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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Larry L. Fields v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Fields v. Clinchfield Coal Company (BRB 17-0568 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Larry Fields sought black lung benefits after 18.5 years of underground coal mine work. The judge denied his claim because the evidence did not establish a totally disabling respiratory or pulmonary impairment. The Board upheld the judge's review of the breathing tests, blood gas studies, and…
William R. Russell v. Bluff Spur Coal Corporation
Russell v. Bluff Spur Coal Corporation (BRB 17-0561 BLA): benefits denial vacated for combined evidence review
William Russell appealed the denial of black lung benefits after 38.25 years of underground coal mine work. The judge found that he had not proved either complicated pneumoconiosis or a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the judge's assessment of the individual x-ray…
Samuel Baker v. BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, Incorporated and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association, Limited
Baker v. BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair (BRB 17-0540): shipyard security manager's coverage denial reversed
Samuel Baker sought hearing loss benefits after decades of work at a Norfolk shipyard, including service as its security manager. The judge denied the claim because he treated Baker's duties as excluded office and security work that was not integral to ship repair. The Board found that Baker…
Barbara Ann Love (widow of and on behalf of Walter Guy Love) v. Premium Coal Company
Love v. Premium Coal Company (BRB 17-0502 and 17-0503 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Barbara Ann Love pursued Walter Guy Love's black lung claim after his death and also sought survivor benefits. Premium Coal challenged the judge's finding that Walter was totally disabled and his conclusion that the company had not rebutted the presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. The…
Wilma Parsons (widow of and on behalf of Fred Parsons) v. Stoney Gap Coal Company, Incorporated and Employer's Insurance of Wausau
Parsons v. Stoney Gap Coal Company (BRB 17-0493 and 17-0494 BLA): miner and survivor awards vacated for rebuttal findings
Wilma Parsons pursued Fred Parsons's black lung claim after his death and also sought survivor benefits. The judge awarded benefits in both claims after finding that Stoney Gap Coal had not rebutted the presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the judge's finding that the…
Gerald W. Mabe v. Westmoreland Coal Company
Mabe v. Westmoreland Coal Company (BRB 17-0485 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Westmoreland Coal appealed an award of black lung benefits to Gerald Mabe after the case returned from the Fourth Circuit. The judge had found that the company failed to rebut the statutory presumption that Mabe's total disability was due to pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the judge's finding that…
Bonnie Lee Osborne, widow of and on behalf of Bobby J. Osborne v. Whitaker Coal Corporation and Sun Coal Company
Bonnie Lee Osborne v. Whitaker Coal Corporation (BRB 17-0404 BLA and 17-0405 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Bonnie Lee Osborne pursued black lung benefits on behalf of her late husband and in her own survivor claim. The administrative law judge credited the miner with seventeen years of coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, triggering a statutory presumption that the…
Texas Management Division, Inc.
Late-contest relief denial remanded
Texas Management Division filed its notice of contest nearly three months late and sought relief from the citation’s final-order status based on mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect. The judge denied relief after a telephonic hearing, relying primarily on competing declarations. The…
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company
Flagrant and unwarrantable designations deleted
Monongalia stipulated to significant-and-substantial violations involving extensive combustible accumulations along a belt and an inadequate preshift examination, but disputed unwarrantable-failure and flagrant designations. Judge Jerold Feldman found high negligence and serious violations, yet…
Robert Lee Hall v. Dema Coal Company and Employer's Insurance of Wausau
Hall v. Dema Coal Company (BRB 17-0569 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Robert Lee Hall appealed the denial of his black lung benefits claim. The judge found that he had not proved complicated pneumoconiosis or a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the review of the imaging and medical evidence on complicated pneumoconiosis. It also upheld the…
Garren W. McGlothlin v. Greasy Creek Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Fund
McGlothlin v. Greasy Creek Coal Company (BRB 17-0529 BLA): coal company and carrier remain liable for benefits
Greasy Creek Coal and its carrier appealed a black lung benefits award to Garren McGlothlin, challenging only which operator and insurer had to pay. The company argued that McGlothlin worked as a miner after its insurance coverage ended in June 1995. The Board upheld the judge's finding that his…
Edward Higgins v. Elkhorn Eagle Mining Company and Frontier Insurance Company
Higgins v. Elkhorn Eagle Mining Company (BRB 17-0475 BLA): operator liability and benefits award affirmed
Elkhorn Eagle Mining and its carrier appealed a black lung benefits award to Edward Higgins, contesting the company's responsibility for payment rather than his entitlement. The Board upheld the judge's finding that Higgins worked for Elkhorn Eagle for a cumulative year that included at least 125…
Ronald Martin v. National Mines Corporation and Old Republic Insurance Company
Martin v. National Mines Corporation (BRB 17-0410 BLA, 2018): black lung benefits award affirmed
National Mines Corporation appealed Ronald Martin's black lung benefits award, disputing whether he had legal pneumoconiosis and whether it caused his disability. With fourteen years of coal mine work, Martin did not qualify for the fifteen-year presumption, so the judge evaluated the medical…
Caldwell Tanks, Inc.
Welding-ventilation citation withdrawn and vacated
An administrative law judge affirmed a serious ventilation citation after Caldwell Tanks employees welded inside a water-tower access tube and assessed a $3,400 penalty. The case was directed for Commission review. Before the Commission decided the merits, the Secretary withdrew the sole remaining…
J.C. and Department of the Army, Army Pentagon, Washington, DC
Right eye total loss established, left eye rating returned
J.C., an Army accountant injured in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon, sought a larger schedule award for eye impairment. The Board found total loss of function of his right eye because he had no light perception, entitling him to 160 weeks of compensation for that eye. It found the…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Trenton, NJ
Termination of injury benefits upheld
M.S., a postal employee, received wage loss and medical benefits after an accepted June 2015 injury. The Board held that OWCP had adequately established the accepted injury no longer caused residuals or disability by January 17, 2017. He also did not provide sufficient evidence of continuing work…
V.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Weathers Post Office, St. Louis, MO
Emotional condition claim returned for workplace records
V.H., a postal customer services supervisor, attributed an emotional condition to a transfer back to a workplace she described as hostile. A supervisor partly supported her account, and OWCP sought information from the Postal Service about her duties, accommodations, and staffing. The Board found…
J.T. and Department of Air Force, Kelly Air Force Base, TX
Asbestos exposure claim filed after deadline
J.T., a retired Air Force mechanic, attributed lung and skin conditions to workplace asbestos exposure ending in 1999. He filed an occupational disease claim in 2016, years after he said he became aware of a possible work connection. The Board found the claim untimely and no sufficient basis to…
E.R. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institute, Dublin, CA
Retirement benefit overpayment returned for proof
E.R., a Bureau of Prisons correctional officer, elected federal retirement benefits while receiving FECA compensation. OWCP found a $3,607.37 overpayment and fault, but the record did not show whether, when, or how much the retirement system actually paid her. The Board set aside the decision and…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Loganville Post Office, Loganville, WI
Shoulder claim returned for clear injury findings
K.B., a postal rural carrier, described repetitive mail handling and specific cart incidents affecting both shoulders. OWCP focused on inconsistent dates for the specific incidents, while also suggesting she file a traumatic injury form instead of her occupational disease form. The Board found OWCP…
B.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office/L.O.C., Charlotte, NC
Disability denial and benefit termination upheld
B.A., a postal employee, sought total disability compensation for June through October 2016 after an accepted injury. The Board found insufficient proof of total disability during that period. It also held that OWCP met its burden to end wage loss and medical benefits effective October 13, 2016…
E.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jamaica, NY
Arm impairment ratings returned, leg ratings upheld
E.C., a postal employee, sought larger schedule awards for impairment of both arms and legs. The Board found no support for more than the existing one percent left leg and two percent right leg awards. It found the upper extremity rating method required further review under the impairment guide. It…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, Colorado (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1169, Council of Prison Locals #33 (Union)
FCC Florence and AFGE Local 1169 (FLRA 0-AR-5342): Augmentation bargaining award vacated
Federal Correctional Complex Florence increased its use of non-custody correctional officers to fill vacant custody posts, a practice known as augmentation. The union argued that the increased frequency was a workplace change requiring notice and bargaining under Articles 4 and 7. An arbitrator…
United States Small Business Administration (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2959 (Union)
SBA and AFGE Local 2959 (FLRA 0-AR-5288): Promotion-rescission backpay removed
The SBA selected an employee for a Virgin Islands management position using a veterans' preference, issued a final offer letter, and then learned from OPM that the employee did not qualify because all of his active duty had been in student training status. The employee had already sold his Texas…
Florence Hagy (widow of Troy L. Hagy) v. Westmoreland Coal Company
Hagy v. Westmoreland Coal Company (BRB 17-0360 BLA): survivor claim remanded for cause-of-death findings
Florence Hagy sought survivor benefits after her husband Troy's death. The judge found that she qualified for the presumption that pneumoconiosis caused his death, but denied benefits after finding that Westmoreland had rebutted it. The Board found gaps in the judge's review of medical opinions on…
John T. May v. Mountaineer Coal Development and West Virginia Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Fund
May v. Mountaineer Coal Development (BRB 17-0226 BLA): benefits denial vacated for new judge's review
John May appealed a renewed denial of black lung benefits after the Board had twice returned his claim to the judge. The judge again found that Mountaineer Coal had rebutted the presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. The Board found that he had not adequately resolved conflicting medical…
A.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ
Late reconsideration of fall claim denied
A.W., a VA nurse, sought reconsideration of a 2006 denial concerning a fall while boarding a river taxi after a work conference. She filed in 2017, eleven years after the last merit decision. The Board found her request untimely and her later account and records insufficient to show clear error in…
A.G. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Tracy, CA
Index finger impairment rating returned
A.G., a Defense Logistics Agency mechanic, challenged a three percent right arm schedule award after a work injury to his index finger. OWCP’s medical adviser discounted all range of motion measurements even though some met the guide’s requirements. The Board found that the adviser had not properly…
S.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Shoulder injury claim lacked causal explanation
S.F., a postal employee, reported shoulder symptoms while opening a large revolving mailbox at work. Her surgeon attributed a rotator cuff tear and biceps condition to the incident, but did not adequately explain how it caused or aggravated those conditions in light of earlier shoulder injuries and…
T.M. and Department of the Navy, Assistant for Administration, Washington, DC
Left arm award returned for motion comparison
T.M., a Navy employee with accepted left wrist fractures, sought a schedule award above 32 percent impairment of her left arm. The diagnosis based method supported the existing rating, but the impairment guide also permitted a range of motion rating for wrist arthrodesis. OWCP had not obtained the…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Lake Otis Station, Anchorage, AK
Bilateral arm impairment ratings returned
R.S., a postal letter carrier with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, challenged schedule awards of one percent impairment for each arm. OWCP’s medical adviser rated nonspecific wrist pain using a statement of accepted facts that omitted the accepted carpal tunnel condition. The Board set…
W.S. and Department of Labor, Mine Safety & Health Administration, Pikesville, KY
Mine inspector spine and nerve claim denied
W.S., a mine safety official, attributed spine and nerve conditions to years of walking, crawling, and stooping during mine inspections. The Board accepted those work duties but found that his physicians did not adequately explain how they caused or aggravated the diagnosed conditions, including…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Richmond, CA
Hand injury disability recurrence not established
E.B., a postal employee with an accepted 2006 left hand and wrist condition, claimed a recurrence of total disability from November 2015 through March 2016. Her physician attributed the renewed restrictions to a separate November 2015 injury involving a cart. The Board found that the medical…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 420, Council of Prison Locals, C-33 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Hazelton, West Virginia (Agency)
FCC Hazelton and AFGE Local 420 (FLRA 0-AR-5345): ULP charge bars augmentation grievance
FCC Hazelton announced that it would regularly assign non-custody employees to vacant custody posts under an augmentation policy and declined the union's request to bargain. AFGE filed an unfair-labor-practice charge challenging the lack of bargaining, then withdrew it before the prison implemented…
A.D. and Department of the Navy, Bureau of Medicine & Surgery, Beaufort, SC
Lumbar sprain benefit termination upheld
A.D., a Navy financial technician, received wage loss and medical benefits for an accepted lumbar sprain. The Board found the weight of the medical evidence showed that the sprain had resolved by May 12, 2017. It affirmed termination of both types of benefits and also upheld OWCP’s refusal to…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Paramus, NJ
Lumbar injury not medically linked to work incident
J.H., a postal city carrier assistant, sought benefits for disc herniations, nerve symptoms, and foot drop after a May 2014 workplace incident. The Board accepted the incident but found his physician had not explained how it caused the diagnosed lumbar damage. Other reports supplied diagnoses…
E.M. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety & Inspection Service, South Holland, IL
$58,235.33 overpayment upheld, early fault finding returned
E.M., a federal veterinarian, received FECA wage loss compensation while also receiving Social Security benefits attributable to federal service. The Board upheld a $58,235.33 overpayment. It found him at fault for the portion from November 17, 2013 onward, but found that OWCP had not shown he knew…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Citrus Heights, CA
Additional knee conditions not accepted
C.B., a postal carrier, sought to add several left knee diagnoses to an accepted injury claim after a 2011 work incident. OWCP had accepted a knee sprain and ligament condition but denied the additional conditions. The Board found that the reports either gave uncertain diagnoses or failed to…
K.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, East Orange, NJ
Thumb injury disability recurrence denied
K.K., a VA medical clerk, had an accepted left thumb sprain after a chair slipped beneath her at work in 2011. She worked full duty until December 2014, when she claimed renewed disability involving her thumb, wrist, and shoulder. The Board found that her medical evidence did not connect the later…
R.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Blaine, WA
Termination of back injury medical benefits upheld
R.W., a postal rural carrier, received medical benefits for accepted back injuries from crawling into a mail cage in 2012. A second opinion found the accepted sprain and subluxations had resolved and did not account for her later symptoms. The Board found that evidence sufficient to end medical…
G.S. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Reno, NV
Right knee schedule award denied
G.S., an aviation safety inspector, sought a schedule award for an accepted right knee sprain and ligament injury. A medical examiner found no ratable permanent impairment from those accepted conditions. The Board found his opinion well reasoned and the remaining evidence insufficient to establish…
United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District, Little Rock, Arkansas (Agency) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 2219 (Union)
Army Corps Little Rock and IBEW Local 2219 (FLRA 0-AR-5210): Night-differential award vacated
Army Corps employees at federally operated hydroelectric plants were paid under a special power-rate schedule that did not include a night differential. An arbitrator applied the general prevailing-rate entitlement in 5 U.S.C. § 5343(f), found no comparable DOE or Interior night-shift employees…
David Orpilla v. Hawaii Stevedores, Incorporated and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association
Orpilla v. Hawaii Stevedores (BRB 18-0079): attorney fee award affirmed
David Orpilla and Hawaii Stevedores resolved his Longshore Act hearing loss claim by a stipulated agreement, after which his lawyer sought $5,483.25 in fees. The judge set a lower hourly rate based on the Honolulu legal market and awarded $3,751.50, payable by the employer. Orpilla challenged the…
Dwayne D. Victorian v. International-Matex Tank Terminals
Liquid terminal injury supports temporary total benefits
Dwayne Victorian injured his neck while moving an air hose at a liquid bulk terminal on the Mississippi River. The employer disputed Longshore Act coverage and the duration of disability; Victorian also claimed that the accident caused a shoulder labrum tear. The Board affirmed his ongoing…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coldwater, MI
Late lumbar claim reconsideration denied
R.S., a postal city carrier, sought reconsideration of a denied occupational disease claim involving lumbar conditions. OWCP received her request in July 2017, more than one year after its January 2016 merit decision. The Board found that her later submissions did not clearly show error in that…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Ashley Post Office, Ashley, OH
Rehabilitation benefit reduction upheld
D.S., a former postmaster with accepted lumbar conditions, stopped attending an approved training program for receptionist or appointment clerk work. OWCP warned him that failure to cooperate could reduce compensation to the wages he could have earned after training. The Board found the selected…
E.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indianapolis, IN
Two percent impairment awards for both arms upheld
E.H., a postal employee with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, sought awards above two percent impairment for each arm. The Board found OWCP’s medical adviser had explained the rating under the impairment guide and why another physician’s higher rating was unsupported. It affirmed the two…
G.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oklahoma City, OK
Late cervical claim reconsideration denied
G.B., a postal mail processing clerk, sought reconsideration of a 2003 denial of his cervical condition claim. His 2007 and 2017 requests were filed after the one year deadline. The Board found that his later arguments did not clearly show error in the earlier finding that medical causation was…
I.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Bergen South Station, Jersey City, NJ
Additional knee conditions, disability, and surgery denied
I.T., a postal carrier, had an accepted left knee contusion after tripping on wet steps at work. She sought recognition of additional knee conditions, wage loss for February through August 2015, and authorization for knee surgery. The Board found the medical opinions did not adequately link the…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Federal Way, WA
Knee benefit termination reversed, hip claim returned
M.R., a postal carrier, received benefits for accepted left knee chondromalacia after slips at work. OWCP terminated her benefits based on a medical opinion treating the accepted condition as only a temporary aggravation of preexisting disease. The Board found that the opinion did not address the…
V.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh, PA
Head injury claim lacked medical causal opinion
V.J., a postal clerk, said she fainted and struck her head at work in August 2015. The Board accepted that the workplace incident occurred, but found no reasoned physician opinion linking a diagnosed injury or illness to it. Reports from physician assistants did not qualify as medical opinions…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
Right leg schedule award and reconsideration upheld
J.R., a postal employee, sought a larger right leg schedule award than the additional 12 percent award, bringing his total to 23 percent. The Board found the medical rating did not establish greater permanent impairment. It also found that his later reconsideration request repeated the claim…
Y.B. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA
Emotional condition work factors not established
Y.B., a Defense Logistics Agency analyst, attributed an aggravation of existing psychological conditions to workplace meetings, supervisory conduct, assignments, and timekeeping disputes. The Board found that she had not sufficiently established a compensable work factor, including the asserted…
Angelica Textile Services, Inc.
Confined-space and lockout items affirmed as serious
Angelica operated interconnected commercial laundry equipment, including large combined batch washers that employees sometimes entered as permit-required confined spaces. The Commission reversed the judge and affirmed violations involving the company’s written lockout and confined-space procedures…
Cumberland Contura, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Imminent-danger rerailing order vacated
An MSHA inspector saw a miner walk between a rib and a derailed 20-ton locomotive while workers were preparing to rerail it, stopped the work, and issued a section 107(a) imminent-danger order within about three minutes. The judge credited the inspector's honest fear but held that the conclusion…
The Doe Run Company v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. The Doe Run Company
Ground-control violations modified and training citation vacated
After a roof fall at Doe Run's underground lead and zinc mine crushed a mechanical scaler and killed its operator, MSHA issued two ground-control citations and a training citation. Judge John Kent Lewis held that the fatal accident itself established strict-liability violations of the…
Luigi Malta v. Wood Group Production Services
Offshore warehouseman regularly unloaded vessel cargo
Luigi Malta worked at an offshore warehouse and distribution facility, where a pressurized cylinder discharged while he unloaded it from a cargo basket. An earlier Board decision had established that the facility was a covered site; this appeal addressed whether his work met the Longshore Act's…
Johnny G. Riggs v. Lodestar Energy, Incorporated and Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance
Riggs v. Lodestar Energy (BRB 17-0522 BLA): benefits denial remanded for disability evidence review
Johnny Riggs appealed the denial of black lung benefits after nineteen years of underground coal mine work. The judge found that he had not proved total respiratory disability and therefore could not use the fifteen-year presumption. The Board held that the judge had not explained what weight he…
Climouth D. Coleman v. Scotts Branch Company
Coleman v. Scotts Branch Company (BRB 17-0510 BLA): benefits award vacated for further review
Scotts Branch Company appealed an award of black lung benefits to former miner Climouth Coleman. The Board upheld the judge's finding of 15.25 years of coal mine work and his finding that medical opinions established legal pneumoconiosis. It vacated the clinical pneumoconiosis finding because it…
Frank Scott Lake v. Black Mountain Coal Mining
Lake v. Black Mountain Coal Mining (BRB 17-0492 BLA): benefits award remanded over medical reports
Black Mountain Coal Mining appealed an award of black lung benefits to former miner Frank Lake. The Board held that reports by a second physician could not be admitted as supplemental reports to the initial physician's Department of Labor evaluation. It also found that the judge had not resolved…
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.