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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
R.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Baltimore VA Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
Board finds diagnoses and orders medical causation review (ECAB 19-0897)
R.C., a VA nurse, reported back and hip pain after bending to help a patient at work. OWCP denied her claim on the ground that no firm injury diagnosis had been shown. The Board found that physician reports documented several lumbar and hip diagnoses. It set aside the denial and remanded for OWCP…
L.Y. and Department of the Air Force, Space & Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, CA
Board requires explained decision on Air Force worker’s claim (ECAB 20-1383)
L.Y. sought compensation for conditions she attributed to repetitive work as an Air Force logistics specialist. After she requested reconsideration with additional medical evidence, OWCP denied modification without discussing that evidence. The Board found that OWCP had failed to explain its…
S.B. and Defense Agencies, Defense Contract Management Agency, Fort Riley, KS
Board dismisses hearing aid appeal without adverse decision (ECAB 20-1355)
S.B. appealed what he described as an OWCP refusal to authorize payment for hearing aids. The Board found no final adverse decision in the record within its appeal window. OWCP’s last decision had accepted his hearing loss claim and provided instructions for obtaining hearing aids. The Board…
S.S. and Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Board seeks employer evidence about airport parking fall (ECAB 20-1349)
S.S., a public health advisor, fell while walking at an airport to renew a parking pass. OWCP denied her injury claim because it found she was outside the performance of duty. She said participation in the parking program was required by her supervisor. The Board found that OWCP had not obtained…
M.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center, Saginaw, MI
Board upholds two percent right leg impairment award (ECAB 20-1264)
M.J., a VA nursing assistant, sought a larger schedule award for a knee injury sustained when he slipped on ice at work. His physician rated right leg impairment at seven percent using a category for mild motion deficits. The Board found that the recorded range of motion did not support that…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Peoria, IL
Board orders further review of postal worker’s rotator cuff claim (ECAB 20-1230)
J.M. sought coverage for a left rotator cuff tear that she attributed to repetitive postal work and compensating for previously accepted arm conditions. Her physician linked the tear to those conditions but did not fully explain the medical connection. The Board found that his consistent…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Genoa City Post Office, Genoa City, WI
Board reverses postal carrier's benefit termination (ECAB 20-0611)
L.G., a rural carrier associate, received benefits after a fall at work. OWCP ended her wage-loss compensation and medical benefits effective January 7, 2018, relying on medical opinions that said her accepted conditions had resolved. The Board found that OWCP had given those physicians incomplete…
C.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Roseland Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial after postal carrier’s road collision (ECAB 20-1212)
C.H., a postal city carrier assistant, was in a vehicle collision while working and reported hip and other injuries. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not establish a diagnosed condition caused by it. The Board found that the submitted…
H.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Downtown Honolulu Post Office, Honolulu, HI
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s arm claim (ECAB 20-0939)
H.S., a postal letter carrier, reported pain in his right elbow, forearm, and wrist after pushing mail trays under a desk. OWCP accepted the workplace incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the medical reports named diagnoses without explaining how the incident caused them; a…
J.B. and Department of the Army, Belvoir Research & Development, Fort Belvoir, VA
Board corrects reason for denying overpayment reconsideration (ECAB 20-0923)
J.B. sought OWCP reconsideration of a final overpayment determination concerning the offset of Social Security retirement benefits. OWCP reviewed her request under the general FECA reconsideration rule and denied modification. The Board held that a final overpayment determination can be reviewed…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wilmington, DE
Board orders impartial rating of postal worker’s arm impairment (ECAB 20-0907)
J.K. sought a larger schedule award for right arm impairment related to accepted conditions. Her physician and OWCP’s second opinion examiner gave materially different impairment ratings using the applicable guides. The Board found an unresolved medical conflict. It set aside the award decision and…
V.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, St. Albans Harbor Healthcare System, Jamaica, NY
Board upholds denial of nurse’s fall injury claim (ECAB 20-0884)
V.L., a VA nurse, slipped and fell on a wet floor at work and sought compensation for shoulder, back, hip, and leg conditions. OWCP accepted the fall but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the physicians’ reports did not adequately explain how the fall caused the diagnosed conditions…
E.J. and Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Tacoma, WA
Board upholds refusal to reopen firearms noise claim (ECAB 20-0841)
E.J., a DEA investigator and firearms instructor, sought reconsideration of a claim for hearing loss and tinnitus after firearms training. The Board found that a new physician report repeated an earlier opinion and that an audiogram did not address the disputed causal connection. The legal argument…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338
John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5647): Authority dismisses removal-procedure exception
The VA removed an employee, and a dispute over selecting an arbitrator delayed the removal grievance. When a later removal grievance reached an arbitrator, she refused to wait for a separate award about the selection procedure, finding no contractual or legal bar to proceeding. The Agency asked the…
American Federation of Government Employees, National VA Council #53 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs (Agency)
VA and AFGE Council 53 (FLRA MC-0032): Stay of impasse order denied
The Federal Service Impasses Panel issued an order resolving parts of labor-agreement negotiations between the VA and AFGE Council 53. The union asked the Authority to stay that order, citing related federal litigation challenging the Panel's composition and its negotiability petitions. The…
R.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cocoa Beach, FL
Board recognizes postal worker’s laceration but rejects concussion claim (ECAB 20-1181)
R.F., a postal city carrier assistant, tripped over a curb while arriving for work and injured his right eyebrow. The Board found that the accepted incident and medical evidence established the visible laceration, so OWCP must address payment of its medical expenses. It found no sufficiently…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Gansevoort, NY
Board orders second opinion on postal carrier’s back and neck claim (ECAB 20-1121)
C.G., a rural postal carrier, sought coverage for neck and back conditions after a vehicle accident while working. Her physician described the incident and linked it to the conditions, but his reports did not fully establish medical causation. The Board found that the uncontradicted reports raised…
S.V. and Department of the Army, Research, Development & Engineering Command, Fort Monmoth, NJ
Board reverses zero compensation sanction for Army worker (ECAB 20-0906)
S.V. received wage-loss compensation for an accepted back injury. OWCP found that he had failed to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation and reduced his future compensation to zero. The Board found that a potential customer service position and its expected pay had already been identified. In…
P.W. and Department of the Army, Crane Army Ammunition Arsenal, Crane, IN
Board reverses Army worker’s retirement offset overpayment (ECAB 20-0756)
OWCP found that P.W. had received too much wage-loss compensation while also receiving Social Security retirement benefits. It used a calculation designed to offset benefits attributable to Federal Employees Retirement System service. The Board found that P.W.’s records instead indicated coverage…
Titan Tire Corporation & Dico, Inc. (Southern Iowa Mechanical Superfund Site)
In re Titan Tire Corporation & Dico, Inc. (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 10-01): reimbursement petition withdrawn and dismissed with prejudice
Titan Tire Corporation and Dico, Inc. had a petition for reimbursement pending before the Environmental Appeals Board concerning the Southern Iowa Mechanical Superfund Site. The petition had been stayed while overlapping liability litigation proceeded in federal court. The companies reported that…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Fishkill Post Office, Fishkill, NY
Board orders merit review of postal carrier’s back claim (ECAB 20-0614)
J.C., a postal letter carrier, sought reconsideration of a denied lower back injury claim after lifting a mail tray at work. He submitted a new physician letter discussing why the lifting incident caused a lumbar strain. The Board found that this relevant medical opinion met the threshold for…
D.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Processing & Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
Board orders more review of postal worker’s added conditions (ECAB 19-1965)
D.A. sought to add neck, back, and wrist conditions to a previously accepted postal work injury claim. The Board found that her physician’s opinion linking cervical and lumbar conditions to the injury was not conclusive but was strong enough to require further development. It also directed OWCP to…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Lansing Vehicle Maintenance Facility, Lansing, MI
Board seeks clarification on vehicle technician’s parking lot injury (ECAB 19-1940)
J.C., a postal vehicle maintenance employee, hurt his left knee while climbing into a vehicle at a postal facility. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied coverage because it was unclear why he was at that facility at 7:30 a.m.. The record contained a maintenance work order and…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
Board recognizes recurrence of total disability and orders payment (ECAB 19-1870)
A.M. sought compensation for a recurrence of total disability related to accepted work-related emotional conditions. OWCP’s own second opinion psychiatrist attributed her inability to work to the worsening accepted conditions and explained his reasoning. The Board found his opinion established…
Purvis Industries, LLC, d/b/a Snake River Supply
Conveyor nip-point citation vacated for lack of predictable access
Snake River Supply employees installed a replacement conveyor belt on a customer's potato truck in Idaho. While kneeling near the operating belt to observe its tracking, an employee reached toward the truck for support and mistakenly placed his hand into an unguarded roller nip point, sustaining…
B.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bell, CA
Board upholds denial of claimed disability period (ECAB 19-1075)
B.M., a postal mail handler, sought wage-loss compensation for a period after an accepted workplace injury. The Board found that her physicians’ reports did not establish that the accepted injury prevented her from working during the specific dates claimed. Some reports described restrictions or…
R.R. and Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division, Baltimore, MD
Board orders new right arm impairment review but rejects claim expansion (ECAB 19-0086)
R.R., a DOL employee, sought a right arm schedule award and acceptance of additional arm conditions. The Board found that OWCP’s impairment examiner had not taken the three independent range of motion measurements required by its rating procedures. It set aside that part of the decision for further…
L.J. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation, Kansas City, MO
Board orders combined review of claims examiner’s wrist condition (ECAB 20-1379)
L.J., a DOL claims examiner, reported bilateral wrist conditions associated with repetitive typing. OWCP had already accepted related conditions in an earlier claim file but reviewed the new claim without combining the files. The Board found that the records needed to be considered together for a…
J.A. and Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Benefits & Payroll Liaison Branch, Bethesda, MD
Board upholds denial of knee injury claim after stair fall (ECAB 20-1375)
J.A., an NIH electrician, reported a left knee injury after falling on stairs at work. Physicians identified a knee strain and a meniscal tear, and an MRI documented the tear. The Board found that the reports did not explain how the accepted fall caused the diagnosed conditions; the scan alone…
J.W. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correction Institution, Fort Dix, NJ
Board orders medical review of prison worker’s dust exposure claim (ECAB 20-1249)
J.W., a prison computer specialist, reported respiratory symptoms after exposure to construction dust containing silica near his office. Two specialists discussed how the accepted exposure could contribute to his diagnosed conditions. The Board found that their reports, read together, were…
W.C. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Nellis Air Force Base, NV
Board upholds $54,495.41 benefit overpayment recovery (ECAB 20-1241)
W.C. received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without the required offset for federal service. The Board affirmed OWCP’s $54,495.41 overpayment finding and found she was without fault. It upheld denial of waiver because her available assets exceeded…
L.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Wilmington VA Medical Center, Wilmington, DE
Board denies expansion of VA worker’s foot injury claim (ECAB 20-1117)
L.K., a VA nurse, sought to add numerous left foot and ankle conditions after he twisted his foot and rolled his ankle while pushing a wheelchair with IV bags at work. His physicians diagnosed conditions including a metatarsal fracture, tendon problems, and deformities. The Board found that their…
J.C. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Vale, OR
Board reverses firefighter’s wage-loss termination (ECAB 20-0973)
J.C., a former emergency firefighter, received compensation for an accepted left wrist injury. OWCP ended his wage-loss benefits based on a physician report that said he had no injury-related work restrictions. The Board found the report did not explain whether the accepted osteoarthritis had…
L.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Capital Metro Area Office, Gaithersburg, MD
Board orders clarification of both arm impairment ratings (ECAB 20-0398)
L.Y. sought schedule awards beyond the existing 14 percent left arm and 3 percent right arm ratings. OWCP used an impartial examiner to resolve conflicting impairment opinions. The Board found that the examiner’s left shoulder rating was incomplete and that he had not explained part of his right…
Antonellis v. Republic Airways
Safety report unrelated to random-test termination
Republic Airways first officer Brittany Antonellis filed a voluntary safety report after aircraft deficiencies were cleared through a procedure she considered unusual. A third-party administrator had already selected her for a random drug test before that flight. At the test, she could not provide…
E.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Duluth, GA
Board dismisses appeal filed one day late (ECAB 20-1350)
E.J. appealed an OWCP decision issued December 31, 2019. Because the 180th day fell on a Sunday, the deadline extended to Monday, June 29, 2020. She filed on June 30 and did not document compelling circumstances for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without reaching…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, North Texas Processing & Distribution Center, Coppell, TX
Board requires review of omitted wage-loss evidence (ECAB 20-1320)
K.B., a postal carrier with accepted right arm and shoulder injuries, claimed wage loss during February 2020. OWCP denied the claim, saying he had not submitted supporting evidence. The Board found that medical reports, work capacity forms, time records, and nursing reports had been submitted…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, South Jersey Processing & Distribution Center, Bellmawr, NJ
Board upholds denial of mail handler’s shoulder claim (ECAB 20-1277)
D.M., a postal mail handler, reported shoulder pain after sorting and lifting mail at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that medical reports identified shoulder and back conditions without a reasoned opinion connecting them to the incident. Diagnostic…
K.F. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Pittsburgh, PA
Board upholds suspension for missing earnings report (ECAB 20-1248)
OWCP asked K.F. to complete an EN1032 form disclosing employment and earnings information. It warned that failure to return complete answers within 30 days would suspend benefits. The Board found that OWCP sent the request and that K.F. had not returned the completed form within 30 days of OWCP’s…
P.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Matteson Post Office, Matteson, IL
Board orders clearer rating of postal worker’s leg impairment (ECAB 20-1199)
P.R. sought a larger schedule award for right leg impairment after a postal work injury involving his knee and ankle. An OWCP-referred second-opinion physician gave a 25 percent rating without explaining its basis. OWCP’s medical adviser gave a lower rating but did not adequately explain the…
K.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board upholds leg impairment award and abandoned hearing finding (ECAB 20-1198)
K.H., a postal worker, sought a schedule award above six percent permanent impairment of his right leg. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish a higher rating. It also found that OWCP mailed notice of his requested telephone hearing, but he did not call in or seek postponement…
E.S. and Department of Defense, Shinnen Army Base, Shinnen, Netherlands
Board upholds retirement offset overpayment and recovery (ECAB 20-0919)
E.S. received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without the required offset for federal service. The Board affirmed OWCP’s $11,087.60 overpayment finding and found E.S. was without fault. It upheld denial of waiver and recovery from continuing benefits…
Secretary of Labor v. RJ Valente Gravel
Duplicate dockets consolidated and reopened
RJ Valente Gravel asked the Commission to reopen default orders in four penalty dockets, and the Secretary did not oppose the motion. Two dockets covered one assessment and two covered another, so the Commission treated each pair as duplicates. It consolidated all four dockets, reopened the…
J.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Montana Healthcare System, Bozeman VA Clinic, Bozeman, MT
Board recognizes workplace mold exposure and remands medical question (ECAB 20-1252)
J.H., a VA nurse, claimed a respiratory condition from mold at his clinic. OWCP denied the claim after finding the exposure unproven. The Board found that the workplace evidence established exposure, but OWCP had not evaluated whether it caused a medical condition. It set aside the denial and…
P.P. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of carpal tunnel impairment award (ECAB 20-1228)
P.P., an IRS secretary, sought a schedule award for right arm impairment from accepted carpal tunnel syndrome. Her physician rated impairment at six percent, while another examiner found none. The Board gave weight to an impartial examiner who used the impairment guides and found normal examination…
C.S. and Department of the Army, Army Medical Command, Fort Hood, TX
Board upholds refusal to reopen Army cook’s injury claim (ECAB 20-1206)
C.S., an Army cook, sought reconsideration of a denied injury claim. The Board found that she repeated her account of the workplace injury without identifying a legal error, presenting a new relevant argument, or supplying pertinent new evidence. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to reopen the merits. The…
C.W. and Department of the Treasury, U.S. Mint, West Point, NY
Board upholds denial of Mint worker’s hand claim (ECAB 20-0965)
C.W., a Mint die setter, felt pain in her left thumb and wrist after striking an anvil while changing dies at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the medical evidence did not provide a reasoned explanation linking a diagnosed condition to the incident…
M.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Plantation Branch Post Office, Plantation, FL
Board orders recalculation of retirement offset overpayment (ECAB 20-0922)
M.E. received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without the required federal-service offset. The Board agreed that an overpayment occurred. It found that Social Security records showed differing amounts for benefits paid and rates reported to OWCP…
V.R. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Houston, TX
Board upholds denial of IRS worker’s emotional condition claim (ECAB 20-0689)
V.R., an IRS employee, attributed an emotional condition to events at work, including disputes over reasonable accommodation. The Board found that she had not established a compensable employment factor for the claim. Her later reconsideration request repeated arguments and supplied medical…
E.S. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Pacific, Fort Shafter, HI
Board orders review of increased leg impairment request (ECAB 20-0656)
E.S. had received a schedule award for 17 percent impairment of each leg and later submitted a physician rating of 28 percent for each. OWCP treated his letters as an untimely reconsideration request and declined to review the evidence. The Board found that he sought a new increased schedule award…
D.H. and Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration
D.H. (ECAB 20-0041 and 20-0261): Injury claim expansion and disability returned for medical review
A Department of Labor investigator sought to add emotional, neck, and shoulder conditions to an accepted injury claim after a work-related vehicle accident. She also sought compensation for disability beginning March 6, 2014. The Board found that her doctors’ reports did not yet prove those…
D.H. and Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Atlanta, GA
Board orders further review of DOL worker’s emotional and disability claims (ECAB 20-0041)
D.H. sought to add an emotional condition to an accepted injury claim and claimed total disability beginning March 6, 2014. The Board found that the record was insufficient to decide either issue. Medical reports concerning her neck and shoulder conditions raised enough of a connection to require…
M.S. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Glynco, GA
Board upholds one percent leg impairment award (ECAB 20-0036)
M.S., an IRS special agent trainee, sought a larger schedule award for a left knee injury. Her physician rated the leg at 20 percent based on knee osteoarthritis. The Board found that the osteoarthritis had not been accepted as work related, so that rating did not show greater impairment from the…
National Labor Relations Board and National Labor Relations Board Union
NLRB and NLRB Union (FLRA 0-AR-5598): Authority allows 2019 information grievance to proceed
The NLRB Union filed an unfair-labor-practice charge over the Agency's response to a 2018 request for fiscal-year 2018 budget materials. It later filed a grievance over a separate 2019 request for fiscal-year 2019 materials. An arbitrator rejected the Agency's argument that 5 U.S.C. § 7116(d)…
Mawhinney v. American Airlines, Inc.
Confirmed arbitration judgments preclude AIR21 claim
Robert Mawhinney alleged that American Airlines terminated him in 2011 for reporting safety concerns. A settlement of an earlier AIR21 case required the parties to arbitrate later employment disputes. One arbitration found no retaliation, and another found that the earlier result precluded further…
Onysko v. State of Utah, Dept. of Environmental Quality
Onysko v. Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DOL ARB 2019-0042): reconsideration denied
The Board had previously affirmed summary dismissal of Steven Onysko's retaliation complaint against the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. Onysko sought reconsideration, arguing that the Board had misstated the treatment of his declaration, undervalued his summary-decision evidence, used…
W.B. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution Greenville, Greenville, IL
Board orders combined review of prison officer’s back claims (ECAB 20-1276)
W.B., a correctional officer, sought reconsideration of a denied lower back injury claim. He had also filed a later claim involving a lower back injury. The Board found that OWCP needed to combine the two files to assess the claims fairly. It set aside the reconsideration decision and ordered…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Mid-Island Processing & Distribution Center, Melville, NY
Board upholds denial of claimed wage-loss period (ECAB 20-1255)
S.D., a postal mail handler, sought compensation for time away from work after a shelf struck her head. A physician stated that she was disabled pending reevaluation but did not explain how the accepted injury prevented work during the claimed dates. The Board found the medical evidence…
W.B. and Department of the Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD
Board requires reasoned decision on late reconsideration (ECAB 20-1197)
W.B., an Army firefighter, sought reconsideration of a denied claim concerning illness after a workplace influenza vaccination. The Board agreed that his request came more than one year after the last merit decision. OWCP did not address the evidence and arguments he submitted when rejecting the…
J.A. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, NC
Board upholds denial of Navy worker’s shoulder injury claim (ECAB 20-1195)
J.A., a Navy motor vehicle operator, reported shoulder and arm injuries after lifting equipment at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that Dr. Jarrett’s December 2019 report did not separate the effects of the incident from preexisting shoulder arthritis…
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.