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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V.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Weathers Post Office, Swansea, IL
V.H. (ECAB 19-0827): Postal service must answer factual questions on reassignment
A postal supervisor attributed an emotional condition to being sent back to a workplace she believed she had been promised to avoid. On an earlier remand, the Board had asked OWCP to obtain details about the supervisor’s statement and an internal investigation. The employer’s responses did not…
L.W. and Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, Denver, CO
L.W. (ECAB 19-0722): Consequential leg conditions require an impartial examination
A USDA investigator sought recognition of knee and left foot or ankle conditions as consequences of an accepted back injury, plus a larger left leg schedule award. Treating doctors linked the conditions to altered gait and radiculopathy, while an OWCP referral physician disagreed. The Board found a…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 940 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Philadelphia Regional Office
AFGE Local 940 and VA Philadelphia Regional Office (FLRA 0-NG-3431): Bargaining ordered
AFGE Local 940 proposed limiting when lead employees and supervisors could perform certain bargaining-unit quality-review work. The VA declared the proposal nonnegotiable with only a citation to management-rights law. It then failed to submit the required statement of position or respond to an…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Veterans Affairs Council #53 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs
AFGE National VA Council and Department of Veterans Affairs (FLRA 0-AR-5429): No-bargaining award vacated
The VA implemented the 2017 Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act without bargaining over its impact and procedures. An arbitrator found no duty to bargain because federal law addressed the disciplinary process and gave the VA sole discretion. The Authority held that the law left the VA…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lacey, WA
R.P. (ECAB 19-1233): Hand claim omitted a specific injury event
A postal city carrier assistant reported hand numbness, stiffness, pain, and swelling but did not identify a specific event, date, or work activity that caused the symptoms. OWCP sought the missing account, and the record still did not show how or when the claimed injury occurred. The Board found…
W.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Cadman Plaza Station, Brooklyn, NY
W.R. (ECAB 19-1120): Foot claim lacked explanation separating new work effect
A postal carrier had an accepted foot and ankle sprain from a February 2018 fall. After returning to regular duties, she reported swelling and sought benefits for a new left foot and ankle condition. Her physician documented diagnoses but did not identify the specific later work factors or explain…
P.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, James J. Peters Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bronx, NY
P.A. (ECAB 19-1036): Conflicting accounts left reported work injury unproven
A VA food service worker reported that his knee buckled at work and that he injured several body parts. His later descriptions differed on whether he leaned, twisted, reached for a tray, or stumbled into a conveyor belt. He did not answer OWCP’s request to clarify what happened. The Board found the…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Kilmer Processing & Distribution Center, Edison, NJ
E.M. (ECAB 19-0664): Thirty-seven percent right leg award upheld
A postal worker sought a greater schedule award for his right leg after a knee replacement and an accepted recurrence. OWCP’s second opinion physician rated the knee at 37 percent under the diagnosis-based impairment method. The Board found no persuasive medical evidence establishing a higher…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Belton, SC
L.S. (ECAB 18-0858): New argument required merits review of neck claim
A postal carrier asked OWCP to reconsider a neck and arm occupational disease claim and to combine it with an earlier accepted injury file. She argued that both claims arose from the same work factors and that OWCP had directed her to file the second claim. The Board found this to be a relevant…
Secretary of Labor v. Hopkins Hill Sand & Stone, LLC
Late death notification citation affirmed
Hopkins Hill's general manager suffered a fatal heart attack from natural causes while at the company's open-pit crushed stone mine. Mine management knew of the death by 11:24 a.m. but did not notify MSHA until 12:56 p.m., one hour and 17 minutes after the 15-minute reporting deadline. Judge…
T.T. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Houston, TX
T.T. (ECAB 19-1121): Shoulder claim lacked a physician’s causal opinion
A transportation security officer reported shoulder pain after pulling and lifting passenger bags at work. Physicians diagnosed shoulder conditions and repeated her account of the event but did not give an opinion explaining whether the accepted incident caused them. The Board affirmed the denial…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Arcadia Station, Phoenix, AZ
M.M. (ECAB 19-0972): Foot claim rested on an equivocal causation opinion
A postal carrier attributed foot pain and swelling to years of walking a long delivery route. Her physician diagnosed plantar fasciitis and other foot conditions but used tentative language about whether work caused them. Another report did not give a firm diagnosis, and imaging could not establish…
C.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
C.S. (ECAB 19-0851): Three percent leg award and reconsideration denial affirmed
A VA employee sought more than her existing three percent left leg schedule award and an award for her right leg after an accepted back injury. The Board found no supported rating above three percent on the left or ratable impairment on the right. It also found that her reconsideration request…
T.L. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Cumberland, MD
T.L. (ECAB 19-0805): Training basketball counted as performance of duty
A Bureau of Prisons employee hurt his knee playing basketball with coworkers during a networking period at a training course. Witnesses confirmed that networking was on the agenda and that the activity occurred on agency premises while an instructor was late. The Board found that the activity…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
M.S. (ECAB 19-0692): Wage-earning capacity decision remained in force
A postal clerk sought renewed wage-loss benefits after his modified position was withdrawn. OWCP had set his wage-earning capacity based on a modified position he had held for more than 60 days. The Board found no evidence that the original determination was erroneous, that he had been…
A.W. and Department of the Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, NH
A.W. (ECAB 19-0557): Schedule award properly used injury-date pay
A Navy shipyard pipefitter helper challenged the pay rate used for his left leg schedule award after an accepted back injury. He had remained in light duty and had not returned to regular full-time work for the period needed to qualify for a later recurrent pay rate. Time away for medical…
R.M. and Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, El Rito, NM
R.M. (ECAB 19-0183): Health premium overpayment and recovery affirmed
A Forest Service employee received wage-loss benefits after a work vehicle collision. OWCP failed to deduct health benefit premiums from his compensation over part of the payment period, creating a $5,763.42 overpayment for which he was not at fault. The Board nonetheless upheld denial of waiver…
K.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
K.W. (ECAB 19-1224): Termination of wage loss and medical benefits upheld
A postal city carrier received benefits for accepted cervical and lumbar sprains after lifting a relay bag. OWCP terminated wage loss compensation and medical benefits after a second opinion physician concluded that the accepted conditions had resolved and she could work without restrictions. The…
W.D. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Los Angeles, CA
W.D. (ECAB 19-1195): Knee claim and reconsideration denial upheld
A customs officer claimed a right knee condition after an accepted work incident. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately connect the diagnosed condition to that incident. It also held that his request for reconsideration did not present a basis for reopening the merits. The…
G.D. and Department of the Army, Research, Development and Engineering Command, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
G.D. (ECAB 19-1175): Shoulder injury claim requires specialist review
An Army engineering technician reported a shoulder injury after slipping and falling backward on wet stairs at work. His physician linked a rotator cuff tear to the accepted incident with a detailed explanation. The Board found that opinion insufficient to prove the claim outright but detailed…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Meriden, CT
B.C. (ECAB 19-1058): Compensation suspension upheld after missed MRI
A postal employee failed to attend a rescheduled MRI examination requested by OWCP. She cited health problems, but the medical materials she submitted did not establish that those conditions prevented her from attending the examination. The Board held that she had not shown good cause for her…
R.R. and Department of the Navy, Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, Jacksonville, NC
R.R. (ECAB 19-0750): Hearing award upheld in part; pay rate sent back
A retired Navy boiler plant operator sought a larger schedule award for occupational hearing loss and challenged the pay rate used for his award. The Board found no medical evidence supporting more than the previously awarded 13.4 percent binaural hearing loss. It also found that OWCP had not…
D.B. and Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Los Angeles, CA
D.B. (ECAB 19-0443): Emotional condition claim needs employer evidence
A HUD equal opportunity specialist claimed an emotional condition after a supervisor announced a workplace investigation without giving details. OWCP denied the claim, but the Board found that it had not requested information from the employer about the supervisor’s actions and relevant policies…
O.M. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Medical Command, Fort Polk, LA
O.M. (ECAB 19-0342): Overpayment amount sent back for a clear calculation
OWCP found that an Army medical command employee was overpaid after a schedule award expired. The Board agreed that an overpayment occurred because payments continued beyond the award period. It could not sustain OWCP’s stated amount of $67,261.65 because the preliminary and final decisions used…
Robert R. Benamati, Sr. v. Helvetia Coal Company and Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Benamati v. Helvetia Coal (BRB 19-0016 BLA): pulmonary testing sent back
Robert Benamati received black lung benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. The Board found that the labor judge had not reconciled qualifying and nonqualifying values from the same pulmonary function study or resolved differing recorded heights. It vacated the total disability and presumption…
Carole Allan v. Monterey Coal Company
Allan v. Monterey Coal (BRB 18-0592 BLA): uncontested disability sent back
Carole Allan appealed orders denying black lung benefits after her husband’s death. The Board found that the labor judge had decided total respiratory disability even though the district director did not list it as contested and the employer conceded it. The Board vacated the denial and…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Scarborough, ME
R.R. (ECAB 19-1142): Knee reconsideration request requires merit review
A postal letter carrier sought authorization for right knee surgery after an accepted injury and hernia repair. OWCP denied his reconsideration request without reopening the merits. The Board found that a new physician report linking the knee conditions to the accepted work incident was relevant…
K.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
K.Y. (ECAB 19-1079): Suitable work termination reversed
A postal mail processing clerk received an offer of modified work after an accepted injury. OWCP terminated her wage loss compensation and schedule award entitlement when she refused the offer. The Board found that the job offer lacked an adequate position description and physical requirements and…
B.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Elk Grove Village, IL
B.P. (ECAB 19-1054): Lumbar claim lacked reliable causal opinion
A postal mail handler claimed a back injury from pushing a bulk mail container at work. The Board found that one physician relied on an inaccurate event history, while another gave a conclusory causal opinion and an incorrect injury date. The MRI report did not explain whether the accepted incident…
B.S. and Department of the Navy, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
B.S. (ECAB 19-1006): Fall claim denied for lack of medical causation
A Navy engineer slipped and fell in a workplace restroom during a power outage. His medical records described pain and other conditions, but the Board found no adequately reasoned physician opinion linking a diagnosed injury to the accepted incident. It held that a checked form answer and…
M.S. and Defense Agencies, Defense Commissary Agency, Oakdale, PA
M.S. (ECAB 19-0983): Knee claim lacked a reasoned medical link
A defense commissary worker reported a left knee injury after falling from a step stool at work. The Board found that his doctors’ reports did not give a reasoned opinion connecting the diagnosed knee conditions to the accepted incident. Other treatment notes and diagnostic reports did not fill…
T.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lancaster, CA
T.P. (ECAB 19-0865): Schedule award denial upheld for ankle claim
A postal city carrier sought a schedule award after an accepted left ankle sprain. Her physician assigned one percent lower extremity impairment, but the Board found his opinion based on an incomplete medical history and lacking objective evidence tying permanent impairment to the work injury. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Hoover Excavating & Trucking, Inc., and its successors
Secretary of Labor v. Hoover Excavating & Trucking, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2019-268): Withdrawal, inspection, and explosives violations affirmed
MSHA cited Hoover Excavating after the company drilled and blasted in a highwall bench area that remained subject to a withdrawal order. During a later inspection, owner Reginald Hoover refused to answer questions or open a truck used to transport explosives, then drove the truck away from…
Terry Brandon v. Reynolds Metals Company and ACE American Insurance Company
Brandon v. Reynolds Metals (BRB 19-0015): disability date upheld
Terry Brandon appealed the date used to change his compensation from temporary total to permanent total disability. He argued that his work injuries had reached maximum medical improvement in 2002. The Board upheld the labor judge’s finding that treatment aimed at improving his condition continued…
Charles Speck v. Fox Knob Coal Company, Incorporated
Speck v. Fox Knob Coal (BRB 18-0545 BLA): disability evidence sent back
Charles Speck appealed the denial of his black lung benefits claim without counsel. The Board found problems in the labor judge’s weighing of pulmonary function studies and medical opinions on total respiratory disability. It affirmed some findings, vacated the total disability finding and…
Arthur L. Browning v. Nelson Brothers LLC and Great American Insurance Company
Browning v. Nelson Brothers (BRB 18-0536 BLA): benefits award upheld
Arthur Browning received black lung benefits after the labor judge found decades of qualifying surface coal mine work and a disabling respiratory impairment. The employer challenged the findings under the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge’s evaluation of the evidence and affirmed…
L.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, IL
L.T. (ECAB 19-1100): Shoulder claim lacked physician’s causal opinion
A VA health technician claimed a right shoulder condition after an accepted December 14, 2018 employment incident. The Board found that the medical evidence did not contain a reasoned physician opinion linking the diagnosed condition to that incident. A physician assistant report and MRI findings…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
J.M. (ECAB 19-1077): Conflicting accounts defeated claimed foot incident
A postal letter carrier claimed a left foot injury while delivering mail. His accounts differed as to whether the injury came from walking, striking a sidewalk edge, or wearing wet boots over several days. The Board found those inconsistencies cast doubt on the occurrence of the alleged April 23…
J.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, McLouth, KS
J.O. (ECAB 19-1047): Fear of coworker’s return did not establish emotional claim
A postal employee claimed an emotional condition after learning that a coworker she feared would return to her work location. The Board found no evidence that he had threatened or harmed her and held that fear of a possible future injury was not a compensable employment factor. Because no…
P.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lake Orion, MI
P.D. (ECAB 19-1027): Claimed disability period lacked medical explanation
A postal worker sought total disability compensation for March 17, 2017 through August 26, 2018. The Board found that his doctors did not explain how the accepted shoulder conditions prevented work throughout that period. A general disability opinion without reasoning for the specific dates was…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Athens, GA
D.M. (ECAB 19-0686): Suitable work termination upheld; hearing request restored
A postal worker lost wage loss compensation and schedule award entitlement after refusing an offer of suitable work. The Board affirmed that termination. It found that OWCP had wrongly rejected her request for review of the written record on a separate surgery authorization matter as untimely…
D.W. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Division of Transportation Systems Engineering and Construction, Paris, TN
D.W. (ECAB 19-0402): Lumbar surgery dispute requires impartial specialist
A Tennessee Valley Authority survey technician requested authorization for lumbar surgery after a work injury. OWCP’s second opinion physician opposed surgery, while the treating surgeon supported it with a reasoned explanation. The Board found a conflict between the two medical opinions that…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Appleton, WI
T.S. (ECAB 19-0164): Emotional claim needs evidence about workplace incident
A postal clerk claimed an emotional condition related to events at work. The Board found that several allegations about supervisory and personnel actions did not establish a compensable factor. It also found the record lacked employer evidence about a June 11, 2010 incident that OWCP needed to…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
IRS and National Treasury Employees Union (FLRA 0-AR-5400): Attorney-fee award reduced for fee-dispute work
The IRS and union settled disputes over hundreds of overtime offers, providing more than $400,000 in backpay to affected employees. An arbitrator awarded the union's lawyers $223,490.45 in fees for the case and the later fee dispute. The Authority upheld the hours spent preparing the overtime case…
Brigham J. Robinson v. Bath Iron Works Corporation
Robinson v. Bath Iron Works (BRB 19-0368): knee injury award upheld
Brigham Robinson received compensation and medical benefits for a work-related knee condition. Bath Iron Works argued that his injury fell outside Longshore Act coverage because he later transferred to a facility that was not a covered situs. The Board upheld the finding that work at the covered…
Marian Morgan on behalf of Donald E. Morgan v. Consolidation Coal Company
Morgan v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 19-0013 BLA): benefits award upheld
Marian Morgan defended a black lung benefits award on remand in the late miner’s claim. The employer challenged the labor judge’s evaluation of medical evidence and his denial of modification. The Board upheld the judge’s findings that the miner’s disability was due to pneumoconiosis and affirmed…
Larry H. McCauley v. DLR Mining, Incorporated
McCauley v. DLR Mining (BRB 18-0606): Benefits finding upheld; liable operator sent back
Larry McCauley was awarded black lung benefits after a lung biopsy and medical opinions established complicated pneumoconiosis. DLR Mining challenged both entitlement and its designation as the operator responsible for payment. The Board held that removal of the biopsied lesion did not defeat the…
Wyman Johnson, Jr. v. Chevron Mining, Incorporated
Johnson v. Chevron Mining (BRB 18-0456 BLA): modification request timely
Wyman Johnson appealed dismissal of a request to modify a denied black lung claim. The Board found that a letter it received in March 2017, within one year of the denial, was a timely request for modification. It vacated the untimeliness ruling and remanded to the district director to consider that…
J.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Bruce W. Carter Veterans Administration Medical Center, Miami, FL
J.G. (ECAB 19-1237): Injury claim lacked a physician’s diagnosis
A VA secretary reported an injury from an accepted March 27, 2019 work incident. The treatment form did not identify a specific diagnosis and was signed by a nurse practitioner. After OWCP requested medical evidence, she did not submit a physician’s supported diagnosis and causal opinion. The Board…
K.C. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
K.C. (ECAB 19-1185): Hearing loss claim lacked occupational causal proof
A Navy shipyard worker claimed binaural hearing loss from federal workplace noise. The Board credited a second opinion physician who explained that the hearing pattern and work history did not support occupational noise as the cause. It found the medical evidence insufficient to connect the loss to…
S.H. and Social Security Administration, Richmond, CA
S.H. (ECAB 19-1115): Reconsideration denial upheld for schedule award
A Social Security Administration employee sought reconsideration of a schedule award impairment decision. The Board found that she resubmitted an earlier impairment evaluation and offered no relevant new evidence or argument meeting the reopening requirements. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to review…
M.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Buffalo Veterans Administration Medical Center, Buffalo, NY
M.S. (ECAB 19-1096): Ankle claim lacked medical causation evidence
A VA food service worker reported a right ankle condition after an accepted January 29, 2019 work incident. The Board found that the submitted material did not provide a competent, reasoned physician opinion linking an ankle diagnosis to that event. It held that nonphysician reports could not…
S.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Deerfield Post Office, Deerfield, IL
S.N. (ECAB 19-1018): Overpayment amount corrected; waiver sent back
A postal worker continued receiving full wage loss compensation after returning to part time work. The Board agreed that an overpayment occurred and corrected the amount from $611.50 to $631.35. It found that she was without fault in accepting the initial direct deposit because she had no reason to…
M.E. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Philadelphia, PA
M.E. (ECAB 19-1000): Park ranger’s injury needs new impartial specialist
A park ranger claimed neck and right shoulder injuries after an accepted August 4, 2014 work incident. The Board found that the impartial specialist’s reports did not adequately discuss the incident or address disagreements between the other physicians. That left the medical opinion conflict…
J.O. and Department of the Army, Durham U.S. Army Health Clinic, Carlisle, PA
J.O. (ECAB 19-0839): Custodian’s condition lacked medical causal explanation
An Army clinic custodian claimed conditions after an accepted September 14, 2018 work incident. The Board found no well reasoned physician opinion connecting her diagnosed conditions to that event. Treatment and diagnostic reports did not supply the needed causal explanation. The Board affirmed…
S.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Denver, CO
S.T. (ECAB 19-0318): Overpayment calculation returned to OWCP
A postal worker received both leave pay and FECA compensation for overlapping days. The Board agreed that an overpayment occurred, but found that the record conflicted over whether she received six or seven days of leave pay. OWCP also used gross rather than net compensation in its calculation. The…
Matter of X-Q-L-
Fraud evidence warranted reopening the asylum grant
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied a motion to reopen proceedings concerning a prior grant of asylum to a respondent from China. DHS submitted evidence that the attorney who prepared the asylum application was later convicted of…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Daytona, FL
J.W. (ECAB 19-1201): Foot claim requires further causal evaluation
A postal worker claimed bilateral foot and lower extremity conditions from federal work factors. His podiatrist explained a possible physiological link, but the Board found the opinion insufficiently reasoned to prove the claim. It held that the evidence nevertheless required OWCP to develop the…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Salisbury Post Office, Salisbury, NC
A.J. (ECAB 19-1167): Lumbar claim needs specialist assessment
A postal rural carrier claimed a lumbar injury after an accepted October 18, 2017 work incident. The Board found that his physician’s uncontroverted opinion did not prove the claim outright but warranted more medical development. It set aside OWCP’s denial and directed a specialist to assess…
T.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Concord, NC
T.C. (ECAB 19-1043): Disability periods and added shoulder condition denied
A postal worker sought disability compensation for two periods in March 2018 and expansion of his accepted injury claim to include a left shoulder condition. The Board found no reasoned medical opinion connecting the claimed disability periods to the accepted injury. It also found the reports…
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.