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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RG Design Express Inc.
Saw-guard violations affirmed and fall item vacated
RG Design Express was building a home where workers used two table saws without adjustable hood guards or anti-kickback fingers. The judge found that the workers were employees, not independent contractors, and that the foreman's cooperation gave OSHA consent to inspect. Both saw-guard instances…
N.W. and Department of Defense, Finance & Accounting Service, Indianapolis, IN
N.W. (ECAB 15-0911): Facial disfigurement award upheld
N.W., a defense financial analyst, sustained facial and other injuries after slipping at work. OWCP awarded $1,000 for permanent facial disfigurement, and she challenged the amount. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser and acting district director evaluated the medical evidence and followed…
A.B. and Department of the Army, Army Depot, Anniston, AL
A.B. (ECAB 15-0683): Hearing loss award issue sent back
A.B., an Army Depot machinist supervisor, had an accepted claim for hearing loss. In an earlier appeal, the Board instructed OWCP to review whether that loss was ratable for a schedule award and whether hearing aids should be authorized. OWCP addressed hearing aids but did not decide the award…
L.W. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Brooklyn, NY
L.W. (ECAB 15-0366): Injury claim and reopening denied
L.W., a corrections officer, reported hand cuts and possible exposure to a prisoner’s blood during an incident at work. He also reported symptoms he attributed to medication he said he received afterward. The Board found that he had submitted no medical evidence diagnosing a condition and…
V.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Beaver Dam, WI
V.C. (ECAB 16-0642): Fall-related shoulder claim denied
V.C., a postal carrier, fell on ice at work and later received a diagnosis of a right shoulder rotator cuff tear. OWCP accepted that the fall happened but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the radiologist’s report described the tear without saying whether the fall caused it, and another…
S.G. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Hampton, GA
S.G. (ECAB 16-0405): Stair fall injury claim denied
S.G., a Federal Aviation Administration analyst, fell on stairs at work after becoming dizzy and reported injuries. The Board accepted that the fall occurred but found no physician’s reasoned opinion linking a diagnosed condition to it. Reports from physician assistants did not qualify as medical…
Y.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Y.R. (ECAB 16-0256): Carpal tunnel wage-loss claim denied
Y.R., a postal employee with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, sought wage-loss compensation for nearly a year. Her physician said she could not work and later gave restrictions, but the Board found that his reports did not explain how the accepted condition caused disability throughout…
R.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Providence, RI
R.G. (ECAB 16-0141): Disability claim required wage-capacity review
R.G. sought total disability compensation after OWCP had already made a formal finding about her wage-earning capacity in a receptionist position. OWCP treated her later filing as a recurrence claim and denied it. The Board held that, after the formal capacity finding, OWCP needed to consider…
K.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albany, NY
K.S. (ECAB 16-0130): Back injury claim denied
K.S., a postal carrier, reported back pain while exiting her delivery vehicle at work. Physicians diagnosed back conditions and indicated that the event could have caused them, but the Board found that their reports did not explain how the movement caused or aggravated a specific condition…
K.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, NY Harbor HCS, New York, NY
K.B. (ECAB 16-0122): Wrist injury claim denied
K.B., a Veterans Affairs information technology specialist, twisted his left wrist while moving a heavy box at work. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied his injury claim. The Board found that one physician did not diagnose a condition and another did not explain how the incident…
F.S. and Office of Personnel Management, Federal Investigative Services, Los Angeles, CA
F.S. (ECAB 15-1536): Two percent leg impairment award upheld
F.S., a federal special agent, received a schedule award after an accepted ankle injury and surgery. She sought a higher rating than the two percent permanent impairment OWCP had awarded for her left leg. The Board found that her physician had not documented the weakness needed to support his…
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
G.W. (ECAB 15-0654): Shoulder award remanded for combined record
G.W., a postal carrier, sought a schedule award for a right shoulder condition. OWCP reduced the additional award because she had previously received an award for right carpal tunnel syndrome. The Board could not review that calculation because the file for the earlier award was missing from the…
E.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Amarillo, TX
E.G. (ECAB 15-0442): Insurance premium overpayment sent back
E.G., a former postal clerk receiving wage-loss benefits, was told she owed $4,030.88 because OWCP had not deducted premiums for a no-reduction postretirement life insurance option. The Board found that the record contained an agency summary of that election but not a form signed by E.G. herself…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 52 (Union) and United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Wage & Investment Division, Austin, Texas (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 52 and IRS Austin (FLRA 0-AR-5174): Attorney-fee exceptions dismissed
NTEU Chapter 52 challenged an arbitrator's denial of attorney fees in a dispute involving IRS performance awards. The union argued that the denial violated the Back Pay Act, failed to draw its essence from the agreement, and rested on a nonfact because an agreement provision incorporating the…
Newmont USA, Limited v. Secretary of Labor
Unventilated-heading barricade penalty set at $20,000
Newmont failed to install adequate barricades and warning signs at unventilated headings in its Midas Mine after shutting down auxiliary fans and tying off ventilation bags. The Commission had affirmed the violation, reversed the ALJ's S&S finding, and returned the unwarrantable-failure and penalty…
R.P. and Department of the Air Force, Air Force National Guard, Sioux Falls, SD
R.P. (ECAB 16-0477): Late hearing request denied
R.P., an Air Force National Guard aircraft mechanic, requested a hearing after OWCP denied his claim following a reported chemical exposure. His hearing request was postmarked more than 30 days after OWCP’s merits decision. The Board held that the late filing ended his right to a hearing and that…
E.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grantville, GA
E.H. (ECAB 16-0400): Late reconsideration of back claim denied
E.H., a postal carrier and clerk, sought to reopen a denied occupational disease claim for a back condition. OWCP received her reconsideration request more than one year after its last merits decision. The Board found that her statement disputing the denial supplied no new medical evidence and did…
C.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, D’Iberville, MS
C.O. (ECAB 16-0396): Crash injury claim and reopening denied
C.O., a rural postal carrier, reported head, abdominal, and arm injuries after a vehicle accident at work. OWCP accepted that the accident happened but found no physician’s report diagnosing an injury caused by it. The Board agreed: a surgeon’s reports did not identify a resulting condition, and…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jackson, MS
M.M. (ECAB 16-0388): Zero current impairment found; reopening denied
M.M., a former postal employee with accepted foot and left shoulder conditions, had previously received schedule awards. She sought additional impairment ratings for her left arm and both legs. The Board found no current ratable impairment of her left arm or either leg. OWCP’s zero-impairment…
G.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kingsfield, MI
G.Z. (ECAB 16-0195): Shoulder disease claim denied
G.Z., a postal window clerk, claimed that repetitive work caused or worsened a right shoulder condition. His physicians described a labral tear and later degenerative changes, but the Board found that their reports did not explain how his particular duties caused or aggravated the current…
R.W., Executrix of the Estate of M.W., and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
Estate of M.W. (ECAB 16-0119): Late reconsideration denied
R.W., executrix of M.W.’s estate, sought reconsideration of OWCP’s 2004 decision denying wage-loss benefits for a period covered by back pay under an employment discrimination ruling. OWCP received the request more than 10 years after that decision. The Board found that objections to the amount of…
G.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Brooklyn Processing & Distribution Center, Brooklyn, NY
G.L. (ECAB 15-1939): Overpayment ruling sent back pending recurrence decision
G.L., a postal employee receiving disability compensation, returned to modified part-time work. OWCP found a $5,289.43 overpayment after treating her return as full-time work. G.L. contended that the modified job was withdrawn after about a week and sought reconsideration of an earlier denial of…
J.S. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Shawnee Power Plant, West Paducah, KY
J.S. (ECAB 15-1813): Hearing aid denial reversed
J.S., a retired Tennessee Valley Authority employee, had accepted work-related hearing loss that did not qualify for a schedule award. OWCP had previously authorized hearing aids but denied his later request for them. The Board found that the denial relied on a medical adviser’s incorrect account…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
D.W. (ECAB 15-0341): Life insurance overpayment finding set aside
D.W., a Postal Service maintenance mechanic receiving disability compensation, challenged OWCP’s finding that it had underwithheld life insurance premiums and overpaid him $1,343.80. The Board found that the record contained an OPM letter describing optional coverage without reduction, but no form…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Jennifer Morreale v. Veris Gold U.S.A., Inc.
Self-filed temporary reinstatement request denied
Jennifer Morreale and Veris Gold had settled her Mine Act discrimination case, but Veris did not make the required payments before its mine assets were sold in bankruptcy. After the Commission reopened the case to consider possible successor liability, Morreale personally requested temporary…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Gaithersburg, MD
B.B. (ECAB 16-0496): Reconsideration denied without merits review
B.B., a Postal Service mail processor, sought to reopen a claim that an incident with her supervisor caused an emotional condition. OWCP had previously rejected that claim because it found no compensable work factor. The Board found that her later reconsideration requests repeated arguments already…
J.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Jackson, MS
J.M. (ECAB 16-0385): Knee condition claim denied for lack of causal evidence
J.M., a Veterans Affairs housekeeping aide, claimed that repeated cleaning, lifting, bending, and walking at work caused or aggravated conditions in both knees. OWCP accepted his description of the work but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence linking it to his diagnosed knee conditions…
H.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Tonawanda, NY
H.W. (ECAB 16-0335): Shoulder claim not reopened for review
H.W., a Postal Service rural letter carrier, sought to reopen a denied claim for a shoulder injury associated with handling mail. The underlying denial found that medical evidence did not link his rotator cuff sprain to accepted work conditions. The Board found that his reconsideration request…
C.D. and U.S. Postal Office, Main Post Office, Washington, DC
C.D. (ECAB 16-0177): Left knee injury claim denied for lack of medical link
C.D., a letter carrier, reported that his left knee gave way while he was delivering mail in April 2014. The Board accepted that the incident occurred but found the medical evidence insufficient to connect it to a left knee injury. Several physicians supplied diagnoses and work restrictions without…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
L.W. (ECAB 15-1898): Wage-earning capacity finding left in place
L.W., a Postal Service employee with accepted back and depression conditions, sought to change a 2009 finding that her earnings in a modified part-time position represented her wage-earning capacity. She argued that the position was makeshift, supplied fewer hours than her former position, and…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
M.M. (ECAB 15-1623): Back injury claim returned for medical development
M.M., a Postal Service city carrier, claimed that a fall on snow-covered stairs caused her lower back conditions. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but denied the claim for lack of adequate medical evidence of causation. Two orthopedic surgeons later described how the fall could have produced…
C.R. and Social Security Administration, Salem, OR
C.R. (ECAB 15-1589): Reconsideration request found timely
C.R., a Social Security Administration employee, sought reconsideration of OWCP’s termination of compensation and medical benefits for an accepted emotional condition. OWCP treated her request as late because it received it on March 2, 2015, more than a calendar year after its February 28, 2014…
National Labor Relations Board, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and National Labor Relations Board Union (Union/Petitioner) and National Labor Relations Board Professional Association (Interested Party)
NLRB unions and remote FOIA staff (FLRA DE-RP-15-0007): Employees placed in headquarters unit
Three NLRB professionals transferred from field offices to the headquarters FOIA Branch but continued working physically from field locations for part of each week. The regional director found that their headquarters chain of command, assignments, performance management, leave approval, and other…
M.B. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, New Cumberland, PA
M.B. (ECAB 16-0644): Ankle injury claim denied for lack of medical link
M.B., a Defense Logistics Agency materials handler, claimed that positioning heavy material at work injured his right ankle in April 2015. OWCP accepted that the workplace incident occurred, but he had an earlier accepted ankle injury and surgery. The Board found that the physician who recorded the…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Carol Stream, IL
J.W. (ECAB 16-0461): Shoulder claim returned for specialist review
J.W., a Postal Service clerk, claimed that years of lifting and moving heavy mail injured her right shoulder. Her orthopedic surgeon explained how repeated heavy lifting could damage tendons and connected her rotator cuff and other tears to the accepted work duties. The Board found that his report…
L.R. and Department of the Interior, Assateague Island National Seashore, Berlin, MD
L.R. (ECAB 16-0446): Knee injury claim denied for lack of physician evidence
L.R., a National Seashore vehicle operator, reported twisting his left knee while working on a trash truck. OWCP accepted that the July 2015 incident occurred but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the discharge summary was an unsigned draft attributed to a physician assistant, with no…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
B.S. (ECAB 16-0352): OWCP ordered to consider medical reports
B.S., a Postal Service employee, sought review of a consequential injury claim connected to an accepted 1996 injury. OWCP declined to reopen the claim on reconsideration. The Board found that OWCP had received several treating physician reports and a second opinion report before deciding the…
J.F. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Kingston Fossil Plant, Harriman, TN
J.F. (ECAB 16-0302): Hearing loss award upheld; bilateral aids directed
J.F., a Tennessee Valley Authority employee, challenged a schedule award based on 15 percent hearing loss in his left ear. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser correctly applied the hearing loss formula and explained why part of the left-ear loss was work related. No other qualifying medical…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Kingstowne Post Office, Alexandria, VA
K.M. (ECAB 16-0264): Back and knee claim denied for lack of causal evidence
K.M., a Postal Service customer services supervisor, claimed that standing at work after his desk and chair were removed injured his back and left knee. OWCP accepted that the September 2015 work incident occurred. The Board found that physicians documented degenerative conditions and work…
R.A. and Department of the Air Force, Randolph Air Force Base, Bexar, TX
R.A. (ECAB 16-0248): Lifting injury claim denied for insufficient medical reasoning
R.A., an Air Force maintenance mechanic, claimed that lifting a box while moving workstations injured his back and neck. OWCP accepted that the November 2012 lifting incident occurred. The Board found that one physician linked the conditions to work without explaining how lifting the box caused or…
S.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Medford, OR
S.J. (ECAB 15-0838): Benefit termination upheld; later disability remanded
S.J., a Postal Service employee with accepted shoulder injuries, challenged the end of compensation after shoulder surgery and sought benefits for later disability. The Board found that his treating surgeon’s November 2013 release supported OWCP’s termination of compensation at that time. Later…
S.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greenville, OH
S.J. (ECAB 16-0493): Left foot occupational disease claim denied
S.J., a Postal Service letter carrier, claimed that long periods of walking and standing on her route caused left foot plantar fasciitis and other conditions. The Board accepted that her duties involved substantial walking and standing. It found that her podiatrist described the duties and…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cayey, PR
R.R. (ECAB 16-0444): Shoulder claim remanded for medical translation
R.R., a Postal Service letter carrier in Puerto Rico, claimed that repeated mail handling and vehicle duties caused right shoulder conditions. OWCP accepted the work duties and medical diagnoses but denied the claim for lack of a reasoned causal opinion. The Board found that the record included a…
E.L. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
E.L. (ECAB 16-0371): Reconsideration denied without merits review
E.L., a Navy ship fitter, sought to reopen a claim that kneeling and other shipyard duties caused a left knee condition. OWCP had denied the claim because the evidence conflicted over how often he performed the alleged work activities. The Board found that his reconsideration requests offered…
L.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Columbia, MO
L.D. (ECAB 16-0316): Missed hearing request deemed abandoned
L.D., a Veterans Affairs practical nurse, requested a telephone hearing to contest a schedule award for her accepted injury. OWCP sent notice of the hearing to her address of record, but she did not appear. She did not ask for a new hearing or explain her absence to OWCP within 10 days. Although…
Y.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, North Las Vegas, NV
Y.A. (ECAB 16-0258): Disability recurrence claim denied
Y.A., a Veterans Affairs nurse with accepted foot and back conditions, sought disability compensation after her limited-duty employment ended in April 2013. The Board found that her nursing license had expired and that the employer ended her appointment for that reason, with no evidence linking the…
P.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nanticoke, PA
P.J. (ECAB 16-0061): Fall claim denied without diagnosed injury
P.J., a Postal Service city carrier assistant, fell while delivering mail in April 2015 and reported shoulder, wrist, and lip injuries. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred. The Board found that her treating physician recorded shoulder pain and reduced motion, but neither was a firm diagnosis of a…
G.M. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
G.M. (ECAB 15-0939): Augmented compensation overpayment upheld
G.M., a Navy employee receiving disability compensation, continued to receive the higher dependent rate after his daughter turned 18. He did not document that she qualified as a full-time student or was incapable of self-support. The Board upheld OWCP’s finding that the resulting overpayment was…
Citgo Petroleum Corporation
Refinery lockout procedure citation affirmed
Citgo employees isolated a refinery pump for contractor maintenance, but an obstructed valve remained partly open and hydrocarbons escaped before a fire caused extensive property damage. OSHA cited Citgo because its written lockout/tagout procedures did not specify how employees should test and…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport, Keyport, Washington (Agency) and Bremerton Metal Trades Council (Union)
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport and Bremerton Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-5155): Reprimand grievance barred
An employee filed an equal-employment-opportunity complaint and later amended it to allege that a letter of reprimand was unlawful reprisal. Eight days after the agency added the reprimand to that complaint, the union filed a grievance seeking rescission of the same reprimand on contract and…
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, City of Industry, CA
S.S. (ECAB 16-0276): Claimed disability period not linked to accepted injury
S.S., a Postal Service letter carrier with accepted ankle and knee injuries, sought compensation for disability from August 10 through October 3, 2015. Her surgeon said she was totally disabled and later imposed permanent work restrictions, but did not explain how the claimed disability period…
D.C. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Albuquerque, NM
D.C. (ECAB 16-0201): Termination of compensation benefits affirmed
D.C., a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee, had received compensation for accepted work-related emotional conditions. OWCP ended her wage-loss and medical benefits after a second opinion psychiatrist found that the accepted conditions had resolved. The Board held that the psychiatrist’s examination…
T.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Dallas, TX
T.K. (ECAB 16-0071): Two percent arm impairment award upheld
T.K., a Veterans Affairs medical supply technician, sought a larger schedule award for his accepted right shoulder condition. His treating physician rated right arm impairment at three percent in a supplemental report. OWCP’s medical adviser excluded a functional history score because it differed…
K.M. and Department of the Army, Joint Munitions & Lethality Command, McAlester, OK
K.M. (ECAB 15-1812): Hearing loss claim returned for medical clarification
K.M., an Army explosives worker, claimed additional hearing loss from workplace noise. OWCP denied the claim after a referral physician attributed his hearing loss to aging. The Board found the physician’s report contradictory: it said the workplace noise was intense and long enough to cause the…
E.J. and Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Pacific Rim Region, Beltsville, MD
E.J. (ECAB 15-1734): Duplicate insurance refund overpayment upheld
E.J., a Department of Agriculture employee, received two refunds for the same period of basic life insurance premiums that OWCP had wrongly withheld. The Board found that the second refund created a $611 overpayment. OWCP found E.J. without fault, but he did not provide the financial information it…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bethesda, MD
T.W. (ECAB 15-1502): Knee impairment claim returned for medical review
T.W., a Postal Service employee, sought a larger schedule award for impairment of his right leg after a work-related knee injury. He had already received awards totaling eight percent impairment. His surgeon later provided a new rating based in part on a three-millimeter knee joint space…
M.O. and Department of Homeland Security, Airport Terminal, Humacao, PR
M.O. (ECAB 15-1423): Fall claim returned for translation of medical records
M.O., a transportation security officer, claimed knee, back, and hip injuries after slipping in a workplace break room. OWCP denied the claim for insufficient factual and medical evidence. The Board found that the record included medical reports in Spanish that OWCP had not translated. It directed…
United Mine Workers of America on behalf of Mark A. Franks and Ronald Hoy v. Emerald Coal Resources, LP
Coercive questioning interfered with safety complaints
Mark Franks and Ronald Hoy complained to a union safety representative that firebosses were not performing adequate belt examinations at Emerald Mine No. 1. Emerald repeatedly questioned the miners in management meetings and suspended them when they refused to identify the firebosses or surrender…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company
Fifty-eight citations resolved for $33,764
Three Northshore Mining dockets involved 58 citations at an aboveground iron-ore processing and taconite-pellet facility in Minnesota. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy approved settlement of 54 citations for $30,261. Of the four litigated citations, he vacated a fall-protection allegation and affirmed…
Hunter Sand & Gravel, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Late Coast Guard accident report excluded
A Hunter Sand & Gravel employee disappeared while transferring from a dredge to an adjacent barge on the Ohio River and was later declared dead. MSHA issued citations and orders concerning snow and ice, task training, flotation equipment, fall protection, and workplace examinations. After the…
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.