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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Troy E. Owen v. TEMCO, LLC
Owen v. TEMCO (BRB 20-0249, 20-0249A): reconsideration of disability ruling denied
Troy Owen asked the Board to revisit its earlier decision affirming an award of permanent partial disability benefits after his work-related shoulder injury. He argued that his retirement for financial reasons was involuntary and that he should receive total disability benefits. The Board held that…
Troy E. Owen v. TEMCO, LLC
Owen v. TEMCO (BRB 20-0249, 20-0249A): reconsideration of disability ruling denied
Troy Owen asked the Board to revisit its earlier decision affirming an award of permanent partial disability benefits after his work-related shoulder injury. He argued that his retirement for financial reasons was involuntary and that he should receive total disability benefits. The Board held that…
Lillian Kathleen Bennett (Widow of Leonard Bennett) v. Slab Fork Coal Company
Bennett v. Slab Fork Coal (BRB 20-0191 BLA, 20-0192 BLA): miner and survivor benefits awards affirmed
Lillian Bennett pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. On remand, an administrative law judge found that Leonard Bennett had complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggered an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. Slab Fork Coal challenged the…
Lillian Kathleen Bennett (Widow of Leonard Bennett) v. Slab Fork Coal Company
Bennett v. Slab Fork Coal (BRB 20-0191 BLA, 20-0192 BLA): miner and survivor benefits awards affirmed
Lillian Bennett pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. On remand, an administrative law judge found that Leonard Bennett had complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggered an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. Slab Fork Coal challenged the…
Jelani A. Garrett v. DynCorp International
Garrett v. DynCorp International (BRB 20-0167): reconsideration of injury and travel rulings denied
Jelani Garrett asked the Board to reconsider its decision that his spinal conditions were not proven work-related and that travel from Texas to Colorado for pulmonary treatment was not reimbursable. The Board held that the judge could credit a physician who attributed the spinal conditions to…
Kenneth C. Lamb v. Brody Mining, LLC
Lamb v. Brody Mining (BRB 20-0155 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Kenneth Lamb sought black lung benefits after 29.81 years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found total respiratory disability and applied a presumption that pneumoconiosis caused it. Brody Mining challenged the disability finding, the presumption's constitutionality, and…
Drema Young (Widow of Eugene Young) v. Cam Mining, Incorporated
Young v. Cam Mining (BRB 20-0126 BLA): survivor benefits award affirmed
Drema Young sought survivor benefits after her husband, Eugene Young, died following thirty-six years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found that autopsy and medical opinion evidence established complicated pneumoconiosis, triggering an irrebuttable presumption that his…
Manoharan v. HCL America, Inc.
Interlocutory appeal dismissed
Vimalraj Manoharan alleged that HCL America failed to pay required H-1B wages and retaliated against him. An ALJ granted summary decision on the wage claim, allowed the retaliation claim to continue, and denied Manoharan's recusal motion. Manoharan sought immediate Board review of the wage and…
Ho v. Air Wisconsin Airlines
Discovery dismissal affirmed
Aircraft mechanic Danny Ho alleged that Air Wisconsin terminated him after he reported safety concerns. During the administrative case, the ALJ ordered him to attend an oral deposition, arranged for a Cantonese interpreter, warned him repeatedly about dismissal, and postponed the hearing twice to…
Dolan v. Aero Micronesia, Inc.
Limited AIR21 relief affirmed
Pilot and check airman Brian Dolan alleged that Asia Pacific Airlines retaliated after several aviation-safety reports and an unsuccessful line check he conducted on another pilot. The ALJ found that removing Dolan from future check rides was retaliation for protected activity and awarded $5,000…
S.N. and Department of the Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, TX
Board dismisses appeal without a timely OWCP decision (ECAB 21-0903)
S.N. appealed a purported OWCP decision. The record did not contain a final adverse OWCP decision issued within 180 days before the appeal. Because the Board could review only such a decision, it dismissed docket 21-0903. The order did not decide the underlying benefit claim.
L.K. and Department of the Air Force, Materiel Command, Robins Air Force Base, GA
Board dismisses duplicate appeal docket (ECAB 21-0529)
L.K. filed a second appeal concerning the same purported OWCP decision already assigned docket 21-0505. The Clerk inadvertently assigned the second filing a new number, 21-0529. The Board dismissed the duplicate docket. The Board stated that the original appeal, docket 21-0505, would go forward.
L.K. and Department of the Air Force, Materiel Command, Robins Air Force Base, GA
Board dismisses appeal without reviewable OWCP decision (ECAB 21-0505)
L.K. appealed purported OWCP decisions from 2013 and 2020. The record transmitted to the Board did not contain a final adverse OWCP decision issued within the applicable 180 day appeal period. The Board therefore had no decision it could review. It dismissed docket 21-0505 without reaching the…
L.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Albany, NY
Board upholds denial of alleged foot injury (ECAB 21-0221)
L.Y. claimed that a postal container door or shelf fell on his right foot at work. The Board found that his evidence did not establish the factual circumstances of the alleged incident. He had not adequately explained how and where it occurred. The Board affirmed OWCP’s denial of the traumatic…
K.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Richmond, VA
Board upholds two percent leg impairment award (ECAB 20-1660)
K.R. sought an increased schedule award for her right leg after receiving compensation for two percent permanent impairment. The Board found that the district medical adviser’s assessment supported no greater rating. Her submitted evidence did not establish additional permanent impairment. It…
M.R. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan, AK
Board upholds retirement benefit overpayment and recovery (ECAB 20-1622)
M.R. received FECA wage loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits without the required offset. The Board found an $8,150.72 overpayment for March 1, 2016 through March 28, 2020, although he was not at fault. It upheld denial of waiver and recovery through $51.25 deductions from…
J.B. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Yazoo City, MS
Board reverses termination of injury benefits (ECAB 20-1529)
J.B. received compensation for accepted shoulder and spine injuries. OWCP ended her benefits effective November 19, 2019 based on a treating physician’s release to unrestricted work. The Board found that the physician had not explained whether the accepted conditions and related disability had…
W.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Cameron Post Office, Cameron, LA
Board reverses retirement benefit overpayment finding (ECAB 20-1389)
OWCP found that W.G. had received excess compensation because of concurrent Social Security retirement benefits. The calculation assumed a Federal Employees Retirement System offset. The record instead showed that she was covered under the Civil Service Retirement System. The Board found the offset…
A.B. and Department of the Air Force, Security Forces Materiel Command, Randolph Air Force Base, TX
Board orders more medical review of disability recurrence (ECAB 20-1139)
A.B. sought compensation for a recurrence of disability beginning April 8, 2015 after an accepted foot and leg injury. A physician suggested she could try part time sedentary work but did not address whether she was totally disabled from the relevant date. The Board found the medical development…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Los Angeles, California and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 103
Customs and Border Protection and NTEU Chapter 103 (FLRA 0-AR-5618): Authority sets aside light-duty grievance award
Customs and Border Protection reassigned two officers after deciding that their original unit's night shift was unsuitable for unarmed officers on light duty. NTEU Chapter 103 grieved the reassignments for those two officers, but both retired while the grievance was pending. The arbitrator found…
Karen Oliver (Widow of and on Behalf of Ronald R. Oliver) v. W-P Coal Company
Oliver v. W-P Coal (BRB 20-0359 BLA, 20-0360 BLA): miner and survivor benefits awards affirmed
Karen Oliver pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. On remand, an administrative law judge found that W-P Coal had not rebutted a presumption that Ronald Oliver was totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the judge's rejection of the employer's…
Karen Oliver (Widow of and on Behalf of Ronald R. Oliver) v. W-P Coal Company
Oliver v. W-P Coal (BRB 20-0359 BLA, 20-0360 BLA): miner and survivor benefits awards affirmed
Karen Oliver pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. On remand, an administrative law judge found that W-P Coal had not rebutted a presumption that Ronald Oliver was totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the judge's rejection of the employer's…
Jesse L. Athey v. Justin Construction Company
Athey v. Justin Construction (BRB 20-0345 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Jesse Athey sought black lung benefits after at least twenty-five years of underground coal mine work. Justin Construction argued that his claim was filed too late and that its medical evidence rebutted the presumption that pneumoconiosis caused his disability. The Board upheld the judge's finding…
Wanda S. Sutton (Widow of Ermal G. Sutton) v. Skyline Enterprises of Virginia, Incorporated
Sutton v. Skyline Enterprises (BRB 20-0318 BLA, 20-0319 BLA): miner and survivor benefits awards affirmed
Wanda Sutton pursued her late husband's black lung claim and a survivor claim. An administrative law judge found Ermal Sutton had complicated pneumoconiosis after 20.59 years of coal mine work, triggering an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. Skyline Enterprises…
Wanda S. Sutton (Widow of Ermal G. Sutton) v. Skyline Enterprises of Virginia, Incorporated
Sutton v. Skyline Enterprises (BRB 20-0318 BLA, 20-0319 BLA): miner and survivor benefits awards affirmed
Wanda Sutton pursued her late husband's black lung claim and a survivor claim. An administrative law judge found Ermal Sutton had complicated pneumoconiosis after 20.59 years of coal mine work, triggering an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. Skyline Enterprises…
Ronald S. Hurley v. Fools Gold Energy Corporation
Hurley v. Fools Gold Energy (BRB 20-0271 BLA): responsible operator issue remanded
Ronald Hurley received black lung benefits after nineteen years of underground coal mine work. Fools Gold Energy contested both the medical findings and its designation as the company responsible for payment. The Board upheld the total disability finding and the judge's conclusion that the employer…
Stanley Horne v. Doss Fork Coal Company
Horne v. Doss Fork Coal (BRB 20-0259 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Stanley Horne sought black lung benefits after 38.32 years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found medical opinions showed total respiratory disability and applied a presumption that pneumoconiosis caused it. Doss Fork Coal argued that the opinions could not establish…
Garry Freeman v. Cumberland Coal Resources, LP
Freeman v. Cumberland Coal Resources (BRB 20-0158 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Garry Freeman sought black lung benefits after thirty-eight years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge credited medical opinions finding total respiratory disability and applied the presumption that pneumoconiosis caused it. Cumberland Coal argued that the opinions were…
Earnest Barnette v. McMurphy Mining, Incorporated
Barnette v. McMurphy Mining (BRB 20-0157 BLA): benefits denial reversed with award directed
Earnest Barnette sought black lung benefits after 13.35 years of coal mine work. An administrative law judge found clinical and legal pneumoconiosis and total respiratory disability, but denied benefits because he found no proven link between the disease and disability. The Board held that the…
Darrell L. Boyd v. Island Creek Coal Company
Boyd v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 20-0118 BLA): benefits award returned for rebuttal findings
Darrell Boyd received black lung benefits after invoking a presumption that pneumoconiosis caused his total disability. Following an earlier remand, an administrative law judge excluded a supplemental physician report but did not make new findings on whether Island Creek Coal rebutted the…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div. v. Vasquez Drywall, LLC
Administrator's appeal dismissed
The Wage and Hour Division Administrator was the prosecuting party in a case against Vasquez Drywall, LLC. The Administrator notified the Board that she had decided not to petition for review and moved to dismiss the appeal. The Board granted the motion and dismissed the petition for review. This…
M.C. and Department of the Army, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, TX
Board upholds finding that claimant abandoned hearing (ECAB 21-0351)
M.C. requested an oral hearing about a wrist injury claim. OWCP mailed notice of a scheduled telephone hearing to her address of record, but she did not call in. The Board found that OWCP properly treated the hearing request as abandoned. It affirmed the September 18, 2020 decision without…
G.R. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
Board orders hearing loss claim files combined (ECAB 21-0338)
G.R., a Navy shipyard electrician, sought compensation for increased hearing loss. OWCP had previously accepted a separate claim for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. The earlier claim file was absent from the record used to deny the newer claim. The Board ordered OWCP to combine the related…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
Board upholds denial of right ankle condition claim (ECAB 21-0292)
S.D. claimed a right ankle condition after an accepted workplace incident on March 14, 2019. Her physician described an injury on a different date and by a different mechanism than the one she reported. The Board found the medical evidence did not adequately connect the diagnosed condition to the…
B.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Greenville Veterans Affairs Clinic, Greenville, NC
Board upholds denial of degenerative disc disease claim (ECAB 21-0198)
B.M., a VA nurse, claimed that work activities worsened her degenerative disc disease. Her medical records mentioned the condition but did not provide a reasoned opinion connecting it to accepted work factors. The Board found the evidence insufficient to establish causal relationship. It affirmed…
I.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Memphis, TN
Board orders related emotional condition claims combined (ECAB 21-0013)
I.J. sought compensation for an emotional condition linked to her postal work. OWCP’s November 30, 2017 merit decision referred to two earlier claims involving emotional conditions and modified work assignments, but the related files had not been combined. The Board found that it could not fairly…
D.S. and Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, VA
Board upholds ten percent arm impairment award (ECAB 20-1469)
D.S., an able seaman, sought an increased schedule award for his right arm. He had previously received compensation for ten percent permanent impairment. The Board found that the district medical adviser’s calculation under the applicable impairment guides did not support a higher rating. It…
R.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Board remands nurse’s emotional condition claim (ECAB 20-1307)
R.S., a VA nurse, attributed an emotional condition to treatment by management. The employer repeatedly failed to respond to OWCP’s requests for information about the allegations. The Board accepted the allegations as factual and found compensable employment factors. It remanded so OWCP could…
Victor D. Ferreira v. Electric Boat Corporation
Ferreira v. Electric Boat (BRB 21-0119): attorney fee order returned for findings
Victor Ferreira received compensation and medical benefits for a work-related finger injury. His lawyer sought a fee for work before the Labor Department's district director. The director approved a fee as a lien against Ferreira's benefits without explaining why the employer was not liable for it…
Mentor Gashi v. Fluor Conops, Limited
Gashi v. Fluor Conops (BRB 20-0525): claim filing deadline returned for hearing
Mentor Gashi worked in a food warehouse in Afghanistan and later sought Defense Base Act disability benefits for a psychological condition. An administrative law judge ruled without a hearing that the claim was late because Gashi knew by April 2016 that his condition was related to the work. The…
Bennie Fleming v. Clas Coal Company, Incorporated
Fleming v. Clas Coal (BRB 20-0378 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Bennie Fleming sought black lung benefits after twenty-seven years of qualifying coal mine work. An administrative law judge found total respiratory disability and applied a presumption that pneumoconiosis caused it. Clas Coal argued that its medical experts had ruled out coal dust as a cause of…
Judy K. Taylor (Widow of Jimmy K. Taylor) v. Coastal Coal Company, LLC
Taylor v. Coastal Coal (BRB 20-0372 BLA): survivor benefits award affirmed
Judy Taylor sought survivor benefits after her husband, Jimmy Taylor, died following twenty-two years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found a pulmonary function study from his medical treatment showed total respiratory disability, invoking a presumption that…
Keith Setliff v. Kingston Mining, Incorporated
Setliff v. Kingston Mining (BRB 20-0363 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Keith Setliff sought black lung benefits after 42.76 years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found total respiratory disability and applied a presumption that pneumoconiosis caused it. Kingston Mining challenged the presumption's constitutionality and argued that its…
Jack Korzun, Jr. v. Eastern Associated Coal, LLC
Korzun v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 20-0349 BLA): benefits affirmed but insurer issue remanded
Jack Korzun received black lung benefits after at least twenty-nine years of qualifying coal mine work. Eastern Associated Coal disputed the findings of total disability and failure to rebut the pneumoconiosis presumption; the Board upheld those findings. The company also argued that another…
Dannie D. Fuller v. Glamorgan Coal Corporation
Fuller v. Glamorgan Coal (BRB 20-0344 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Dannie Fuller sought black lung benefits after twenty-seven and one-half years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge gave greatest weight to a recent qualifying pulmonary function study and found total respiratory disability. Glamorgan Coal argued that most of the twelve…
Lois M. Bowman v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Bowman v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 20-0306 BLA): miner benefits award affirmed
Lois Bowman sought black lung benefits after eight years of coal mine work. With too few years to use the statutory presumption, she had to prove that coal dust contributed to her lung disease and disability. An administrative law judge credited a physician who explained that both cigarette smoke…
Timothy H. Parish v. Jewell Smokeless Coal Corporation
Parish v. Jewell Smokeless Coal (BRB 20-0241 BLA): mine work finding reversed and claim remanded
Timothy Parish sought black lung benefits after thirty-six years as a warehouse supply clerk for coal mines. An administrative law judge denied benefits because she found that he lacked fifteen years of qualifying underground or comparable work, despite an undisputed disabling respiratory…
Cossie C. Hale, Sr. v. Bullion Hollow Enterprises, Incorporated
Hale v. Bullion Hollow Enterprises (BRB 20-0228 BLA): benefits award returned for work and disability findings
Cossie Hale received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found at least fifteen years of coal mine work and total respiratory disability. Bullion Hollow Enterprises challenged both findings. The Board held that the judge had relied on the district director's work-history finding…
Ronnie Holland v. Flatwoods Coal Company
Holland v. Flatwoods Coal (BRB 20-0174 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Ronnie Holland sought black lung benefits after more than fifteen years of underground coal mine work. Flatwoods Coal disputed the administrative law judge's appointment, its designation as the company responsible for payment, the length of Holland's mining work, and the medical findings. The Board…
L.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Arlington Station, Riverside, CA
Board finds reconsideration request timely (ECAB 21-0322)
L.T. requested reconsideration of a decision concerning left knee osteoarthritis and a proposed knee replacement. OWCP rejected the request as late and applied the strict clear error standard. The Board found that OWCP received the request on the last day of the one year period, so it was timely…
M.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, Manhattan Campus, New York, NY
Board upholds finding that oral hearing was abandoned (ECAB 21-0228)
M.C. requested an oral hearing before OWCP. A notice of the scheduled telephone hearing was properly mailed to her address of record, but she did not participate. The Board found that OWCP properly treated the request as abandoned. It affirmed the October 26, 2020 decision without deciding the…
M.M. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Andover, MA
Board confirms retirement offset but questions overpayment amount (ECAB 21-0190)
M.M. received FECA wage loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits without a required offset. The Board agreed that this created an overpayment, but found that OWCP’s $73,592.65 calculation included a period for which the record did not show FECA payments. It sent the case back to…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Hanover Park Carrier Annex, Hanover Park, IL
Board orders related back injury files combined (ECAB 21-0178)
L.S. claimed a back injury after slipping on ice while delivering mail. The record showed two earlier back injury claims, including one OWCP had accepted. The Board found that all three files needed to be combined for a fair review of the newest claim. It set aside OWCP’s decision and directed a…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
Board upholds denial of total disability claim (ECAB 20-1621)
C.S. sought compensation for total disability beginning May 11, 2019 after an accepted left knee, leg, and hip injury. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish that the accepted conditions caused total disability during the claimed period. It upheld OWCP’s denial of the…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Eastwood Post Office, Houston, TX
Board orders clarification of leg impairment rating (ECAB 20-1303)
M.W. sought an award for more than seven percent permanent impairment of his left leg. OWCP’s district medical adviser did not adequately explain how the rating factors were applied. The Board found the report needed clarification before the claim could be decided. It ordered OWCP to obtain a…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Palos Verdes Peninsula Post Office, Palos Verdes, CA
Board reverses alleged wage loss overpayment (ECAB 20-1130)
OWCP claimed that M.B. had received $5,700.69 in excess wage loss compensation for days he worked or was off duty. The employment records conflicted about dates when he was entitled to intermittent leave without pay because work was unavailable. The Board found that OWCP had not adequately…
S.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Board recognizes knee contusion but rejects other conditions (ECAB 20-1049)
S.K. slipped on a wet spot at work and struck her left knee on a trash can. The Board found that an emergency room diagnosis supported acceptance of a left knee contusion. It found the evidence insufficient to link additional claimed conditions to the incident. The Board affirmed the denial of…
H.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Black Hills Health Care System, Fort Meade, SD
Board upholds denial of intermittent disability claim (ECAB 20-0587)
H.B. claimed intermittent disability from May 23 through November 9, 2019 arising from accepted work conditions. Her medical notes addressed some of the dates but did not adequately establish that the accepted conditions caused the claimed periods of disability. The Board found she had not met her…
United States Department of Defense Education Activity and Federal Education Association
Defense Education Activity and Federal Education Association (FLRA WA-CA-16-0016): Authority orders compliance with payroll awards
The Department of Defense Education Activity had been ordered in a series of arbitration awards to give bargaining-unit employees clear explanations of the payments and deductions shown with each paycheck. An administrative law judge found that the agency did not fully comply and therefore…
Lenora Bryant v. Kinder Morgan
Bryant v. Kinder Morgan (BRB 21-0364): premature fee appeal dismissed
Lenora Bryant's counsel sought an attorney fee under the Longshore Act. A claims examiner told Kinder Morgan it was liable for the fee but allowed time for objections and said an order would follow. The employer appealed the letter. The Board dismissed the appeal because the letter was neither an…
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.