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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R.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Seaford, NY
18-1687 (ECAB): Late reconsideration request did not show clear error
R.O., a postal carrier, sought reconsideration of an earlier denial of his claimed back injury. OWCP received his request more than one year after its last merits decision. The Board found the request untimely and held that the added medical reports did not show clear evidence of error in the prior…
K.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
18-1357 (ECAB): Left knee injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
K.E., a postal tractor trailer operator, reported knee pain after stepping down at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the diagnostic scans did not explain medical causation and that nurses’ notes could not provide the required physician…
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Village Station Post Office, New York, NY
18-1157 (ECAB): Left knee claim expansion denied; disability issue remanded
T.D., a postal carrier, injured her left knee when she fell onto the street while trying to catch a rolling carrier cart at work. She asked OWCP to accept more knee conditions and to pay for a later period of total disability. The Board found insufficient evidence tying the additional conditions to…
B.G., widow of M.G., and Department of the Air Force, Space & Missile Systems Center, El Segundo, CA
18-1080 (ECAB): Survivor benefits claim sent back for medical review
B.G. sought survivor benefits after her husband, an Air Force information technology employee, died by suicide. She alleged that workplace events had contributed to his condition. The Board found evidence of overwork and management error or abuse, while it found other alleged harassment unproven…
R.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Linden, NJ
18-1037 (ECAB): Lumbar condition not linked to accepted mail hamper incident
R.V., a postal letter carrier, reported back and leg symptoms while pushing a mail hamper through snow. OWCP accepted the work incident but denied his injury claim. The Board found that his physicians did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated the diagnosed lumbar conditions…
M.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
18-0866 (ECAB): Reconsideration denial remanded for proper standard
M.C., a postal city carrier, sought reconsideration of a denied occupational injury claim. OWCP received her latest request more than one year after its merits decision. The Board found that OWCP had treated the request as timely and applied the wrong review standard. It set aside the nonmerit…
Patricia A. Dennis (Widow of Emery M. Dennis) v. Mountain Edge Mining, Incorporated and National Union Fire/Chartis
Dennis v. Mountain Edge Mining (BRB 18-0450): attorney fee corrected to $16,343.10
The lawyer for Patricia Dennis appealed a reduction in the paralegal's hourly rate in a black lung attorney fee award. Mountain Edge Mining cross-appealed two errors in the lawyer's recorded hours. The Board upheld the judge's $100 paralegal hourly rate as within her discretion. Counsel agreed that…
Patricia A. Dennis (Widow of Emery M. Dennis) v. Mountain Edge Mining, Incorporated and National Union Fire/Chartis
Dennis v. Mountain Edge Mining (BRB 18-0450): attorney fee corrected to $16,343.10
The lawyer for Patricia Dennis appealed a reduction in the paralegal's hourly rate in a black lung attorney fee award. Mountain Edge Mining cross-appealed two errors in the lawyer's recorded hours. The Board upheld the judge's $100 paralegal hourly rate as within her discretion. Counsel agreed that…
Jeffrey Lynn Fields v. Cloverlick Coal Company
Fields v. Cloverlick Coal (BRB 18-0234): black lung benefits award affirmed
Cloverlick Coal appealed a black lung benefits award to Jeffrey Fields. The judge credited 27 years of qualifying coal mine work and total respiratory disability, invoking the statutory presumption. The Board upheld the judge's decision to discount the employer's medical opinion that attributed…
Budri v. FirstFleet, Inc.
STAA complaint dismissed as late, later vacated
Adriano Budri alleged that FirstFleet retaliated for safety concerns by reporting an accident and his termination to a consumer reporting agency used by trucking companies. He filed his Surface Transportation Assistance Act complaint 225 days after learning about the report, beyond the 180-day…
Brooks v. Agate Resources, LLC
SOX complaint dismissed as untimely
Michael Brooks alleged that Agate Resources discharged him for protected activity and later threatened him and his son. His employment ended on September 27, 2013, but he did not file the Department of Labor complaint until April 4, 2016. The ALJ granted summary decision to the company, finding the…
R.M. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, NJ
18-1801 (ECAB): Federal noise exposure not linked to hearing loss
R.M., a retired Navy equipment operator, attributed his hearing loss to noise exposure in federal work. OWCP accepted that he had been exposed to work noise. The Board credited a medical specialist’s opinion that the pattern of his hearing loss was atypical for occupational noise exposure. It found…
J.G. and Department of the Army, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, McAlester, OK
18-1794 (ECAB): Overpayment reversed for lack of proof of dual benefits
J.G., an Army motor vehicle operator, received FECA benefits after an accepted injury. OWCP alleged he had also received federal retirement benefits between January 7 and March 3, 2018 and assessed a $4,893.50 overpayment. The Board found that his election form did not prove he actually received…
R.H. and Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration, Kent, WA
18-1721 (ECAB): Two percent hearing impairment award upheld
R.H., a Bonneville Power Administration electrician, had an accepted occupational hearing loss claim. He sought an increase beyond his two percent binaural impairment schedule award. The Board found that he had not supplied audiometric evidence showing greater impairment under the required rating…
M.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Santa Ana, CA
18-1614 (ECAB): Right foot schedule award sent back for medical development
M.K., a postal mail handler, had an accepted right midfoot fracture after a workplace incident. He sought a schedule award for permanent right leg impairment. The Board found an unresolved conflict between his treating physician and OWCP’s medical adviser about whether diagnostic studies showed…
K.D. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Miami, FL
18-1476 (ECAB): Right wrist schedule award and reconsideration denied
K.D., an immigration criminal investigator, injured his right wrist while apprehending a suspect and later sought a permanent impairment schedule award. The Board found that his medical evidence did not establish a ratable right arm impairment. He also sought reconsideration of the denial, but the…
G.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oklahoma City, OK
18-1444 (ECAB): Home modification equipment denial upheld
G.B., a former postal mail processing clerk, had an accepted work-related lumbar condition and sought equipment for a new home. OWCP denied authorization for the proposed modifications. The Board found that the record did not establish their medical necessity for the accepted condition. It held…
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Controlling-employer trench citation affirmed on remand
This supplemental decision followed a Fifth Circuit ruling that OSHA may cite controlling employers at multi-employer worksites for standards violations. Applying that ruling and the judge's earlier findings, the trench-protection citation against Hensel Phelps was affirmed. The item was…
Bradley Smith v. Trylek of Kentucky and National Union Fire/Chartis
Smith v. Trylek of Kentucky (BRB 18-0361): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Bradley Smith appealed the denial of his subsequent black lung benefits claim. Although he had 25 years of underground coal mine work, the judge found that the new evidence did not establish total respiratory disability. The Board upheld the judge's decision to give no weight to an unreliable…
Raymond Abshire v. Kentland Elkhorn Coal Corporation and The Pittston Company
Abshire v. Kentland Elkhorn Coal (BRB 18-0219): benefits and employer liability affirmed
Kentland Elkhorn Coal appealed a black lung benefits award to Raymond Abshire. The company challenged its designation as the employer responsible for payment and argued that Abshire lacked the 15 years of mine work required for a presumption. The Board upheld the judge's responsible operator…
Billy G. Meade v. Cheyenne Elkhorn Coal Company, Incorporated and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Meade v. Cheyenne Elkhorn Coal (BRB 18-0205): black lung benefits award affirmed
Cheyenne Elkhorn Coal appealed a black lung benefits award in Billy Meade's claim after his death. The Board upheld the judge's decision to continue the claim despite an earlier withdrawal request by Meade's widow; the Trust Fund had paid interim benefits and opposed withdrawal. It also upheld the…
Paul Edward Hooper v. Lucky Branch Coal Company, Incorporated and Travelers Indemnity Company
Hooper v. Lucky Branch Coal (BRB 18-0141): denial vacated for complete pulmonary evaluation
Paul Hooper appealed the denial of black lung benefits without a lawyer. The judge credited at least 15 years of underground mine work but found no proof of total respiratory disability. The Board upheld the judge's decision to discount a pulmonary function test as invalid. Because the…
Henin v. Soo Line Railroad Company d/b/a Canadian Pacific
Henin v. Soo Line Railroad Company (DOL ARB 2019-0028): timely appeal reinstated, then dismissed for court review
The Board initially dismissed Kenneth Henin's Federal Rail Safety Act appeal because his petition appeared to arrive three days after the 14-day deadline. Certified-mail records later showed that he did not receive the ALJ decision until January 22, 2019. Applying the three added days allowed when…
Criscione v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Administrative complaint dismissed for district-court review
Lawrence Criscione alleged that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated the Energy Reorganization Act's employee protections. OSHA found the NRC was not a covered employer, and an ALJ dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Criscione petitioned the Board, then invoked the ERA's…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. ME Global, Inc.
Administrator v. ME Global, Inc. (DOL ARB 2016-0087): H-1B wage obligation continued until worker departed
The Wage and Hour Administrator brought an H-1B wage case against ME Global involving employee Petar Peric. The ALJ granted summary decision to the Administrator and denied the company's competing motion. The Board held that the complaint was timely and the Administrator was not barred from acting…
Boucher v. BNSF Railway Company
State-law settlement elected over FRSA claim
Gregg Boucher pursued both a Federal Rail Safety Act complaint and a Montana court claim alleging that BNSF unlawfully fired him after he reported an injury. He later settled the state case and released all outstanding claims, then asked to withdraw his Board appeal. The Board refused to approve a…
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, District Heights, MD
18-1703 (ECAB): Shoulder claim and reconsideration denial upheld
P.C., a postal city carrier, reported shoulder pain after lifting a heavy parcel from her truck. OWCP accepted the work incident but found no sufficient medical evidence linking it to a diagnosed shoulder condition. The Board agreed and also found that her reconsideration request did not meet the…
J.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Miami, FL
18-1670 (ECAB): Sixteen percent left leg impairment award upheld
J.B., a transportation security screener, had accepted back, chest, and ankle injuries after lifting heavy bags. OWCP had awarded compensation for 16 percent permanent left leg impairment. She sought a larger schedule award, but the Board found the record did not establish additional ratable…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Buffalo, NY
18-1585 (ECAB): Neuropathy aggravation claim sent for specialist review
T.H., a postal letter carrier, attributed worsening neuropathy symptoms to prolonged standing and walking at work. A physician’s report supported a possible link between those duties and aggravation of his condition, but did not resolve causation. The Board found it sufficient to require more…
W.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Youngstown, OH
18-1431 (ECAB): Right knee injury not medically linked to work turn
W.M., a postal clerk, said his right knee popped when he turned while putting away mail. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. The Board found that the medical reports did not link the knee condition to the turn at work. His treating orthopedist expressly described the osteoarthritis as…
G.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Lakewood Branch Post Office, Cleveland, OH
18-1335 (ECAB): Intermittent disability denied; appointment wages remanded
G.J., a postal clerk, had an accepted work-related right shoulder condition and sought compensation for intermittent absences. The Board found insufficient medical proof of disability for the claimed period. It also found that some absences involved treatment for the accepted condition and required…
E.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Stone Mountain, GA
18-1333 (ECAB): Cervical claim remanded to combine prior case file
E.P., a postal letter carrier, filed a new cervical condition claim after an earlier accepted neck injury. OWCP denied the new claim, but its file did not contain medical evidence from the earlier case that its hearing representative had considered. The Board found the related files needed to be…
J.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Concord, NC
18-1300 (ECAB): Benefit termination reversed; rotator cuff claim remanded
J.T., a postal clerk, received benefits for an accepted right shoulder strain. OWCP ended her wage-loss and medical benefits. Her lawyer also asked OWCP to add a rotator cuff tear to the accepted claim, but OWCP had not decided that request. The Board found OWCP had not carried its burden to…
R.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, New York Harbor Healthcare System, Brooklyn, NY
18-1234 (ECAB): Neck, shoulder, and back claim denial upheld
R.S., a Veterans Affairs program support assistant, reported falling when his walker and office chair became caught together. OWCP accepted the incident but denied his injury claim. The Board found that the new medical reports gave no specific diagnosis, and the record did not establish a diagnosed…
M.G. and Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Stations, San Diego, CA
18-0699 (ECAB): Right knee schedule award review remanded for findings
M.G., a Navy motor vehicle operator, had received a schedule award for 13 percent right leg impairment after an accepted knee injury. He sought reconsideration with more medical records. OWCP denied modification without explaining its assessment of that evidence. The Board found the decision lacked…
M.R., widow of T.R., and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Carrizo Springs, TX
18-0480 (ECAB): Survivor benefits suspension reversed after notice failed
M.R. received survivor benefits after her husband died following a work-related motor vehicle collision. OWCP suspended payments when she did not return a required continuation form. The Board found that the request had been mailed to an old address and returned as undeliverable, so she had not…
Tramond M. Bourgeois v. Fab-Con, Incorporated and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association, Limited
Bourgeois v. Fab-Con (BRB 18-0253): shoulder surgery reconsideration denied
Tramond Bourgeois asked the Board to reconsider its decision affirming denial of payment for shoulder surgery. He argued that the surgery treated an AC joint condition found to be work related. The Board declined to consider that theory because he first raised it on reconsideration. It also noted…
Glen Allen Taylor v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Taylor v. OWCP (BRB 18-0236): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Glen Taylor appealed the denial of a subsequent black lung benefits claim. The judge credited at most 14.78 years of underground coal mine work and found the new evidence did not establish total respiratory disability. The Board upheld the disability finding because the new medical opinions found…
Raymond Kiger v. Consolidation Coal Company
Kiger v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 18-0208): benefits and daughter augmentation affirmed
Consolidation Coal appealed a black lung benefits award to Raymond Kiger and additional benefits for his daughter. The Board upheld the judge's assessment that the employer's medical opinions did not rebut the presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. It also upheld the finding that Kiger's…
Clarence J. Simon v. Longnecker Properties, Incorporated and SeaBright Insurance Company
Simon v. Longnecker Properties (BRB 17-0579): reconsideration denied
Clarence Simon requested reconsideration of an earlier Benefits Review Board decision. The Board treated the request as timely because it had not served Simon and his lawyer at their correct addresses until December 2018. After reviewing his contentions, no panel member voted to change the…
O.S. and Department of the Air Force, MacDill Air Force Base, FL
18-1744 (ECAB): Firefighter’s cervical claim denied for lack of medical link
O.S., an Air Force firefighter, attributed neck symptoms to duties that included pulling hoses and operating a pump panel. OWCP accepted those work factors but denied the occupational disease claim. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately explain how the duties caused or…
G.Q. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Stockton, CA
18-1697 (ECAB): Back claim not reopened for merits review
G.Q., a postal carrier, fell while backing away from a dog on his delivery route and later sought benefits for a back condition. After OWCP denied the claim, he requested reconsideration. The Board found that his added medical reports largely repeated earlier evidence or did not address causation…
D.P. and Department of Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC
18-1647 (ECAB): Deployment-related condition claim denied for lack of medical causation
D.P., a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, attributed multiple health conditions to exposure during a 2009 deployment in Iraq. OWCP accepted the identified work factors but denied the occupational disease claim. The Board found that the physicians’ reports did not provide a sufficiently definite…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
18-1410 (ECAB): Right foot and ankle claim sent for specialist review
D.H., a postal automation clerk, injured her right foot or ankle after losing her footing while handling mail at work. Her physicians linked the condition to the accepted incident, though their opinions did not fully explain the causal mechanism. The Board found their reports raised an…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Network Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
18-0319 (ECAB): Two reconsideration requests denied without merits review
L.W., a postal custodial laborer, sought reconsideration of an earlier injury claim denial. She argued that her doctor’s reports established the required medical link. The Board found that her requests offered no new legal ground and that the submitted report substantially repeated evidence already…
D.E. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC
18-1770 (ECAB): Left ear condition not medically linked to headset noise
D.E., an air traffic controller, reported ear pain and hearing changes after a loud tone through his headset. The employer confirmed that its equipment produced a brief tone. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately explain how this accepted incident caused the claimed hearing…
M.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown Veterans Administration Medical Center, Chicago, IL
18-1555 (ECAB): Back occupational disease claim denied
M.W., a Veterans Affairs health technician, attributed back and leg symptoms to her federal duties. OWCP accepted identified work factors but denied the claim. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately explain how those factors caused or aggravated a diagnosed condition. It…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Minneapolis, MN
18-1474 (ECAB): Carpal tunnel expansion denied; surgery disability established
J.C., a postal clerk, had accepted hand conditions and underwent authorized surgery. She sought to add bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and claimed wage-loss compensation while recovering from surgery. The Board found insufficient proof that her postal work caused the additional carpal tunnel…
T.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Galesburg, IL
18-1443 (ECAB): Left toe condition not established after nail incident
T.M., a postal carrier, found a nail inside his shoe during work and reported a small injury to his left toe. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish a diagnosed toe condition causally related to the incident. It affirmed…
S.R. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Birmingham, AL
18-1295 (ECAB): Vehicle collision conditions not linked by medical opinion
S.R., an FBI investigative specialist, was driving on duty when another vehicle struck hers. The incident was accepted, and medical records listed neck and back strains. The Board found that the reports did not provide a sufficiently reasoned opinion connecting the diagnoses to the collision. It…
H.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
18-1161 (ECAB): Benefits terminated after refusal of suitable work
H.T., a postal process control assistant, received compensation for several accepted conditions. The Postal Service offered her a modified job. OWCP found that the position fit the work restrictions supported by the medical record. The Board concluded that the job was suitable and that she had not…
C.V. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Montrose, NY
18-1106 (ECAB): Additional head conditions and disability not established
C.V., a Veterans Affairs nursing assistant, was struck in the temple by a patient at work. OWCP accepted a head and facial contusion. She sought to add concussion, headaches, migraines, and PTSD, and claimed continued total disability. The Board found insufficient medical evidence linking those…
F.D. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM
18-0199 (ECAB): Cervical disability recurrence and reconsideration denied
F.D., a Forest Service training instructor, had an accepted cervical injury after being hit by dodgeballs at work. She claimed total and intermittent disability during parts of April through June 2017. The Board found the medical evidence did not establish that the accepted injury caused disability…
George Scoles v. Harrison County Coal Co.
Corrected ruling upheld scanner-policy discharge
George Scoles, a miners' representative and frequent safety advocate, alleged that Harrison County Coal fired him for protected activity after he missed required hand-scanner entries. Judge David P. Simonton excused any minor delay in Scoles' filing and found that Scoles had engaged in extensive…
Darrell C. Lovell v. Westmoreland Coal Company
Lovell v. Westmoreland Coal (BRB 18-0433): benefits award vacated for a new hearing
Westmoreland Coal appealed an award of black lung benefits to Darrell Lovell. It challenged the administrative law judge's authority to decide the case under the Constitution's Appointments Clause. The Board found that the judge had taken significant action before the Secretary of Labor ratified…
Bobby Jo Jude (on behalf of Robert Cedric Jude and Loren Sierra Jude) v. Trojan Mining and Travelers Insurance Company
Jude v. Trojan Mining (BRB 18-0181): $18,816.84 attorney fee affirmed
Trojan Mining appealed an $18,816.84 attorney fee awarded in a miner's black lung claim pursued for his children after his death. The employer argued that a possible overpayment of interim benefits meant the lawyer had not succeeded. The Board held that the benefits award on modification was a…
Jimmy D. Goad v. Select Mining, Incorporated and West Virginia Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund
Goad v. Select Mining (BRB 18-0097): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Jimmy Goad appealed the denial of black lung benefits after a second remand. The Board had already upheld the finding that the employer disproved clinical pneumoconiosis. It now upheld the judge's decision to credit the employer's medical opinion over a contrary opinion about legal pneumoconiosis…
P.W. and Department of the Navy, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Stennis Space Center, MS
18-1766 (ECAB): Lifting injury claim not reopened for merits review
P.W., a Navy electronic technician, reported back, shoulder, arm, and hand symptoms after lifting heavy equipment at work. After OWCP denied the claim, he sought reconsideration. The Board found his medical reports had already been considered and his other arguments did not address medical…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lancaster, KY
18-1728 (ECAB): Right knee claim denied after icy sidewalk slip
A.R., a postal carrier, slipped on an icy sidewalk during work and reported a right knee injury. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found the medical evidence did not adequately explain how the slip caused or aggravated her knee condition. It affirmed the denial.
E.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, East Boston, MA
18-1492 (ECAB): Left leg schedule award denied for lack of impairment proof
E.L., a transportation security officer, had an accepted work-related injury and sought a schedule award for permanent left leg impairment. The Board found the medical evidence did not establish a ratable impairment of that leg causally related to the accepted injury. It affirmed OWCP’s denial of…
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.