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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Bige Messer v. Andalex Resources, Incorporated, and Old Republic Insurance Company
Messer v. Andalex Resources (BRB 18-0272 BLA): reconsideration denied
Bige Messer won black lung benefits after the administrative law judge found that his coal mine work qualified him for the fifteen-year presumption. Andalex Resources sought reconsideration of the Board's decision affirming that award and asked the Board to hold the case while a challenge to the…
Ronald Martin v. National Mines Corporation and Old Republic Insurance Company
Martin v. National Mines (BRB 17-0410 BLA): reconsideration denied and attorney fee awarded
Ronald Martin won black lung benefits, and National Mines Corporation asked the Board to reconsider its earlier decision affirming the award. The employer argued that the administrative law judge's appointment violated the Constitution, but it first raised that issue after briefing and the Board's…
Matter of L-E-A-
Family-based asylum group must be particular and socially distinct
The Attorney General reviewed a Board of Immigration Appeals decision involving a Mexican citizen who sought asylum after a drug cartel threatened him because his father refused to sell drugs at a family store. The Attorney General held that a proposed family-based particular social group must have…
James W. Clutter v. Island Creek Kentucky Mining/Island Creek Coal Company
Clutter v. Island Creek Kentucky Mining (BRB 18-0329 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
James Clutter filed a new black lung claim after several earlier denials. The judge found that he had at least thirty-two years of underground coal mine employment and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, invoking the fifteen-year presumption. On an earlier appeal, the Board sent the…
Temmy Wolford, on behalf of and widow of Mark A. Wolford, v. KWV Operations, LLC, and Brickstreet Mutual Insurance Company, Incorporated
Wolford v. KWV Operations (BRB 18-0151 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Mark Wolford received black lung benefits, and his widow Temmy Wolford received survivor benefits after his death. KWV Operations argued that it should not be responsible for payment, but the Board held it to its hearing stipulation that it had employed him for at least one year. The Board also…
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, United States Department of Labor v. Google, Inc.
OFCCP v. Google, Inc. (DOL ARB 2017-0059): ALJ information-request ruling made final
An ALJ denied an Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs request that Google provide certain information. OFCCP appealed but later voluntarily dismissed the appeal, and the Board rejected a later request to clarify that dismissal. Both parties then jointly asked for a final order because the…
L.R. and Department of the Army, Fort Jackson, SC
19-0521 (ECAB): Schedule-award claim requires medical adviser review
An Army motor vehicle operator sought a schedule award after an accepted lumbar sprain. OWCP’s second-opinion physician found no basis for an impairment rating, and OWCP denied the claim. The Board held that OWCP should have sent the physician’s report to a district medical adviser to evaluate any…
R.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
19-0444 (ECAB): Medical reports do not prove renewed total disability
A postal carrier claimed that his accepted left knee injury again prevented him from working beginning August 13, 2018. He did not claim that his light-duty job had changed. The Board found that his physicians did not give objective findings and reasoned explanations linking total disability to a…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Baltimore, MI
19-0166 (ECAB): Existing 13 percent shoulder award upheld
A postal worker sought more than her existing schedule award for 13 percent permanent impairment of the right upper extremity. An independent examiner resolved conflicting medical ratings and found the same 13 percent impairment using the diagnosis-based method. The Board gave his reasoned opinion…
K.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, North Reading, MA
19-0082 (ECAB): Suitable-work termination reversed over unresolved neck condition
OWCP ended a mail handler’s wage-loss compensation and schedule-award entitlement after he refused an offered position. Medical evidence raised a possible work-related cervical condition, but OWCP did not resolve it before deciding the job was suitable. The Board held that OWCP had not considered…
B.O. and Department of the Navy, Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, SC
19-0015 (ECAB): Wrong retirement offset data requires new overpayment calculation
OWCP calculated a Navy worker’s compensation overpayment using Social Security rates for a FERS retirement offset. A prior Board decision had found that she was covered by the CSRS-Offset system and had directed OWCP to seek the correct information from Social Security and the Office of Personnel…
A.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Richmond, VA
19-0014 (ECAB): Initial timely appeal preserves written-record review
A VA employee marked several appeal options after OWCP’s January 25, 2018 claim decision. Her first request was postmarked within 30 days, and she later clarified that she wanted review of the written record. OWCP treated the clarification date as the filing date and denied review as untimely. The…
L.H. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation, Jacksonville, FL
18-1787 (ECAB): Wage-earning capacity request needs merits review
A former DOL claims examiner asked OWCP to change its loss-of-wage-earning-capacity determination, citing a physician’s report about worsening disability. OWCP treated the submission as a reconsideration request and denied it without merits review. The Board held that it was a request to modify the…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
18-1783 (ECAB): Ankle claim remanded because a cited file was missing
A postal carrier assistant sought benefits for a left ankle injury while moving a mail gurney. OWCP denied the claim after discussing medical evidence in her earlier accepted ankle-injury file. The earlier file was not available to the Board because OWCP had not combined the two claim records. The…
L.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Freehold, NJ
18-1777 (ECAB): Related back-injury claims must be considered together
A rural carrier claimed that postal duties aggravated a prior back injury. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim, but her earlier accepted traumatic injury file for the same part of her body was absent from the record on appeal. Medical reports linked the later condition to the earlier injury…
K.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Sioux Falls, SD
18-1571 (ECAB): Missing medical records require another injury review
A former VA food service worker sought benefits for a claimed neck and shoulder occupational disease. OWCP relied on an MRI scan and medical reports to reject her physician’s causal opinion, but those records were absent from the case file before the Board. The Board set aside the August 3, 2018…
B.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Green River, WY
18-1427 (ECAB): Unpaid care for a grandchild does not forfeit compensation
OWCP found that a postal carrier forfeited wage-loss compensation because she had not reported occasional care for her grandchild. The Board found no evidence that she received money, goods, or services for that care. It held that this family activity was not reportable employment or…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Corpus Christi, TX
18-0527 (ECAB): Work assignment and medical restrictions require further review
OWCP denied a postal carrier’s claim for additional wage-loss compensation after he reduced his modified-duty schedule from six to four hours a day. The Board found the record unclear about whether his assignment had changed to include different delivery duties. It also required clarification of a…
Export-Import Bank of the United States and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
Export-Import Bank and AFGE (FLRA WA-RP-17-0059): Professional positions excluded and election ordered
AFGE asked to add roughly ninety-three Export-Import Bank employees to a nonprofessional unit that contained about twenty employees. The Authority found that seven disputed job categories required advanced knowledge and consistent professional judgment, so those positions had to be excluded from…
Matter of D-A-C-
Immigration Judges may deny temporary protected status as a matter of discretion
The Board reviewed an appeal from the denial of temporary protected status to a respondent from El Salvador. The Immigration Judge found that the respondent was statutorily eligible for temporary protected status but denied the application as a matter of discretion after considering the record…
Eugenio Rodriguez v. National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Rodriguez v. National Steel and Shipbuilding (BRB 19-0173): earlier injury claim remanded
Eugenio Rodriguez had accepted work-related knee injuries from 2009 and later claimed that his work through 2013 caused a new left knee injury. The Board upheld the judge's finding that the employer rebutted the presumption connecting the new claim to his work, and that Rodriguez did not prove a…
Patrick M. Langford v. Orion Marine Construction and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association, Limited
Langford v. Orion Marine Construction (BRB 19-0104): work injury benefits affirmed
Patrick Langford was injured while boarding a skiff during his work as a crane operator for Orion Marine Construction. He sought benefits for a back condition that became symptomatic after the accident, in addition to a foot injury. The employer argued that his back complaints reflected only the…
Avonell Isaac, widow of Lonzo Isaac, v. Agipcoal USA, Incorporated, and Old Republic Insurance Company
Isaac v. Agipcoal USA (BRB 18-0556 BLA): survivor award vacated for a new hearing
Avonell Isaac received survivor benefits after the death of her husband, Lonzo Isaac. Agipcoal USA challenged the administrative law judge's appointment. The Board had previously sent the case back for the same judge to reconsider and reaffirm his earlier actions after his appointment was ratified…
Clayton J. Spencer v. Clemens Coal Company c/o Buildex, Incorporated
Spencer v. Clemens Coal (BRB 18-0248 BLA): surface miner's benefits award affirmed
Clayton Spencer worked for twenty-six years at a surface coal mine and sought black lung benefits. The judge found that his regular exposure to mine dust made that work substantially similar to underground employment, and that blood gas studies and medical opinions established total respiratory…
Henry C. Bolling v. Rhino Trucking, LLC, and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Bolling v. Rhino Trucking (BRB 18-0099 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Henry Bolling worked for twenty-seven years in coal mines and sought black lung benefits. The judge found that pulmonary function studies and medical opinions established total respiratory disability, invoking the fifteen-year presumption. Rhino Trucking challenged the disability finding and argued…
Claris I. Fite Rose v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Rose v. Director, OWCP (BRB 17-0421 BLO): second reconsideration request denied
Claris Rose, representing herself, asked the Benefits Review Board to reconsider its March 28, 2019 order, which had denied reconsideration of an earlier decision. The Board stated that no panel member voted to vacate or modify its decision. It denied her new reconsideration motion. This short…
P.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Raleigh, NC
19-0639 (ECAB): Weekend deadline made reconsideration request timely
A postal worker requested reconsideration of OWCP’s July 21, 2017 decision. The one-year deadline fell on Saturday, July 21, 2018, so the filing period extended to Monday, July 23. OWCP received his request that Monday but assessed it under the stricter standard for late requests. The Board set…
P.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fresno, CA
19-0561 (ECAB): Knee note does not prove three days of disability
A postal mail handler sought wage-loss compensation for April 4 through 6, 2018 after an accepted right knee injury. His physician advised him not to work because of increased pain but did not examine him until April 10. The Board found that the note lacked a firm diagnosis and a reasoned link…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Eighty Four, PA
19-0549 (ECAB): Shoulder claim lacks a reasoned causal opinion
A rural postal carrier said she hurt her right shoulder while lifting a heavy package of dog food. Her physician documented pain and later diagnosed shoulder conditions but did not explain how the accepted work incident caused them. The Board found that the imaging and physical therapy records also…
G.C. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newark, NJ
19-0377 (ECAB): Polygraph-cuff injury claim needs specialist review
An FBI employee reported hand and arm symptoms after a compression cuff was applied during a work polygraph examination. Her physician described a possible causal mechanism for neuropathy and carpal tunnel syndrome. The Board found his opinion insufficient to prove the claim but sufficient to raise…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Newhall Annex, Newhall, CA
19-0320 (ECAB): Overpayment and refusal to waive recovery affirmed
A postal worker received $3,761.38 more in compensation than she was entitled to after OWCP used an incorrect pay rate. The Board found that she had abandoned her prerecoupment hearing after proper notice and that the overpayment amount was established, although she was without fault. Her listed…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Keyport, NJ
19-0219 (ECAB): Back-injury opinion calls for second medical examination
A postal worker claimed a back condition from lifting a tray of mail at work. Her physician’s later reports explained a possible link between the accepted incident and her diagnosed condition. The Board found the reports insufficient to establish the claim outright but strong enough to raise an…
C.S. and Federal Aviation Administration, Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, NC
19-0093 (ECAB): Overpayment decision must address all required issues
An FAA worker challenged OWCP’s decision on recovery of a $16,740.25 compensation overpayment. Earlier Board decisions had directed OWCP to decide all overpayment issues. OWCP addressed waiver and recovery but did not make the required findings on the fact and amount of the overpayment. The Board…
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Memphis, TN
19-0091 (ECAB): New hearing tests warrant a schedule-award decision
OWCP had accepted a postal worker’s occupational hearing loss but had found no ratable impairment in 2009. He later supplied additional audiograms and sought a schedule award. OWCP treated his 2018 request as untimely reconsideration and declined to reopen the old ruling. The Board held that a…
I.L. and Department of the Army, Army National Guard, Sacramento, CA
19-0077 (ECAB): Timely medical reports require review of nose-injury claim
An Army National Guard mechanic said a slipping wrench struck his nose while he worked on a Humvee. OWCP denied his injury claim on the day he submitted medical reports, stating that no further evidence had been received. The Board found that OWCP had not considered those reports. It set aside the…
L.H. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Aeromedical Center, Fort Rucker, AL
17-1930 (ECAB): Suitable-work termination reversed over sitting restrictions
OWCP terminated an Army paramedic’s wage-loss compensation and schedule-award entitlement after she declined a medical support assistant job. Its referral physician limited her to two hours of sitting each day and called for frequent breaks. The Board found that his report did not show she could…
Wilma J. Meade, on behalf of and widow of Harold V. Meade, v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Meade v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 18-0503 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Wilma Meade pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim against Clinchfield Coal Company. The employer conceded that Harold Meade had a totally disabling respiratory impairment, and the judge credited him with nearly thirty years of underground coal mine work. Those…
M.P. and Department of Defense, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, MD
19-0589 (ECAB): Missing counsel notice requires another hearing
An NSA employee sought a telephonic hearing after OWCP denied her injury claim. OWCP sent the hearing notice to her, but the record did not show that it notified her counsel, whose written letter still said he represented her. The Board held that the hearing could not be deemed abandoned without…
T.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Long Beach, CA
19-0535 (ECAB): Repetitive arguments do not reopen claim merits
A VA employee requested reconsideration of OWCP’s earlier claim decision. Her counsel repeated objections to a physician’s opinion that had already been made to OWCP and the Board and submitted no new evidence. The Board held that the request met none of the requirements for merits reopening. It…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Baltimore, MD
19-0515 (ECAB): Wage-earning capacity determination remains in place
A postal mail handler asked OWCP to modify its formal finding that a modified job represented her wage-earning capacity. She argued that the original decision was wrong and that her accepted right knee condition had worsened. The Board found no proof that she could not perform the modified job when…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Spencer, MA
19-0332 (ECAB): Shoulder claim lacked a physician’s causal opinion
A city carrier claimed a right shoulder injury after his postal vehicle was struck from behind. The physician-signed x-ray reported degenerative changes but did not address whether the collision caused his condition. Other reports came from a nurse practitioner and physician assistant and did not…
N.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hightstown, NJ
19-0296 (ECAB): Benefits termination reversed over flawed referee opinion
OWCP ended a postal worker’s wage-loss and medical benefits after a referee examination. The Board found that the examiner’s opinion did not use the accepted aggravation of a lumbar disc herniation stated in OWCP’s facts. His speculation about whether disc disease was work related therefore lacked…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Manchester, CT
19-0217 (ECAB): Incomplete measurements require new arm-impairment rating
A postal worker sought a schedule award above the seven percent already paid for his right arm. OWCP’s second-opinion physician did not apply the accepted conditions in the statement of facts and omitted required range-of-motion measurements. The Board found the report inadequate to determine…
S.F. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Lompoc, CA
19-0115 (ECAB): Treating surgeon could not serve as second-opinion examiner
An immigration officer sought a larger schedule award for his injured left Achilles tendon. OWCP used his treating surgeon, who had earlier rated no impairment, as its second-opinion examiner; he then rated one percent impairment. The Board found that the surgeon’s prior involvement created an…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Melville, NY
18-1177 (ECAB): Initial termination upheld but later residuals need review
OWCP terminated a postal worker’s wage-loss and medical benefits for an accepted left knee sprain. The Board held that a specialist’s report supported termination as of February 15, 2017. A later OWCP referral report, however, described continuing limitations, and OWCP had not considered it when…
Lowell Dean Robinson v. Green Fly Mining, Incorporated, and Old Republic Insurance Company
Robinson v. Green Fly Mining (BRB 18-0525 BLA): benefits and fee awards vacated
Lowell Robinson received black lung benefits and his counsel received an attorney fee award. Green Fly Mining challenged the administrative law judge's appointment under the Constitution's Appointments Clause. The Board found that the judge had held a hearing and taken significant action before the…
Donnie D. Newsome v. DM&M Coal Company, Incorporated, and Old Republic Insurance Company
Newsome v. DM&M Coal (BRB 18-0467 BLA): benefits award vacated for a new hearing
Donnie Newsome received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that he proved pneumoconiosis and disability without a statutory presumption. DM&M Coal challenged the judge's appointment under the Constitution's Appointments Clause. The Board found that the judge had taken…
Benny Turner v. Cloverfork Mining & Excavating and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Turner v. Cloverfork Mining (BRB 18-0331 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Benny Turner sought black lung benefits after coal mine work. He did not qualify for the fifteen-year presumption, so he had to prove that his lung disease and disability were connected to coal mine dust. The judge credited a physician's opinion that both cigarette smoking and coal dust contributed…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pasadena, MD
19-0526 (ECAB): Existing nine percent knee impairment award upheld
A postal worker sought more than his existing schedule award for nine percent permanent impairment of his right leg. An impartial examiner resolved conflicting medical opinions and supported the nine percent rating using the A.M.A. Guides. The Board gave his reasoned opinion special weight and…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jackson, MS
19-0469 (ECAB): Shoulder award needs both impairment methods compared
A postal worker sought an award above the existing 24 percent permanent impairment of his right arm. The district medical adviser rated his shoulder using the diagnosis-based method, but the diagnosis also permitted a range-of-motion rating. The Board held that the adviser needed to calculate both…
O.P. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, McAllen, TX
19-0445 (ECAB): Emotional-condition claim fails without a medical diagnosis
A Border Patrol agent claimed an emotional condition related to his work. OWCP requested medical evidence diagnosing a condition, but he supplied none. He also offered no new evidence or qualifying legal argument when seeking reconsideration. The Board affirmed both the July 23, 2018 denial of the…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
19-0407 (ECAB): Wrong impairment rule requires merits reconsideration
A postal worker sought reconsideration of her permanent impairment rating. OWCP had rejected the range-of-motion rating method because two examinations gave inconsistent measurements. The Board found that OWCP had misread the A.M.A. Guides: inconsistent results invalidated those measurements, not…
L.D. and Department of the Navy, Naval Hospital Pensacola, Family Medical Clinic, Pensacola, FL
19-0308 (ECAB): Conflicting work restrictions defeat benefits termination
OWCP ended a Navy practical nurse’s wage-loss compensation after its second-opinion physician said she could return to her former job. The same physician also agreed with restrictions limiting her to sedentary work and ten pounds of lifting. The Board found that he did not explain how she could…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, New York Performance Cluster, New York, NY
19-0271 (ECAB): Back claim lacks a reasoned causal opinion
A postal employee claimed lumbar conditions after lifting a parcel at work. His physician diagnosed a pulled muscle but did not address causation. A chiropractor later linked several diagnoses to the event without explaining the physical mechanism, and the MRI report did not give a causal opinion…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dorchester, MA
18-0162 (ECAB): Knee osteoarthritis claim requires a specialist opinion
A longtime letter carrier claimed that years of walking routes, climbing stairs, and carrying mail caused or aggravated arthritis in both knees. His physician explained a possible physical link between those duties and the condition. The Board found the opinion insufficient to prove the claim…
United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs and Border Protection and American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council, Local 2499
Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol Council Local 2499 (FLRA 0-AR-5329): Medical-exam remedy narrowed
A Border Patrol agent underwent agency-required physical and psychiatric fitness examinations after requesting a transfer supported by medical information. Third-party physicians would not proceed with a union representative present, even though the collective-bargaining agreement allowed…
Secretary of Labor v. James C. Scott and Donnie B. Thomas, employed by Mill Branch Coal Corp.
Secretary of Labor v. James C. Scott and Donnie B. Thomas (FMSHRC VA 2018-104): Individual penalty cases dismissed for delay
MSHA sought individual penalties against James Scott and Donnie Thomas for allegedly knowingly failing to report a water inundation within 15 minutes. The penalty notices were issued 36 months after the underlying order, and the Secretary declined to explain the length of the investigation despite…
Lempa v. Hawthorne Global Aviation and Heartland Aviation
AIR21 complaint filed after 90-day deadline
Joseph Lempa alleged that Heartland Aviation fired him for raising air-transportation safety concerns. The ALJ found that his employment ended on May 31, 2016, but he did not file with OSHA until September 12, more than 100 days later. The Board held that substantial evidence supported those dates…
MLB Transportation, Inc. and Owl, Inc. v. Administrator, Wage and Hour Division
Post-award wage review denied
MLB Transportation and Owl asked the Board to review Service Contract Act wage determinations associated with Veterans Affairs transportation contracts. The Board explained that it ordinarily does not review a wage determination after a contract award, option, or extension unless a regulatory…
K.S. and Department of the Army, Iowa National Guard, Johnston, IA
19-0506 (ECAB): Back fusion aggravation claim needs further medical review
An Iowa National Guard employee fell on ice at work while recovering from a lumbar fusion. His surgeon reported that the fall delayed healing and aggravated the fusion condition. The Board found the reports insufficient to establish the claim outright but uncontradicted and strong enough to require…
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.