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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
D.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, St. Louis, MO
D.R. (ECAB 16-0605): Additional emotional-condition claim denied
D.R., a VA employee, had an accepted PTSD and panic-disorder claim after being trapped in an elevator at work in 2010. She later claimed that workplace events after her return aggravated her emotional condition. OWCP accepted several events during the October 2013 federal shutdown, including a…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bell Gardens, CA
D.S. (ECAB 16-0421): Right-ankle benefits termination reversed
D.S., a postal carrier, received benefits for a right-ankle sprain sustained when she stepped out of a postal vehicle. OWCP terminated her ankle-related medical and wage-loss benefits effective May 3, 2015, relying on a second-opinion physician. The Board found his report inconsistent because it…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2002 (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, Glynco, Georgia (Agency)
AFGE Local 2002 and Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLRA 0-AR-5199): Premature fee denial struck
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers suspended an employee for fourteen days for allegedly creating a false impression that he had law-enforcement authority. An arbitrator found the discipline untimely, found that the employee had not created a false impression, and awarded rescission…
Secretary of Labor obo Louis Silva, Jr. v. Aggregate Industries WRC, Inc.
Broadly distributed management email was not privileged
The Secretary brought a Mine Act discrimination case on behalf of Louis Silva Jr., a quality-control technician whom Aggregate Industries had terminated. During discovery, the company sought the return or destruction of an email that its safety manager sent to nine recipients after counsel…
D.K. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN
D.K. (ECAB 16-0859): Pulmonary claim remanded for impartial examination
D.K., a Tennessee Valley Authority boilermaker, claimed occupational pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after exposure to dust and other materials at work. OWCP accepted exposure to respirable dust but denied the claim on medical causation. His physician…
T.S. and Department of the Navy, Camp Lejeune, NC
T.S. (ECAB 16-0830): Back injury claim denied after accepted lunch-break incident
T.S., a Navy woodworker, reported lower-back pain after bending to clean a small grill and standing up during an approved lunch break at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred in the performance of duty but denied his injury claim. The Board found that the physician who diagnosed a lumbar…
L.S. and Department of the Air Force, Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, TX
L.S. (ECAB 16-0742): Federal retirement offset and repayment affirmed
L.S., a former Air Force medical instrument technician, received compensation for an accepted occupational lung condition. She also received Social Security retirement benefits partly attributable to her federal employment without the required offset, causing a $14,997.92 compensation overpayment…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
R.C. (ECAB 16-0697): Benefits termination upheld, additional conditions remanded
R.C., a postal processing clerk, had accepted left-wrist sprain and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome claims. OWCP ended medical and wage-loss benefits for those conditions after an impartial examiner found they had resolved. The Board upheld that termination, giving special weight to the examiner’s…
A.G. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle, WA
A.G. (ECAB 16-0356): Termination of depression benefits affirmed
A.G., an Army Corps mechanical engineer, had accepted back conditions after slipping on ice at work, and OWCP later accepted consequential depression. OWCP had previously ended benefits for the back conditions and then terminated wage-loss and medical benefits for the depression in 2014. The Board…
E.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Houston, TX
E.G. (ECAB 16-0242): Additional shoulder and neck conditions denied
E.G., a VA electrician, was struck by metal parts that fell from an overhead door at work. OWCP accepted a scalp wound and hematoma, but declined to add right-shoulder and cervical-spine conditions. The Board found that his physicians attributed those additional conditions to the falling parts…
L.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
L.N. (ECAB 16-0137): Two-year total-disability claim denied
L.N., a postal mail handler, had accepted neck and left-shoulder conditions after a 2011 work injury. She sought wage-loss compensation for total disability from December 2011 through December 2013. The Board found her physician did not explain why the accepted conditions prevented all work during…
Benton-Georgia, LLC
Attorney-fee application denied after citation withdrawal
OSHA cited Benton-Georgia after an employee was seriously injured by a vehicle while performing roadway work, but later withdrew the citation because the available evidence did not appear to sustain it. Benton-Georgia then sought $9,846.25 in attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to…
General Services Administration (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees (Union)
General Services Administration and NFFE (FLRA 0-AR-5191): Space-policy bargaining award vacated
The General Services Administration developed a policy to reduce and consolidate office space through measures such as desk sharing and open-plan design. The union's only bargaining proposal would have kept the existing arrangements in place until the parties completed negotiations over an entire…
Secretary of Labor v. Nicholas Contura, LLC
Part 90 miner temporarily reinstated after mine sale
James Steven Spencer worked at the Jerry Fork Eagle Mine in West Virginia and had exercised his Part 90 option in May 2016, which lets a coal miner with evidence of pneumoconiosis transfer to a lower-dust job at the same pay. He was moved to a supply motor operator job, then took leave for hernia…
Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd.
In re Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 16-04C): $7,150 civil penalty and Consent Agreement ratified
Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd. agreed to pay a $7,150 civil penalty to settle an EPA matter. The Environmental Appeals Board explained that a settlement under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b) resolves only federal civil penalties for the violations and facts addressed in the settlement. It does not prevent…
L.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Long Island MacArthur Airport, Ronkonkoma, NY
L.G. (ECAB 16-1065): Baggage-handling injury claim remanded
L.G., an airport security supervisor, reported neck, right-shoulder, and arm symptoms after catching a large bag falling from a conveyor at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied her injury claim because it found the medical explanation insufficient. The Board agreed that her physicians had…
J.M. and Department of the Navy, Commander Fleet Forces, Portsmouth, VA
J.M. (ECAB 16-0989): Increased left-shoulder impairment award denied
J.M., a Navy woodworker, had an accepted left-shoulder condition and a prior schedule award for five percent permanent impairment of his left arm. He sought an increased award years later. His treating physician said he had reached maximum medical improvement but could not provide a permanent…
H.C. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, Cuba, NM
H.C. (ECAB 16-0937): Three-percent awards for each leg affirmed
H.C., a Forest Service forestry technician, had accepted lower-back conditions after cutting a trail at work. OWCP awarded schedule compensation for three percent permanent impairment of each leg based on sensory deficits from an L5 nerve-root injury. He sought a higher rating and challenged use of…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Melville, NY
L.C. (ECAB 16-0869): Back claim denial and late review refusal affirmed
L.C., a postal mail clerk, reported lower-back pain after bending to lift a parcel at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied her injury claim. The Board found that her physician’s reports lacked a reasoned explanation linking the back condition to the specific incident and contained…
Nortek Powder Coating LLC
Repeat citations affirmed by default
OSHA issued Nortek Powder Coating repeat citations with proposed penalties totaling $3,400. Nortek filed a notice of contest but did not answer the Secretary's complaint. The judge sent an order to show cause by regular and certified mail, and Commission staff also called and emailed the company's…
A.M. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC
A.M. (ECAB 16-0310): Late hearing request properly denied
A.M., an FBI program analyst, sought a hearing on OWCP’s 2007 denial of her injury claim arising from a vehicle collision near her workplace. She mailed the hearing request in August 2015, years after the 30-day deadline. The Board held she had no right to a hearing after that deadline and that…
C.V., widow of P.V., and Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Bonners Ferry, ID
C.V. (ECAB 15-0083): Three refusals to reopen survivor claim affirmed
C.V. sought survivor benefits after her husband, a former Forest Service firefighter with accepted work-related asthma, died in 2009. OWCP had denied the claim, and she filed three further reconsideration requests in 2014. The Board held the first request supplied no qualifying new medical evidence…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, Local 1010 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Beaumont, Texas (Agency)
AFGE Local 1010 and BOP Beaumont (FLRA 0-AR-5203): Attorney-fee denial upheld
An arbitrator found that a federal prison in Beaumont failed to rotate overtime equitably and failed to retain required overtime records. He ordered the prison to develop a plan for make-up overtime but did not award backpay because the record did not establish amounts or recipients. The arbitrator…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3690 and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, Florida
AFGE Local 3690 and FCI Miami (FLRA 0-AR-5123): Attorney fee denial upheld
A prison employee received a two-day suspension after trying to board an airplane with a personal firearm while claiming to be a federal law enforcement officer. An arbitrator reduced the suspension to a reprimand and awarded backpay, but later denied the union's request for attorney fees. The…
Matter of Cristoval SILVA-TREVINO
Categorical approach governs moral-turpitude analysis
The Board reconsidered the case of a Mexican lawful permanent resident who had pleaded no contest to Texas indecency with a child and was charged as removable for an aggravated felony involving sexual abuse of a minor. The Board held that the categorical and modified categorical approaches govern…
L.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Norfolk, VA
L.B. (ECAB 16-1054): Shoulder and hip impairment ratings remanded
L.B., a former Navy firefighter, had accepted shoulder and hip conditions and received schedule awards for five percent right-arm and 21 percent right-leg impairment. The Board found unresolved questions in both ratings. The shoulder adviser rated a partial rotator cuff tear although the accepted…
L.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN
L.F. (ECAB 16-1010): Patient-transfer injury claim denied
L.F., a VA nursing assistant, reported neck and left-shoulder symptoms after a patient fell back against him during a transfer at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied his injury claim. The Board found that the physician’s report gave a different incident date and did not explain how the…
T.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
T.L. (ECAB 16-0687): Repetitive-work shoulder claim denied
T.L., a postal letter carrier, claimed that repeated reaching and lifting to fill high mailboxes caused a right-shoulder condition. The Board accepted that he performed repetitive work but found the medical evidence did not adequately link that work to his diagnosed shoulder conditions. One…
C.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lovington, NM
C.A. (ECAB 16-0492): Mail-truck back injury claim remanded
C.A., a postal carrier, reported back and left-leg pain after stepping down from his mail truck at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied his injury claim, and an earlier Board appeal upheld prior denials. A later report from his neurosurgeon explained how the force of stepping down could have…
G.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
G.H. (ECAB 16-0431): Termination of shoulder and nerve benefits affirmed
G.H., a postal distribution clerk, received compensation for accepted aggravation of a left-shoulder sprain and brachial radiculitis. OWCP terminated her benefits after an impartial examiner found no remaining residuals of the accepted conditions. The Board gave special weight to that reasoned…
M.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Lexington, KY
M.R. (ECAB 16-0380): Vehicle-collision claim and refusal to reopen affirmed
M.R., a VA social worker, was rear-ended by a tractor trailer while driving a government vehicle at work. OWCP accepted the collision but denied his injury claim. The Board found his physician had described pain without a firm diagnosis and had not explained how the collision caused or aggravated a…
E.M. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Nashua, NH
E.M. (ECAB 15-0612): Revised leg rating and overpayment recovery affirmed
E.M., a former FAA employee, received a schedule award based on 38 percent permanent impairment of his left leg after a back injury and resulting foot drop. A later impartial examiner assessed eight percent impairment under the applicable spinal-nerve method, and the Board upheld that rating. The…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, St. Petersburg Regional Benefit Office (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1594 (Union)
VA St. Petersburg and AFGE Local 1594 (FLRA 0-AR-5168): Computer-access remedy remanded
An arbitrator found that the St. Petersburg VA office failed to provide AFGE Local 1594 with contractually adequate office space and computer access. He ordered corrections to the office and directed the agency to issue a personal-identity-verification card to a union vice president who was no…
K.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
K.F. (ECAB 16-1270): Medical recurrence and late review request denied
K.F., a postal carrier, had an accepted lumbar sprain after lifting mail trays in 2005 and sought further medical treatment as a recurrence in late 2015. The Board found her physician had not explained how her current condition remained connected to the accepted back injury; one report grouped…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Paul, MN
J.C. (ECAB 16-1182): Hernia claim denied for lack of medical causation
J.C., a postal employee, claimed that loading a trailer at work caused an inguinal hernia. The Board accepted that trailer loading was part of his work, but his physician diagnosed the hernia without saying that work caused or aggravated it. Her observation that lifting could affect the condition…
P.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Arlington, VA
P.H. (ECAB 16-1023): Typing-related carpal tunnel claim denied
P.H., a postal Office of Inspector General hotline analyst, claimed that extensive typing and other repetitive hand work caused left carpal tunnel syndrome. The Board accepted that she performed those duties, but found no reasoned physician opinion connecting them to her condition. One physician…
C.A. and Department of the Navy, Naval Branch Health Clinic, Port Hueneme, CA
C.A. (ECAB 16-0799): Emotional-condition claim denied for lack of proven work factor
C.A., a Navy clinic office assistant, attributed a stress-related condition to workplace supervision, discipline, and the handling of her request for a diabetes accommodation. The Board found no evidence of error or abuse in those administrative actions. It also found her allegations of harassment…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
A.W. (ECAB 16-0780): Benefits termination and refusal to reopen affirmed
A.W., a postal clerk, received benefits for accepted injuries after an escalator stopped suddenly and threw her forward at work in 1995. OWCP ended benefits in 2015 after a second-opinion surgeon concluded the accepted injuries no longer caused residuals or disability. The Board found that opinion…
Heat Transfer Products Group, LLC.
Faded aisle-marking citation affirmed with reduced penalty
Heat Transfer Products used permanent aisles shared by forklifts and pedestrians at its Alabama manufacturing plant. Painted orange lines separated pedestrian routes from forklift lanes, but the markings had become severely faded or disappeared in some areas. The judge found that the standard…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pueblo, CO
R.B. (ECAB 16-0205): Occupational disease claim remanded for medical evaluation
R.B., a postal carrier, claimed that years of casing and delivering mail aggravated his lower back and right knee conditions. The Board had previously found his physician’s opinion speculative and partly based on an inaccurate injury history. The physician then clarified that he meant medical…
D.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Waco, TX
D.S. (ECAB 15-1298): Ankle injury claim denied because accounts differed
D.S., a VA housekeeping aid supervisor, sought benefits for a claimed left ankle injury on October 24, 2012. His accounts described receiving keys, pain after a police response, and, later, a foot slipping between stairs. The Board found the accounts inconsistent about the time, place, and manner…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Challenge to MSHA special assessment method left for after the hearing
MSHA proposed specially assessed penalties, meaning penalties calculated outside the usual points formula, against Consolidation Coal Company for violations at the Loveridge #22 mine. Before the hearing, the company moved to strike those proposed amounts, arguing that the "General Procedures" MSHA…
Secretary of Labor v. Kingwood Mining Company, LLC
Two final penalty assessments reopened to allow settlement
Kingwood Mining Company asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that had already become final orders under section 105(a) of the Mine Act, which happens automatically when an operator does not contest an assessment in time. The Secretary of Labor did not oppose the request and in…
R.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
R.J. (ECAB 15-1772): Carpal tunnel claim denied for insufficient medical explanation
R.J., a postal carrier, sought benefits for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome that she attributed to repeated handling and sorting of mail. OWCP accepted that she performed the described work tasks. The Board found that her physician had not adequately explained how those tasks caused or aggravated…
Secretary of Labor v. APAC-Kansas, Inc.
Highwall, guarding, training and workplace-exam citations all upheld
APAC-Kansas runs the Bonner Springs limestone quarry in Kansas, where MSHA opened a multi-week inspection in July 2014 and issued 32 citations and orders. The parties settled 27 of them, and Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck tried the remaining four citations and one order. She upheld all five. Two…
B.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sandy Spring, GA
B.T. (ECAB 16-0730): Timely reconsideration request sent back to OWCP
B.T., a postal carrier, sought compensation for shoulder and elbow conditions she attributed to her work. She sent OWCP forms requesting both reconsideration and a Board appeal after OWCP denied her claim, without clarifying which review she wanted. OWCP later said a Board appeal was pending and…
M.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
M.C. (ECAB 16-0724): Termination of wage loss and medical benefits affirmed
M.C., a postal letter carrier, received compensation for accepted lower back, right knee and leg, and Achilles conditions. OWCP ended his wage loss and medical benefits effective July 2, 2014, relying on his treating surgeon’s opinion that the accepted conditions had resolved. The Board found that…
B.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Warwick, RI
B.H. (ECAB 16-0252): Hand impairment upheld; award adjustment sent back
B.H., a federal special agent, fractured two fingers of his right hand during physical training and received a schedule award for two percent permanent hand impairment. The Board upheld that rating because OWCP’s medical adviser explained the calculation under the impairment guides and another…
C.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
C.B. (ECAB 15-1881): Fall location needs investigation before benefit decision
C.B., a VA medical center employee, fell near a food truck during a paid break and claimed injuries to her left arm and shoulder. OWCP denied her claim on the ground that she was outside the workplace premises. The Board found that the record did not establish the exact location of the fall or the…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
D.L. (ECAB 15-0578): Impairment rating remanded; disability denial affirmed
D.L., a postal carrier with accepted left knee, leg, and calf injuries, sought a permanent impairment award and wage loss compensation. The Board found that OWCP’s second opinion physician had declared no ratable leg impairment without supplying the measurements or impairment guide references OWCP…
Secretary of Labor v. Tilcon New York, Inc.
Six of seven contested citations upheld, total penalty raised to $4,458
Tilcon New York runs the Haverstraw Quarry and Mill, a surface granite mine in Rockland County, New York. An MSHA inspector wrote sixteen citations over a December 2015 and January 2016 inspection, and the parties settled nine of them before or during the hearing. Judge Margaret A. Miller decided…
American Covers, Inc., d/b/a Handstands
In re American Covers, Inc., d/b/a Handstands (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 16-03C): settlement limited to federal civil penalties
American Covers, Inc., doing business as Handstands, agreed to pay a $5,720 civil penalty to settle an EPA matter. The Consent Agreement said compliance would fully settle civil claims or causes of action alleged in Section V, while also stating that it would not resolve criminal liability. The…
Atkinson Developers, LLC and Francis M. Atkinson, Jr.
In re Atkinson Developers, LLC and Francis M. Atkinson, Jr. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 16-03): sua sponte review order vacated
The Environmental Appeals Board had elected to review the matter on its own after finding a discrepancy in the Certificate of Service for an August 4, 2016 Default Initial Decision and Order. The Board directed the Regional Hearing Clerk to correct the certificate and received the amended…
S.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Philadelphia, PA
S.R. (ECAB 16-1022): Right ear hearing claim denied for lack of causal evidence
S.R., a retired postal distribution machine operator, claimed hearing loss and tinnitus from workplace noise. OWCP had accepted noise-related hearing loss in his left ear but denied his separate right ear claim. The Board found no medical opinion linking the right ear hearing loss or tinnitus to…
D.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Manager, Canton Processing & Distribution Facility, Canton, OH
D.E. (ECAB 16-0979): Seven percent shoulder impairment award affirmed
D.E., a postal mail handler, received a schedule award for seven percent permanent right arm impairment after an accepted shoulder injury and two rotator cuff repair surgeries. He sought a higher rating based on his physician’s 34 percent estimate. The Board found that estimate relied on a shoulder…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
M.W. (ECAB 16-0959): Termination of back injury benefits affirmed
M.W., a postal distribution clerk, received benefits for a right sacroiliac sprain and temporary aggravation of lumbar disc disease after pushing heavy mail carts. OWCP ended her wage loss and medical benefits effective July 4, 2013, based on a second opinion that the accepted work conditions had…
J.J. and Federal Communications Commission, Oakdale, LA
J.J. (ECAB 16-0422): Right arm award upheld; left arm rating sent back
J.J., an FCC senior case manager, had accepted trigger finger conditions in both hands attributed to typing. OWCP issued a one percent schedule award labeled for the left arm, but the Board treated that label as a typographical error and evaluated the award as right arm impairment. It found that…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, North Richland Hills Post Office, North Richland Hills, TX
R.P. (ECAB 15-1335): Rescission of recurrence acceptance upheld
R.P., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted claim for temporary aggravation of arthritis in both thumbs. OWCP later accepted a recurrence of disability beginning May 13, 2013, then rescinded that acceptance and converted the recurrence claim into a new occupational disease claim. The Board found…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kearny, NJ
M.B. (ECAB 15-0230): Six percent award for each arm upheld
M.B., a postal parcel sorter, had an accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome claim. OWCP awarded six percent permanent impairment for each arm, based on ratings for that condition. M.B. sought a higher left arm rating that included a shoulder tear and argued that her physicians disagreed with…
N.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hicksville, NY
N.H. (ECAB 14-0360): Two workplace factors require review of medical evidence
N.H., a postal general clerk, claimed that workplace events caused an emotional condition. OWCP denied the claim after finding no compensable employment factor. The Board found two: management failed to tell her promptly what medical documentation she needed to return to work after filing her…
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.