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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Billy J. Scalf v. Pontiki Coal Corporation
Scalf v. Pontiki Coal (BRB 19-0225 BLA): benefits award returned for medical findings
Billy Scalf received black lung benefits after a judge found complicated pneumoconiosis, which carries an irrebuttable presumption of disability due to the disease. Pontiki Coal challenged the judge's reliance on a doctor's opinion supporting that diagnosis. The Board found that the judge had not…
Carol McCarty v. Cooney Brothers Coal Company
McCarty v. Cooney Brothers Coal (BRB 19-0222 and 19-0223 BLA): miner and survivor denials affirmed
Carol McCarty pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim after a judge denied benefits on both. The judge credited Patrick McCarty with 12.87 years of coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment and legal pneumoconiosis, but found no adequately…
Carlos L. Sturgill v. North Fork Coal Corporation
Sturgill v. North Fork Coal (BRB 19-0172 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Carlos Sturgill received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge credited thirty-three years of qualifying coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. North Fork Coal challenged the disability finding and the judge's conclusion that it had not rebutted the…
Kenneth D. Dorton v. Guest Mountain Mining Corporation
Dorton v. Guest Mountain Mining (BRB 19-0151 BLA): benefits award affirmed
Kenneth Dorton received benefits on a later black lung claim after an administrative law judge credited more than thirty-seven years of underground coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Guest Mountain Mining challenged the disability finding, pointing to exercise…
Isaac Holland v. Shamrock Coal Company, Incorporated
Holland v. Shamrock Coal (BRB 19-0125 BLA): disability evidence returned to the judge
Isaac Holland received benefits on a later black lung claim after a judge credited at least twenty years of underground coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Shamrock Coal challenged the finding that a February 2015 breathing test was valid. The Board found that the…
Marlene Mullins v. Ison Coal Company, Incorporated
Mullins v. Ison Coal (BRB 19-0109 and 19-0268 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Marlene Mullins pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim after an administrative law judge awarded benefits on both. The judge credited Gregory Mullins with 16.25 years of qualifying coal mine work and found him totally disabled, triggering the statutory presumption in…
Social Security Administration and Association of Administrative Law Judges, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
Social Security Administration and AALJ (FLRA 0-MC-0028): Authority declines to halt impasse proceedings
The Social Security Administration and the administrative law judges union reached an impasse while bargaining over a successor agreement. After the Federal Service Impasses Panel took jurisdiction over nine disputed articles, the union asked the Authority to halt the Panel's proceedings. The union…
Komsan (Troy) Wooden v. Genesis Alkali, LLC
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Komsan Wooden claimed that Genesis Alkali placed him on probation and later fired him because of safety complaints, an injury report, an MSHA discrimination complaint, and workplace-examination concerns. Judge L. Zane Gill found that Wooden engaged in protected activity and that probation and…
McMullen v. Figeac Aero North America
AIR21 retaliation award affirmed
Figeac Aero plant manager Van McMullen reported possible falsification and missing certification information for aircraft parts, then filed a complaint with the FAA. Figeac terminated him within days. The Board upheld the ALJ's findings that McMullen reasonably reported potential aviation-safety…
Becker v. Community Health Systems, Inc.
SOX settlement approved
An ALJ found that Community Health Systems and Rockwood Clinics violated the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by constructively discharging, circumventing, threatening, and harassing Gregg Becker for protected whistleblowing. Both sides appealed different parts of that decision, and the case was selected for…
J.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Maspeth, NY
J.J. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1783): Injury claim denial affirmed for lack of medical explanation
A mail carrier reported injuries to her wrist, knee, and leg after a vehicle struck her while she crossed a street at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her compensation claim. The Board found that a physician diagnosed sprains but did not explain how the accepted incident…
L.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Chicago, IL
L.T. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1357): Injury denial set aside because prior claim file was missing
A postal clerk reported a head injury when a container rack struck her at work and sought compensation for a cervical spine condition. OWCP denied the claim after referring to medical evidence from an older accepted claim involving the same body part. The Board found that OWCP had neither combined…
B.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
B.D. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-0907): Reconsideration request was timely
A letter carrier sought compensation for a back condition she attributed to walking on uneven surfaces at work. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim and later treated her July 6, 2018 reconsideration request as late. The Board found the request timely because OWCP received it exactly one year…
P.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Westville, NJ
P.H. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 18-0987): Schedule award denial set aside for further medical review
A retired letter carrier sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of his right arm after an accepted work-related elbow condition. OWCP denied the award after its medical adviser rated the impairment at zero percent. The Board found that the adviser had used a diagnosis-based method but had…
Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings Operations and Association of Administrative Law Judges, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
SSA Office of Hearings Operations and AALJ (FLRA 0-AR-5514): Telework quota remedy vacated
The Social Security Administration denied an administrative law judge's telework request because the judge planned to schedule forty to forty-five hearings per month instead of the agency's fifty-hearing target. An arbitrator found that the agency failed to make the individualized assessment…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Ten citations resolved for $6,155
MSHA cited Consol Pennsylvania Coal for ten conditions at Bailey Mine, including damaged high-pressure hoses, combustible accumulations, improper battery-station ventilation, an electrical control box, and unsupported roof. Judge Jacqueline Bulluck found the accumulations and battery-ventilation…
James M. Lopez v. California United Terminals
Lopez v. California United Terminals (BRB 20-0160): appeal dismissed for modification proceedings
James Lopez had appealed a judge's December 2019 decision in his Longshore Act case. He then filed a modification application with the district director and asked the Board to dismiss the appeal and return the case for that process. The Board granted his request and dismissed the appeal without…
Mentor Gashi v. Fluor Federal Global Projects
Gashi v. Fluor Federal Global Projects (BRB 20-0151): early appeal dismissed
Mentor Gashi appealed a judge's ruling that his Defense Base Act disability benefits claim was filed too late. His claim for medical benefits was still before the judge, so the ruling did not end the case. The employer asked the Board to dismiss the appeal. The Board granted that request because…
Jeanne Johnston (widow of Roy Johnston) v. Hayward Baker
Johnston v. Hayward Baker (BRB 19-0466): attorney fee award affirmed
Jeanne Johnston's lawyer appealed a fee order entered after Johnston won death benefits and the Board had returned an earlier fee order for further review. The lawyer argued that a consumer law fee survey and another attorney's declaration supported higher hourly rates. The Board held that the…
Clyde E. Henry v. Ceres Gulf, Incorporated
Henry v. Ceres Gulf (BRB 19-0455): appeal of joinder ruling dismissed
Clyde Henry filed a Longshore Act claim for a shoulder injury sustained while working for Ceres Gulf. Ceres Gulf asked the judge to join Terminal Link Texas, arguing that the shoulder injury followed from an earlier back injury for which Terminal Link might be responsible. The judge denied the…
James L. Rhine v. Consolidation Coal Company
Rhine v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 19-0221 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
James Rhine received black lung benefits after a judge credited 21.15 years of underground coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Consolidation Coal challenged the judge's conclusion that it had failed to rebut the statutory presumption linking pneumoconiosis to the…
Larry Dale Charles v. Enterprise Mining Company LLC
Charles v. Enterprise Mining (BRB 19-0206 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Larry Charles received benefits on a later black lung claim after a judge credited twenty-seven years of underground coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Enterprise Mining appealed, arguing that it had rebutted the presumption that pneumoconiosis caused the…
Johnny L. Neely v. Marfork Coal Company, Incorporated
Neely v. Marfork Coal (BRB 19-0205 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Johnny Neely received benefits after a judge credited 21.19 years of underground coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Marfork Coal challenged the disability finding and the judge's conclusion that it had not rebutted the statutory presumption. The Board upheld total…
Rodney L. Sexton v. Enterprise Mining Company LLC
Sexton v. Enterprise Mining (BRB 19-0200 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Rodney Sexton received black lung benefits after a judge found that he had complicated pneumoconiosis. Enterprise Mining appealed, arguing that Sexton's claim was filed too late and that the medical evidence did not establish complicated pneumoconiosis. The Board held that the employer had not…
Melvin A. Rowe (deceased) v. Olga Coal Company
Rowe v. Olga Coal (BRB 19-0181 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Melvin Rowe died in February 2016, and his surviving spouse pursued his black lung claim for his estate. Olga Coal challenged the finding that Rowe's lung disease was related to coal dust and that it contributed to his total disability. The Board upheld the judge's decision to credit medical…
James C. McGlothlin v. Hope Mining, Incorporated
McGlothlin v. Hope Mining (BRB 19-0113 BLA): black lung benefits award on modification affirmed
James McGlothlin obtained a benefits award after asking to modify an earlier denial of his black lung claim. A judge found that new evidence established total respiratory disability and invoked a statutory presumption based on his lengthy underground coal mine work. Hope Mining challenged the…
Ruth Bishop (on behalf of and widow of Ollie L. Bishop) v. No. 10 Coal Mine, Incorporated
Bishop v. No. 10 Coal Mine (BRB 19-0005 and 19-0196): miner denial and survivor award affirmed
Ruth Bishop pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. A judge denied the miner claim because the evidence did not establish pneumoconiosis, but awarded survivor benefits under a separate statutory presumption. The Board upheld the miner claim denial after reviewing the…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1770): Back injury claim denial affirmed
A mail processing clerk said she hurt her lower back while pulling down and loading mail at work. OWCP accepted that the February 6, 2019 incident occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the physicians’ reports did not explain how the work activity caused the diagnosed back…
C.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Jackson, MS
C.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 19-1748): Foot and ankle claim denial affirmed
A nurse attributed foot and ankle conditions to prolonged walking and standing at a veterans medical center. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim, and the Board upheld that decision. The Board found that her podiatrist’s statements suggested a possible work connection but did not explain how…
Q.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Dallas, TX
Q.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 19-1693): Cart incident established, medical question sent back
A medical center employee reported hurting his right hand and wrist while trying to control a heavy food tray cart at work. OWCP denied the claim after finding the incident unproven. The Board found that the employee’s account of the cart incident was consistent despite one physician’s later report…
L.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Old Hickory Post Office, Old Hickory, TN
L.T. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1389): Overpayment upheld, first-day fault set aside
A postal carrier returned to part-time work while OWCP continued paying her at the total-disability rate, creating a $1,708.67 overpayment. The Board upheld the amount because OWCP had paid more than she was entitled to receive after returning to work. It found no proof that she knew the first…
T.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Duluth, GA
T.C. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1383): Termination of injury benefits affirmed
A rural carrier received wage-loss compensation and medical benefits after a delivery vehicle crash caused several accepted injuries. OWCP later ended those benefits, relying on a second-opinion physician who found no remaining objective signs of the accepted conditions and cleared her for…
L.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Milwaukee, WI
L.R. and Transportation Security Administration (ECAB 19-0712): Related disease claims sent back for combined review
A transportation security officer filed two claims involving recurrent facial cellulitis and alleged workplace exposure to MRSA. OWCP denied one claim but accepted a temporary aggravation under the other file. After OWCP again denied the first claim on reconsideration, the Board found that the…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Candler, NC
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 18-0724): Retirement benefit overpayment finding set aside
OWCP found that a retired postal carrier had received a $36,690.17 compensation overpayment because it had not offset her Social Security retirement benefits. The carrier’s personnel records identified her retirement coverage as CSRS Offset, while OWCP had used figures for FERS coverage. The Board…
TNT Crane & Rigging, Inc.
Power-line citations remanded because boom lowering was disassembly
TNT Crane & Rigging employees were preparing a mobile crane for transport after completing a communications-tower project. While the boom was being lowered so its jib extensions could be removed, a worker holding the hoist line contacted a 14,400-volt power line and sustained severe electrical…
Secretary of Labor v. Bragg Crane Service
Suspended-load penalty reduced to $200
Bragg Crane Service used a crane to move a 40,000-pound hopper at Spanish Springs Pit #6. Judge David Simonton found that a Bragg employee briefly entered the established 10-foot fall zone around the suspended load, violating the rule that persons stay clear of suspended loads, but the evidence did…
Muskegon Development Company
In re Muskegon Development Company (EAB UIC Appeal No. 19-02): Reissued permit review denied
Emerson Joseph Addison III challenged EPA Region 5's reissued Class II Underground Injection Control permit for converting the Holcomb 1-22 oil well in Michigan to enhanced oil recovery injection. The challenge concerned the Region's responses to environmental-justice, well-casing…
Theodore Floyd v. Eastern Associated Coal Company
Floyd v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 19-0098 BLA): benefits award partly vacated and remanded
Theodore Floyd received a benefits award after a judge found that he was totally disabled and qualified for a statutory presumption based on more than forty years of underground coal mine work. Eastern Associated Coal and its carrier challenged the award. The Board upheld the disability finding and…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1766): Left knee claim denial affirmed for lack of causal explanation
A city mail carrier claimed that years of walking, stair climbing, and deliveries caused or aggravated left knee arthritis and a meniscus tear. OWCP accepted his work activities but denied the injury claim because the medical evidence did not link them to a diagnosed condition. The Board found that…
P.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Marlin, TX
P.L. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1750): Occupational disease denial affirmed for insufficient medical reasoning
A city letter carrier claimed that years of walking, carrying mail, and handling parcels caused or worsened conditions affecting her back, hips, and knees. OWCP accepted her description of those duties but denied compensation for lack of medical proof connecting them to a diagnosed condition. The…
M.R. and Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD
M.R. and Social Security Administration (ECAB 19-1697): Hearing request timely after weekend deadline
An SSA clerk sought benefits after she tripped over a computer cord at work, but OWCP denied the injury claim for lack of medical proof. She requested an oral hearing, and OWCP rejected the request as late. The Board found that the thirtieth day after the claim denial fell on a Saturday, so the…
A.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sag Harbor, NY
A.F. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-0676): Left hand injury claim remanded to combine files
A rural mail carrier claimed that years of handling and delivering mail caused left hand and arm conditions, including carpal tunnel syndrome. OWCP denied the claim after referring to medical reports from an earlier accepted left hand claim. The Board found that OWCP had neither combined the two…
N.S. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC
N.S. and Department of Justice (ECAB 19-0622): Increased schedule award claim remanded for medical review
An FBI employee had received a schedule award for eight percent impairment of her left leg after an accepted knee injury. She sought a larger award and submitted a physician’s report describing reduced knee flexion since an earlier examination. OWCP denied the increased award without addressing…
B.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Border Patrol, San Diego, CA
B.G. and Department of Homeland Security (ECAB 19-0602): Emotional condition claim remanded to combine records
A border patrol agent sought compensation for an emotional condition that she attributed to her work. OWCP denied the claim in part because it found her account inconsistent with information from a prior emotional condition claim. The Board could not review that reasoning because the prior claim’s…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 18-1053): Schedule award affirmed; medical visit wage claim remanded
A postal letter carrier with accepted knee, foot, ankle, and back conditions sought a larger schedule award and payment for 3.63 hours missed for a medical appointment. OWCP awarded three percent impairment of her right leg and five percent of her left leg, then denied the missed-hours claim…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VAMC
AFGE Local 2338 and John J. Pershing VAMC (FLRA 0-AR-5410): Reconsideration denied
An arbitrator denied a union grievance over official time for bargaining preparation, and the Authority rejected the union's original exceptions. The union sought reconsideration by disputing the factual account and raising new statutory arguments about bargaining duties and an Impasses Panel…
O.G. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Miami, FL
O.G. and U.S. Customs & Border Protection (ECAB 19-1777): Injury denial affirmed; reconsideration refusal remanded
A customs officer reported back pain after a forklift struck his government vehicle at work. OWCP accepted that the collision occurred but initially denied the claim because he had supplied no medical evidence establishing a diagnosed injury. The Board affirmed that initial decision on the record…
R.A. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Albany, NY
R.A. and Transportation Security Administration (ECAB 19-1752): Shoulder injury wage claim denial affirmed
A TSA supervisor injured his right shoulder while lifting bags at work, and OWCP accepted adhesive capsulitis as work-related. He sought wage-loss compensation for the period from the injury through his return to a limited-duty position. The Board found that his physician did not explain how the…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Belmawr, NJ
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1351): Emotional condition denial affirmed after coworker dispute
A postal retail clerk claimed stress and anxiety after an argument with a coworker and alleged that the coworker threatened her. OWCP initially treated the incident as a compensable work factor but later withdrew that finding and denied the claim. The Board found that the witness accounts and…
B.G. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, Communication Center, Washington, DC
B.G. and U.S. Secret Service (ECAB 18-0491): Hypertension claim remanded after overwork recognized
A Secret Service lieutenant claimed that demanding shifts and other work pressures contributed to a hypertensive crisis. OWCP denied the claim after finding that she had not established an injury in the performance of duty. The Board found her account of irregular 12-hour shifts and added duties…
Brubacher Excavating, Inc. and Traffic Control Services LLC, d/b/a Flagger Force
Traffic-control citations vacated
Brubacher Excavating performed road construction while Flagger Force supplied traffic-control services. OSHA cited both employers under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.200(g)(1) after warning signs were omitted from the southbound approach and a nearby exit ramp, and a vehicle struck and seriously injured a…
Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings Operations and Association of Administrative Law Judges, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
SSA Office of Hearings Operations and AALJ (FLRA 0-AR-5519): Telework remedies vacated
An arbitrator ordered the Social Security Administration to treat workloads of twenty-nine and thirty scheduled hearings per month as reasonably attainable for an administrative law judge during two telework periods. The award also banked denied telework days for the judge's later use. Relying on…
Privler v. CSX Transportation, Inc.
FRSA complaint dismissed as untimely
Jason Privler alleged that CSX Transportation discharged him for refusing to train with employees who violated railroad safety requirements. The Federal Railroad Safety Act required him to file within 180 days of the alleged violation. Privler filed 182 days after his termination. The Board agreed…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Highland Hills Station, Dallas, TX
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1768): Back treatment recurrence denial affirmed
A postal carrier with accepted lower back conditions sought renewed medical treatment after reporting pain and stiffness in September 2017. OWCP denied his recurrence claim, finding the medical evidence did not connect that need for treatment to the accepted work conditions. The Board found that…
E.E. and Department of the Army, Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi, TX
E.E. and Corpus Christi Army Depot (ECAB 19-1763): Thirteen percent hearing award affirmed
An Army Depot electrical equipment repairer developed hearing loss and tinnitus after workplace noise exposure. OWCP accepted both conditions and awarded 13 percent binaural hearing impairment: 10 percent for measured hearing loss plus 3 percent for tinnitus. He sought a higher award, arguing that…
E.R. and Department of the Army, Surface Deployment & Distribution Command, Fort Bragg, NC
E.R. and Department of the Army (ECAB 19-1574): Seven percent shoulder impairment award affirmed
An Army railcar worker injured his right shoulder while releasing a handbrake and later received a schedule award for five percent impairment of his right arm. After further medical review, OWCP increased the total award to seven percent. The Board found that measured limits in shoulder movement…
D.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Des Plaines, IL
D.T. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1375): Right knee claim remanded to combine injury files
A city mail carrier claimed that repeated work activities worsened right knee conditions following an earlier accepted knee injury. OWCP accepted the described work activities but denied her new occupational disease claim for lack of medical proof connecting them to the conditions. Her physician…
S.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
S.Y. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1304): Three wage-loss denials affirmed for missing date-specific proof
A postal mail processor with accepted shoulder, neck, and carpal tunnel conditions sought wage-loss compensation for two days in 2014 and a five-day period in 2018. OWCP denied all three claims because the record did not show disability on those dates. The Board found that the physician’s reports…
J.H. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, KY
J.H. and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ECAB 18-0932): Vehicle accident injury denial affirmed for lack of medical proof
An Army Corps maintenance worker reported a head contusion and shoulder soreness after another vehicle struck his government-rented vehicle during a work assignment. OWCP accepted that the accident occurred while he was working but denied compensation because the evidence did not establish an…
Brian V. Warch v. Ceres Marine Terminals, Incorporated
Warch v. Ceres Marine Terminals (BRB 20-0066): five percent leg impairment award affirmed
Brian Warch injured his right knee while working on a ship and underwent surgery. He sought a permanent disability award based on his doctor's 40 percent impairment rating, while the employer's doctors gave two percent ratings. The judge credited the employer's ratings and added three percentage…
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.