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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T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Dallas, TX
T.D. (ECAB 16-0028): Wage earning capacity calculation upheld
A postal employee challenged a 2012 decision setting her loss of wage earning capacity after accepted neck and arm injuries. The Board found no established error in the medical referral, selected job, or wage calculation. She also did not show a material change in her injury related condition or…
National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency)
NTEU and Customs and Border Protection (FLRA 0-AR-4933): Noncompliance finding upheld
An earlier arbitration ruling found that Customs and Border Protection unlawfully changed inspectional employees' work schedules and awarded backpay through a claims process. When the agency had not implemented that process, a successor arbitrator found noncompliance and retained jurisdiction so…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Buford, GA
C.B. (ECAB 16-1440): Shoulder occupational disease claim denied
A rural postal carrier attributed a left shoulder condition to casing mail and heavy lifting. The Board accepted that those duties occurred but found the medical reports did not provide a reasoned connection to the claimed condition. It affirmed the occupational disease denial.
H.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Downtown Delivery Annex, Baltimore, MD
H.G. (ECAB 16-1191): Continuing injury residuals claim denied
A postal carrier claimed continuing work related disability after September 2009 from accepted neck and back strains. The Board found his physician’s newer report did not explain how later cervical conditions or disability remained caused by the 2006 injury. Earlier reports had already been found…
C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hattiesburg, MS
C.R. (ECAB 16-1157): Disability recurrence after light duty denied
A postal mail handler sought renewed disability benefits years after an accepted cervical injury and several surgeries. The Board found his reports did not establish that the accepted conditions prevented light duty work after March 2013. The claimed back condition had not been accepted, and no…
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Briarcliff Manor, NY
J.P. (ECAB 16-1103): Wage loss termination upheld
A postal employee challenged termination of wage loss benefits after an accepted October 2007 injury and sought compensation for later disability. The Board found that OWCP properly ended wage loss effective May 15, 2013 because the work related disability had ceased. It also found the claimant had…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Round Brook, NJ
R.B. (ECAB 16-0885): Right knee claim denial upheld
A postal employee claimed his right knee was injured when it buckled while he descended stairs at work in June 2014. OWCP accepted the incident but found the medical evidence did not establish an injury caused by it. The Board found that a diagnosis of pain alone did not establish a medical…
K.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Wilmington, DE
K.V. (ECAB 16-0349): Neck condition claim sent back for medical review
A postal employee sought compensation for a neck condition she attributed to machine work and other duties. OWCP denied the claim after its second opinion physician reported no objective evidence of a work related condition. The Board found that OWCP had not given that physician MRI and…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, IN
T.H. (ECAB 14-0943): Right arm impairment rating sent back
A postal employee challenged an eight percent right arm impairment award after two examiners had rated her impairment at 20 and 21 percent using range of motion. OWCP adopted a lower rating that used a different impairment method. The Board found conflicting guidance in the sixth edition of the…
M.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
M.O. (ECAB 16-1414): Leg impairment claim returned for complete examination
A postal employee sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of her lower extremities. OWCP relied on an examiner who found no ratable impairment, but the examiner had not received a December 2010 electrodiagnostic study showing radiculopathy. The Board held that this incomplete record could…
B.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Spring Garden Station, Philadelphia, PA
B.M. (ECAB 16-1381): Right hip injury claim denial upheld
A postal employee said he slipped on wet leaves at work in November 2014 and injured his right hip. The Board found that an emergency physician diagnosed a strain without explaining how the incident caused it. Another physician described a fall, while the employee said he slipped but did not fall…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Prairie Village Branch, Shawnee, KS
J.F. (ECAB 16-1233): Refusal to reopen carpal tunnel claim upheld
A postal employee asked OWCP to reconsider its denial of his carpal tunnel claim. The Board could review only OWCP’s refusal to reopen, because the appeal came too late for review of the underlying merits decision. The employee submitted a physician’s new letter that repeated an earlier opinion…
B.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Minneapolis, MN
B.L. (ECAB 16-1205): Finger injury claim denial upheld
A postal carrier assistant said he cut his right index finger on a mailbox panel at work in February 2016. The Board accepted that the incident occurred but found no qualifying medical opinion establishing an injury from it. The submitted emergency reports came from a physician assistant and…
C.L. and Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Regional Office, Deer Park, WA
C.L. (ECAB 16-1115): Refusal to reopen disability claim upheld
A Census Bureau employee sought reconsideration of a denial of wage loss for total disability after June 16, 2013. Her physician supplied new notes and forms, but they repeated earlier evidence and still said she could perform modified work without a limit on hours. The Board held that the…
T.G. and Department of the Navy, Army War College, Carlisle, PA
T.G. (ECAB 16-0910): Overpayment amount reduced; recovery upheld
A former federal employee challenged an OWCP overpayment finding and the plan to recover it from continuing compensation. The Board reduced the overpayment amount from $17,507.83 to $17,458.51. It agreed that the employee was at fault, so waiver was unavailable. It also upheld recovery by deducting…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicopee, MA
K.M. (ECAB 16-0802): Suitable work refusal and overpayment rulings upheld
A postal employee challenged termination of compensation after declining an offer of suitable work. The Board found that OWCP properly ended wage loss and schedule award entitlement effective December 14, 2014. Compensation paid through January 10, 2015 then created a $3,122.90 overpayment. The…
Secretary of Labor obo Raymond McKinney, Jr. v. Black River Coal, LLC
Temporary reinstatement ended when MSHA declined to sue
Raymond McKinney, Jr. filed a discrimination complaint against Black River Coal in June 2015. The Secretary applied for temporary reinstatement, which puts a miner back on the payroll while MSHA investigates, and Judge Jerold Feldman ordered it in August 2015 after the parties settled the…
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Shane T. Wetzel, emp. by Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Shane T. Wetzel (FMSHRC PENN 2016-135, PENN 2014-108, PENN 2014-109): Both violations upheld, penalties cut, negligence reduced to high
A dragline bucket became buried under fallen coal at Lehigh's Tamaqua Mine in June 2013. Rather than clear it mechanically, the company sent hourly employee Erik Osenbach down a steep path into the pit twice, without fall protection, to hook chains to the bucket. The highwall above him had cracks…
B.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Twenty Second Street Station, Chicago, IL
B.G. (ECAB 16-1454): Occupational disease claim denial upheld
A postal employee alleged an occupational illness but did not identify the specific work activities she believed caused or aggravated it. OWCP asked her to describe those duties and their frequency, but the record before OWCP did not establish the factual basis of the claim. The Board could not…
I.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, Lake City, FL
I.J. (ECAB 16-1380): Bare reconsideration request did not reopen knee claim
A Department of Veterans Affairs employee sought reconsideration after OWCP denied his left knee injury claim. His request consisted of a checked box on a form indicating that he wanted reconsideration. He supplied no argument or new evidence. The Board held that this did not meet the requirements…
B.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Manchester, NH
B.G. (ECAB 16-1377): Refusal to reopen hand injury claim upheld
A federal employee asked OWCP to reconsider denial of a right hand injury claim and to pay for initial medical treatment. The Board held that his argument showed no legal error and offered no new legal point. He also supplied no new medical evidence connecting the hand condition to the accepted…
E.M. and Social Security Administration, Region IX, Richmond, CA
E.M. (ECAB 16-1335): Left wrist condition claim denial upheld
A Social Security Administration benefits authorizer attributed left wrist de Quervain’s tenosynovitis to repetitive typing, writing, and desk height. OWCP accepted her duties and the diagnosis. The Board found that her physician did not explain how those duties physiologically caused or…
L.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Tampa, FL
L.G. (ECAB 16-1255): Suitable work refusal termination upheld
A Department of Veterans Affairs employee challenged termination of benefits after refusing a modified housekeeping aid position. OWCP had accepted several back and neck conditions. The Board found that the offered work fit the supported medical restrictions and that contrary reports did not create…
W.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Bothell, WA
W.B. (ECAB 16-0206): Wage earning capacity ruling returned for hearing loss review
A Department of Homeland Security employee sought modification of a wage earning capacity finding based on work as a security guard. OWCP had accepted a separate hearing loss claim in 2008, before its 2011 capacity decision. A physician later said that hearing loss made security guard work…
Sandra G. McDonald v. George King, Mark Toler, Guardco Security, LLC and New Trinity Coal, Inc., as successor-in-interest to Frasure Creek Mining, LLC
Sandra G. McDonald v. George King, Mark Toler, Guardco Security, LLC and New Trinity Coal, Inc. (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-387 D): $50,000 discrimination settlement approved
Sandra G. McDonald worked as a contract security guard at a mine site run by Frasure Creek Mining. She filed a discrimination complaint in January 2014 saying she was fired in September 2013 after raising safety concerns, including that employees were not wearing hardhats and that her employers had…
Butler v. Neier, Inc.
Late appeal dismissed despite request to extend filing period
An administrative law judge found that Neier and other respondents retaliated against truck driver Michael Butler under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act and awarded back pay, emotional distress damages, punitive damages, and reinstatement. Butler petitioned for Board review 17 days after…
B.H. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Newark, DE
B.H. (ECAB 16-1662): Left hand and wrist claim denial upheld
An Internal Revenue Service employee attributed left hand and wrist problems to years of typing and handling case files. OWCP accepted the described duties. The Board found that the submitted medical evidence did not give a reasoned explanation connecting a diagnosed condition to those duties. It…
J.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, American Fork, UT
J.L. (ECAB 16-1268): Overpayment decision returned for proper notice
A postal employee challenged an overpayment based on postretirement life insurance premiums that OWCP had not deducted. After an earlier Board remand, OWCP again found a $1,242.66 overpayment. The Board found that OWCP had failed to issue a new preliminary finding and give the employee the required…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
L.G. (ECAB 16-1247): Overpayment waiver question returned to OWCP
A postal employee received $9,563.93 in compensation to which she was not entitled between October 30, 2015 and March 5, 2016. The Board affirmed the overpayment amount but split the fault finding. It found her without fault for the period through November 14, 2015 and at fault for the later…
J.F. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
J.F. (ECAB 16-1225): Hearing loss award returned for more favorable calculation
A Navy employee challenged a schedule award for three percent binaural hearing loss. The Board found that the accepted evidence supported a 17 percent monaural loss in the left ear. That monaural calculation would provide 8.84 weeks of compensation, more than the six weeks awarded for binaural…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Prairie Home, MO
K.M. (ECAB 16-1223): Claim for a year of wage loss denied
A postal employee sought wage loss for September 7, 2013 through August 18, 2014 after an accepted aggravation of cervical spinal stenosis. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish total disability during that period caused by the accepted injury. It affirmed OWCP’s denial of the…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr
B.C. (ECAB 16-0978): Continuing disability claim returned after termination upheld
A postal employee challenged termination of wage loss and medical benefits effective November 18, 2014 and sought compensation for continuing disability afterward. The Board held that OWCP had met its burden to terminate benefits as of that date. It found the later disability claim was not ready…
F.C. and Department of the Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base, OK
F.C. (ECAB 16-0743): Lower back injury claim denial upheld
An Air Force employee said he injured his lower back while lifting overhead at work in June 2014. The Board accepted that the incident occurred. It found the medical evidence did not explain how the particular lifting event caused the diagnosed condition. The Board affirmed the denial of the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2431 (Union) and United States General Services Administration, Region 2, New York, New York (Agency)
AFGE Local 2431 and GSA Region 2 (FLRA 0-AR-5211): Premature-grievance ruling stands
An arbitrator found that an AFGE Local 2431 grievance involving GSA Region 2 had been filed prematurely and therefore was not arbitrable. The union's exceptions did not challenge that controlling procedural ruling. Instead, the exceptions addressed the arbitrator's additional comments about the…
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Dallas, TX
D.C. (ECAB 16-1756): Left hand and thumb claim denial upheld
A postal mail processing clerk attributed a left hand and thumb condition to pulling, lifting, and grasping mail trays over time. The Board found that the medical reports did not establish a causal link to those duties. One physician used an inaccurate job history and gave conflicting accounts of…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kelso, WA
J.G. (ECAB 16-1576): Refusal to reopen wage capacity claim upheld
A postal employee sought reconsideration of a wage earning capacity decision based on work as a telephone solicitor. Her submissions repeated letters and arguments OWCP had already considered. The Board held that she had offered no pertinent new medical evidence about her ability to perform the…
A.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jamaica, NY
A.F. (ECAB 16-1488): Recurrence claim returned for wage capacity review
A postal employee claimed a renewed period of total disability after OWCP had made a formal wage earning capacity determination. OWCP denied the claim as a recurrence without addressing whether that earlier capacity finding should change. The Board held that OWCP had to evaluate the submission as a…
T.L. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Seaside, CA
T.L. (ECAB 16-1273): Later disability claim denied
A Defense Commissary Agency employee sought wage loss for total disability beginning December 20, 2014 after an accepted March 2014 injury. The Board found that his medical evidence did not provide a reasoned opinion tying disability during the claimed period to that injury. It affirmed OWCP’s…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grand Rapids, MI
J.H. (ECAB 16-1094): Asthma aggravation claim denial upheld
A postal employee claimed that workplace dust aggravated his asthma. The Board considered the dust exposure issue separately from another pending claim involving accepted emotional conditions. It found the medical evidence insufficient to establish that the dust exposure aggravated the preexisting…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Harrisburg, PA
B.C. (ECAB 16-1061): Schedule award denied before maximum improvement
A postal employee sought a schedule award for impairment from multiple accepted back, leg, and bladder conditions. The Board found she had not established that she had reached maximum medical improvement for those conditions. Without that showing, a permanent impairment award could not be…
L.Y. and Department of Veterans Affairs, John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, Detroit, MI
L.Y. (ECAB 16-0774): Benefits termination and later disability denial upheld
A Department of Veterans Affairs employee challenged termination of wage loss and medical benefits for accepted physical conditions effective July 31, 2015. She also claimed continuing disability after that date. The Board found that OWCP met its burden to end the benefits for her accepted lumbar…
C.S. and Department of the Army, Training & Doctrine Command, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan
C.S. (ECAB 16-0547): Remote duty injury claim returned for medical clarification
An Army employee developed left leg and foot symptoms while working in Afghanistan in July 2012, where access to a physician was delayed by his remote location. The Board found that the medical opinion used to resolve a conflict needed clarification about the diagnosis, its relationship to the…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council, Local 2554 and 2595 (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, El Centro and Yuma Sector (Agency)
Border Patrol Council Locals 2554 and 2595 and CBP (FLRA 0-AR-5202): Late fee petition remains denied
An arbitrator found in 2012 that Customs and Border Protection had used the wrong method to compensate more than 1,000 agents for overtime and awarded liquidated damages. The union waited more than three years, while remedy calculations and settlement talks continued, before asking the arbitrator…
A.G. and Office of Personnel Management, Washington, DC
A.G. (ECAB 16-1261): Emotional condition and recurrence claims denied
An Office of Personnel Management employee claimed an emotional condition from compensable work factors after April 2011 and a recurrence of disability beginning October 5, 2012. The Board found he had not established a causal connection between the claimed condition and compensable factors. It…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Denver, CO
J.C. (ECAB 16-1206): Ankle claim returned for medical evaluation
A postal employee said she sprained her right ankle while descending porch steps on a delivery route. The Board found that the incident occurred as she described and that the record did not contain inconsistencies casting serious doubt on it. Because OWCP had not evaluated the medical evidence…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
E.M. (ECAB 16-1185): Back injury claim and continuation of pay denied
A postal employee alleged a lower back injury in a work motor vehicle accident. OWCP accepted that the accident occurred. The Board found no physician’s report establishing a diagnosed condition caused by the accident; the submitted hospital records did not supply the necessary qualified opinion…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
D.M. (ECAB 16-1056): Cervical injury claim denial upheld
A postal mail handler attributed a cervical condition to operating a forklift. OWCP accepted that work factor, but the Board found the physician reports did not give a reasoned explanation connecting the cervical condition to it. A nurse practitioner’s report could not establish medical causation…
J.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
J.J. (ECAB 16-0984): Benefits termination reversed
A postal employee challenged OWCP’s termination of benefits for accepted thoracic and lumbar injuries. The Board found OWCP’s second opinion internally inconsistent: it left lumbar residuals unaddressed and both suggested ongoing injury symptoms and asserted no work restrictions. Because the report…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Massena, NY
M.S. (ECAB 16-0833): Refusal to reopen injury claim upheld
A postal employee sought reconsideration of a traumatic injury denial involving a February 2012 incident. The Board could review only the refusal to reopen, not the merits of the older claim decision. It found that the submissions did not meet the requirements for new merit review and affirmed…
R.B. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
R.B. (ECAB 16-0622): Right knee claim denial upheld
A Navy mechanic attributed a right knee condition to squatting under staging at work in July 2014. The Board accepted that the work activity occurred. It found the medical evidence did not explain how the squatting caused or aggravated the diagnosed knee condition. The Board affirmed the claim…
Matter of Clement OBEYA
New York petit larceny is moral turpitude
The Board reviewed a Nigerian respondent's case after a federal court remanded it for analysis of a New York petit-larceny conviction. The Board held that the offense is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude because New York law requires intent to permanently or virtually permanently…
Matter of Guillermo DIAZ-LIZARRAGA
Arizona shoplifting is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a lawful permanent resident of the United States who is a native and citizen of Mexico who had three Arizona shoplifting convictions. The Board held that a theft offense…
ECCO USA, Inc.
In re ECCO USA, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 16-05C): $325,000 civil penalty and Consent Agreement ratified
ECCO USA, Inc. agreed to pay a $325,000 civil penalty to settle an EPA matter. The Environmental Appeals Board reviewed the Consent Agreement’s language about what payment would resolve and compared it with 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(c). The Board concluded that the Consent Agreement resolves only federal…
The Doe Run Company v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. The Doe Run Company
The Doe Run Company v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC CENT 2016-283 RM, et al.): Original escapeway settlement later corrected
MSHA cited five Doe Run mines under 30 C.F.R. § 57.11050(a), alleging that two escapeways were not provided from all working areas. Doe Run argued that the requirement applied only to the mines' lowest levels, and the parties completed a four-day trial before reaching a comprehensive settlement…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Atlanta, GA
J.W. (ECAB 16-1131): Old injury claim held untimely
A postal employee filed a compensation claim in January 2016 for an alleged June 1996 injury. The Board held that the claim was outside FECA’s three year filing period and that the record did not establish a basis for treating it as timely. It also upheld OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim on…
T.C. and Department of the Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio, Randolph, TX
T.C. (ECAB 16-1067): Increased impairment request returned for merits review
An Air Force employee described worsening symptoms and sought an increased schedule award for his right lower extremity. OWCP treated his submission as an untimely reconsideration request requiring clear evidence of error in an earlier award. The Board held that it was a new request for an…
A.B. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Seattle, WA
A.B. (ECAB 16-0864): Late reconsideration request denied
A Bureau of Prisons employee sought reconsideration of a right knee claim after the one year period following the Board’s September 2014 merits decision. The Board found the request untimely and concluded that it did not show clear evidence of error. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to reopen the merits.
D.R. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Philadelphia, PA
D.R. (ECAB 16-0378): Compensation pay rate and refusal to reopen upheld
A Federal Bureau of Investigation employee challenged OWCP’s pay rate calculation for compensation and its refusal to reconsider that ruling. The Board found that OWCP had computed the rate properly. It also found that the reconsideration submission did not warrant reopening the merits. The Board…
K.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Sioux Falls, SD
K.B. (ECAB 16-0203): Shoulder and neck claim returned for review of existing evidence
A Department of Veterans Affairs employee claimed a left shoulder or neck condition from duties performed in 2007. OWCP treated a physician’s report discussing those duties as irrelevant because it viewed the claim as limited to later work. The Board found that the claim and a letter received on…
J.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
J.E. (ECAB 16-0006): Wage capacity reduction and reconsideration denial upheld
A Department of Veterans Affairs employee challenged a reduction in compensation based on her capacity to earn wages as a customer complaint clerk. The Board found that OWCP had met its burden to use that constructed position. It also upheld OWCP’s refusal to reopen the matter on reconsideration…
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.