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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L.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Plano, TX
19-0432 (ECAB): Stair-lift request needs review after knee surgery
A postal worker with accepted knee conditions requested a stair lift and walk-in tub. The Board found that a referee physician had adequately explained why a walk-in tub was unnecessary because she had a walk-in shower. His view on a stair lift, however, was not updated after he found that she…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pontiac, MI
19-0401 (ECAB): Shoulder claim lacks a firm diagnosis and causal explanation
A postal worker claimed a right shoulder injury from an accepted work incident. Her physician recorded “right shoulder pain/cuff injury” but did not give a firm diagnosis or explain how the incident caused it. A later statement that repetitive arm movements most likely caused injury was…
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Santa Ana, CA
19-0225 (ECAB): Repeated spine opinion does not reopen claim
A postal worker sought reconsideration of OWCP’s refusal to add lumbar conditions to his accepted claim. He resubmitted a physician’s earlier causal opinion and general literature on spinal stenosis. The Board found no new relevant legal argument or case-specific medical evidence meeting the…
N.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan New York Processing & Distribution Center, New York, NY
19-0178 (ECAB): Wrong guide edition requires new wrist rating
A postal worker sought a larger schedule award than the eight percent already paid for her left arm. OWCP’s second-opinion physician used the fifth edition of the A.M.A. Guides rather than the required sixth edition and omitted required repeated range-of-motion measurements. The Board held that the…
A.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Decatur, GA
18-1730 (ECAB): Leg rating upheld; arm rating sent back for review
A VA practical nurse sought larger schedule awards for her right leg and right arm. The Board upheld the existing two percent right-leg rating but found that Dr. Blecha provided only one shoulder motion measurement per type, short of the three needed for a valid arm rating. It also upheld OWCP’s…
B.W. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Los Angeles, CA
18-0949 (ECAB): Wage-loss termination upheld but medical care restored
OWCP ended an IRS employee’s wage-loss and medical benefits for an accepted depressive reaction. The Board found that the referral physician’s opinion supported ending wage-loss compensation and that later reports did not prove continuing disability. The same opinion did not establish that the…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, New Jersey International & National Distribution Center, Jersey City, NJ
19-0587 (ECAB): Shoulder reports do not prove work-related rotator cuff tear
A postal worker claimed a right shoulder condition after lifting an object overhead. His physician diagnosed a rotator cuff tear and other conditions and said the work event caused them. The Board found that the reports did not adequately explain how and why that event produced the diagnoses or…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indianapolis, IN
19-0511 (ECAB): Claimed recurrence not linked to accepted 2008 injury
A postal worker claimed a recurrence of disability when a modified assignment ended in February 2018. The Board found no proof that the assignment had been provided because of her accepted 2008 injury rather than other circumstances. The medical evidence also did not establish that the accepted…
M.E. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth, TX
19-0452 (ECAB): Conflicting leg-impairment opinions need a referee
A federal prison employee sought a schedule award for an accepted right leg fracture and peroneal nerve injury. His physician rated 11 percent impairment, while OWCP’s district medical adviser rated none even after additional imaging. The Board found an unresolved medical conflict. It set aside the…
C.C. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Navy Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
19-0442 (ECAB): Knee claim lacks a detailed medical causal explanation
A shipyard worker claimed that Navy duties caused or worsened right knee disease. His physicians documented arthritis and prior surgery, and one linked the condition to earlier injury and demanding duties. The Board found that the reports did not explain how the identified work activities…
C.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Kenner, LA
19-0419 (ECAB): Unrelated test report does not reopen disability claim
A TSA employee requested reconsideration of a denied wage-loss period tied to an accepted abdominal strain. He submitted a new diagnostic report about foot muscle findings. The Board found the report did not address whether the accepted injury caused disability during the claimed period. It…
M.I. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Chicago, IL
19-0287 (ECAB): Ankle award increased from six to seven percent
A TSA employee sought a higher right-leg schedule award. The Board accepted the district medical adviser’s diagnosis-based approach but found an arithmetic rating error: the applicable final grade equaled seven percent impairment, rather than six. It modified OWCP’s September 21, 2018 decision and…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Monroe, LA
18-1447 (ECAB): Retirement offset overpayment and repayment affirmed
A postal worker received $19,428.98 in FECA compensation that should have been offset against Social Security retirement benefits based on federal service. The Board upheld the amount and found that, although he was without fault, his assets exceeded the resource limit for a waiver based on…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
18-0788 (ECAB): Occupational claim lacks a description of work factors
A postal worker filed an occupational disease claim describing repeated trauma. OWCP asked for the specific work activities said to have caused the condition, but she did not respond or otherwise identify them. The Board found that the factual element of the claim had not been established. It…
R. K. Wallace Construction Inc. d/b/a Wallace Steel Erectors
Eye and fall-protection violations affirmed
Wallace Steel Erectors was a subcontractor on a Mississippi construction project. OSHA observed one employee cutting metal with an angle grinder without eye protection and five employees working about 15 feet above concrete without being tied off or otherwise protected from falls. The judge found…
Echo Powerline, LLC
Power-line contact-prevention violation affirmed
Echo Powerline crews restored distribution lines in Oklahoma after an ice storm. While workers raised a quarter-mile section of distribution wire beneath an energized 69-kilovolt transmission line, the wire contacted the transmission line; one employee suffered burns and another died from…
Secretary of Labor v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC
Ungrounded space heater violated enclosure rule
An MSHA inspector found a metal-cased portable space heater with a two-prong plug in a quarry control room. Vulcan argued that the heater's UL listing, polarized plug, dry office-like setting, and extensive product testing provided protection equivalent to grounding. Judge William B. Moran held…
Raymond J. Thomas v. AMEC Earth & Environmental and Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania
Thomas v. AMEC Earth & Environmental (BRB 19-0318): disability order vacated for one combined ruling
Raymond Thomas had a work-related neck injury under the Defense Base Act. AMEC Earth & Environmental agreed to pay temporary and then ongoing permanent total disability benefits, while also seeking relief under Section 8(f). The judge approved the parties' benefits stipulations but reserved the…
Richard Katowicz v. Electric Boat Corporation
Katowicz v. Electric Boat (BRB 18-0499): hearing loss award affirmed
Richard Katowicz developed hearing loss after work for Electric Boat Corporation and later worked for Sons of Neptune. Electric Boat argued that the later employer alone owed benefits because it had settled a separate hearing loss claim with Katowicz. The Board held that the settlement did not…
James G. Hensley v. Leslie Resources, Incorporated, and Security Insurance Company of Hartford
Hensley v. Leslie Resources (BRB 18-0421 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
James Hensley worked for twenty-one years in surface coal mining under conditions the judge found similar to underground work. The judge also found him totally disabled by a respiratory impairment, invoking the fifteen-year presumption. Leslie Resources argued that smoking and obesity, rather than…
Zeldenia D. Stiltner, widow of and on behalf of William D. Stiltner, v. A & K Transportation, Incorporated, and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Stiltner v. A & K Transportation (BRB 18-0388 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Zeldenia Stiltner pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim against A & K Transportation. Earlier Board review held that William Stiltner's work loading coal at tipples and hauling it counted as coal mine work, and the judge later found that he qualified for the…
Lowell Barton Daugherty v. Consolidation Coal Company
Daugherty v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 18-0341 BLA): benefits denial vacated in part
Lowell Daugherty appealed a denial of his later black lung claim without a lawyer. The judge had credited him with twelve years of coal mine work, leaving him short of the fifteen-year presumption, but had not explained how he calculated that period from the record. The Board vacated that finding…
Geraldine Smith, widow of and on behalf of Willie J. Smith, v. Commercial Testing & Engineering Company
Smith v. Commercial Testing & Engineering (BRB 18-0307 BLA): benefits denials affirmed
Geraldine Smith pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. Willie Smith had nearly thirty years of qualifying coal mine employment and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, invoking the fifteen-year presumption in both claims. The judge found that Commercial…
Edgar Osborne v. Johnson Floyd Coal Company LLC and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Osborne v. Johnson Floyd Coal (BRB 18-0252 BLA): black lung benefits affirmed
Edgar Osborne sought black lung benefits after coal mine work. He had fewer than fifteen years of qualifying employment, so the judge decided his claim without the fifteen-year presumption and found that his disabling lung impairment was substantially related to coal mine dust. Johnson Floyd Coal…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Southern Maryland Processing & Distribution Center, Capital Heights, MD
19-1208 (ECAB): Conflicting carpal-tunnel ratings require a referee
A postal worker sought a larger award than the five percent impairment already paid for each arm after bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Her hand surgeon rated eight percent in each arm, while OWCP’s medical adviser rated five percent using different findings. The Board found the opinions of…
T.T. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Center, Petersburg, VA
19-0559 (ECAB): Unrelated medical report does not reopen emotional claim
A federal prison employee sought reconsideration of an emotional-condition claim. The new medical report did not address whether he had established a compensable employment factor, which was the issue behind the earlier denial. Other reports and incident statements repeated material already…
I.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Huntsville, TX
19-0475 (ECAB): Eye claim lacks a medical link to vehicle accident
An immigration officer claimed eye conditions after a work-related vehicle accident. An unsigned report diagnosed conjunctivitis, and a later physician diagnosed other eye conditions without addressing their cause. The Board found no probative, reasoned medical opinion connecting the diagnoses to…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Norwich, CT
19-0411 (ECAB): Repetitive-use shoulder claim lacks medical rationale
A postal worker attributed a right rotator cuff tear to repeated use of her arm delivering mail and packages. Her physician stated that work caused the condition but did not explain how the duties produced the tear. The Board found the other records did not supply a sufficient causal explanation…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Romeo, MI
19-0327 (ECAB): Right arm claim and reconsideration denial affirmed
A postal worker claimed a right shoulder condition after moving packages at work. Her physician diagnosed strain and checked a form box linking it to work but did not explain the physical cause. The Board found the medical evidence insufficient to establish the claim. It also found that her later…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
18-1573 (ECAB): Termination upheld after accepted back condition resolved
OWCP ended a letter carrier’s wage-loss and medical benefits for an accepted back injury. Its second-opinion specialist found no objective residuals or work restrictions from the accepted conditions. The Board found that later reports did not give a reasoned basis for continuing injury-related…
United States Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington (Agency) and Bremerton Metal Trades Council (Union)
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Bremerton Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-5438): Five-day suspension upheld
The Navy suspended a Puget Sound Naval Shipyard employee for off-duty misconduct. An arbitrator upheld the misconduct finding but reduced the suspension from seven days to five and ordered two days of backpay because the longer penalty was excessive. The Authority denied the Navy's exceptions…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Gansevoort, NY
19-0480 (ECAB): Back and neck claim lacks a reasoned medical link
A postal worker claimed neck and back conditions after a work-related motor vehicle accident. Her physician documented lumbar symptoms, but the Board found no sufficient medical opinion explaining how the accepted incident caused the diagnosed conditions. Other records also did not establish…
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Colorado Springs, CO
19-0363 (ECAB): Spine and leg claim lacks sufficient causal proof
A postal worker sought benefits for neck, back, and leg conditions after an accepted work incident. Her medical reports discussed symptoms and possible causal links but did not provide sufficient reasoning to establish that the incident caused the diagnosed conditions. She later repeated an…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bronx, NY
19-0322 (ECAB): Standing-related back claim needs further medical review
A postal worker reported lumbar symptoms while standing during customer service in a modified assignment. Her physician described a possible link between prolonged standing, an earlier knee injury, and spinal disease. The Board found the reports insufficient to prove the claim outright but strong…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Seaford, NY
19-0222 (ECAB): Wage-loss period not linked to accepted foot and hand injuries
A postal worker sought total-disability compensation for November 24, 2015 through May 10, 2016. OWCP had accepted contusions of her left foot and right hand. Her physician attributed inability to work to foot and hand conditions but did not sufficiently explain how the accepted injuries caused…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Huntingtown Post Office, Huntingtown, MD
19-0181 (ECAB): Impartial examiner supports termination of benefits
OWCP ended a postal worker’s wage-loss and medical benefits after conflicting physician reports about her recovery. An impartial orthopedic examiner found that she had recovered, could return to unrestricted work, and needed no further treatment for the accepted injury. The Board gave his reasoned…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greene, NY
18-1514 (ECAB): Right shoulder conditions not linked to accepted left injury
A postal worker asked OWCP to add right shoulder impingement, tendinitis, and a partial rotator cuff tear as consequences of an accepted left shoulder injury. Dr. Van Gorder attributed the right shoulder problems to favoring her injured left shoulder but did not explain how this occurred while she…
Douglas Products and Packaging Company, LLC
In re Douglas Products and Packaging Company, LLC (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 19-01Q): $143,500 penalty paid and matter resolved
EPA alleged that Douglas Products and Packaging Company, LLC distributed and sold misbranded pesticides in violation of section 12(a)(1)(E) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. EPA's complaint sought a $143,500 penalty. The company paid the full penalty, waiving its rights to…
Susan Folden, on behalf of David A. Folden, Sr., v. Slab Fork Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Fund
Folden v. Slab Fork Coal (BRB 18-0438 BLA): benefits award remanded for medical findings
Susan Folden pursued her late husband's black lung claim against Slab Fork Coal Company. The judge credited David Folden with eleven years of coal mine work, so he could not use the fifteen-year presumption, but she awarded benefits after finding coal dust-related disease and disability. The Board…
Nancy Louise Santoro, widow of Anthony M. Santoro, v. Consolidation Coal Company
Santoro v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 18-0287 BLA): survivor denial remanded
Nancy Santoro sought to modify the denial of survivor benefits after her husband Anthony Santoro's death. The judge found that Anthony had at least fifteen years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, but that Consolidation Coal rebutted the resulting…
H. Darlene Taylor, widow of Keith Taylor, v. King Knob Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Fund
Taylor v. King Knob Coal (BRB 18-0209 BLA): survivor award remanded for death causation findings
H. Darlene Taylor received survivor benefits after a judge found that clinical pneumoconiosis contributed to her husband Keith Taylor's death. King Knob Coal challenged the judge's evaluation of the medical opinions. The Board left undisturbed the finding that Keith had clinical pneumoconiosis from…
Willie J. North v. Harlan Cumberland Coal Company, LLC, and Bituminous Casualty Corporation
North v. Harlan Cumberland Coal (BRB 18-0078 BLA): testing dispute remanded
Willie North received black lung benefits after the judge found at least fifteen years of qualifying coal mine employment and total respiratory disability. Harlan Cumberland Coal sought pulmonary function testing after use of a bronchodilator, but the judge denied its motion. The Board majority…
Jay T. Mullins v. Rockstore Mining and Kentucky Central Insurance Company
Mullins v. Rockstore Mining (BRB 17-0401 BLA): responsible operator reconsideration denied
Rockstore Mining and its carrier asked the Board to reconsider a decision holding the employer responsible for Jay Mullins's black lung benefits. The Board had ruled that the employer waived its right to contest liability by failing to respond on time to the district director's schedule for…
Jay T. Mullins v. Rockstore Mining and Kentucky Central Insurance Company
Mullins v. Rockstore Mining (BRB 17-0401 BLA): liability reconsideration denied
Rockstore Mining asked the Board to reconsider its earlier decision holding the company responsible for Jay Mullins's black lung benefits. The Board had found that Rockstore did not respond on time to the district director's schedule identifying the responsible operator, which waived its right to…
Yelinek v. All City Bail Bond Co. d/b/a All City Bail Bonds
Yelinek v. All City Bail Bond Co. (DOL ARB 2018-0032): bail-bond business excluded from CFPA coverage
Bail-bond agent Amiee Yelinek alleged that All City Bail Bonds fired her after she raised concerns about credit-card surcharges. The Consumer Financial Protection Act protects employees of covered persons or service providers offering consumer financial products or services, but excludes the…
N.S. and Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM
19-0520 (ECAB): Telework driveway fall needs work-duty investigation
A Forest Service employee fell on her icy driveway during a telework shift while leaving to return a work headset. OWCP denied the injury claim as outside the performance of duty. Her supervisor said the trip was work related but did not explain the assignment or why it occurred during work. The…
R.M. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Lexington, KY
19-0163 (ECAB): Attendant and wheelchair requests need proper decisions
A deputy U.S. Marshal with accepted lumbar conditions sought an attendant allowance and a motorized wheelchair with a lift. OWCP denied the allowance without findings explaining its reasons. The Board also found that OWCP had prematurely treated a wheelchair examiner as an impartial referee, while…
F.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New London, CT
18-1576 (ECAB): Leg condition claim lacks a reliable causal opinion
A postal worker attributed osteoarthritis in both hips and knees to repeated bending, stooping, twisting, kneeling, and getting in and out of his mail vehicle. Several physicians diagnosed conditions without addressing their cause, and another suggested that a difference in leg length might explain…
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Altamonte Spring, FL
18-1519 (ECAB): Work scheduling allegations do not establish emotional claim
A postal carrier claimed an emotional condition associated with changing routes, work scheduling, and job insecurity. The Board found that her preferences for assignments and concerns about keeping the position did not establish a compensable work factor on this record. It affirmed OWCP’s May 8…
J.H. and Department of the Army, Civilian Personnel Advisory Office, Fort Stewart, GA
18-1367 (ECAB): Timely reconsideration request reviewed under wrong standard
An Army nursing assistant sought reconsideration of OWCP’s denial of her occupational right-foot claim. She filed the request two days after the merit decision, but OWCP treated it as untimely and applied the stricter clear-error standard. The Board set aside the June 11, 2018 refusal and directed…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
18-0867 (ECAB): Low-back claim lacks a diagnosed work injury
A postal worker claimed a low-back injury from an accepted December 2017 work incident. Most medical notes recorded pain or work restrictions without a specific diagnosis. A chiropractor diagnosed acute lumbosacral sprain, but his report had no probative value under FECA because no x-ray…
B.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Edison, NJ
18-0426 (ECAB): Old wage-loss periods lack contemporaneous medical proof
A postal mail handler sought wage-loss compensation for several periods between 2004 and 2009 after an accepted lumbar sprain. The Board found no reliable medical evidence from the claimed dates explaining how that injury prevented him from working. One work form had an illegible signature, and…
James D. Blankenship v. Mystic Energy, Incorporated
Blankenship v. Mystic Energy (BRB 18-0455 BLA): attorney fee award affirmed
James Blankenship's counsel requested attorney fees and costs after his successful black lung claim against Mystic Energy. The administrative law judge reduced some requested hours and rates and awarded $9,450 in legal services plus $3,261.96 in costs. Mystic Energy argued that counsel's delay in…
Kathy Walker, widow of John Walker, v. Heritage Coal Company and Peabody Investments Company c/o Old Republic Insurance Company
Walker v. Heritage Coal (BRB 18-0432 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Kathy Walker pursued her late husband's black lung claim after an earlier remand. John Walker had fifteen years of underground coal mine work, but he still needed to prove a totally disabling respiratory impairment to invoke the statutory presumption. The judge found that the medical opinion…
C.W. and Department of the Air Force, 482nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Homestead Air Force Base, FL
Back and rib pain claim lacks a medical diagnosis
An Air Force avionics technician felt pain in his right mid-back and rib cage while setting down equipment at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. The Board found that the emergency records documented pain but did not establish a diagnosed injury caused by the incident. It affirmed…
D.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Typing-related cervical claim lacks reasoned causation
A Veterans Affairs addiction specialist claimed that increased typing after the removal of voice-recognition software caused or aggravated cervical and other conditions. The Board accepted the increased typing as a work factor. It found that her physician did not explain how that factor caused or…
J.S. and Department of the Air Force, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, GA
Hand-injury claim returned for medical review
An Air Force sheet metal worker reported right hand symptoms after repetitive drilling and using hand and power tools. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim. The Board found that the work activities were established and undisputed, while OWCP had not evaluated the medical evidence on that…
J.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newburgh, NY
Requested foot surgery remains unauthorized
A postal carrier injured his right foot and ankle while escaping a dog on his delivery route. OWCP accepted sprains but denied authorization for proposed surgery to remove right foot bone spurring. The Board credited the district medical adviser’s reasoned opinion that the record did not connect…
R.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Lake Hiawatha Main Post Office, Lake Hiawatha, NJ
Back and hand claim lacks medical causation proof
A postal clerk claimed back and hand conditions after unloading trucks, moving packages, and scanning mail. The Board accepted the identified work activities but found the physician’s reports did not explain how they caused the diagnosed conditions. The reports also did not adequately distinguish…
C.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Conway Post Office, Little Rock, AR
Neck condition claim lacks a reasoned work connection
A rural carrier claimed that casing mail, lifting packages, driving, and other postal duties aggravated her cervical spine condition. Her physician described prior fusion and degenerative disease and attributed aggravation to work. The Board found the opinion too conclusory because it did not…
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.