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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Ronald E. Smith v. Quarto Mining Company and CONSOL Energy, Incorporated
Smith v. Quarto Mining (BRB 20-0162): benefits award affirmed
Ronald Smith received a Black Lung benefits award after a judge credited more than 22 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Quarto Mining and its carrier challenged the finding that they had not rebutted the resulting presumption of pneumoconiosis and…
Lenville Mullins v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Mullins v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 20-0122): benefits award affirmed
Lenville Mullins received a Black Lung benefits award after a judge credited more than 28 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Those findings triggered the statutory presumption that his disability was due to pneumoconiosis. Clinchfield Coal argued…
Regina M. Werzbicke, widow of Jack Werzbicke, v. CONSOL Energy, Incorporated
Werzbicke v. CONSOL Energy (BRB 20-0117): survivor benefits affirmed
Regina Werzbicke sought survivor benefits after her husband, a coal miner with more than 30 years of underground work, died. The judge found that pathology evidence showed complicated pneumoconiosis, triggering the irrebuttable presumption that his death was due to the disease. CONSOL Energy argued…
Farrell Reed v. Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC
Reed v. Dickenson-Russell Coal (BRB 20-0104): timely Black Lung claim affirmed
Farrell Reed's benefits claim returned to the Board after an earlier remand on whether he had filed it within the three-year limit. The award rested on a finding of complicated pneumoconiosis, which the Board had previously left in place. Dickenson-Russell Coal argued that a doctor's statements to…
Alan D. Conley v. ICG Knott County, LLC, and Underwriters Safety & Claims
Conley v. ICG Knott County (BRB 20-0101): benefits denial affirmed
Alan Conley filed a second Black Lung claim after an earlier denial for lack of total respiratory disability. The judge accepted 39 years of coal mine employment but found the evidence did not establish complicated pneumoconiosis, which would have triggered an irrebuttable presumption of…
Raymond L. Hayden v. Energy Coal Corporation and American Business & Mercantile Insurance
Hayden v. Energy Coal (BRB 20-0072): liability finding remanded
Raymond Hayden received a Black Lung benefits award after a judge found that coal dust had contributed to his chronic lung disease and total respiratory disability. The Board upheld those medical findings and rejected Energy Coal's challenges to the judge's appointment and removal protections. It…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Mid-Carolinas Performance Cluster, Charlotte, NC
Board upholds denial of shoulder condition claim (ECAB 20-1452)
C.B., a postal rural carrier, attributed a right shoulder condition to his work. The Board found that his physician did not adequately distinguish the effects of preexisting shoulder problems from accepted work factors. Other submissions from a physical therapist could not provide a physician’s…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Plainfield, NJ
Board upholds refusal to reopen knee claim (ECAB 20-1317)
S.W. sought reconsideration of an OWCP decision involving left knee surgery and disability claims. Her submission challenged an examining physician’s opinion but did not present a new relevant legal argument or new evidence requiring review. The Board found that resubmitting a report already in the…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Southwark Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
Board upholds existing right leg impairment award (ECAB 20-1268)
R.M., a postal letter carrier, sought a schedule award greater than the existing 21 percent right lower extremity rating. The Board found the impartial medical examiner’s report detailed and consistent with the impairment guide. It concluded that the evidence did not establish a higher rating and…
M.G. and U.S. Postal Service, West Carrier Annex, Miami, FL
Board upholds retirement offset overpayment recovery (ECAB 20-1145)
M.G. received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without the required offset, creating a $33,948.89 overpayment. The Board found she was without fault but did not qualify for waiver. It also upheld recovery through deductions of $300 every 28 days from…
Y.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Chester Post Office, Chester, PA
Board upholds denial of knee condition claim (ECAB 20-1055)
Y.M., a postal city carrier, attributed torn menisci and swelling in both knees to her work. OWCP requested medical evidence of a diagnosed condition linked to accepted work factors. The Board found that she did not submit a reasoned medical opinion establishing that connection. It affirmed the…
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board orders review of omitted medical reports (ECAB 20-0838)
J.D. sought reconsideration of a denied upper extremity schedule award. OWCP discussed only two recent reports from her physician and overlooked reports from March 2017 through March 2018 that described her accepted conditions as active and disabling. Those reports were already in the record from a…
K.V. and Department of the Navy, Police Precinct, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia Beach, VA
Board orders new rating of right leg impairment (ECAB 20-0149)
K.V., a Navy police officer, sought a higher schedule award for permanent right leg impairment after a training injury. The Board found that OWCP’s examiner did not adequately account for all accepted knee conditions in the statement of facts. It set aside OWCP’s denial of an increased award and…
A.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Columbia, SC
Board upholds denial of shoulder injury claim (ECAB 20-1395)
A.O. reported that a parcel shifted while she lifted it at work, injuring her left shoulder. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the claim for a medical condition. The Board found that the physicians diagnosed shoulder problems without explaining how the incident caused them. It affirmed the…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, City of Industry, CA
Board upholds retirement offset overpayment (ECAB 20-1314)
A.S. received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without the required offset, creating a $7,078.63 overpayment. The Board found he was without fault. It nonetheless upheld OWCP’s denial of waiver because he did not provide the requested financial…
R.J. and Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
Board orders hearing loss claim files combined (ECAB 20-1222)
R.J. sought a schedule award for hearing loss under a claim that overlapped an earlier accepted hearing loss claim. OWCP awarded one percent binaural impairment while a prior file contained a three percent award. The Board found that both files had to be combined to evaluate the current impairment…
R.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, New York, NY
Board reverses termination of injury benefits (ECAB 19-1501)
R.B., a VA social worker, challenged OWCP’s termination of wage-loss and medical benefits. The Board found that its second-opinion physician did not explain, with objective medical findings, why her accepted conditions no longer caused disability. It held that OWCP had not met its burden to end…
A.M. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
Board rejects consequential shoulder injury claim (ECAB 19-1394)
A.M. sought to add a right shoulder condition as a consequence of an accepted neck and back injury from a work vehicle accident. Some physicians diagnosed a shoulder sprain but did not explain medically how the earlier injury caused it. The Board found the medical rationale insufficient and…
L.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Overton Brook VA Medical Center, Shreveport, LA
Board orders further review of counsel fee petition (ECAB 19-0739)
L.T. challenged OWCP’s approval of $1,813.50 in former counsel fees for 5.58 hours of work. She had objected to the request, but counsel did not respond and the representation contract was missing from the record. The Board set aside the fee approval. It directed OWCP to obtain counsel’s response…
E.G. and Department of the Army, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX
Board upholds denial of late overpayment hearing (ECAB 19-0176)
E.G. requested a prerecoupment hearing after OWCP issued an overpayment decision. The Board found that her request was filed after the applicable deadline. It affirmed OWCP’s nonmerit denial of the hearing request. The Board did not decide the underlying overpayment amount in this appeal.
Secretary of Labor v. Southern Aggregates, LLC
Informal-conference mistake supported reopening
Southern Aggregates missed a penalty-contest deadline because it mistakenly believed a pending informal conference stayed the deadline. The operator discovered the error during an internal review and submitted its contest six days after the assessment became final. It also adopted a procedure…
Oberg v. Quinault Indian Nation
Clinic care concerns outside ACA Title I protection
Peggy Oberg worked as a nurse practitioner at a health clinic operated by the Quinault Indian Nation. She alleged that the Nation terminated her after she raised concerns about prescribing practices, patient records, funding, accreditation, referrals, and other clinic-management and care issues…
E.T. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, El Paso, TX
Board upholds overpayment but remands waiver (ECAB 19-1977)
E.T. received a $3,446.08 overpayment because FECA wage-loss compensation was not offset against Social Security age-related retirement benefits. The Board upheld the overpayment finding. It found that OWCP had overlooked financial records submitted with his waiver request. The Board set aside the…
T.E. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Quantico, VA
Board dismisses appeal of favorable claim expansion (ECAB 19-1941)
T.E. appealed an OWCP decision that expanded acceptance of her claim. The Board found that this was not a final adverse decision and that no other reviewable decision appeared in the required period. It dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without deciding the underlying injury claim.
G.R. and U.S. Postal Service, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Air Mail Facility, Jamaica, NY
Board finds clear error in suitable-work ruling (ECAB 19-1886)
G.R. sought late reconsideration of an OWCP suitable-work decision. The Board found clear evidence of error because OWCP had not considered accepted knee injuries in a separate claim file when assessing the offered job. It set aside the reconsideration denial and ordered OWCP to combine the files…
A.P. and Department of the Air Force, Defense Commissary Agency, Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Montgomery, AL
A.P. (ECAB 19-1671): One overpayment reversed; another amount remanded
A.P. challenged two overpayment decisions involving concurrent benefits. The Board upheld the finding that he received FECA compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without an offset, but found the amount needed further review. It also reversed a separate overpayment finding…
S.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Schaumburg, IL
Board orders modification of wage-capacity finding (ECAB 19-1521)
S.V., a postal letter carrier, sought to modify OWCP’s loss of wage-earning capacity finding. Medical evidence showed his accepted cervical condition had worsened, leaving him unable to meet the lifting demands of the modified position used in that finding. The Board held that he met the standard…
V.P. and Department of the Army, Office of the Chief of Staff, Arlington, VA
Board upholds termination of wage-loss benefits (ECAB 19-0645)
V.P. challenged the termination of wage-loss compensation after an accepted employment injury. The Board found that OWCP met its burden to show she no longer had disability caused by the accepted condition. It also found that she had not established continuing disability after the termination date…
V.R. and Department of the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, Hill, UT
Board orders explanation of late reconsideration ruling (ECAB 19-0536)
V.R. asked OWCP to reconsider a back injury decision after the one-year filing period. The Board agreed that the request was late. It found, however, that OWCP had not explained whether his arguments and new medical evidence demonstrated clear evidence of error. The Board set aside that part of the…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Gary, IN
Board upholds denial of late hearing request (ECAB 19-0502)
J.H. requested an OWCP oral hearing concerning her injury claim. The Board found the request was filed after the statutory deadline. It affirmed OWCP’s denial of the hearing request without deciding the underlying benefits issue.
United States Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Port, New York and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3732
Merchant Marine Academy and AFGE Local 3732 (FLRA 0-AR-5650): Authority dismisses coaching-reassignment exception
The Merchant Marine Academy reassigned its men's soccer coach to noncoaching work during investigations of a serious team hazing incident and later removed him. An arbitrator considered the reassignment and removal grievances together, found just cause lacking for both actions, and reduced the…
J.C. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Mammoth Cave National Park, Mammoth Cave, KY
Board upholds denial of arm injury claim (ECAB 20-1462)
J.C., a National Park Service worker, reported a left arm strain while shoveling asphalt into a truck. OWCP accepted the work incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that OWCP had received no medical evidence before its July 16, 2020 decision. The accepted incident alone did not…
T.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Gatlinburg Post Office, Gatlinburg, TN
Board corrects retirement offset overpayment period (ECAB 20-1332)
T.M. received FECA wage-loss and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without an offset. The Board upheld the existence of an overpayment but found that OWCP included March 29, 2020 after the offset had started. It set aside the amount and remanded for calculation through March 28, 2020…
D.P. and Department of the Air Force, Nellis Air Force Base, NV
Board upholds denial of impairment award (ECAB 20-1330)
D.P. sought a schedule award for permanent impairment from an accepted injury. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish a ratable permanent impairment of a covered body member or function. It affirmed OWCP’s denial.
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Summerall Station, Aiken, SC
Board reverses suitable-work benefit termination (ECAB 20-0935)
P.C. challenged OWCP’s termination of wage-loss and schedule award eligibility for refusing an offered postal position. The Board found that the statement of accepted facts omitted an accepted anxiety disorder and other relevant conditions. OWCP therefore had not adequately assessed whether the job…
V.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chamblee, GA
Board orders impartial leg impairment examination (ECAB 20-0863)
V.B. sought a schedule award greater than five percent impairment of each lower extremity. His physician and OWCP’s referral examiner disagreed sharply about whether accepted lumbar conditions caused additional leg impairment. The Board found an unresolved medical conflict. It set aside OWCP’s…
E.T. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Arlington, VA
Board orders merit review of new injury evidence (ECAB 20-0845)
E.T. sought reconsideration of a denied claim after a courtesy car taking him home from a dealership was rear-ended. He had left his assigned government vehicle there for repairs. He submitted new chart notes that addressed diagnosed spinal conditions, the issue OWCP had found missing. The Board…
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Bay View/St. Francis Station, Milwaukee, WI
Board orders clarification of leg impairment rating (ECAB 20-0418)
S.P. sought a schedule award above the existing 37 percent left leg impairment rating. An impartial examiner assessed a higher percentage, but OWCP relied on another physician rather than asking that examiner to clarify his report. The Board set aside the decision and ordered OWCP to obtain the…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Okmulgee, OK
Board orders clarification of lumbar causation opinion (ECAB 19-1772)
L.P. claimed a back condition after a 2012 incident at work. OWCP’s second-opinion doctor said the incident might have temporarily aggravated an underlying condition but did not explain its extent or duration. He later used an overly narrow causation standard. The Board set aside OWCP’s denial and…
C.J. and Federal Housing Finance Agency, Washington, DC
Board upholds denial of workplace emotional condition claim (ECAB 19-1722)
C.J. attributed emotional symptoms to experiences at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Board found that she had not established a compensable employment factor through reliable evidence of harassment or other covered work events. It affirmed OWCP’s denial without finding that the claimed…
W.D. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, New Cumberland, PA
Board finds work stress factor and orders further review (ECAB 19-1654)
W.D. attributed stress-related conditions to his workload and other workplace events. The Board found at least one compensable employment factor established but found the factual record incomplete on other alleged factors. It set aside OWCP’s denial and remanded for more fact development and…
H.W. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service National Office, Binghamton, NY
Board orders new left eye impairment evaluation (ECAB 19-1587)
H.W. sought a schedule award above the prior 66 percent rating for permanent left eye impairment. The Board found that OWCP’s second-opinion evaluation did not properly assess her uncorrected vision under the required standard. It set aside OWCP’s decision and ordered a new examination and rating.
United States Department of the Navy, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii, Federal Fire Department and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local F-263
Navy Region Hawaii Fire Department and IAFF Local F-263 (FLRA 0-AR-5660): Authority vacates attorney-fee award
An arbitrator found that the Navy's Federal Fire Department in Hawaii violated its agreement by changing staffing at several posts, causing firefighters to lose overtime opportunities. He could not determine which employees would have worked the overtime or calculate backpay, but he awarded the…
Midamba v. Verizon Wireless Texas, LLC
Performance record supports SOX dismissal
Nasser Midamba worked as an engineer managing real-estate initiatives for Verizon Wireless Texas. After a regional reorganization, a new supervisor concluded that he could not meet his annual goals, placed him on a performance-improvement plan, and later terminated him. Midamba alleged that the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3342 and Social Security Administration
AFGE Local 3342 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-AR-5591): Authority upholds weather redeployment ruling
A windstorm caused a power outage at a Social Security Administration office in Batavia, New York. The next day, the Agency offered employees reassignment to other offices rather than administrative leave, and six employees who did not report elsewhere were denied leave. An arbitrator found that…
Arnie R. Johnson v. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated
Johnson v. Huntington Ingalls (BRB 20-0557): special fund issue remanded
Huntington Ingalls appealed an administrative law judge's denial of its request to shift part of Arnie Johnson's compensation liability to the Special Fund under Section 8(f). The Board found the appeal premature because the judge had not entered a formal order awarding or denying Johnson benefits…
Cecil Lewis v. Huntington Ingalls Industries
Lewis v. Huntington Ingalls (BRB 20-0549): hearing loss award remanded
Cecil Lewis worked for Huntington Ingalls Industries, where he was exposed to noise and developed hearing loss. The employer agreed to pay benefits for a 7.5 percent binaural hearing loss but disputed payment for the greater loss in his right ear. The administrative law judge denied additional…
Robert Rollo v. Service Employees International, Incorporated and Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania
Rollo v. Service Employees International (BRB 20-0432): approved settlement upheld
Robert Rollo injured his foot while working in Iraq and later entered a settlement covering disputed disability and medical claims. Years after the district director approved it, he sought to reopen the agreement, alleging fraud, duress, and inadequacy. The Board upheld the finding that the…
Tommy J. May v. Eastern Coal Corporation and The Pittston Company
May v. Eastern Coal (BRB 20-0266): benefits denial affirmed after inadequate appeal
Tommy May appealed the denial of his later Black Lung claim. The judge credited 16.65 years of qualifying coal mine employment and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, giving May the statutory presumption that his disability was due to pneumoconiosis. The judge nevertheless denied…
David L. Cantrell v. Rockspring Development, Incorporated, and ANR, Incorporated
Cantrell v. Rockspring Development (BRB 20-0131): benefits award affirmed
David Cantrell received a Black Lung benefits award after a judge credited at least 18 years of qualifying coal mine work and found him totally disabled by a respiratory impairment. Rockspring Development and its carrier argued that his pulmonary function and blood gas tests did not meet the…
Daniel L. Hafemeister v. Mill Branch Coal Corporation and Brickstreet Mutual Insurance Company
Hafemeister v. Mill Branch Coal (BRB 20-0112): denial of benefits affirmed
Daniel Hafemeister appealed the denial of his Black Lung claim without a lawyer. The judge credited 32 years of underground coal mining but found no totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld that finding because four of six valid pulmonary function studies did not meet the…
Arley Moore, widow of Clinton Moore, v. Consolidation Coal Company
Moore v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 20-0098): survivor benefits award affirmed
Arley Moore sought survivor benefits after her husband, a coal miner, died. The judge found an autopsy report established complicated pneumoconiosis and applied the irrebuttable presumption that his death was due to the disease. Consolidation Coal challenged the finding, arguing that the…
Bobby G. Grim v. Abraxas, Incorporated, and American Business & Mercantile Insurance
Grim v. Abraxas (BRB 19-0534): pneumoconiosis findings remanded
Bobby Grim appealed the denial of his seventh Black Lung benefits claim without a lawyer. The Board upheld the judge's calculation of 14.19 qualifying coal mine years, leaving Grim short of the statutory 15-year presumption. It also upheld the finding of total respiratory disability, which allowed…
Wanda F. Blevins, widow of Roy D. Blevins, v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Blevins v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 19-0310): survivor award remanded over dust exposure
Wanda Blevins received a Black Lung survivor-benefits award after the judge found her late husband had spent 18 years in surface coal mining under conditions comparable to underground work. Eastern Associated Coal and its insurer appealed the award and their responsibility to pay it. The Board…
M.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA
Board upholds late reconsideration denial (ECAB 20-1386)
M.H. requested reconsideration of an OWCP decision after the one-year filing window. The Board found the request untimely and found that the submission did not demonstrate clear evidence that OWCP had erred. It affirmed the denial of reconsideration.
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Board accepts reported lifting incident and remands causation (ECAB 20-1019)
R.R. reported left shoulder pain after lifting a tub of mail at work. One medical report described the tub differently, but the Board found the overall evidence established the incident as alleged. It set aside OWCP’s denial and remanded for evaluation of whether the accepted lifting incident…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Kansas City, MO
Board orders fact development on incident after work (ECAB 20-1011)
R.H. reported an injury after her shift at the postal facility. The Board found that OWCP had not gathered enough information to decide whether she remained on the employer’s premises and why she was there three hours and two minutes after her scheduled shift ended. Her supervisor said she had just…
E.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Trenton, NJ
Board orders specialist review of shoulder claim (ECAB 20-0898)
E.P., a postal mail processing clerk, attributed right shoulder conditions to her work duties. Her physicians offered causal opinions that did not establish the claim outright but raised enough support to require further development. The Board set aside OWCP’s denial and ordered a specialist…
G.C. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Shenandoah National Park, Luray, VA
Board orders impartial Lyme disease impairment rating (ECAB 20-0238)
G.C., a National Park Service maintenance worker, sought a schedule award for impairment attributed to accepted Lyme disease. His treating physician found impairment in both arms and legs, while OWCP’s referral physician found none. The Board identified a medical conflict and ordered an impartial…
A.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Brockton Post Office, Brockton, MA
Board orders merit review of new knee report (ECAB 19-1632)
A.T. sought reconsideration of a claim after a vehicle struck her while she delivered mail. A new physician report discussed a torn meniscus and its possible relationship to the accident. The Board found that this was new, relevant evidence addressing causation. It set aside OWCP’s refusal to…
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.