Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Frank Alo
In re Frank Alo (EAB CWA Appeal No. 22-01): Default order remanded before appeal period
EPA Region 9 alleged that Frank Alo discharged fill material into waters of the United States without authorization under Clean Water Act section 404. After Alo failed to answer, the Regional Judicial Officer found liability by default but left the penalty issue for later action while labeling the…
Henkels & McCoy, Inc.
Digger-derrick bolt maintenance citation affirmed
A Henkels & McCoy crew leader died after a digger derrick structurally failed while employees were removing a utility pole. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause for failing to maintain and torque-test the machine's rotation-bearing bolts as directed by the manufacturer. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 15 and United States Department of the Army, Joint Munitions Command, Rock Island, Illinois
AFGE Local 15 and Joint Munitions Command (FLRA 0-NG-3478): Authority dismisses negotiability petition
AFGE Local 15 proposed contract terms addressing union access, official time, discipline, and personnel records while bargaining with the Army's Joint Munitions Command. The Army withdrew its nonnegotiability allegation for five proposals after the executive orders behind the dispute were revoked…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 149 and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Hidalgo, Texas
CBP Hidalgo and NTEU Chapter 149 (FLRA 0-AR-5747): Authority upholds withdrawal from scheduling agreement
CBP and NTEU Chapter 149 had a local agreement governing rotational schedules and assignments at the Hidalgo Port of Entry. An arbitrator found that CBP properly withdrew from that agreement by giving written notice, but violated the national agreement by failing to bargain over the effects of the…
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, and Erin Lamm
Blue Ridge Parkway decertification petition (FLRA AT-RP-22-0007): Authority requests briefing on certification bar
An individual sought an election to decertify AFGE after the Union was certified, without an election, as representative of a consolidated National Park Service bargaining unit. A regional director dismissed the petition under a rule barring election petitions filed within twelve months after…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2361 and United States Department of the Air Force, Whiteman AFB, Missouri
Whiteman Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2361 (FLRA 0-AR-5795): Authority denies award exceptions
AFGE Local 2361 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving Whiteman Air Force Base. The Union requested an expedited, abbreviated decision under the Authority's regulations, and the Air Force did not oppose that request. The Authority granted expedited treatment after considering the case's…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, USDOL v. Kesco, Incorporated
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. Kesco, Incorporated (DOL ARB 2022-0031): wage-rate petition dismissed as premature
Kesco requested conformed Davis-Bacon wage rates of $15 per hour with no fringe benefits for four flooring classifications on a Florida contract. A Wage and Hour Division section chief instead approved $25 per hour plus $1.17 in fringe benefits. Kesco petitioned the Board, but the letter it…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Yazoo City, Mississippi and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1013, Council of Prison Locals 33
FCC Yazoo City and AFGE Local 1013 (FLRA 0-AR-5773): Authority sets aside bargaining and uniform remedies
Federal Correctional Complex Yazoo City temporarily assigned non-custody employees to posts usually staffed by uniformed custody employees. An arbitrator found that a memorandum changed the non-custody employees' dress rules without bargaining and that the employees were entitled to uniform…
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Franklin Lodge No. 2135 and United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Bureau of Engraving and Printing and IAM Lodge 2135 (FLRA 0-AR-5763): Authority upholds cleanup-time ruling
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing gave mission-critical production employees weather-and-safety leave at the ends of their shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Union argued that the employees also had to receive separate paid cleanup time under the contract and shop policies. An arbitrator…
Baldonick Fernandez v. SAP America, Inc.
Reconsideration of briefing dismissal denied
An ALJ dismissed Baldonick Fernandez's H-1B case after he failed to appear and pursue his hearing request. Fernandez appealed, but the Board dismissed that appeal when he did not file an opening brief or respond to its show-cause order. He then submitted a letter seeking reconsideration and…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1998 and United States Department of State, Passport Services
Passport Services and NFFE Local 1998 (FLRA 0-AR-5766): Authority dismisses removal exceptions
Passport Services removed a passport specialist after the employee failed to achieve acceptable performance during a performance improvement plan. An arbitrator found problems in the agency's administration of the plan but upheld the removal. NFFE Local 1998 filed exceptions and argued that its…
Matter of E-F-N-
Impeachment evidence supported adverse credibility finding
The Board reviewed a Cameroonian respondent's appeal from the denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection. The Immigration Judge found the respondent not credible based on inconsistencies in his testimony and written statements, similarities between…
National Treasury Employees Union and Federal Communications Commission
FCC and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5731, 0-AR-5780): Authority upholds impasse and agreement-execution awards
NTEU and the Federal Communications Commission disputed whether their contract talks had reached impasse and whether the Union had to execute the resulting agreement. One arbitrator found a genuine impasse after reviewing the parties' negotiations and rejected the Union's claim that the FCC…
Daniel Preston v. United Airlines, Inc.
Appeal dismissed after withdrawal
An ALJ denied Daniel Preston relief on his AIR21 whistleblower claim against United Airlines. Preston petitioned the Board for review, then asked to withdraw that petition before the Board decided it. The governing regulation permits a party to withdraw objections while a case is before the Board…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 572 and United States Department of the Navy, Commander, Navy Region Southeast, Millington, Tennessee
Navy Region Southeast and AFGE Local 572 (FLRA 0-AR-5714): Authority dismisses NAF employee removal exception
Navy Region Southeast removed a non-appropriated-fund child and youth program employee after an outside review committee found that the employee's conduct met child-abuse criteria. An arbitrator found the grievance excluded from the negotiated procedure because the outside committee had its own…
Matter of Augustine NCHIFOR
Late notice-to-appear objection forfeited, voluntary-departure issue remanded
The Board reviewed a Cameroonian respondent's motion to reopen removal proceedings after he challenged a notice to appear that omitted the time and place of his first hearing. The Board held that the missing information created a claim-processing issue, not a jurisdictional defect, and that the…
Darling Ingredients, Inc.
Repeat hydrolizer lockout violations affirmed
Darling Ingredients operated a chicken-rendering facility where a pressurized hydrolizer became clogged. After normal pressure-relief methods failed, maintenance employees loosened bolts on a flange, which blew off and released steam and hot material; two employees died. The judge found that…
United States Department of Health and Human Services and National Treasury Employees Union
HHS and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5613): Authority upholds reorganization grievance
The Department of Health and Human Services reassigned and relocated bargaining-unit employees to Washington, D.C., during a reorganization. NTEU alleged that HHS failed to notify the Union, bargain over implementation, and follow contract protections for involuntary reassignments. An arbitrator…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of Field Labor Locals and United States Department of Labor, Division of Federal Employee's Compensation
AFGE Field Labor Locals and DOL (FLRA 0-NG-3460): Authority reopens negotiability petition
The Union asked the Authority to decide the negotiability of seven proposals. After the Union failed to answer an order concerning one proposal, the case-intake office dismissed the entire petition. The Union sought reconsideration and explained that the order appeared to warn only that the single…
Bremerton Metal Trades Council and United States Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Bremerton Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-5779): Authority upholds suspension for misconduct
The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard suspended a union official for ten days after finding a years-long pattern of bullying and verbal abuse. The Union argued that the official's full-time representational schedule and work in a shared union office prevented agency discipline and made the suspension an…
United States Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3928, National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council 119
USCIS and AFGE Local 3928 (FLRA 0-AR-5744): Authority upholds retroactive promotions
USCIS delayed career-ladder promotions during a potential budget shortfall and later processed them without making them retroactive to each employee's eligibility date. An arbitrator found that the collective-bargaining agreement made the promotions nondiscretionary once employees were eligible and…
Secretary of Labor v. Perry County Resources
Secretary ordered to disclose missing abatement order
Perry County Resources and the Secretary proposed resolving four citations with a total penalty reduction from $1,470 to $1,204. The record showed that MSHA had issued a section 104(b) failure-to-abate order connected to an admitted roof-support citation, but the order and related documents were…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, Florida and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals 33, Local 3690
FCI Miami and AFGE Local 3690 (FLRA 0-AR-5630): Authority upholds pay for arbitration preparation
A union representative attended an arbitration-preparation meeting after FCI Miami personnel indicated that official time would be handled, but the institution marked the employee absent without leave and withheld one day's pay. An arbitrator found that the collective-bargaining agreement…
Secretary of Labor obo Alvaro Saldivar vs. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Secretary of Labor obo Alvaro Saldivar v. Grimes Rock, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2021-0265 DM): Safety complaints were not the but-for cause of firing
Alvaro Saldivar alleged that Grimes Rock fired him after he complained about unsafe water-truck tires and inadequate equipment training at its sand and gravel mine. Judge Margaret Miller found that both complaints were protected activity and that Saldivar established an initial discrimination case…
Secretary of Labor obo Alvaro Saldivar vs. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Secretary of Labor obo Alvaro Saldivar v. Grimes Rock, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2021-0178): Temporary reinstatement payments enforced
Grimes Rock and miner Alvaro Saldivar had agreed to economic reinstatement while his discrimination case was pending, with outside wages offset against what the company owed. Grimes Rock kept paying the reduced amount after Saldivar left the outside job and became unemployed, and it repeatedly…
City of Keene
In re City of Keene (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 21-03): Permit limits upheld
The City of Keene challenged EPA Region 1’s NPDES permit for its wastewater treatment plant discharging to the Ashuelot River in New Hampshire. The challenge concerned the pH effluent limit, the aluminum effluent limit and a requested aluminum special condition, and a requested copper special…
Secretary of Labor obo Moses Ortiz v. Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating, Inc., et al.
Temporary reinstatement agreement enforced
Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating missed payments required by its temporary economic reinstatement agreement with miner Moses Ortiz. The company asked the judge to dismiss the discrimination case and sanction Ortiz for alleged perjury, relying in part on criminal convictions that Ortiz had not…
Perdomo National Wrecking Co., LLC, dba Perdomo of NY, LLC
Three citations affirmed after answer default
OSHA issued Perdomo National Wrecking two serious construction citation items and one repeat item after inspecting a New Jersey worksite. The company filed a notice of contest but did not answer the Secretary's complaint. The judge issued two separate show-cause orders and served them by email…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council 270 and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Interior Region 1, North Atlantic - Appalachian, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AFGE Council 270 and National Park Service Region 1 (FLRA 0-NG-3599): Authority defers negotiability dispute to ULP cases
AFGE Council 270 filed a negotiability appeal over a proposal from bargaining for a first agreement covering a consolidated National Park Service unit. The Union had already filed unfair-labor-practice charges alleging that the Park Service failed to bargain in good faith over post-ratification…
United States Department of Defense, Education Activity and Federal Education Association
DOD Education Activity and Federal Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-5775): Authority dismisses late deficiency response
The Department of Defense Education Activity filed exceptions to an arbitration award but did not serve the Union's counsel with a complete copy. The Authority's case-intake office ordered the agency to correct the defect by February 9, 2022. The agency delivered its response to an internal…
William Boch v. J.P. Morgan Securities
Appeal dismissed for missed briefing
An ALJ granted summary decision to J.P. Morgan Securities and dismissed William Boch's retaliation claims under the Consumer Financial Protection Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Boch filed a one-sentence petition for review but did not submit the opening brief required by the Board's scheduling order…
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-5774): Authority upholds official-time calculation
The John J. Pershing VA Medical Center told AFGE Local 2338 that it had exhausted its annual official-time allocation. An arbitrator found that the Center used a misleadingly low employee count and incorrectly excluded employees at community clinics. He interpreted the contract's percentage…
Matter of D-L-S-
Deferred adjudication counted as a final judgment for particularly serious crime bar
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal concerning withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture after a Florida felony battery case ended in deferred adjudication and probation. It held that a deferred adjudication satisfying the Immigration and Nationality…
Independent Union of Pension Employees for Democracy and Justice and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
PBGC and IUPEDJ (FLRA 0-AR-5792): Authority dismisses argument-free exceptions
The Independent Union of Pension Employees for Democracy and Justice submitted two electronic exception forms challenging an arbitration award involving the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. It uploaded the award and exhibits but supplied no argument in either form and attached no exceptions…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-74, Service Employees International Union and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Butler VA Medical Center, Butler, Pennsylvania
Butler VA Medical Center and NAGE Local R3-74 (FLRA 0-AR-5776): Authority remands reassignment grievance
The Butler VA Medical Center reassigned a psychologist to a local recovery coordinator position without soliciting internal applicants. NAGE Local R3-74 alleged that the reassignment violated detailed contract procedures for department-initiated reassignments. An arbitrator denied the grievance…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2052, Council of Prison Locals 33 and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Petersburg, Virginia
Federal Correctional Complex Petersburg and AFGE Local 2052 (FLRA 0-AR-5745): Authority upholds roster ruling despite procedural concerns
AFGE Local 2052 alleged that Federal Correctional Complex Petersburg failed to bargain before removing a thirty-minute unpaid lunch break from a quarterly staffing roster. An arbitrator granted summary judgment to the institution and found that the contract already covered roster changes. The Union…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council 222 and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD and AFGE Council 222 (FLRA 0-AR-5580): Authority upholds eight-hour holiday-pay limit
HUD stopped paying more than eight hours of holiday pay to employees on maxiflex schedules unless they were using recognized compressed schedules. AFGE Council 222 argued that its contract treated maxiflex as a compressed schedule and required holiday pay for all scheduled hours. An arbitrator…
JRA Construction Corporation
Five-month-late contest dismissed
OSHA issued JRA Construction one repeat-serious citation after inspecting a worksite in Aurora, Colorado. The company received the citation on June 19, 2021, making its written notice of contest due July 9, but it did not submit a contest until December 12. The late filing gave no reason for the…
Frontera Construction, LLC
Electrical-proximity citation vacated
Frontera Construction was the general contractor at a medical-facility project in Laredo, Texas. Its superintendent directed a ductwork subcontractor's employees to work only in a hallway because adjoining rooms contained energized electrical equipment. After the superintendent left to assist…
Baldonick Fernandez v. SAP America, Inc.
Appeal dismissed for missing brief
The Board ordered Baldonick Fernandez to explain why his appeal should not be dismissed after he missed the opening-brief deadline. It gave him until May 27, 2022 to respond to the show-cause order. Fernandez filed neither the response nor the required brief. The Board dismissed the appeal without…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Machine, electrical, and mapping citations affirmed
MSHA cited Consol's underground Bailey Mine for a missing keeper pin on a longwall shield, cracked light globes on a continuous miner, and failure to plot a drill hole that penetrated the coalbed. Judge Michael Young found that the missing pin created a projectile hazard and the cracked globes…
The L.E. Myers Co.
Electrical-safety citations vacated
A journeyman lineman was electrocuted while working near energized 7.62-kilovolt distribution lines at a Florida worksite. His foreman had instructed him to raise a conductive mechanical jumper only high enough to check its length, but the lineman entered the 2-foot-2-inch minimum approach…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Three citations affirmed in original ruling
MSHA cited Consol's underground Bailey Mine for a missing keeper pin on a longwall shield, cracked light globes on a continuous miner, and failure to plot a drill hole that penetrated the coalbed. Judge Michael Young found that the missing pin created a projectile hazard and the cracked globes…
Secretary of Labor v. IMI Aggregates, LLC
Berm and guarding citations affirmed
MSHA cited IMI Aggregates at its Indiana sand and gravel mine for a 125-foot section of roadway without an adequate berm and for an unguarded conveyor tail pulley and drive chain. Judge John Sullivan found that frequent two-way traffic near the roadway edge made overtravel and a rollover reasonably…
TNT Crane & Rigging, Inc.
Crane power-line violations affirmed
A TNT Crane & Rigging crew was disassembling a mobile crane when its load line contacted a 14,400-volt power line, seriously injuring a spotter/rigger. OSHA cited TNT for beginning disassembly without an effective encroachment-prevention measure and for failing to maintain the required clearance…
National Labor Relations Board Professional Association and National Labor Relations Board
NLRB and NLRB Professional Association (FLRA 0-AR-5651): Authority remands official-time grievance
The NLRB implemented an executive order limiting official time, and the NLRB Professional Association filed a grievance alleging contract and unfair-labor-practice violations. An arbitrator dismissed the grievance as nonarbitrable because he believed the agreement did not permit a challenge to the…
A-1 Sewer and Water Construction, Inc.
Trenching case remanded for a hearing
OSHA cited A-1 Sewer and Water for allegedly allowing an employee to work in an excavation without a protective system and proposed a $1,990 penalty. In Simplified Proceedings, the judge permitted the Secretary to seek summary judgment and then affirmed the citation without holding the hearing…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley VAMC, Tampa, Florida and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 547
James A. Haley VAMC and AFGE Local 547 (FLRA 0-AR-5746): Authority removes unsupported backpay
The James A. Haley VA Medical Center rescinded an employee's contracting warrant after concerns about a corrected contract error. An arbitrator found no blatant disregard of acquisition duties, identified procedural violations and harassment, and ordered the warrant reinstated with make-whole…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3954 and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix, Arizona
FCI Phoenix and AFGE Local 3954 (FLRA 0-AR-5676): Authority remands overtime damages
An arbitrator found FCI Phoenix liable under the Fair Labor Standards Act for unpaid work outside employees' scheduled shifts and later issued a damages award. The Authority dismissed challenges to the earlier merits award as untimely and rejected several challenges to the damages award. It held…
National Labor Relations Board Professional Association and National Labor Relations Board
NLRB and NLRB Professional Association (FLRA 0-NG-3554): Authority dismisses appeal after withdrawal of objections
The NLRB Professional Association sought review of 67 proposals from bargaining for a successor agreement. It relied on a brief in which the NLRB had raised negotiability concerns before the Federal Service Impasses Panel. In response to the Authority petition, however, the NLRB withdrew any…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri
John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2338 (FLRA 0-AR-5769): Authority dismisses constructive-removal exceptions
An employee submitted a resignation letter, and AFGE Local 2338 later filed a grievance alleging that the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center had forced the employee's removal. An arbitrator dismissed the grievance because it was filed more than thirty days after the resignation took effect. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1441 and United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District
St. Paul District and AFGE Local 1441 (FLRA 0-AR-5748): Authority upholds dredge duty station
Employees of the Army Corps of Engineers' St. Paul District work primarily aboard a dredge that travels among several rivers. The Corps designated the moving vessel as their permanent duty station and did not pay travel expenses between their homes and the dredge's changing location. An arbitrator…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1822 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Member Services
VA Member Services and AFGE Local 1822 (FLRA 0-AR-5674): Authority dismisses late reconsideration motion
The Department of Veterans Affairs sought reconsideration of an Authority decision issued in December 2021. The Authority's postage meter placed an obviously incorrect January 2021 postmark on the envelope, but Postal Service tracking showed that the decision entered the mail no later than December…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Memphis, Tennessee and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals 33, Local 3731
FCI Memphis and AFGE Local 3731 (FLRA 0-AR-5666): Authority rejects sex-based post restriction
FCI Memphis barred female employees from two inmate-observation posts and bypassed them for related overtime assignments. An arbitrator found the policy facially discriminatory under Title VII and contrary to the contract, an augmentation agreement, and agency policy. He found no factual basis for…
Federal Education Association, Stateside Region and United States Department of Defense, Education Activity, Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools
DOD Education Activity and Federal Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-5656): Authority remands hiring-system grievance
DOD Education Activity announced that it would fill certain new or vacant positions through the competitive service while current employees remained in the excepted service. The Federal Education Association alleged that the change violated a contract provision requiring first consideration of…
Department of the Army, Fort Carson Fire and Emergency Services, Fort Carson, Colorado and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1345
Fort Carson Fire and Emergency Services and AFGE Local 1345 (FLRA DE-RP-22-0001): Authority keeps two captains in bargaining unit
AFGE Local 1345 asked the FLRA to clarify the bargaining-unit status of three Fort Carson fire-captain positions. A regional director excluded the training captain as a management official and confidential employee but kept two operations captains in the unit. Fort Carson challenged only the…
Mark Johnson v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., OSD Transport, Inc., and Steve Olson
Icy-road refusal claim denied
Truck driver Mark Johnson encountered icy conditions while hauling FedEx freight from Minnesota to Iowa and was fired after deciding to return to the terminal rather than wait for conditions to improve. The record showed that OSD owner Steve Olson repeatedly told him to slow down, stop, or find a…
Wayne Stokes v. Albertson's, LLC and Darrell Kidd
Corrected attendance points were not adverse action
Truck driver Wayne Stokes alleged that Albertsons and a manager retaliated by assigning attendance points for days when he was too ill to drive safely. A human resources manager temporarily assessed two points for March 2018 absences, but management removed them before giving Stokes his requested…
Henry Klein v. Bank of America
Late reconsideration motion denied
The Board dismissed Henry Klein's SOX appeal after he missed the opening-brief deadline and responded to a show-cause order without explaining that omission. Klein moved for reconsideration 36 days later. The Board held that the motion was not filed within the short period it presumes reasonable…
Anthony Lugg v. Lear Corp.
SOX complaint dismissed after untimely filing
Lear terminated Anthony Lugg's employment in China in November 2019, and he filed his SOX complaint with OSHA in September 2020, beyond the 180-day deadline. Lugg argued that health problems, pandemic disruptions, relocation to the Philippines, inability to retrieve documents in Shanghai, and…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, 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.