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.B. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, CA
Board upholds left leg impairment award (ECAB 17-1704)
R.B., a former Navy boiler plant operator, sought a higher schedule award for an accepted left foot condition. He had already received awards that OWCP counted as 19 percent left leg impairment. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser correctly applied the current impairment guides and that no…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baytown, TX
Board upholds denial of exercise bicycle authorization (ECAB 17-1523)
J.R., a postal rural carrier with accepted spine and shoulder conditions, requested a stationary bicycle as medical equipment. The Board found that his physicians had not explained how the bicycle was medically necessary for those conditions or would reduce disability or compensation. OWCP’s…
J.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Spokane, WA
Board upholds reduced compensation based on earning capacity (ECAB 17-0397)
J.M., a former TSA screener with accepted shoulder and elbow injuries, challenged a reduction in his wage loss compensation. OWCP found that he could earn wages as a customer service representative. The Board found that the medical restrictions allowed the sedentary work and that the position was…
T.J. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
Board upholds denial of IRS worker’s shoulder claim (ECAB 17-0211)
T.J., an IRS tax law specialist, reported a left shoulder condition after moving files and boxes at work. OWCP accepted the work incident. The Board found that her medical records did not provide a reasoned explanation linking the shoulder condition to that incident. It affirmed the denial.
Ledcor CMI, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Ledcor CMI, Inc.
Ledcor CMI, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2017-231 RM, WEST 2017-270 M, WEST 2017-290 M): Highwall discovery motion granted in part
In litigation over highwall conditions at a quarry, the Secretary moved to compel additional discovery from contractor Ledcor CMI. Judge Richard W. Manning required Ledcor to identify the specific documents or pages supporting two interrogatory answers rather than point generally to a 1,250-page…
C.A. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service, East Elmhurst, NY
Board orders new review of alleged wage loss overpayment (ECAB 18-0092)
C.A., a federal air marshal, disputed a $3,297.65 overpayment assessed for an alleged return to part-time work. The Board found no evidence that she worked during the June 15 through July 22, 2017 period, while other records indicated she returned in August. It ordered OWCP to develop the earnings…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, San Antonio, TX
Board upholds denial of late-reported ankle injury claim (ECAB 18-0007)
R.B., a postal mail processing clerk, alleged that he fractured his ankle on an uneven sidewalk at work. The Board found that he did not report the incident for more than 16 months, kept working, and supplied no witness account of the alleged event. The inconsistent record did not establish that…
P.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Southern Nevada Healthcare System, Las Vegas, NV
Board upholds two percent impairment for each arm (ECAB 17-1964)
P.F., a VA program support assistant with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, sought a higher schedule award. The Board found that one physician’s higher estimate did not fully follow the impairment guides. It credited a second opinion that explained the test findings and rating factors and…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Foxworth, MS
Board upholds shoulder claim denial and refusal to reconsider (ECAB 17-1950)
J.M., a postal rural carrier, attributed a right shoulder tear to lifting heavy mail at work. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how accepted work factors caused or aggravated the condition. It also found that her reconsideration request repeated prior arguments and…
M.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Ann Arbor, MI
Board upholds denial of knee and back injury claims (ECAB 17-1647)
M.B., a VA practical nurse, reported knee and back conditions after a work-related vehicle accident. OWCP accepted the incident. The Board found that her physicians had not provided a reasoned opinion connecting the diagnosed conditions to the accident, including consideration of her prior medical…
G.M. and Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of workplace stress claim (ECAB 17-1469)
G.M., a Wage and Hour investigator, attributed stress symptoms to management interactions and alleged threats or harassment. The Board found no substantiated management error, abuse, threat, or harassment that qualified as a compensable work factor. It did not reach the medical evidence after…
S.U. and U.S. Postal Service, Linda Mar Station, Pacifica, CA
Board upholds two retirement-related overpayments (ECAB 17-1281)
S.U., a former mail carrier, received FECA compensation while also receiving Social Security benefits attributable to federal service and, later, OPM retirement benefits. The Board upheld overpayments of $48,300.57 and $1,519.79 for the two periods. It found that she knew or should have known the…
T.T. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Kinston, NC
Board upholds denial of kidney and PTSD consequential claims (ECAB 17-1084)
T.T., a food inspector with accepted arm and hand conditions, claimed that treatment led to kidney failure and post-traumatic stress disorder. The Board found no medical evidence addressing the PTSD claim. It found that the kidney opinion was equivocal and lacked a complete treatment history…
Matter of A-B-, Respondent
Attorney General set briefing deadlines for private-crime review
The Attorney General denied the Department of Homeland Security’s requests to suspend briefing and clarify the question presented in the private-criminal-activity review. He held that an Immigration Judge’s attempted certification of the case to the Board after remand was procedurally defective…
Theodore H. Walker v. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated
Walker v. Huntington Ingalls Industries (BRB 17-0545 and 17-0545A): permanent total disability affirmed
Theodore Walker sustained work-related shoulder and knee injuries while working for Huntington Ingalls Industries and could no longer perform his usual job. The administrative law judge found suitable jobs in the labor market but awarded permanent total disability because Walker diligently applied…
David R. Gibson v. Buffalo Mining Company and Pittston Company
Gibson v. Buffalo Mining (BRB 17-0331 BLA): benefits award remanded for lung evidence review
David Gibson filed another black lung claim after earlier denials and was credited with 16 years of underground mine work. The administrative law judge awarded benefits after finding that x-rays established complicated pneumoconiosis, which carries an irrebuttable disability presumption. Buffalo…
Alpha Bess Hayes, widow of and on behalf of Don Hayes, Sr. v. Arch on the North Fork, Incorporated and Old Republic Insurance Company
Hayes v. Arch on the North Fork (BRB 17-0310 and 17-0311 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Alpha Bess Hayes pursued her late husband Don's black lung claim and her own survivor's claim. After remand, the administrative law judge found that Don's disabling respiratory impairment was caused by legal pneumoconiosis and awarded miner's benefits beginning in October 2004, when he filed his…
Patricia Dennis, widow of and on behalf of James W. Dennis v. Chevron Mining, Incorporated/P&M Coal Mining
Dennis v. Chevron Mining (BRB 17-0278 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Patricia Dennis pursued her late husband's black lung claim. The administrative law judge credited James Dennis with 15.22 years of coal mine work in conditions substantially similar to underground mines and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, triggering the 15-year presumption…
Beatrice Jayne White, on behalf of and widow of Carmel G. White v. Caymen Coal, Incorporated
White v. Caymen Coal (BRB 17-0276, 17-0276 BLA-A, and 17-0341 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Beatrice White pursued her late husband Carmel's black lung claim and her own survivor's claim. After an earlier remand, the administrative law judge found 18.74 years of underground mine work and applied the 15-year presumption. Caymen Coal challenged the finding that it had not rebutted the…
John A. Conrad v. Island Creek Kentucky Mining Company and Island Creek Coal Company
Conrad v. Island Creek Kentucky Mining (BRB 17-0274 BLA): award remanded to resolve hearing record
John Conrad filed another black lung claim and received a benefits award. At the hearing, he recalled that a doctor had told him many years earlier that he was totally disabled by black lung disease, raising a question about whether the later claim was timely. The administrative law judge directed…
Paula Walton v. SSA Containers, Incorporated
Paula Walton v. SSA Containers (BRB 16-0549R): employer reimbursement dispute dismissed for lack of a live claim
Paula Walton settled her Longshore Act claims against two employers, leaving a dispute over past medical expenses paid by a private health plan. SSA Containers sought a ruling that Ports America was responsible for reimbursing the plan, which had filed a lien in state court. On reconsideration, the…
DeDios v. Medical Dynamic Systems, Inc.
DeDios v. Medical Dynamic Systems (DOL ARB 2016-0072): H-1B back wages affirmed
Medical Dynamic Systems sponsored Vincente DeDios for H-1B employment as a nurse manager but failed to pay the required wage and required him to cover H-1B filing fees. An administrative law judge ordered back wages and reimbursement, and the company appealed. The Board held that the company waived…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Rib citations vacated and equipment violations upheld
Consol Pennsylvania Coal operated the Harvey Mine, where MSHA issued eight citations and the parties settled four before the hearing. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews vacated two remaining rib-control citations because the evidence did not establish that the cited ribs were unsupported or uncontrolled. He…
Secretary of Labor v. Solar Sources, Inc.
Berm violation affirmed after haul-truck rollover
Solar Sources operated the Shamrock Mine, a surface bituminous mine in Indiana, where a dump haul truck passed through a berm and overturned roughly 47.75 feet below in a slurry pit. The driver escaped from the truck but suffered significant injuries. Judge William B. Moran dismissed the alleged…
Secretary of Labor v. The Kraemer Company, LLC
Hazardous highwall citation affirmed
The Kraemer Company operated a limestone quarry where miners used loaders and parked personal vehicles near a 40-foot highwall. MSHA cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 56.3200 for allowing travel near cracked, loose, and unsupported ground without a barrier or warning. The Judge credited the…
Adrenaline Truck Performance, LLC
In re Adrenaline Truck Performance, LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-02C): consent agreement ratified
The Environmental Appeals Board issued a Final Order concerning Adrenaline Truck Performance, LLC. The Board incorporated and ratified the attached Consent Agreement under EPA's Consolidated Rules of Practice. Adrenaline Truck Performance was ordered to comply with all terms of the agreement…
Ralph A. Ratliff v. Wellmore Coal Corporation
Ratliff v. Wellmore Coal (BRB 17-0396 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Ralph Ratliff worked underground in coal mining for 17 years and was found to have a totally disabling respiratory impairment, triggering the 15-year presumption. Wellmore Coal challenged the administrative law judge's finding that it had not rebutted the presumption. Its physicians attributed…
Billy N. Lloyd v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Lloyd v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 17-0347 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Billy Lloyd filed another black lung claim after an earlier denial. The administrative law judge found that he was totally disabled by a respiratory impairment but had less than 15 years of qualifying coal mine work, so he could not use the 15-year presumption. The judge also found that the…
Tinsley Maggard v. North Fork Coal Corporation
Maggard v. North Fork Coal (BRB 17-0342 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Tinsley Maggard worked in coal mining for 31 years and was awarded benefits after the administrative law judge found complicated pneumoconiosis. North Fork Coal challenged its designation as the responsible operator, the exclusion of an older x-ray reading, and the timeliness of the claim. The…
Tony N. Kourianos v. Hidden Splendor Resources, Incorporated and Rockwood Casualty Insurance Company
Kourianos v. Hidden Splendor Resources (BRB 17-0323 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Tony Kourianos worked underground in coal mining for 27.27 years and was awarded black lung benefits. Hidden Splendor Resources and its carrier challenged their liability as the responsible operator, the finding of total respiratory disability, and the conclusion that they had not rebutted the…
James R. Howton v. Chevron Mining, Incorporated and Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining
Howton v. Chevron Mining (BRB 17-0286 BLA): denial of employer's modification request affirmed
James Howton received black lung benefits after working 23 years at surface coal mines. Chevron Mining and its carrier sought to terminate the award through modification, challenging whether Howton's work qualified for the 15-year presumption, whether he was totally disabled, and whether they had…
K.W. and Corporation for National & Community Service, AmeriCorps VISTA Enrollees, Habitat for Humanity, Spokane, WA
Board upholds denial of back and shoulder injury claims (ECAB 17-1861)
K.W., an AmeriCorps VISTA resource development specialist, reported back and shoulder conditions after moving furniture and other items at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. The Board found that her medical reports did not adequately explain a causal link, particularly given a…
Thomas N. Broach, Jr. v. Taggart Global
Broach v. Taggart Global (BRB 17-0335 BLA): contractor held responsible for black lung award
Thomas Broach worked as a welder, pipe fitter, and millwright at active coal mine facilities and was awarded black lung benefits. The administrative law judge credited him with 16 years of qualifying mine employment, found total respiratory disability, and held that Taggart Global had not rebutted…
Lowell D. Ray v. Island Creek Coal Company
Ray v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 17-0318 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Lowell Ray filed another black lung claim after a prior denial and was credited with 31.36 years of underground mine work. The administrative law judge found total respiratory disability, which triggered the 15-year presumption, and awarded benefits. Island Creek Coal challenged the finding that it…
Bruce Daniel Cavanaugh, Jr. v. Ken American Resources, Incorporated and Rockwood Casualty Insurance Company
Cavanaugh v. Ken American Resources (BRB 17-0290 BLA): benefits award remanded for disability review
Bruce Cavanaugh filed another black lung claim after an earlier denial. The administrative law judge accepted 25.88 years of underground mine work, found total respiratory disability, applied the 15-year presumption, and awarded benefits. Ken American Resources and its carrier challenged the…
Charles Leonard Gray v. Powell Construction Company
Gray v. Powell Construction (BRB 17-0258 BLA): benefits award vacated for work and disability findings
Charles Gray worked above ground in coal mine construction and received a black lung benefits award under the 15-year presumption. Powell Construction challenged whether his work qualified and whether he was totally disabled by a respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the finding of regular coal…
D.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Paul, MN
Board upholds back claim denial and late review refusal (ECAB 18-0086)
D.O., a postal letter carrier, reported back pain after lifting mail tubs into a truck. The Board found that the medical record did not adequately connect a diagnosed back condition to the accepted work incident. It also found that her request for written record review was sent after the 30 day…
E.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Windsor, CT
Board upholds refusal to reopen back claim (ECAB 18-0054)
E.O., a postal legal administrative assistant, sought reconsideration of a denied back injury claim after lifting a bag of shredded paper at work. The Board found that her new physician report repeated earlier unsupported causation opinions. Physician assistant reports could not supply the required…
B.I. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Andover, MA
Board upholds denial of workplace noise claim (ECAB 17-2020)
B.I., an IRS correspondence technician, attributed hearing loss and other symptoms to workplace sound masking noise. The Board found that her physician’s opinion did not explain how the reported noise caused the conditions and used equivocal language. It also found insufficient medical support for…
K.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Atlanta NDC, Atlanta, GA
Board orders new review of bilateral arm impairment (ECAB 17-1663)
K.S., a postal mail handler, sought ratings above five percent in each arm for accepted nerve conditions. The Board found that OWCP had not combined related case files or evaluated whether cubital and carpal tunnel impairments could both be rated in each arm. It ordered a supplemental medical…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lakewood, CA
Board upholds refusal to reconsider benefit termination (ECAB 17-1508)
J.F., a former postal custodian, sought to reopen a decision terminating benefits for an accepted back and knee injury. He submitted MRI reports and argued that OWCP had overlooked an earlier scan. The Board found that the scans did not address whether the accepted conditions caused ongoing…
G.M. and Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division, Chicago, IL
Board upholds denial of disability recurrence claim (ECAB 17-1004)
G.M., a Wage and Hour investigator, sought total disability benefits beginning April 13, 2015 after an accepted fall that caused knee, ankle, buttock, neck, and back injuries. The Board found that her physicians did not provide a consistent, reasoned explanation of why the accepted conditions…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Dallas Bulk Mail Center, Dallas, TX
Board upholds benefit forfeiture and overpayment (ECAB 17-0141)
R.M., a former postal distribution clerk, pleaded guilty to a federal offense involving false statements to obtain FECA compensation. The Board found that the plea triggered forfeiture of benefits effective March 8, 2016. It upheld a $2,615.90 overpayment for compensation paid after that date and…
Steve Bussanich v. Ports America and Ports Insurance Company Incorporated
Bussanich v. Ports America (BRB 17-0477): temporary neck injury award affirmed
Steve Bussanich suffered a neck injury when a turnbuckle struck him at work for Ports America. The administrative law judge awarded temporary total and temporary partial disability benefits and medical expenses for a cervical strain, but found that the strain had resolved by October 2014 and did…
Robert Rollo v. Service Employees International, Incorporated and Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania
Rollo v. Service Employees International (BRB 17-0353): settlement letter appeal dismissed
Robert Rollo settled his Defense Base Act claim for an injury sustained while working in Iraq. Years later, he asked the district director to set aside the settlement, alleging inadequacy, fraud, and duress. The district director refused by letter, and Rollo appealed the letter to the Board. The…
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Boston, MA
Board orders further review of postal driver’s back claim (ECAB 18-0001)
J.D., a postal truck driver, reported severe back pain after placing a chock block under a tire at work. A new physician report supplied some explanation of how the movement could aggravate a preexisting back condition. The Board found that the opinion was not enough to establish the claim, but…
J.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Office, San Juan, PR
Board upholds denial of leg impairment award (ECAB 17-1846)
J.A., a VA service representative with an accepted lumbar condition, sought a schedule award for leg impairment. The Board found that his medical evaluations did not show reliable, ratable lower extremity neurologic deficits under the impairment guides. It affirmed the denial because the record did…
K.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Little Rock, AR
Board upholds denial of emotional condition claim (ECAB 17-1717)
K.T., a postal maintenance mechanic, claimed that an improper employment termination aggravated his anxiety and depression. OWCP accepted administrative error in the termination as a compensable work factor. The Board found that his physicians did not adequately explain how that error caused or…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
Board upholds denial of neck and shoulder claims (ECAB 17-1660)
S.H., a postal employee, sought benefits for neck and left shoulder conditions after an accepted March 4, 2014 work incident. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the accepted incident caused the diagnosed conditions. It affirmed the denial. The decision…
F.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, OR
Board upholds termination of postal carrier’s benefits (ECAB 17-0147)
F.J., a postal letter carrier, challenged termination of benefits for accepted back injuries and claimed continuing disability. The Board credited a second opinion finding that the accepted conditions had resolved. It found that later reports did not provide a reasoned link between ongoing symptoms…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1148 (Union) and United States Department of Defense, Defense Finance and Accounting Services, Columbus, Ohio (Agency)
AFGE Local 1148 and Defense Finance and Accounting Service (FLRA 0-AR-5297): Late arbitration ruling upheld
An arbitrator found that AFGE Local 1148 invoked arbitration too late under its agreement with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. The Union challenged that procedural-arbitrability ruling as an implausible contract interpretation. The Authority issued an expedited, abbreviated decision and…
Oscar Justice v. Virginia Crews Coal Company
Justice v. Virginia Crews Coal Company (BRB 17-0329 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Oscar Justice claimed black lung benefits after working in underground coal mining. The judge found fewer than 15 years of qualifying work, so Justice could not use the statutory presumption, but awarded benefits based on medical evidence that his disabling lung condition was substantially related…
James A. Hinkle v. Rich Mountain Coal Company
Hinkle v. Rich Mountain Coal Company (BRB 17-0324 BLA): surface miner's benefits award affirmed
James Hinkle worked at surface coal mines for at least 17 years and received a black lung benefits award under the 15-year presumption. His employer and carrier challenged whether he was regularly exposed to coal mine dust and whether they had rebutted the presumption. The Board held that Hinkle's…
Freda Brock Adams v. Jericol Mining, Incorporated
Adams v. Jericol Mining (BRB 17-0321 BLA): survivor's benefits denial affirmed
Freda Brock Adams sought survivor's benefits after her husband, an underground coal miner, died. The judge found clinical pneumoconiosis but found no proof that the miner had a totally disabling respiratory impairment or that pneumoconiosis contributed to his death. The Board agreed that a blood…
Robert V. Chewning v. T & T Management Company, Incorporated
Chewning v. T & T Management (BRB 17-0317 BLA): benefits award affirmed after remand
Robert Chewning received a black lung benefits award under the 15-year presumption. After an earlier Board remand, the judge again found that his employer had not rebutted the presumption. The employer argued that its doctor's opinion disproved legal pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the judge's…
A.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, London, OH
Board upholds denial of leg impairment award (ECAB 18-0050)
A.H., a postal letter carrier, sought a schedule award for leg impairment related to accepted knee and ankle conditions. The Board credited an impartial specialist’s opinion that the work-related aggravations were temporary and had resolved. It found no permanent impairment of a scheduled member…
M.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
Board upholds denial of cervical condition claim (ECAB 17-1905)
M.N., a postal employee with an earlier accepted injury, sought to add a cervical condition to the claim. The Board had previously credited an impartial examiner’s opinion against a causal link. It found that a later report from the treating physician, who had been on one side of the resolved…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Gaithersburg, MD
Board upholds life insurance premium overpayment (ECAB 17-1733)
B.B., a postal worker receiving FECA compensation, was undercharged for Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance premiums from April through October 2016. The Board upheld the resulting $846.72 overpayment. It found that her financial showing did not justify waiver and that OWCP had considered the…
Lang Masonry Contractors, Inc.
Limited-access-zone citation vacated
Lang Masonry performed masonry work around an elevator opening during a high-rise renovation. A six-pound piece of concrete block fell from the fourteenth floor down the elevator shaft and struck an elevator mechanic, causing fractured vertebrae and other serious injuries. The judge found that the…
3-D Builders, LLP
Ladder and willful fall violations affirmed
3-D Builders performed residential roofing work at heights of approximately 10 to 22 feet without guardrails, safety nets, personal fall arrest systems, or other fall protection. Workers also used an extension ladder whose side rails extended only about two feet, six inches above the roof landing…
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.