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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D.K. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Jacksonville, FL
Board orders review of DOL worker’s job stress claim (ECAB 17-0115)
D.K., an OWCP employee, attributed an emotional condition to duties such as meeting deadlines, reviewing files for personal information, working a telephone bank, and covering coworkers’ tasks. The Board found that these were established job duties and compensable work factors for an emotional…
C.A., widow of D.A., and Department of the Army, Warren, MI
Board upholds denial of Army employee survivor benefits (ECAB 16-1770)
C.A. sought survivor benefits after her husband, an Army employee, died while on official travel. She argued that frequent work travel contributed to his underlying medical conditions and death. The Board found her physicians’ work causation opinions insufficiently supported, while OWCP’s medical…
Secretary of Labor v. Pennsy Supply, Inc.
Amendments adding unwarrantable-failure allegations allowed
Shortly before hearing, the Secretary moved to amend two citations against Pennsy Supply from section 104(a) citations alleging moderate negligence to section 104(d) citations alleging high negligence and unwarrantable failure. Judge Priscilla M. Rae granted the motion because the amendments were…
West Bay Exploration Co., Haystead #9 SWD
In re West Bay Exploration Co., Haystead #9 SWD (EAB UIC Appeal No. 18-01): motion for clarification denied
Peter Bormuth filed an informal appeal concerning his request that EPA Region 5 terminate an Underground Injection Control permit for a waste disposal well in Jackson County, Michigan. The Board had previously dismissed that appeal as premature because Region 5 had not issued a final response…
Secretary of Labor v. Rock Products, Inc.
Equipment citations assessed at $24,984
Rock Products contested citations from three inspections of its New Mexico sand-and-gravel operation. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed violations involving an unchocked loader, damaged access steps, an unguarded tail pulley, a defective parking brake, oil near loader controls, nonfunctional…
Jason P. Kovach v. Barton and Gray Mariners Club and Technology Insurance Company
Jason P. Kovach v. Barton (BRB 18-0029): Longshore Act benefits denial affirmed
Jason Kovach sought benefits under the Longshore Act. The judge granted summary decision against his claim because his work fell outside the Act's covered employment. On appeal, Kovach argued that a later order tolling deadlines should have allowed him more time to respond to the employer's motion…
Billy Ray Wilson v. The Boeing Company as successor to McDonnell Douglas Services
Reconsideration motion denied
Billy Ray Wilson asked the Board to reconsider its earlier decision in his Longshore Act matter. After considering his arguments, no panel member voted to change the decision. The Board denied reconsideration and affirmed its prior ruling. The order does not restate the underlying merits.
Calvin L. Thompson v. Pinnacle Mining Company LLC and BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company
Calvin L. Thompson v. Pinnacle Mining Company LLC (BRB 17-0429 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Calvin Thompson won black lung benefits under the statutory presumption. Pinnacle Mining challenged the judge's assessment of the medical opinions on legal pneumoconiosis and disability causation. The Board upheld the judge's findings that the employer did not disprove the disease or rule out its…
Danny M. Vanhoose v. Rhino Services, LLC and Rockwood Casualty Insurance Company
Danny M. Vanhoose v. Rhino Services, LLC (BRB 17-0422 BLA): benefits award remanded for disability review
Danny Vanhoose received black lung benefits under the statutory presumption. The Board found that the judge needed to reconsider an arterial blood gas study and the overall evidence of total disability. It vacated the related presumption finding and remanded. If benefits are awarded again, the…
Don C. Shepherd v. Mor-Coal, Incorporated and Arrowpoint Capital/Security Insurance Company of Hartford
Don C. Shepherd v. Mor-Coal, Incorporated (BRB 17-0419 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Don Shepherd won black lung benefits under the statutory presumption. His employer argued that medical opinions rebutted pneumoconiosis and its role in disability. The Board upheld the judge's reasons for discounting those opinions. It affirmed the benefits award.
Michael Beverly v. Virginia International Terminals, LLC and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association
Michael Beverly v. Virginia International Terminals, LLC (BRB 17-0062r): reconsideration partly granted on special fund issue
The federal program director sought reconsideration of a Board ruling in Michael Beverly's Longshore Act claim. The Board partly granted the request to clarify how the judge should assess the employer's request for Special Fund relief. It otherwise affirmed its prior decision and remanded for…
Sparre v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.
Railroad retaliation appeal dismissed as late
An administrative law judge dismissed John Sparre's Federal Railroad Safety Act complaint on November 14, 2017. Sparre mailed his petition for Board review on December 14, after the 14 day filing period ended on November 28. The Board treated the filing deadline as open to equitable modification…
Kevin Smith v. PAT Engineering Enterprises, WLL
Temporary disability award affirmed
Kevin Smith received temporary disability benefits under the Defense Base Act. His employer challenged the judge's award and sought Special Fund relief. The Board upheld the award and rejected Special Fund relief because Smith's disability had not become permanent. The judge's decision and…
Tommy Caudill v. G S & M Coal Company, Incorporated and American Business & Mercantile
Tommy Caudill v. G S & M Coal Company, Incorporated (BRB 17-0476 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Tommy Caudill appealed a denial of black lung benefits. The judge found that he had not proved total respiratory disability. The Board explained that an x-ray showing simple pneumoconiosis does not itself establish disability. It affirmed the denial.
Larry R. Wilson v. Rockhouse Creek Development and BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company
Larry R. Wilson v. Rockhouse Creek Development (BRB 17-0453 BLA): black lung award partly vacated for rebuttal review
Larry Wilson received black lung benefits under the statutory presumption. The Board found that the judge needed to reconsider whether the employer rebutted the presumption, including the medical evidence on clinical and legal pneumoconiosis. It partly vacated the award and remanded. Entitlement…
Marlin E. Ashley v. Westmoreland Coal Company
Black lung benefits award affirmed
Marlin Ashley won black lung benefits after remand. Westmoreland Coal challenged the finding that pneumoconiosis caused his total disability. The Board upheld the judge's reliance on supporting physicians and rejection of contrary opinions that denied established disease. It affirmed the benefits…
United States Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858
Missile Defense Agency and AFGE Local 1858 (FLRA AT-CA-15-0381): Authority remands union-access complaint
AFGE Local 1858 asked to hold lunch-and-learn events in a secured Missile Defense Agency building where outside vendors sold goods and services. The agency denied access, and an administrative law judge found that the agency had discriminated against the union in violation of employees' organizing…
Smith v. Kareem Transportation and Serpro Logistics
Smith v. Kareem Transportation (DOL ARB 2018-0021): Reconsideration of appeal dismissal denied
Shervis Smith sought Board review of an adverse ruling on his truck driver whistleblower complaint. The Board dismissed his appeal because it was unclear whether his filings sought review and he did not answer a show cause order about a late petition. Smith then submitted documents that he said…
Gordon Lester Varney v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Benefits denial vacated for evidence ruling
Gordon Varney appealed a denial of black lung benefits. The Board found that the judge had not properly resolved whether post hearing medical evidence should enter the record. It vacated the denial and remanded for an admission ruling and, if the evidence is admitted, consideration of complicated…
Ricky A. Booth v. Premium Energy, LLC and BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company
Ricky A. Booth v. Premium Energy, LLC (BRB 17-0447 BLA): award partly vacated for total-disability and presumption review
Ricky Booth received black lung benefits under the statutory presumption. The Board vacated the judge's determinations that the claimant established total disability and invoked the Section 411(c)(4) presumption. It also vacated the rebuttal findings because the judge placed the burden for clinical…
Velocity Steel, Inc.
Proposed ironworker wage rejected
Velocity Steel, a subcontractor on four Idaho highway projects, sought to add an ironworker classification to the projects' wage determinations at $16.00 per hour plus $5.00 in fringe benefits. The Wage and Hour Division denied that request and approved a rate of $23.92 plus $9.75 in fringe…
S.N. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, El Paso, TX
Board upholds denial of hearing loss schedule award (ECAB 18-0077)
S.N., a Customs and Border Protection employee, had accepted hearing loss from workplace noise. The Board found that the audiogram values did not reach a ratable impairment under the applicable guides. It also found no separate tinnitus award available without ratable hearing loss. It affirmed the…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Taylorsville, GA
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s collision claim (ECAB 18-0061)
D.S., a postal employee, was involved in an accepted vehicle collision at work and reported back pain. His physician’s reports described pain but no firm medical diagnosis, while imaging showed no acute findings. The Board found that the accepted incident had not been linked to a diagnosed injury…
J.O. and Office of Personnel Management, Boyers Human Resources Services Team, Boyers, PA
Board upholds denial of OPM worker’s back injury claim (ECAB 18-0057)
J.O., an OPM employee, fell over a chair while putting on a boot at work and sought compensation for lumbar conditions. OWCP accepted the incident. The Board found that his physicians did not adequately explain how the fall caused or aggravated his diagnosed conditions, or distinguish the claimed…
S.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Voorhees Post Office, Voorhees, NJ
Board orders impartial rating of postal worker’s knee impairment (ECAB 17-1284)
S.R., a postal worker with accepted aggravation of synovitis in both knees, sought awards beyond the previously recognized 24 percent left and 23 percent right leg impairments. Her physician and OWCP’s medical adviser disagreed on the ratings after bilateral knee replacements. The Board found a…
J.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Board orders further review of border officer’s reduced work schedule (ECAB 17-0715)
J.W., a Customs and Border Protection employee, returned to limited duty after an accepted back injury but soon reduced his work schedule. An OWCP referral physician found employment related limits but was not asked to address the period beginning December 11, 2015. The Board held that OWCP had to…
P.E. and Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Tulsa, OK
Board sustains recovery of Social Security worker’s overpayment (ECAB 16-0321)
P.E., a Social Security Administration employee, received FECA wage loss and federal retirement benefits during the same period without the required offset. The Board upheld OWCP’s $692.90 overpayment calculation. Although P.E. was without fault, he supplied no requested financial information to…
Lee v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.
Dismissal for unanswered orders upheld
Charles Lee alleged that Norfolk Southern Railway retaliated against him for reporting an injury and safety concerns. After Lee's lawyer withdrew, an administrative law judge directed him to say whether he intended to pursue the complaint without a representative. Lee did not answer that order or a…
T.C. and Department of the Air Force, Ellsworth Air Force Base, SD
Board orders further evaluation of Air Force worker’s hip impairment (ECAB 17-1906)
T.C., an Air Force employee with accepted right femur and hip injuries, sought an award beyond a prior nine percent right leg rating. OWCP’s referral physician said possible hip replacement hardware loosening required further evaluation before maximum medical improvement and a new rating could be…
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s arm impairment award (ECAB 17-1800)
J.D., a postal worker, sought an award for permanent impairment of both arms after an earlier denial. New physician reports discussed active conditions and disability but gave no impairment percentage under the applicable guides. The Board found that imaging and assertions of ongoing symptoms did…
A.R. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Laredo, TX
Board upholds denial of marshal’s lower extremity award (ECAB 17-1504)
A.R., a U.S. Marshals Service employee, sought a schedule award after accepted lumbar conditions and fusion surgery. His physician rated impairment of the spine and whole person rather than a scheduled leg impairment using the applicable method. OWCP’s medical adviser found no ratable leg deficit…
R.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Springdale, AR
Board upholds 12 percent award for postal worker’s right leg (ECAB 17-1123)
R.N., a postal worker, had accepted knee and ankle conditions and underwent right knee surgery. He challenged OWCP’s award for 12 percent permanent right leg impairment. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser correctly applied the impairment guides to the surgical findings and that no…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Queens Village, NY
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s fall injury claim (ECAB 17-0285)
A.W., a postal worker, slipped on loose gravel and fell onto her hands and knees. Physicians identified several ankle, wrist, back, knee, and hip conditions. The Board found that some reports described a different fall and that the remaining reports did not adequately explain how the accepted…
E.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chula Vista, CA
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s back strain claim (ECAB 17-0265)
E.T., a postal worker, reported a back strain after lifting and twisting with a parcel at work. OWCP accepted the event and recognized a lumbar diagnosis. The Board found that his physician’s checked form and later reports did not explain how the event caused or aggravated the condition, especially…
Action Electric Company, Inc.
Lockout citation reinstated on remand
Action Electric employees entered a steel mill's cooling-bed basement to prepare for fan replacement before the required lockout procedure was completed. A counterweight moved to its de-energized position, striking and killing an apprentice and narrowly missing the lead worker. An earlier judge had…
Secretary of Labor v. V-Tech Sand, LLC
Tie vote left penalty orders closed
V-Tech Sand asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments. Acting Chairman William I. Althen and Commissioner Michael G. Young believed no final orders existed, so reopening was unnecessary and V-Tech should be permitted to contest the penalties before a judge. Commissioners Mary Lu Jordan…
Edward L. Wilburn v. Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC and Chartis Casualty Company
Edward L. Wilburn v. Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC (BRB 17-0463 BLA): subsequent claim benefits award affirmed
Edward Wilburn won black lung benefits on a subsequent claim. The employer challenged the judge's conclusion that it failed to rebut the presumption. The Board upheld the rejection of a medical opinion that denied legal pneumoconiosis despite the contrary finding. It affirmed the benefits award.
Claude D. Duncan v. Clinchfield Coal Company and Pittston Company
Claude D. Duncan v. Clinchfield Coal Company (BRB 17-0427 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Claude Duncan won black lung benefits under the statutory presumption. The employer challenged the judge's rejection of medical opinions denying pneumoconiosis and disability causation. The Board upheld those credibility findings and concluded that the employer had not rebutted the presumption. It…
Joseph L. Gill v. Island Creek Coal Company
Black lung benefits award affirmed
Joseph Gill won federal black lung benefits. Island Creek Coal challenged the award and argued that state workers' compensation should affect the federal claim. The Board rejected that objection because Kentucky's law was not approved under the cited federal rule and Gill had received no state…
Dewey R. Runyon v. Consolidation Coal Company
Black lung award and operator designation affirmed
Dewey Runyon won black lung benefits in a subsequent claim. Consolidation Coal challenged both its designation as responsible operator and the merits of the award. The Board upheld the operator finding and the judge's conclusion that the employer had not rebutted the statutory presumption. The…
Loftus v. Horizon Lines, Inc.
Retaliatory demotion and damages affirmed
Ship captain John Loftus reported safety concerns to the Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping. Horizon Lines later demoted him after an incident in which the first mate was seriously injured. An administrative law judge found that Loftus's safety reports contributed to the demotion and…
G.S. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Milan, MI
Board upholds prison worker’s two percent leg impairment award (ECAB 18-0227)
G.S., a Bureau of Prisons employee, sought a larger schedule award after an accepted left knee meniscus tear and surgery. OWCP’s referral physician rated the partial meniscectomy at two percent left leg impairment under the applicable guides, and a medical adviser agreed. The Board found that knee…
T.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Eagan, MN
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s shoulder injury claim (ECAB 18-0139)
T.O., a postal worker, claimed a left shoulder injury from an April 10, 2017 work incident. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish a definite diagnosis connected to it: one physician suggested possible tendon or impingement conditions…
S.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Perry Point, MD
Board reverses termination of VA worker’s compensation benefits (ECAB 18-0005)
S.W., a VA food service worker, received benefits for accepted shoulder and neck conditions. OWCP ended wage-loss compensation and medical benefits based on a second opinion that the conditions had resolved. The Board found that the physician had not explained that conclusion adequately, including…
M.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Richmond, VA
Board declines to expand VA worker’s accepted back injury (ECAB 17-1773)
M.B., a VA sales clerk, had an accepted back injury after slipping on ice. She asked OWCP to add aggravation of degenerative disc disease, left radiculopathy, and bowel and bladder dysfunction. The Board found that the medical reports did not reliably connect those additional conditions to the work…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s disability recurrence claim (ECAB 17-1345)
C.S., a postal worker with accepted left hand and wrist contusions, had worked light duty for years before the Postal Service stopped providing that assignment. She claimed a recurrence of disability. The Board found no current medical evidence connecting her work restrictions to the accepted…
J.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Lyons, NJ
Board orders new review of VA worker’s knee disease claim (ECAB 16-1570)
J.M., a VA food service worker, reported a right knee condition after returning to full duty following an earlier injury. OWCP denied her new occupational disease claim as a duplicate of a previously denied recurrence claim. The Board held that the two claims were distinct: the new claim alleged an…
International Association of Firefighters, Local F-283 and United States Department of the Army, HQ, I Corps and Fort Lewis, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
IAFF Local F-283 and Joint Base Lewis-McChord (FLRA 0-AR-5327): Authority upholds closure after employee's separation
IAFF Local F-283 grieved an Army employee's letter of reprimand, but the employee later left federal service. The collective-bargaining agreement said that when an employee separates, action stops and the grievance closes without a decision. The arbitrator applied that provision and closed the…
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of HUD Locals 222
HUD and AFGE Council 222 (FLRA 0-AR-4586): Authority vacates long-running classification awards
AFGE challenged how HUD advertised and filled positions with promotion potential to the GS-13 level and sought higher grades for GS-12 bargaining-unit employees. The dispute produced multiple arbitration rulings, implementation summaries, and seven earlier Authority decisions over more than a…
Ola Mae Hampton (on behalf of and widow of Edgar Hampton) v. ANR Coal Company, LLC
Miner and survivor claims remanded
Ola Mae Hampton pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The Board asked the parties whether both cases should return to the judge for reconsideration of prior procedural and substantive actions. The program director and employer agreed. The Board remanded both claims…
Claris I. Fite Rose v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Overpayment waiver denial affirmed
Claris Rose sought a waiver of recovery of an overpayment of interim black lung benefits. The judge found that she had not proved recovery would be against equity and good conscience. The Board upheld that finding because Rose had not shown that receiving the payments caused her to give up a…
Fred C. Justice v. Sheep Fork Energy, Incorporated and American International c/o Chartis
Fred C. Justice v. Sheep Fork Energy, Incorporated (BRB 17-0362 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Fred Justice won black lung benefits after the judge found qualifying work and total disability. The Board upheld invocation of the statutory presumption. The employer did not challenge either of the judge's findings that rebuttal had failed. The award was affirmed.
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Warrenton, MO
Board upholds denial of postal worker’s foot condition claim (ECAB 18-0178)
C.P., a postal clerk, attributed plantar fasciitis in both feet to prolonged standing and walking on hard surfaces at work. OWCP accepted the work factors but denied the claim. The Board found that her podiatrist did not explain how those duties caused or aggravated the condition; a checked form…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
Board orders merit review of postal worker’s late filing claim (ECAB 18-0164)
M.R., a postal worker, challenged OWCP’s ruling that her occupational disease claim was filed too late. On reconsideration, she argued that OWCP had failed to address when she learned that her condition was related to work. The Board found that this was a relevant legal argument OWCP had not…
T.B. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
Board upholds refusal to reopen IRS worker’s benefit claim (ECAB 18-0033)
T.B., an IRS employee, sought merit review after OWCP terminated compensation for accepted lumbar conditions. The Board found that her legal arguments repeated earlier ones and that the medical reports repeated prior evidence or did not address continuing injury residuals at the relevant date. None…
B.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Margate Post Office, Margate City, NJ
Board splits postal worker’s hip surgery and injury claims (ECAB 17-1813)
B.L., a postal worker, sought authorization for right hip replacement surgery and separately claimed that increased walking at work worsened his right knee and hip conditions. The Board credited an impartial physician who found that the proposed surgery was not caused by the accepted injuries, so…
C.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Worchester, MA
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal worker’s ankle claim (ECAB 17-1475)
C.N., a postal worker, sought to reopen a denied schedule award claim involving his right ankle. He argued that OWCP had given physicians improper definitions of work related aggravation and submitted a general medical report. The Board found the definitions adequate and the new material…
A.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Palatine, IL
Board upholds refusal to reopen late postal worker claim (ECAB 17-1254)
A.K., a postal mail processor, requested reconsideration of an earlier decision reducing her compensation after she did not cooperate with vocational rehabilitation. The request came more than one year after the last merit decision. The Board found that her evidence did not clearly show error in…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
Board orders new rating of postal worker’s arm impairment (ECAB 17-1049)
K.B., a postal worker with accepted right shoulder and arm conditions, sought more than an eight percent right arm schedule award. Her earlier rating used range of motion without evaluating the accepted conditions under a diagnosis based method. The Board found that inconsistent use of these…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Lompoc, California (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3048, Council of Prison Locals (Union)
FCC Lompoc and AFGE Local 3048 (FLRA 0-AR-5306): Cook-supervisor overtime award vacated
Federal Correctional Complex Lompoc began leaving cook-supervisor shifts vacant or assigning them to employees outside the bargaining unit instead of offering overtime to bargaining-unit officers. An arbitrator found that this violated the parties' agreement and ordered the prison to restore its…
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.