands a schedule award denial despite contrary conclusion (ECAB 20-0017)
D.J., a postal carrier with accepted back and foot conditions, sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. OWCP denied it because he had not submitted a physician's impairment evaluation. The Board's analysis agreed that the record lacked such evidence, and its conclusion said he had not met…
C.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center, Leavenworth, KS
Board reverses termination before conflicting psychiatric opinions were resolved (ECAB 21-0363)
C.S., a VA medical administration officer, had an accepted work related aggravation of depression. OWCP ended her wage loss compensation and medical benefits after a second opinion psychiatrist said the aggravation had resolved. Her treating psychiatrist gave a conflicting opinion that the work…
A.A. and U.S. Postal Service, West Palm Beach Processing & Distribution Center, West Palm Beach, FL
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal worker's suitable work case (ECAB 20-1564)
A.A., a postal mail processor with accepted arm and shoulder injuries, lost wage loss compensation and schedule award entitlement after refusing a modified job. She later asked OWCP to reconsider that decision. Her latest request repeated arguments about medical restrictions, the job offer, and her…
E.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Logistics Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
Board reverses suitable work sanction amid conflicting back injury opinions (ECAB 20-0944)
E.L., a postal mail processing clerk, received benefits for an accepted lumbar sprain and lumbosacral radiculitis. OWCP ended wage loss compensation and schedule award entitlement after she declined a modified job. Her treating physician said she remained disabled, while OWCP's second opinion…
C.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dodgeville, WI
Board recognizes knee fracture diagnosis and returns causation question (ECAB 20-0424)
C.K., a postal carrier, reported that a loose dog knocked her down while she was delivering mail, injuring her knees. OWCP denied the claim because it said no qualifying physician had diagnosed an injury. The Board found that a physician's report diagnosed a fracture of the left tibial plateau. It…
Steven T. Young v. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated
Young v. Huntington Ingalls (BRB 21-0205): disability modification issue remanded
Steven Young, a former shipyard welder, sought to change his permanent partial disability award to permanent total disability after his lifting and hand use restrictions became more severe. A judge found that his condition had changed but denied modification because she found other jobs he could…
Lisa E. Stricklin v. Department of the Army and Army Central Insurance Fund
Stricklin v. Department of the Army (BRB 21-0118 and 21-0118A): disability awards affirmed
Lisa Stricklin worked at an Army club and developed physical and emotional conditions after a food cart struck her at work. A judge found her complex regional pain syndrome work related and awarded temporary total disability from September 2015 until a December 2019 labor market survey, followed by…
Lisa E. Stricklin v. Department of the Army and Army Central Insurance Fund
Stricklin v. Department of the Army (BRB 21-0118 and 21-0118A): disability awards affirmed
Lisa Stricklin worked at an Army club and developed physical and emotional conditions after a food cart struck her at work. A judge found her complex regional pain syndrome work related and awarded temporary total disability from September 2015 until a December 2019 labor market survey, followed by…
Brian Benitez v. Matson Terminals, Incorporated and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association
Benitez v. Matson Terminals (BRB 20-0556): attorney fee findings vacated and remanded
Brian Benitez's counsel sought fees for work on Longshore Act claims. A district director awarded $8,308 for 26.8 hours at $310 per hour, to be paid by Matson Terminals. The employer challenged both its duty to pay and the hourly rate. The Board found that the district director had not explained…
Ted L. Boyd v. Black Lick Trucking, Incorporated and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Boyd v. Black Lick Trucking (BRB 20-0475 BLA): benefits award affirmed
Ted Boyd worked 14.93 years in coal mine employment, just below the fifteen years required for a statutory presumption. A judge awarded benefits after finding that coal dust contributed to his disabling lung condition. The employer challenged the finding that Boyd had legal pneumoconiosis, pointing…
Davie Smith v. Elmo Greer & Sons, Limited Liability Company
Smith v. Elmo Greer & Sons (BRB 20-0472 BLA): road contractor liable for miner's benefits
Davie Smith worked as a driller for Elmo Greer & Sons on road construction projects where coal was extracted and sold. A judge awarded him black lung benefits and found that the contractor was responsible for payment. The employer argued that road construction was not coal mining and that a later…
Eddie R. Barnhart v. New Warwick Mining Company and Arrowood Indemnity
Barnhart v. New Warwick Mining (BRB 20-0388 BLA): benefits award affirmed
Eddie Barnhart worked nineteen years in underground coal mining and received an award of black lung benefits. The judge found that Barnhart's disabling respiratory impairment triggered the statutory presumption that his disability was due to pneumoconiosis. The employer argued that smoking alone…
Daniel L. Cook v. T Coal Company and Security Insurance Company of Hartford
Cook v. T Coal Company (BRB 20-0386 BLA): black lung benefits affirmed
Daniel Cook sought black lung benefits after about eleven years of coal mine employment. Because he lacked the fifteen years needed for a statutory presumption, he had to prove his lung disease and its contribution to his disability. A judge credited a doctor's opinion that coal dust and smoking…
Kencil Feltner v. Perry County Mining Company and Old Republic Insurance Company
Feltner v. Perry County Mining (BRB 20-0297 BLA): black lung benefits affirmed
Kencil Feltner sought black lung benefits after working at least fifteen years in underground coal mining. A judge found that his respiratory impairment kept him from his usual heavy work and invoked the statutory presumption that the disability was due to pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the…
S.H. and Department of the Air Force, Minot Air Force Base, Minot AFB, ND
Board dismisses Air Force worker's appeal as untimely (ECAB 21-1179)
S.H. appealed an OWCP decision issued August 28, 2020. The Board calculated that the 180 day filing period ended February 24, 2021, but S.H. filed the appeal on May 24, 2021. It found no documented compelling circumstances explaining the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal without deciding the…
D.F. and Department of the Navy, U.S. Naval Station, Norfolk, VA
Board dismisses Navy worker's appeal at counsel's request (ECAB 21-0804)
D.F., through counsel, appealed an April 22, 2021 OWCP decision. Counsel later asked the Board to dismiss the appeal. The Board granted that request and dismissed its docket. The order gives no ruling on the underlying compensation claim.
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, West Sacramento, CA
Board orders more fact gathering on postal carrier's reported threat (ECAB 21-0231)
D.C., a postal carrier, reported a panic attack after a customer threatened him during a delivery. A manager confirmed his location and that he returned to the office showing distress, but the customer denied the allegation. The Board found that the Postal Service had not supplied a detailed…
J.M. and Department of Justice, Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, KY
Board reverses wage benefit termination based on inconsistent knee reports (ECAB 21-0071)
J.M., a correctional officer, had an accepted right knee injury and received wage loss compensation. OWCP terminated that benefit after his physician checked a form saying he could return to unrestricted work. Five days earlier, the same physician described knee pain, instability, stiffness, and a…
R.H. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, NC
Board accepts leg contusion but rejects additional conditions (ECAB 20-1684)
R.H., a Navy machinist, struck his left leg when his foot slipped from a machine's foot bar. Physicians diagnosed a lower leg contusion soon after the incident, and the Board found that condition work related. Reports offered for additional leg conditions did not establish a firm diagnosis and…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Benton Post Office, Benton, AR
Board upholds termination of postal worker's wage and medical benefits (ECAB 20-0993)
M.R., a postal rural carrier, received benefits for accepted neck and shoulder conditions after a 2010 work injury. OWCP ended wage loss compensation and medical benefits in 2019. The Board gave weight to a second opinion orthopedic surgeon who examined her and found that the accepted conditions…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy, Leavenworth, Kansas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 85
VA Mail Pharmacy and AFGE Local 85 (FLRA 0-AR-5664): Authority removes speculative training backpay
An arbitrator found that a VA mail pharmacy violated its agreement by failing to provide mandatory job and safety training. The award required a training record system and granted each affected employee $1,000 in backpay for each of seven years based on lost opportunities for bonuses and…
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3972
HUD and AFGE Local 3972 (FLRA 0-AR-5537): Authority vacates improperly invoked arbitration award
AFGE Local 3972 challenged a three-day suspension and termination of an employee's telework agreement. The contract required the invoking party to send the other party written notice identifying the grievance and representatives, and to submit its arbitrator request with that notice. The union sent…
Kossen v. Asia Pacific Airlines
AIR21 complaint denial affirmed
Darren Kossen alleged that Asia Pacific Airlines retaliated after he raised concerns about pilots' flight-time records and contacted the FAA. The ALJ found that Kossen engaged in protected activity and that the airline knew of it, but found no actionable termination, promotion denial, or…
A.M. and Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Gaithersburg, MD
Board upholds denial of stress claim based on job reassignment (ECAB 21-0420)
A.M., a federal contract specialist, attributed ongoing stress to an involuntary transfer from a management analyst position and a change in work location. The Board treated the transfer as an administrative personnel action rather than one of his assigned work duties. It said such an action could…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Saint Peter Post Office, Saint Peter, MN
Board requires reasons for denial of shoulder injection request (ECAB 21-0360)
L.M., a postal carrier with an accepted shoulder sprain and clavicle fracture, requested authorization for a shoulder joint injection. OWCP denied it, saying the evidence did not show the treatment was necessary for the accepted conditions. The Board held that OWCP had not explained why the medical…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Huntingtown Post Office, Huntingtown, MD
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal worker's knee claim (ECAB 21-0298)
A.W., a postal employee with accepted left knee injuries, sought reconsideration concerning a later disability recurrence and additional claimed conditions, including patellofemoral syndrome and lower-back nerve impingement. She repeated an argument OWCP had already considered and submitted…
W.L. and Department of the Air Force, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall, England
Board upholds denial where wrist reports did not connect injury to incident (ECAB 20-1589)
W.L., an Air Force child development worker, reported that a child struck her left wrist, which was already in a splint after an earlier injury. Physicians diagnosed wrist problems, but the Board found that most reports did not explain how the May 11 incident caused or aggravated them. One…
S.C. and Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, Washington, DC
Board orders impartial examination on disability after workplace fall (ECAB 20-0856)
S.C., a Department of Energy analyst, was injured when she tripped on carpet and fell into a wall while moving boxes at work. She claimed disability beginning October 7, 2018. Her treating neurologist said a concussion kept her from work, while two government examiners found no continuing disabling…
C.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Derry, NH
Board reverses rescission of accepted hip condition (ECAB 20-0194)
C.H., a rural postal carrier, had an accepted claim for bilateral hip osteoarthritis that later resolved after hip replacements. OWCP rescinded that acceptance based on an impartial examiner's opinion attributing the condition to an inherited predisposition. The Board found the opinion insufficient…
Home Rubber Company, LP
Audiogram violations reduced to serious and shaft-coupling item vacated
Home Rubber manufactured specialty industrial rubber products at a New Jersey facility where an employee's hand was pulled into a mill, resulting in the surgical amputation of four fingers. OSHA's inspection produced citations covering numerous safety and health requirements. On review, the…
Jaludi v. Citigroup, Inc.
Untimely SOX appeal dismissed
Abdul Jaludi filed a Sarbanes-Oxley Act complaint alleging that Citigroup discharged him in 2013. After a federal district court dismissed a related case, OSHA dismissed his administrative complaint in deference to that ruling, and an ALJ also dismissed. Jaludi petitioned the Board more than…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. Frank's Nursery LLC
Wage and Hour Division v. Frank's Nursery LLC (DOL ARB 2020-0015): four H-2A violations upheld
Frank's Nursery employed temporary H-2A agricultural workers at its Texas nursery. The Board held that the company violated the program rules by failing to disclose its drug-screening policy, omitting its federal employer identification number from pay statements, failing to maintain sanitary…
T.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, NY
Board upholds denial of hip claim and refusal to reopen (ECAB 21-0641)
T.M., a cemetery caretaker, reported right hip symptoms after his leg struck machinery while he dug a grave. The Board said a report diagnosing only pain did not establish a compensable condition, and another physician did not explain how the incident caused the reported radiculopathy. It upheld…
T.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Rugby Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
Board upholds denial of postal driver's injury claim for lack of qualifying medical evidence (ECAB 21-0384)
T.F., a postal truck driver, reported shoulder, elbow, and neck symptoms after another vehicle struck his delivery vehicle. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim. The only submitted provider report was from a chiropractor who did not document a spinal subluxation on…
T.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Board orders specialist review of housekeeper's wrist cyst claim (ECAB 21-0377)
T.D., a VA housekeeper, struck his left hand on a bed while working and later developed a wrist mass. A hand surgeon explained how the blow could have produced a ganglion cyst and related his view to imaging and operative findings. The Board found that opinion strong enough to require more…
J.H. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Shaw Air Force Base, SC
Board upholds denial of back injury claim for lack of causation opinion (ECAB 21-0367)
J.H., a commissary store worker, reported back pain and spasms after pulling a pallet in a freezer at work. Her physician diagnosed low back strain and lumbar radiculitis and recommended restricted work. The reports described the incident but did not offer an opinion connecting either diagnosis to…
K.C. and Department of the Navy, Fleet Readiness Center, Cherry Point, NC
Board orders specialist review of Navy worker's shoulder claim (ECAB 21-0146)
K.C., a Navy bearing worker, said his right shoulder was injured while lifting part trays at work. OWCP accepted that the May 2013 incident occurred but denied his claim for lack of medical proof connecting it to his rotator cuff condition. After an earlier Board affirmance, K.C. submitted a…
L.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Mid-Atlantic Consolidated Patient Account Center, Martinsburg, WV
Board orders review of evidence in VA worker's reconsideration request (ECAB 21-0140)
L.B., a VA program support assistant, claimed an emotional condition arising from her work environment. OWCP denied the claim and later rejected her reconsideration request as late and unsupported by clear evidence of error. Her request included an explanation for the delay and additional medical…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Processing & Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
Board orders new review of mail handler's recurrence claim (ECAB 20-1506)
A.S., a postal mail handler, returned to full-time work after an accepted Achilles and other injury, then stopped working about two weeks later. He claimed wage-loss compensation for recurrent disability. OWCP told him to prove a material change in his accepted conditions, the standard used for a…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Broadway Post Office, Broadway, NC
Board reverses denial of rural carrier's wage-loss claim (ECAB 20-0929)
C.M., a rural postal carrier with an accepted back injury, sought wage-loss compensation after declining a modified assignment. An OWCP hearing representative reversed a termination of her benefits because the offered job was temporary and directed OWCP to address reinstatement and the light-duty…
TASR, Inc.
In re TASR, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal 21-03C): PFAS import settlement approved
TASR, Inc. imported ski-wax products containing four PFAS chemicals that the agreement identifies only as Chemical A through Chemical D because their identities were claimed as confidential business information. The agreement states that the chemicals were not on the TSCA Inventory, that TASR…
Lorenzetti v. Worldpay, Inc.
Late SOX objection dismissal affirmed
Louis Lorenzetti alleged that Worldpay terminated his information-technology employment in retaliation for protected activity under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. OSHA found no violation and notified him of the thirty-day deadline to object. He filed with the administrative judges two days after that…
Yelder v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.
FRSA complaint denial affirmed
Jerome Yelder reported a hazardous condition after a transport driver did not respond to requests for information and to stop the vehicle. Norfolk Southern later terminated Yelder following a physical altercation with the driver and Yelder's attempt to take control of the steering wheel and brakes…
G.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Banning, CA
Board rejects postal worker's dependent-rate claim (ECAB 21-0515)
G.E., a postal letter carrier, received wage-loss compensation after an accepted shoulder and carpal tunnel claim. She asked OWCP to pay the higher rate for workers with dependents, pointing to her legal guardianship of her nephew. The Board held that FECA's definition of a child does not include a…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Elmhurst, IL
Board upholds denial of letter carrier's recurrence claim (ECAB 21-0503)
D.B., a postal letter carrier who later became a supervisor, sought compensation for a claimed recurrence of disability after a 2011 neck and arm injury. A prior Board decision had already upheld denial of that recurrence claim. New physicians discussed her spinal conditions and further surgery…
S.C. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Tracy, CA
Board upholds denial of continuing disability benefits for transportation clerk (ECAB 21-0263)
S.C., a Defense Logistics Agency transportation clerk, had received wage-loss benefits for a long-standing left wrist injury. OWCP terminated those benefits in 2017 after her treating physician indicated she could perform her former job, and the Board affirmed that termination in an earlier appeal…
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.