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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R.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Naperville, IL
R.D. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1076): Right shoulder claim denied
R.D., a postal carrier, attributed a right rotator cuff tear to lifting mail and compensating for a prior left shoulder injury. OWCP accepted his described work factors but denied the medical claim. The Board found that his doctor's report connected the tear to work in conclusory terms without…
K.P. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Mount Ranier National Park, Ashford, WA
K.P. and National Park Service (ECAB 20-0349): Hearing loss award denied
K.P., a National Park Service employee, sought a schedule award for accepted work-related hearing loss. The Board applied the impairment method used for hearing awards and found that his loss did not produce a ratable percentage. It upheld the award denial.
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service, North Houston Post Office, North Houston, TX
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0174): Back claim returned for causation review
J.P., a postal clerk, attributed back symptoms to repeated reaching, bending, and handling records at work. OWCP accepted the work factors but denied the claim for lack of a diagnosis. The Board found that physician reports did diagnose sacroiliac and lumbosacral sprains. It returned the claim for…
G.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines, IL
G.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 20-0071): Injury and reconsideration denials upheld
G.J., a VA employee, sought compensation for a condition after an accepted June 12, 2019 work incident. The Board found that the submitted medical evidence did not establish a condition caused by the incident. It also held that her later factual and witness statements did not provide relevant new…
D.B. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Crow Creek Agency, Fort Thompson, SD
D.B. and Bureau of Indian Affairs (ECAB 19-1963): Reconsideration denial upheld
D.B., a Bureau of Indian Affairs legal specialist, sought reconsideration of a back condition claim linked to lifting and other office duties. Her request summarized earlier medical evidence and repeated her claim of work causation. The Board found the new medical notes irrelevant to this claim…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Galveston, TX
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1935): Schedule award overpayment upheld
C.P. received a payment after her schedule award period ended. The Board upheld a $1,753.79 overpayment for February 3 through March 2, 2019 and found that she was without fault. It also upheld OWCP's denial of a waiver of recovery.
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Greensboro, NC
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 18-0822): Emotional condition reconsideration reopened
J.W., a postal carrier, sought reconsideration of an occupational stress claim. Her representative cited Board decisions and explained how they applied to alleged work factors. The Board found this a new relevant legal argument that met the standard for reopening the merits. It set aside the…
United States Department of Defense, Ohio National Guard and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3970, AFL-CIO
Ohio National Guard and AFGE Local 3970 (FLRA CH-CA-17-0248 et al.): Authority upholds broad labor-practice remedy
The Ohio National Guard told dual-status technicians that it was not bound by the federal labor statute or the parties' expired agreement. It also stopped following agreement provisions, ended authorized union-dues deductions, and implemented new dues and merit-promotion policies without completing…
Carolina Preciado v. Navy Exchange Service Command
Preciado v. Navy Exchange Service Command (BRB 20-0050): attorney fee award remanded
Carolina Preciado's counsel sought an attorney fee for work on her Longshore Act claims involving a right knee injury and other alleged injuries. The judge awarded $10,386.70 in fees and $1,309.27 in costs, after reducing the requested hourly rates and hours. The Board held that the judge had…
Jon Davis v. SSA Terminals, LLC
Davis v. SSA Terminals (BRB 20-0038): employer reconsideration denied
SSA Terminals asked the Board to reconsider an April 2020 decision holding it liable for Jon Davis's attorney fee under the Longshore Act. The employer argued that declining to pay compensation without explaining why did not show it disputed liability. The Board rejected that argument: refusing to…
Billy R. Engle v. Maxxim Shared Services
Engle v. Maxxim Shared Services (BRB 19-0345 BLA): black lung benefits award upheld
Billy Engle received black lung benefits after a judge found he had thirty years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Maxxim Shared Services challenged the judge's evaluation of breathing tests and medical opinions, and raised an unsupported constitutional…
Cecil W. Lui v. American University of Afghanistan
Lui v. American University of Afghanistan (BRB 19-0315): USAID oversight establishes Defense Base Act coverage
Cecil Lui was injured during an attack on the American University of Afghanistan, where he worked as a finance professor. An administrative law judge denied Defense Base Act coverage because the university’s USAID funding arrangement was a cooperative agreement and USAID had not signed Lui’s…
Rondal R. Cosby v. T and T Fuels, Incorporated
Cosby v. T and T Fuels (BRB 19-0314 BLA): benefits denial sent back for evidence review
Rondal Cosby, who represented himself on appeal, challenged a denial of black lung benefits. The judge credited him with 19.56 years of surface coal mine work but found he had not shown fifteen years of regular coal dust exposure or a totally disabling breathing impairment. The Board found that the…
Ronald F. Clothier v. Heritage Coal Company, LLC
Clothier v. Heritage Coal (BRB 19-0192 BLA): benefits award and carrier liability upheld
Ronald Clothier won black lung benefits under the fifteen-year presumption after a judge found a disabling respiratory condition. Heritage Coal and Peabody Energy challenged Peabody's carrier liability and argued that a district director's appointment was constitutionally defective. The Board held…
Clarence J. Price v. Olga Coal Company
Price v. Olga Coal (BRB 18-0570 BLA): benefits award remanded for work history calculation
Clarence Price received black lung benefits on a later claim after a judge credited him with 19.08 years of underground coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Olga Coal challenged the work history calculation and the disability finding. The Board upheld the disability…
Budri v. FirstFleet, Inc.
Review denied in fourth STAA complaint
Adriano Budri filed a fourth Surface Transportation Assistance Act complaint against FirstFleet based on negative driving-history information the company had provided to the driver-data service Tenstreet in 2017. Budri argued that learning in 2019 that the information would remain on his report…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Honesdale, PA
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0314): Back injury claim returned for medical review
D.M., a postal carrier, reported back symptoms after lifting a heavy package from her vehicle. OWCP denied the claim because it did not accept that the October 6, 2019 incident had occurred at work. The Board found her account consistent with later reports and established the incident. It returned…
R.L. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Installation Facilities & Environment Division, Quantico, VA
R.L. and Department of the Navy (ECAB 20-0284): Knee condition claim denied
R.L., a Navy employee, sought compensation for a right knee condition after an accepted April 11, 2018 work incident. A doctor checked a form box linking degenerative knee disease to work but did not explain how the incident caused or aggravated it. The Board found the medical opinion…
C.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Springfield, MA
C.K. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1549): Shoulder condition claim denied
C.K., a postal mail handler, attributed a left shoulder condition to repeatedly lifting heavy mail trays overhead. Medical records diagnosed a rotator cuff tear and joint arthrosis but did not provide a reasoned opinion connecting them to the accepted work factors. The Board upheld OWCP's denial…
C.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Brooklyn Processing & Distribution Center, Brooklyn, NY
C.J. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1446): Right leg claim denied
C.J., a postal mail handler, reported pulling a right leg muscle while lifting and pulling a mail pallet. OWCP accepted the September 27, 2017 work incident but denied the medical claim. The Board found that the medical records did not adequately establish that the incident caused a diagnosed right…
D.M. and Department of the Air Force, Langley Air Force Base, Langley, VA
D.M. and Department of the Air Force (ECAB 19-1369): Retirement offset overpayment upheld
D.M. received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits without the required offset from November 1, 2014 through March 2, 2019. The Board upheld OWCP's $25,211.19 overpayment finding and found that he was without fault. It also upheld denial of a waiver and…
K.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Chicago Metro Surface Transfer Center, Elk Grove, IL
K.D. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-0281): Leg impairment claim returned to resolve medical conflict
K.D., a postal mail handler, sought more than the six percent right leg impairment already awarded for a foot condition. Her examining doctor rated impairment at 13 percent, while OWCP's medical adviser rated it at six percent using different interpretations of the impairment guides. The Board…
City of Lowell
In re City of Lowell (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 19-03): NPDES permit review denied
The City of Lowell, Massachusetts, challenged its renewed NPDES permit for wastewater and combined sewer overflow discharges into the Merrimack River and nearby tributaries. The challenge covered phosphorus, flow, and E. coli limits, long-term control planning, bypass and water-quality…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Incoming Mail Facility, Linthicum, MD
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1667): Shoulder injury claim denial upheld
M.W., a postal mail handler, claimed a right shoulder injury after placing a package on a priority belt at work. OWCP accepted that the November 7, 2017 incident happened but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused her shoulder condition. The Board found that…
Xanthopoulos v. Marsh & McClennan Companies, Inc.
SOX complaint dismissed as late
Apostolos Xanthopoulos filed his Labor Department retaliation complaint 350 days after Marsh & McClennan terminated him, beyond Sarbanes-Oxley's 180-day deadline. He argued that earlier submissions to the Securities and Exchange Commission should toll the deadline because he had mistakenly filed…
Garza v. Saulsbury Industries
Environmental whistleblower complaint denied
Saulsbury Industries laid off field-safety manager Alvin Garza during a companywide reduction in force. Garza had reported concerns about improper water disposal and missing storm-water and spill-prevention plans at a worksite. The Board agreed that these reports were protected under federal…
M.P. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
M.P. and Internal Revenue Service (ECAB 20-0277): Claim returned to combine related files
M.P., an IRS tax fraud investigative assistant, claimed that years of typing caused carpal tunnel syndrome and pain in her wrists and elbows. OWCP denied her claim for lack of medical evidence connecting the conditions to her work. Its hearing representative directed OWCP to combine the new file…
D.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
D.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 20-0267): Timely reconsideration request returned for review
D.F., a VA health technician, sought to add spinal conditions to an accepted workplace injury claim. OWCP denied the addition in November 2017 and later rejected her request for reconsideration as untimely. The Board found that OWCP had received a written reconsideration request in March 2018…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Logistics & Distribution Center, Tampa, FL
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0051): Reconsideration denial returned for explanation
C.G., a postal mail handler, had several accepted injuries involving her back, shoulder, and arm. After OWCP ended her wage and medical benefits, she sought reconsideration and submitted medical evidence. OWCP found her latest request untimely and denied it without addressing whether her evidence…
C.D. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Marysville, WA
C.D. and Defense Commissary Agency (ECAB 19-1962): Reconsideration denial returned for reasons
C.D., a commissary store worker, sought compensation for right arm and shoulder conditions that she attributed to relying on that arm at work after an earlier left shoulder injury. OWCP denied her claim and later rejected her reconsideration request as untimely. The Board agreed that OWCP received…
K.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
K.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 19-1452): Back contusions accepted, other conditions denied
K.R., a VA nurse, sought compensation after falling from a chair at work and injuring her back. The Board found that the accepted July 21, 2018 fall and the physicians' observations established work-related back contusions. It directed OWCP to pay or reimburse related medical expenses and any wage…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Washington, D.C. and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923
Naval Facilities Engineering Command and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-5423): Authority vacates grievance-refiling remedy
The union filed a step-three institutional grievance over overtime distribution on behalf of five employees. The arbitrator found that the agreement required a step-one group grievance, but he allowed the union to refile at any time as though the grievance had been timely. The Authority held that…
Micah Ramsey v. Ports America Gulfport, Incorporated
Ramsey v. Ports America Gulfport (BRB 19-0538): employer reconsideration denied
Ports America Gulfport and its carrier asked the Board to reconsider its April 8, 2020 decision in Micah Ramsey's case. Ramsey opposed the motion. No panel member voted to vacate or modify the earlier decision, so the Board denied reconsideration. It also accepted Ramsey's statement responding to…
Diana G. Dix v. Sewell Coal Company/Pittston Company
Dix v. Sewell Coal (BRB 19-0439 BLA): survivor benefits denial upheld
Diana Dix sought survivor benefits after the death of her husband, a coal miner with twenty-two years of underground work. Following an earlier remand, a judge denied benefits because the evidence did not establish that a respiratory impairment alone had totally disabled him or that pneumoconiosis…
Ricky Hill v. Consol of Kentucky, Incorporated
Hill v. Consol of Kentucky (BRB 19-0381 BLA): benefits award remanded for disability findings
Ricky Hill received black lung benefits on a later claim after a judge found twenty-seven years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Consol of Kentucky challenged the disability finding and the judge's conclusion that it had not rebutted the fifteen-year…
D.O. and Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship & Immigration Services, Miami, FL
D.O. and Citizenship & Immigration Services (ECAB 20-0307): Hip injury claim denial upheld
D.O., an immigration officer, reported hip pain after entering a government vehicle during work. OWCP accepted that the December 6, 2018 incident occurred, but denied her claim for a left hip condition. The Board found that her doctor's reports diagnosed several hip conditions without explaining…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Central Massachusetts Processing & Distribution Center, Shrewsbury, MA
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0292): Request to expand accepted hand injury denied
J.R., a postal maintenance mechanic, injured his right hand in a fall at work. OWCP accepted a right wrist abrasion but declined to add a finger tendon tear, an aggravation of arthritis, or other conditions. The Board found that a surgeon linked the tendon tear to the fall without explaining the…
C.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Brockton Veterans Administration Medical Center, Brockton, MA
C.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 20-0139): Elbow claim returned to combine related files
C.G., a VA materials handler, claimed that repeated lifting and other work tasks caused left lateral epicondylitis. OWCP accepted the described work duties but denied this claim for lack of medical proof linking the condition to them. The Board found that earlier claims involving his arms and…
S.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Cleveland, OH
S.S. and Transportation Security Administration (ECAB 19-1815): Work incident established, injury claim returned
S.S., a transportation security specialist, claimed hip and buttock injuries after climbing onto a train during an inspection. OWCP denied the claim because it found inconsistent descriptions of the incident and delayed reporting. The Board found his statements, a coworker's observations, and…
S.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Beavercreek Post Office, Dayton, OH
S.L. and Beavercreek Post Office (ECAB 19-1536): Knee injury claim denial affirmed
S.L., a postal city carrier assistant, reported left knee pain while walking her route in October 2018. OWCP accepted the work incident but denied her injury claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused a diagnosed knee condition. The Board agreed that her doctor's checked…
H.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Henry W. Wheeler Post Office, St. Louis, MO
H.H. and Henry W. Wheeler Post Office (ECAB 19-1530): Twelve percent arm impairment award upheld
H.H., a postal mail carrier, sought a larger schedule award after an accepted shoulder injury and several surgeries. OWCP had awarded compensation for 12 percent permanent impairment of his right upper extremity. The Board agreed with two OWCP medical advisers who calculated 12 percent using the…
C.D. and Department of the Air Force, 560th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Robins Air Force Base, GA
C.D. and Robins Air Force Base (ECAB 19-1462): Late reconsideration denial upheld
C.D., an Air Force aircraft mechanic, sought compensation for a lower back injury he reported after working on floorboards in November 2017. OWCP denied the injury claim in March 2018 and received his reconsideration request more than a year later. The Board reviewed only OWCP's refusal to reopen…
Laith Kappouta v. Global Linguist Solutions, LLC
Kappouta v. Global Linguist Solutions (BRB 20-0321): employer appeal withdrawn
Global Linguist Solutions appealed a district director's order approving a settlement in Laith Kappouta's case. The employer disputed the date on which the order was filed and served, and it sought a correction from the district director. After the district director issued an errata order…
Milton Bowman v. Fluor Daniel Corporation
Bowman v. Fluor Daniel (BRB 20-0275): appeal remanded for settlement review
Fluor Daniel asked the Board to return Milton Bowman's case to the administrative law judge so the judge could consider the parties' proposed settlement. The Board granted the request, dismissed the employer's appeal without prejudice, and remanded the case. If the judge disapproved the settlement…
Leon Sykes v. Virginia International Terminals, LLC
Sykes v. Virginia International Terminals (BRB 20-0204): medical treatment appeal dismissed
Virginia International Terminals appealed a district director's order requiring it to authorize and pay for Leon Sykes's physical therapy at a specified practice. The Board dismissed the appeal because the employer filed it while its timely reconsideration motion was still pending before the…
Wanda J. Thomas v. Vectrus Systems Corporation
Thomas v. Vectrus Systems (BRB 20-0172): psychological injury benefits denial upheld
Wanda Thomas, appearing without a lawyer, sought Defense Base Act benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder that she said was caused or worsened by witnessing a plane crash while working in Afghanistan. A judge found that the employer had rebutted the statutory presumption linking her condition…
Lara M. Sabanosh (Widow of Christopher M. Tur) v. Navy Exchange Service Command/NEXCOM
Sabanosh v. Navy Exchange Service Command (BRB 20-0019): death benefits affirmed for overseas base worker
Christopher Tur worked for the Navy Exchange at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and lived on the base with his family as his job required. He disappeared after an on-base social gathering and was later found dead in the water. His widow and children received death benefits, which the employer…
Bonita Gay Clark v. Miller Brothers Coal, LLC
Clark v. Miller Brothers Coal (BRB 19-0483 BLA): reconsideration of earlier order denied
Miller Brothers Coal and its carrier asked the Board to reconsider an October 2019 order in Bonita Clark's black lung survivor benefits case. The Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs opposed reconsideration. The Board denied the employer's motion, stating that the earlier…
Orville M. Burnette v. Shamrock Coal Company, Incorporated
Burnette v. Shamrock Coal (BRB 19-0407 BLA): black lung benefits award upheld
Orville Burnette won black lung benefits on a later claim after a judge found about thirty-four years of qualifying mine work and total respiratory disability. Shamrock Coal challenged the judge's appointment, the qualifying work finding, and the conclusion that it had not rebutted the fifteen-year…
Danny C. Parsons v. Beech Fork Processing, LLC
Parsons v. Beech Fork Processing (BRB 19-0375 BLA): black lung benefits denial upheld
Danny Parsons sought black lung benefits after thirty-seven years of qualifying coal mine work. The judge denied the claim because Parsons had not shown a totally disabling respiratory impairment, which was needed for both benefits and the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's…
Roger Blake Kendrick v. Chisholm Coal Company, Incorporated
Kendrick v. Chisholm Coal (BRB 19-0371 BLA): black lung benefits award upheld
Roger Kendrick received black lung benefits after a judge found at least twenty-six years of underground coal mine work and total respiratory disability. Chisholm Coal challenged only the finding that it failed to rebut the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's decision to give…
Etta Hensley v. R & R Coal Company, Incorporated
Hensley v. R & R Coal (BRB 19-0334 and 19-0335 BLA): miner and survivor claims remanded
Etta Hensley appealed denials of her late husband's black lung claim, which she pursued for his estate, and her own survivor benefits claim. The judge found that the miner's breathing impairment had not been totally disabling and that pneumoconiosis had not caused his death. The Board held that the…
Wallace H. Uzzle v. Island Creek Coal Company
Uzzle v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 19-0317 BLA): timely claim and benefits award upheld
Wallace Uzzle's black lung benefits award returned to the Board after a remand limited to whether his claim had been filed on time. Island Creek Coal argued that a doctor had told him more than three years before filing that he was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the judge's…
Roger Allen Barker v. Brock & Brock Contracting Company, Incorporated
Barker v. Brock & Brock Contracting (BRB 19-0300 BLA): black lung benefits denial upheld
Roger Barker appealed a black lung benefits denial without a lawyer. The judge credited him with 12.62 years of coal mine work, which was too little for the fifteen-year presumption, and found that he had not otherwise proved pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the work history calculation because the…
Clarence R. Cottrell v. Mystic Energy, Incorporated
Cottrell v. Mystic Energy (BRB 19-0299 BLA): benefits award remanded for blood gas review
Clarence Cottrell received black lung benefits on a later claim after a judge found twenty years of underground mine work and total respiratory disability. Mystic Energy challenged how the judge weighed blood gas studies and medical opinions. The Board found that the judge had mistakenly counted…
Ernie J. Meade on behalf of Kester J. Meade v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Meade v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 19-0298 BLA): miner's benefits award upheld
Kester Meade died in September 2012 while his black lung claim was pending, and his son Ernie pursued the claim for the estate. A judge later awarded benefits. Clinchfield Coal challenged the finding that Kester, who had more than forty years of underground mine work, was totally disabled by a…
Stewart L. Young v. Jewell Ridge Mining Corporation
Young v. Jewell Ridge Mining (BRB 19-0297 BLA): benefits award remanded for disability review
Stewart Young obtained black lung benefits after a judge modified an earlier denial and found he was totally disabled. Jewell Ridge Mining challenged how the judge weighed blood gas studies, treatment records, and medical opinions. The Board held that the judge had not explained why she found the…
Curtis W. Sluss v. Paramont Coal Corporation
Sluss v. Paramont Coal (BRB 19-0296 BLA): black lung benefits award upheld
Curtis Sluss received black lung benefits after a judge found more than twenty-two years of qualifying coal mine work and total respiratory disability. Paramont Coal challenged only the finding that it had not rebutted the fifteen-year presumption. Its doctors attributed Sluss's obstructive lung…
Chester Vandyke v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Vandyke v. Dominion Coal (BRB 19-0279 BLA): benefits award and start date upheld
Chester Vandyke received black lung benefits after a judge found complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggered an irrebuttable disability presumption. Dominion Coal did not challenge the benefits award itself, but disputed its designation as the responsible operator and the December 2015 start date…
Daniel Looney v. Island Creek Coal Company
Looney v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 19-0266 BLA): black lung benefits award upheld
Daniel Looney received black lung benefits after a judge found clinical pneumoconiosis and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Island Creek Coal challenged the work history calculation, the disease finding, and whether pneumoconiosis contributed to the disability. The Board upheld the…
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.