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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John Osborne v. Eagle Coal Company, Incorporated
John Osborne v. Eagle Coal (BRB 15-0275): miner work history must be recalculated
John Osborne's black lung benefits claim was denied after an administrative law judge credited him with 14.63 years of coal mine employment, below the 15 years needed for a statutory presumption. The Board held that the judge had used a Social Security wage base to calculate two partial years, even…
Blanchard v. Exelis Systems Corp./Vectrus Systems Corp. and Fluor Intercontinental Inc.
Blanchard v. Exelis Systems and Fluor (DOL ARB 2015-0031): Settlement with Fluor approved
Gary Blanchard appealed a judge's dismissal of his Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaint against Exelis and Fluor. While the appeal was pending, Blanchard and Fluor jointly asked the Board to approve a settlement. The Board found their agreement fair, adequate, reasonable, and consistent with the…
P.D. and Department of the Army, Army Depot, Corpus Christie, TX
P.D. (ECAB 16-1080): Reconsideration refusal upheld
P.D., an Army aircraft inspector, received an additional three percent right leg schedule award after a knee replacement. He sought reconsideration because he believed his total impairment should have been rated at 31 percent rather than 23 percent. The Board found that his request resubmitted…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Islandia, NY
D.B. (ECAB 16-1050): Shoulder schedule award denied without impairment rating
D.B., a postal mail handler, had an accepted right shoulder sprain after pulling on a hook at work. She applied for a schedule award based on permanent loss of use of her right arm. OWCP asked for a medical report rating any impairment under the applicable edition of the AMA Guides, but she…
D.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
D.J. (ECAB 16-0965): Foot injury claim returned for medical review
D.J., a postal carrier assistant, said she developed left foot pain after stepping on a rock during her route. The Board accepted that the work incident occurred, but found the medical record insufficient to decide whether it caused or aggravated a diagnosed foot condition. OWCP’s medical adviser…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Madison, WI
J.B. (ECAB 16-0870): Late request for written-record review denied
J.B., a postal mail clerk, requested a review of the written record after OWCP denied her right shoulder injury claim. Her request was postmarked August 28, 2015, one day after the 30-day deadline following the July 28 decision. The Board found that she was therefore not entitled to review as a…
T.P., representative of the estate of D.P., and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Elephant Butte, NM
T.P. (ECAB 16-0044): Estate's schedule award claim denied
T.P. sought a schedule award on behalf of his wife, a postal distribution clerk who had received compensation for accepted arm conditions and died in 2011. He filed the schedule award claim in 2014 and argued that an earlier impairment rating and a telephone call with OWCP showed her intent to…
V.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Iselin, NJ
V.T. (ECAB 15-0444): Right leg award claim returned for medical review
V.T., a postal letter carrier, previously received schedule awards totaling 50 percent impairment of her right leg. She sought another award after a later workplace fall, and a medical adviser assessed 18 percent current right leg impairment, primarily from her knee. OWCP denied the request on the…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
J.H. (ECAB 14-1584): Overpayment reversed; leg award returned for review
J.H., a postal letter carrier, received disability compensation while earning some wages elsewhere and held a left leg schedule award. OWCP determined a $4,732.35 overpayment and awarded 26 percent impairment of the left leg. The Board reversed the overpayment decision because OWCP did not clearly…
T.S. and Department of the Army, Army National Guard, Montgomery, AL
T.S. (ECAB 16-1034): Tinnitus award returned for new evaluation
T.S., an Army National Guard human resources officer, had accepted hearing loss and tinnitus attributed to work noise. OWCP added two percent impairment for tinnitus to his binaural hearing rating. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser misread the treating physician’s description of how…
P.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Salisbury, MD
P.P. (ECAB 16-0913): Late reconsideration request denied
P.P., a VA nursing assistant, sought to reopen a 2006 denial of her claim for an injury while moving a patient. Her reconsideration request reached OWCP in March 2016, well beyond the one-year filing period. The Board found that the later medical reports did not establish clear error in OWCP’s…
A.J. and Department of the Navy, Customer Service Desk, Monterey, CA
A.J. (ECAB 16-0678): Right thumb occupational disease claim denied
A.J., a Navy transportation assistant, claimed that repeatedly moving file jackets caused pain in her right hand and thumb. The Board found that her physician diagnosed thumb flexor tendinitis and that she identified the work activity she believed caused it. The physician, however, did not give an…
C.B. and National Security Agency, Scientific Advisory Board, Fort Meade, MD
C.B. (ECAB 16-0571): Termination of wage and medical benefits upheld
C.B., an NSA security specialist, received compensation for accepted back and neck conditions after two work incidents. OWCP terminated his wage-loss and medical benefits after an impartial orthopedic examiner found that the accepted sprains and spasms had resolved. The Board gave that examiner’s…
L.R. and Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
L.R. (ECAB 16-0557): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
L.R., an NIH maintenance mechanic, reported back pain after carrying boxes and replacing air filters at work. OWCP accepted that the April 4, 2015 incident occurred and that he had diagnosed spinal conditions, but denied his injury claim for lack of proof connecting them. The Board found one…
L.B. and Department of the Army, Army Depot, Red River, TX
L.B. (ECAB 15-1838): Claim returned because earlier case file was missing
L.B., an Army depot painter, claimed disability related to an earlier knee injury. OWCP treated her recurrence filing as a new occupational disease claim and denied it, but the record sent to the Board did not include the file for the previously accepted injury. The Board found that the earlier…
P.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, White Plains, NY
P.G. (ECAB 15-1806): Claim returned to assess recurrence or new disease
P.G., a postal automation clerk, sought compensation for renewed neck and shoulder symptoms after returning to work following an accepted 2007 injury. She filed a recurrence claim, which OWCP converted to a new occupational disease claim and denied. The Board found that the earlier injury file was…
L.M. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Guaynabo, PR
L.M. (ECAB 15-1557): Reconsideration refusal returned for explanation
L.M., an IRS customer service representative, sought reconsideration of a denied emotional condition claim. OWCP found her request untimely and said it did not show clear evidence of error. The Board found that OWCP had failed to explain how the evidence submitted with the request compared with the…
Y.J. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Denton, TX
Y.J. (ECAB 15-1137): Emotional condition claim denied for lack of established work factor
Y.J., a FEMA emergency management specialist, attributed emotional symptoms to demanding disaster response work and an allegedly hostile workplace. The Board found that her descriptions of long hours and overwhelming duties lacked specific dates and duties needed to establish a compensable work…
F.W. and Department of Agriculture, Inspection Operations Program, Minneapolis, MN
F.W. (ECAB 15-0441): Wage-loss reduction based on file clerk job reversed
F.W., a food safety inspector with accepted asthma and allergic rhinitis, had received total disability compensation. OWCP reduced her wage-loss payments based on her supposed ability to work as a file clerk. The Board found that the impartial medical examiner’s brief opinion did not adequately…
R.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Antonio, TX
R.D. (ECAB 16-0894): Late reconsideration request denied
R.D., a postal rural route carrier, sought reconsideration of OWCP’s 2013 occupational disease claim denial. Her 2016 request came after the one-year filing deadline. She argued that a request had been submitted in 2014, but the record showed only a letter from a physician who was not shown to be…
T.J. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, MS
T.J. (ECAB 16-0714): Hearing loss claim returned for causation opinion
T.J., an Army Corps of Engineers equipment foreman, claimed that years of hazardous work noise contributed to his hearing loss. OWCP denied the claim based on a second opinion physician’s view that severe right ear loss existed when T.J. began work. The Board found that the physician had not…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Palatine, IL
P.W. (ECAB 16-0684): Left leg award upheld; right leg issue returned
P.W., a postal mail handler, received a schedule award for two percent left leg impairment after a workplace injury to both knees. The Board found that the left leg rating was supported; even her physician later agreed that the partial meniscus injury yielded two percent. Her physician separately…
R.E. and Department of the Navy, Stennis Space Center, Hancock, MS
R.E. (ECAB 16-0615): Chair exposure recognized, back claim still denied
R.E., a Navy employee, claimed that sitting in an uncomfortable chair at work aggravated a preexisting back condition. OWCP denied the claim and later found that he had not established the alleged work factor. The Board modified that finding, accepting that the chair caused back pain. It…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, OR
B.C. (ECAB 15-1861): Production assembler wage reduction reversed
B.C., a postal mail processing clerk with an accepted right shoulder injury, received wage-loss compensation after surgery. OWCP reduced her benefits to zero based on a production assembler position it said she could perform. The Board found that OWCP’s second opinion physician limited reaching and…
C.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley Medical Center, Tampa, FL
C.C. (ECAB 15-1729): Hearing denial affirmed, impairment claim remanded
C.C., a Veterans Affairs medical supply technician, sought a schedule award for a lower extremity impairment after an accepted back injury and surgery. OWCP denied the award after new electrodiagnostic testing and a second opinion found no ratable impairment. The Board held that OWCP had not given…
Y.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
Y.C. (ECAB 15-1442): Vocational rehabilitation benefit reduction reversed
Y.C., a postal mail clerk with accepted hand and wrist conditions, was asked to undergo a functional capacity evaluation as part of vocational rehabilitation. The physical therapist reported inconsistent responses and less than full effort during an initial evaluation and a second one. OWCP reduced…
United States Department of the Navy, Commander Navy Installations Command (Agency/Petitioner) and International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization)
Navy Installations Command and Masters, Mates, and Pilots (FLRA WA-RP-15-0042): Certification amendment dismissed
The Navy asked to amend a ship-pilots bargaining-unit certification by replacing the Chief of Naval Operations with the lower-level Commander Navy Installations Command as the recognized agency. An acting regional director granted the request after finding that the new command employed the unit…
Kenneth Palmer v. Canadian National Railway/Illinois Central Railroad Company
Palmer v. Canadian National Railway (DOL ARB 2016-0035): Original railroad retaliation remand
Kenneth Palmer alleged that Illinois Central Railroad fired him after he reported a workplace injury. An administrative law judge found a violation and ordered reinstatement and monetary relief. The Board held that the judge had relied on its Fordham and Powers decisions when assessing the…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. Seasonal AG Services, Inc.
H-2A wage case remanded
The Wage and Hour Division claimed Seasonal AG owed the required H-2A wage rate to 142 U.S. workers on another company's payroll. The administrative law judge rejected joint employment. The Board held that the judge had applied the wrong legal standard: the inquiry was whether Seasonal AG employed…
Secretary of Labor v. Clayton's Calcium Inc.
Default order was a nullity because the operator did answer
Clayton's Calcium was held in default after the Chief Administrative Law Judge concluded it never answered MSHA's petition for civil penalties. The company had in fact filed a timely response to the show-cause order, but it wrote the docket number of a different case involving the same mine, WEST…
Secretary of Labor v. Knight Hawk Coal, LLC
High negligence and unwarrantable failure affirmed after red zone fatality
A continuous mining machine operator at Knight Hawk's Prairie Eagle South Mine in Illinois was fatally crushed in February 2013 after entering the machine's red zone, the pinch point area where the equipment can strike a miner. MSHA cited the company for violating its approved roof control plan…
Proctor & Gamble, Co.
In re Proctor & Gamble, Co. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 16-02C): settlement limited to federal civil penalties
Proctor & Gamble, Co. agreed to pay a $14,300 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 Environmental Appeals Board found…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, William Jennings Bryan Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Columbia, South Carolina (Respondent/Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1915 (Charging Party/Union)
Dorn VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 1915 (FLRA AT-CA-15-0461): Prior on-call policy restored
The Dorn VA Medical Center reduced on-call hospital technicians' reporting time from forty-five minutes to thirty minutes without responding to AFGE Local 1915's request to bargain over the change. The agency did not answer the unfair-labor-practice complaint or oppose summary judgment, and an…
Jessica Hicks dba Logs to Lumber and Beyond
Default set aside and settlement approved
OSHA issued Logs to Lumber and Beyond serious and other-than-serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $1,360. The judge entered default after the employer did not respond to a show-cause order or timely file the parties' settlement agreement. The Commission found that a single missed…
Empire Roofing Company Southeast, LLC
Aerial-lift fall protection citation affirmed
An Empire Roofing foreman and two employees used an aerial lift without tying off to the boom or basket. The foreman admitted he skipped the harness because he was in a hurry, and he knew the two employees also rode in the lift without fall protection. The Commission held that the foreman's…
United States Department of the Air Force, 47th Flying Training Wing, Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1749 (Union)
Laughlin Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1749 (FLRA 0-AR-5156): Paid-break remedy remanded
Aircraft-simulator instructors at Laughlin Air Force Base could not take a paid twenty-minute lunch break and one paid fifteen-minute rest break during six-hour flight simulations. An arbitrator found that the practice violated the parties' agreement and awarded thirty-five minutes of overtime for…
Matter of Martin CHAIREZ-Castrejon
Utah firearm statute was overbroad for aggravated-felony analysis
The Board reconsidered the case of a Mexican lawful permanent resident convicted under Utah's firearm-discharge statute and found removable for both a firearms offense and an aggravated felony crime of violence. Applying the Supreme Court's decisions in Mathis and Descamps, the Board held that the…
Byron v. I.E.H. Laboratories
Food testing laboratory case remanded
James Byron worked for a laboratory that tested food for manufacturers, processors, and importers. He said the company fired him after he raised concerns about its salmonella testing method. An administrative law judge dismissed his whistleblower complaint, reasoning that the Food Safety…
A.S. and Department of the Navy, Puget Shound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
A.S. (ECAB 16-0902): Late reconsideration denial affirmed
A.S., a Navy shipyard worker, sought to reopen OWCP’s denial of his occupational disease claim for back injuries. The Board found that his reconsideration request reached OWCP after the one-year deadline. His additional evidence did not show clear evidence of error in OWCP’s earlier finding that he…
Employment 2000 Corp.
Late-contest dismissal set aside for address error
Employment 2000 filed a late notice of contest after OSHA mailed its citation to an address with an incorrect ZIP code. The same incorrect ZIP code appeared on the Secretary's dismissal motion, the judge's decision, and other case notices, leaving the record unclear whether the company received or…
K.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
K.G. (ECAB 15-1139): Postal worker’s injury claim denial affirmed
K.G., a postal automation clerk, claimed that her duties injured her lower back and right shoulder. After an earlier Board remand, OWCP obtained a second opinion that found no work-related condition. The Board gave that opinion greater weight than her treating physician’s reports because it…
B.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
B.H. (ECAB 15-0878): Forfeiture and overpayment findings remanded
OWCP found that B.H. had forfeited compensation after a guilty plea involving false statements and that he owed a $47,841.70 overpayment. The Board found the record incomplete because OWCP had not combined all claim files used in its forfeiture and overpayment findings. It also noted that the…
J.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Wilmington, DE
J.S. (ECAB 15-0872): Termination of wage-loss and medical benefits reversed
J.S., a Veterans Affairs food service worker, challenged OWCP’s termination of benefits for an accepted back injury. OWCP relied on a second opinion physician who found no remaining work-related disability. The Board found that reports from J.S.’s treating physicians and specialists presented an…
P.O. and Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Greenbelt, MD
P.O. (ECAB 15-0852): Schedule award and reconsideration denials affirmed
P.O., a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent, sought a schedule award after an accepted right shoulder injury. At the time of OWCP’s decision, the medical record did not establish that his shoulder had reached maximum medical improvement or identify a permanent impairment. The Board upheld…
J.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Metro, GA
J.J. (ECAB 15-0475): Termination of injury benefits affirmed
J.J., a postal worker, received benefits for accepted cervical disc and right shoulder injuries. OWCP ended the benefits after a second opinion physician found that the work-related conditions had resolved. The Board found that his examination and explanation supported the termination. It also…
A.R. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Yakima, WA
A.R. (ECAB 15-0447): Shopping investigator wage capacity finding affirmed
A.R. challenged OWCP’s reduction of wage-loss compensation based on his capacity to work as a shopping investigator. The Board found that the selected job fit the work restrictions in his medical and functional evaluations and was vocationally suitable. It also held that OWCP had properly declined…
L.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newport Beach, CA
L.T. (ECAB 15-0136): Two disability claims denied
L.T., a postal letter carrier with accepted right knee and leg injuries, claimed total disability from March 28 through June 1, 2012 and beginning November 28, 2012. For the first period, the Board found no evidence that his modified-duty position was unavailable or that his accepted condition had…
National Federation of Federal Employees, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Federal District 1, Local 1998 (Union) and United States Department of State, Passport Services (Agency)
NFFE Local 1998 and Passport Services (FLRA 0-NG-3291): Three application-processing proposals negotiable
NFFE Local 1998 proposed changes to procedures used by State Department passport specialists when handling Social Security number issues and possible fraud indicators. The Authority found negotiable a proposal allowing specialists to skip unnecessary checks for minors, a proposal offering several…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1633 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration (Agency)
AFGE Local 1633 and VA National Cemetery Administration (FLRA 0-AR-5185): Last-chance-agreement exceptions dismissed
The VA held an employee's removal in abeyance under a two-year last-chance agreement, and the employee accepted a reduction from WG-6 to WG-5. After the agreement expired and the removal was canceled, the employee sought restoration to the higher grade. An arbitrator held that the agreement did not…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1815 (Union) and United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, Fort Rucker, Alabama (Agency)
AFGE Local 1815 and Fort Rucker (FLRA 0-AR-5164): Sick-leave counseling grievance denied
An Army employee accumulated more than nine weeks of various absences within six months. The agency issued a counseling memorandum that required medical documentation for future sick-leave requests and warned that continued problems could lead to discipline. An arbitrator held that the memorandum…
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): Interim attorney-fee award upheld
An earlier arbitration ruling found that Customs and Border Protection unlawfully changed employees' schedules under its inspectional assignment policy and established a backpay claims process. During implementation, NTEU requested interim attorney fees for work on the remedial hearing and the…
Secretary of Labor obo Kelly Rawley v. J.L. Sherman Excavation Co.
Screening measures allowed discrimination case to proceed
The Secretary pursued a Mine Act discrimination complaint for Kelly Rawley while separately seeking an individual civil penalty against him for earlier alleged safety violations. Judge David F. Barbour asked whether the Solicitor's dual role created a conflict that could affect the discrimination…
Linwood Mining & Mineral Corporation
In re Linwood Mining & Mineral Corporation (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 16-04Q): $20,468 penalty paid and matter resolved
EPA alleged that Linwood Mining & Minerals Corporation violated chemical data reporting regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act. EPA's complaint sought a $20,468 penalty. Linwood paid the full amount, which waived its rights to contest the allegations and appeal the Final Order. The…
BruggemannChemical, BruggemannChemical U.S., Inc.
In re BruggemannChemical, BruggemannChemical U.S., Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 16-03Q): penalty paid and matter resolved
EPA alleged that BruggemannChemical and BruggemannChemical U.S., Inc. failed to accurately report the weight of seven chemical substances they imported under the chemical data reporting regulations. The complaint sought a $109,599 penalty. EPA notified the Environmental Appeals Board that the…
Interstate Rock Products, Inc.
Interstate Rock Products (DOL ARB 15-024): Three-year Davis-Bacon debarment affirmed
Interstate Rock Products worked on a National Park Service construction project at Willow Beach, Arizona. A Labor Department judge found that the company misclassified 69 workers, failed to pay required overtime, and owed $425,204.43 in back wages. Interstate did not challenge those findings or the…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Downey, CA
P.S. (ECAB 16-0861): Left leg impairment claim remanded again
P.S. sought a greater schedule award for left lower extremity impairment related to an accepted back injury. In an earlier remand, the Board had directed OWCP to obtain a second opinion from a physician other than the one who gave an unclear impairment rating. OWCP returned to that same physician…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Federal Way, WA
J.M. (ECAB 16-0397): Hand condition recurrence denial affirmed
J.M., a postal letter carrier, had accepted bilateral hand osteoarthritis and trigger finger and had returned to full duty. She later claimed that a worsening of those conditions left her unable to work. The Board found that her physician described pain and limited function but did not adequately…
L.R. and Department of Defense, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Indianapolis, IN
L.R. (ECAB 15-1924): Reconsideration denial affirmed
L.R., a Defense Department accounting technician, claimed that prolonged sitting at work aggravated existing hip and back conditions. After OWCP denied the claim, L.R. sought reconsideration and argued that the claim should be combined with a separate accepted injury file. The Board found that the…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Columbia Processing & Distribution Center, Columbia, SC
M.M. (ECAB 15-1622): Reconsideration denial affirmed
M.M., a postal maintenance mechanic, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied a traumatic injury claim because the alleged work incident was not established. He submitted new medical reports with the request. The Board held that the reports did not address the factual question of whether the…
A.N. and Department of Health & Human Services, Woodrow Wilson Keeble Memorial Health Care Center, Sisseton, SD
A.N. (ECAB 15-1220): Occupational disease denial affirmed
A.N., a radiology supervisor, attributed several health conditions to stress at work. The Board recognized two work factors: reportable deadlines and learning a difficult budget and contract policy. It found that the medical reports diagnosed conditions but did not explain whether those established…
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.