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.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
T.H. (ECAB 16-0435): Reconsideration request found timely
T.H., a Postal Service letter carrier, asked OWCP to reconsider its denial of a left wrist injury claim. OWCP treated her request as late because it received it on December 7, 2015, more than a year after its December 5, 2014 decision. The Board found that the deadline fell on a Saturday and…
K.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Riverview, FL
K.S. (ECAB 16-0404): Consequential emotional condition claim denied
K.S., a Postal Service employee with accepted back, shoulder, and carpal tunnel conditions, asked OWCP to add depression and anxiety as consequences of those injuries. Her psychiatrist linked the emotional conditions to the accepted injuries and other medical problems. The Board found that he had…
A.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, OR
A.G. (ECAB 16-0232): Elbow condition claim denied for lack of causal opinion
A.G., a Postal Service mail carrier, claimed that repeated reaching, pinching, and lifting mail caused left elbow epicondylitis. OWCP accepted his description of the repetitive duties. The Board found that his physician diagnosed the condition but gave only a one-word answer linking it to…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Detroit, MI
D.S. (ECAB 16-0174): Leg impairment dispute sent to impartial examiner
D.S., a Postal Service custodian with accepted sciatica and lumbar radiculopathy, sought a schedule award for impairment in his leg. His physician measured a 15 percent left leg impairment from spinal nerve deficits, while OWCP’s referral physician found no objective leg deficit. The Board found…
Y.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tacoma, WA
Y.S. (ECAB 15-1949): Termination of emotional condition benefits upheld
Y.S., a Postal Service employee, had received benefits for accepted depression and anxiety related to coworker conduct. OWCP ended her benefits after a psychiatrist concluded that the accepted conditions no longer had work-related residuals. The Board found that an earlier referral opinion lacked a…
C.K. and Department of the Army, Material Development & Readiness Command, New Cumberland, PA
C.K. (ECAB 15-1676): Spinal stimulator request returned for explanation
C.K., an Army shipment clerk with accepted lower back conditions, requested authorization for spinal cord stimulator treatment. OWCP denied the request. The Board found that OWCP’s decision did not adequately discuss the physicians’ reports supporting treatment or state the standards and specific…
V.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
V.W. (ECAB 15-1619): Hearing-loss award increased after correcting prior-award deduction
V.W., a retired Navy laundry equipment repairer, sought an increased schedule award for work-related hearing loss. OWCP found 12 percent binaural hearing impairment but subtracted an earlier 8 percent left-ear monaural award directly, granting only 4 percent additional binaural impairment. The…
C.C., claiming as personal representative of H.C., and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pensacola, FL
C.C. (ECAB 15-1007): Late reconsideration request denied
C.C., the widow and personal representative of a Postal Service employee, sought reconsideration of OWCP's termination of his compensation after he declined a suitable-work offer. Her request came more than one year after the last merit decision. She argued that the employer had improperly…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2923 (Union) and United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (Agency)
AFGE Local 2923 and NIEHS (FLRA 0-AR-5141): Three-day suspension upheld
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences suspended a contracting specialist for three days after she scheduled customer meetings without first confirming her supervisor's availability as instructed. An arbitrator credited the agency's account, found a reasonable investigation and…
Daniel B. Lowe v. Veris Gold USA, Inc. and Jerritt Canyon Gold, LLC
Discovery allowed on additional successor entities
Daniel Lowe sought to add several Whitebox and Sprott entities and individuals as successors liable for discrimination committed by Veris Gold. Judge William B. Moran had already added Jerritt Canyon Gold, the purchaser and new mine operator, but found the existing assertions insufficient to decide…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Division v. Garcia Forest Service, LLC
Administrator v. Garcia Forest Service (DOL ARB 14-052): Three-year debarment affirmed
Garcia Forest Service performed reforestation work under a federal contract that specified prevailing wages and fringe benefits. A judge found that the company and its owner violated wage, overtime, fringe benefit, and recordkeeping requirements and ordered debarment. They did not contest the…
M.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI
M.W. (ECAB 16-0394): Hearing-loss timeliness ruling returned for review of workplace tests
M.W., a retired Navy engineering technician, filed a hearing-loss claim in 2015 after decades of workplace noise exposure. OWCP denied the claim as untimely because it used June 16, 2009 as the injury date, noted his August 4, 2015 filing, and found no evidence that a supervisor had learned of the…
M.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI
M.A. (ECAB 16-0387): Schedule award for loss of smell and taste denied
M.A., a Veterans Affairs nurse, fell on an icy walkway at work and sustained accepted disturbances of smell and taste. A physician reported complete loss of smell and related taste impairment, and she requested a permanent-impairment schedule award. The Board affirmed OWCP's denial because FECA and…
S.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Clarksville, AR
S.T. (ECAB 16-0245): New medical report requires merit review
S.T., a Postal Service carrier, sought reconsideration of whether lumbar disc conditions were related to a work injury. OWCP declined to reopen the claim, describing a new physician's report as cumulative. The Board found that the report included new examination and imaging findings relevant to the…
F.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Robert LeFlore Station, Chicago, IL
F.H. (ECAB 16-0204): Groin-strain claim and reconsideration denial affirmed
F.H., a Postal Service carrier technician, claimed that walking and using stairs at work caused a left thigh and groin strain. OWCP accepted that she had a diagnosed strain but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence linking it to those job duties. The Board agreed because one physician…
D.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Richmond, VA
D.H. (ECAB 16-0128): Overpayment upheld, first-deposit waiver returned for review
D.H., a Veterans Affairs nurse receiving total-disability compensation, began paid private consulting work while the compensation deposits continued. The Board upheld OWCP's finding of a $64,172 overpayment because her actual earnings reduced the compensation due. It also upheld denial of waiver…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jacksonville, FL
D.S. (ECAB 15-1795): Hand-injury claim and hearing denial affirmed
D.S., a Postal Service rural carrier, reported pain in her left hand after reaching back to lift a parcel while delivering mail. OWCP accepted that the work event occurred but denied the injury claim. The Board agreed because the physician's reports did not explain medically how that motion caused…
K.G. and Department of the Navy, Naval Supply Systems Command, Norfolk, VA
K.G. (ECAB 15-0669): Claimed recurrence after fuel-fume exposure denied
K.G., a Navy inventory management specialist, had an accepted allergic-rhinitis injury after exposure to fuel fumes at work. She later sought treatment authorization for a claimed recurrence of her condition. The Board affirmed OWCP's denial because her physicians did not provide a reasoned…
Secretary of Labor v. Barrick Turquoise Ridge, Inc.
Contest omitted through office misunderstanding reopened
Barrick said its safety staff expected the accounting office to send a contest form together with payment for the citations the company accepted. According to Barrick, accounting followed its normal practice of sending only payment, so no contest form reached MSHA by the deadline; the Secretary…
Secretary of Labor v. FLSmidth, Inc.
Final assessment reopened for penalty contest
FLSmidth said it mistakenly sent payment for uncontested citations and its notice contesting other citations to MSHA's St. Louis payment office. The company said it learned of the mistake from a delinquency notice and paid the remaining balance to avoid delinquent status while still seeking to…
Secretary of Labor v. Pinto Valley Mining Corporation
Lost internal mail assessment reopened with warning
A proposed assessment was lost between Pinto Valley's mail run and administration-building mail room, so it never reached the safety coordinator. The citations were part of a 60-citation inspection whose other matters were mostly grouped under a different case number. Pinto Valley also waited more…
Jonathan Bethel Woodward v. Carmeuse Lime and Stone
MSHA ordered to submit withheld interviews for private review
After MSHA declined to litigate Jonathan Woodward's discrimination complaint, he brought his own section 105(c)(3) case against Carmeuse Lime and Stone. Carmeuse sought MSHA's investigative file, but the agency withheld two interview statements under internal subpoena rules, the Privacy Act, and…
Secretary of Labor v. United States Steel Corporation
Two final assessments reopened
U.S. Steel said it timely contested two proposed penalty assessments but sent the notices to MSHA's St. Louis Payment Center instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office in Arlington. Both assessments became final, and MSHA later sent delinquency notices. U.S. Steel said it retrained its…
Secretary of Labor v. Lee Mechanical Contractors
Two contests sent to wrong MSHA office reopened
Lee Mechanical Contractors said it timely contested two proposed penalty assessments but sent both contests to MSHA's St. Louis payment center instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office in Arlington. Lee said it discovered the first error after a delinquency notice and the second while…
S.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
S.A. (ECAB 16-0458): Wrist-impairment rating returned for complete calculation
S.A., a Postal Service letter carrier, received a schedule award for three percent permanent impairment of her left arm after a wrist fracture at work. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser selected the default impairment value under the applicable evaluation guide but did not calculate the…
D.B. and Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Crawfordsville Service Center, Indianapolis, IN
D.B. (ECAB 16-0389): Knee-injury claim denied despite accepted workplace fall
D.B., an Agriculture Department budget analyst, fell onto her knees after stepping into snow by a curb while carrying work equipment to her vehicle. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but denied her claim for bilateral knee injuries. The Board affirmed because the medical reports described knee…
H.M. and Department of the Army, Fort Polk, LA
H.M. (ECAB 16-0101): Overpayment and recovery affirmed despite lack of fault
H.M., an Army employee receiving disability compensation, continued to receive the higher rate for claimants with dependents after his wife died. The Board upheld OWCP's calculation of a $6,174.26 overpayment for February 19, 2014 through July 25, 2015. Although OWCP found that H.M. was without…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oakland, CA
T.W. (ECAB 16-0086): Back-condition claim denied for lack of medical explanation
T.W., a Postal Service mail handler, reported a back condition after loading parcels onto a belt at work. OWCP accepted that the April 7, 2014 work incident occurred but denied the claim. The Board found that her physician described bending, twisting, and back symptoms without adequately explaining…
R.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, TX
R.J. (ECAB 15-1797): Late reconsideration request returned for correct review standard
R.J., a Veterans Affairs medical support assistant, sought reconsideration of a decision ending his wage-loss compensation for an accepted carpal tunnel condition. He challenged the selection of the impartial medical examiner. The Board found that his June 2015 reconsideration request came more…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Atlanta, GA
R.H. (ECAB 15-1696): Wage-loss claim returned for review of lumbar disc condition
R.H., a Postal Service tractor-trailer operator, stopped a limited-duty assignment and sought wage-loss compensation for June 28 through July 25, 2014. OWCP denied the claim because his lumbar disc herniation had not been accepted as work related, although it had accepted degenerative disc disease…
L.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Denham, LA
L.O. (ECAB 15-1573): Shoulder-injury denial affirmed with corrected diagnosis finding
L.O., a Postal Service rural carrier, reported left shoulder and back pain while casing mail. OWCP denied her injury claim, stating that she had not supplied a diagnosis from a qualified physician. The Board found that a physician had diagnosed a resolved left shoulder sprain, correcting that part…
Secretary of Labor v. The Silver Queen Mine, LLC
Sixteen citations resolved with $4,960 total penalty
MSHA issued sixteen citations during inspections of the small Silver Queen underground silver mine. Judge Richard W. Manning rejected the operator's argument that the Mine Act capped the number of inspections at the statutory minimum, explaining that section 103(a) requires at least four annual…
Secretary of Labor v. Oak Grove Resources, LLC
$50,000 penalty assessed after safeguard remand
Oak Grove pushed a 24-ton shearer carrier along a main haulage road despite a safeguard requiring cars to be pulled. During the move, the carrier derailed and a miner was fatally crushed between locomotives and the carrier. The Commission had upheld the safeguard violation but reversed the judge's…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
D.M. (ECAB 16-0372): Foot-condition claim denial affirmed
D.M., a Postal Service city carrier, claimed that long hours of walking, climbing stairs, and carrying mail caused or worsened several foot and ankle conditions. OWCP accepted the described work activities but denied the injury claim. The Board found that her podiatrist had not adequately explained…
G.B. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Troop Support Agency, Fort Sill, OK
G.B. (ECAB 16-0319): Late reconsideration request denied
G.B., a former Army store worker, requested reconsideration of a long-running claim concerning an accepted 1978 head and shoulder injury. OWCP received the request in July 2015, more than one year after its June 2013 merit decision. The Board found that new physician reports supporting continuing…
A.A. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Honaunau, HI
A.A. (ECAB 16-0235): Reconsideration denied without review of terminated benefits
A.A., a National Park Service laborer and mason, sought to reopen a decision terminating compensation for an accepted lumbar strain. He submitted reports about later lumbar diagnoses and treatment. The Board found that the reports did not explain how his current symptoms were related to the earlier…
K.P. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Memphis, TN
K.P. (ECAB 16-0185): Right-knee claim and reconsideration denial affirmed
K.P., a retired Army Corps of Engineers vehicle operator, claimed right-knee arthritis from both his earlier accepted left-knee injury and later truck-driving duties. The Board found that his physician did not identify evidence supporting continuing left-knee instability and had not accounted for…
G.N. and Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Philadelphia, PA
G.N. (ECAB 16-0160): Hearing-loss award returned for tinnitus clarification
G.N., a retired Navy auto mechanic, received a schedule award for nine percent binaural hearing loss after years of workplace noise exposure. He argued that the rating did not properly account for tinnitus. The Board found that the second-opinion physician had not shown his calculations or…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Petersburg, VA
A.M. (ECAB 15-1689): Mail-collection vehicle crash found within work duties
A.M., a Postal Service city carrier, was struck from behind in a government vehicle while collecting mail on a route assigned by management. OWCP denied his back-injury claim partly because he was outside his usual route. The Board found that he was on the clock and performing directed collection…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Port Charlotte Carrier Annex, Port Charlotte, FL
L.P. (ECAB 15-1616): Wage-loss and late-hearing denials affirmed
L.P., a Postal Service carrier with accepted shoulder and cervical conditions, claimed wage-loss compensation for periods from February through July 2014. The Board found that her physician described symptoms, treatment, and advice to rest but did not explain disability for the specific claimed…
Bremerton Metal Trades Council, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 290 (Union) and United States Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Intermediate Maintenance Facility (Agency)
Boilermakers Local 290 and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (FLRA 0-AR-5158): Union exception denied
The Bremerton Metal Trades Council and Boilermakers Local 290 challenged an arbitration award involving the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The union argued that the award was incomplete, ambiguous, or contradictory in a way that made implementation impossible. After reviewing the full record and…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1415 (Union) and United States Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Public Works Department, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana (Agency)
AFGE Local 1415 and PWD Crane (FLRA 0-AR-5148): Union exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1415 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving the Naval Facilities Engineering Command's Public Works Department at Crane, Indiana. The union raised legal, public-policy, factual, and other challenges to the award. After reviewing the record and governing precedent, the…
Secretary of Labor v. Eastern Associated Coal, LLC
Missed penalty contest reopened
Eastern Associated Coal missed the 30-day deadline to contest a proposed penalty assessment, attributing the failure to an undetermined clerical, mailing, or internal processing error. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but cautioned that the operator's office procedures were inadequate. After…
Secretary of Labor v. Eastern Associated Coal, LLC
Assessment reopened after reported clerical or mailing error
Eastern Associated Coal failed to contest a proposed penalty assessment within 30 days and said an undetermined clerical or mailing error caused the default. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but described the operator's office procedures as inadequate or sloppy and urged greater care. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Stone Plus, Inc.
Thirteen unwarrantable failures sustained with $28,000 penalty
MSHA cited Stone Plus for thirteen conditions at its small quarry, including missing berms and guards, defective loader brakes and seat belt, inadequate overtravel protection, and failure to conduct workplace and equipment examinations. Judge L. Zane Gill rejected the operator's jurisdictional…
Rudolph v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. (Amtrak)
Rudolph v. Amtrak (DOL ARB 14-053): Rail retaliation award upheld with higher back pay
Lawrence Rudolph, an Amtrak conductor, claimed retaliation after reporting an hours-of-service problem and seeking to return to work following medical leave. A judge found several Federal Rail Safety Act violations on remand and ordered reinstatement, back pay, $25,000 in compensatory damages, and…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, White Pigeon, MI
D.M. (ECAB 16-0244): Wage-earning capacity ruling reversed over temporary job
D.M., a Postal Service rural carrier with accepted lumbar conditions, worked in a complaint and inquiry clerk position after spinal surgery. OWCP used her earnings in that job to reduce compensation to zero in 2013. The Board found that the job offer had an end date and was described as a temporary…
S.W. and Department of the Army, Martin Army Hospital, Fort Benning, GA
S.W. (ECAB 16-0219): Late duplicate shoulder claim and reconsideration denied
S.W., a former Army hospital worker, filed a 2015 occupational-disease claim for a left shoulder condition attributed to lifting and housekeeping duties. The Board found that she knew of the possible work connection before retiring in July 2011 and filed more than three years after her last…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Juan, PR
R.B. (ECAB 16-0175): Emotional-condition claim returned for specialist review
R.B., a Postal Service letter carrier, was in his delivery vehicle when gunfire nearby shattered its window. OWCP accepted the incident but denied his claim that it caused or aggravated an emotional condition. The Board found that his psychiatrist's opinion did not fully establish causation but was…
J.D. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Boise, ID
J.D. (ECAB 16-0104): Early-arrival fall and continuation-of-pay claims denied
J.D., a transportation security screener, slipped on a snowy airport walkway about an hour before his scheduled shift. The Board accepted that the walkway was part of the route to his workplace but found no evidence that the employer required, authorized, or encouraged him to arrive that early. It…
C.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, McLean, VA
C.J. (ECAB 16-0055): Ankle-injury claim denied despite accepted cart collision
C.J., a Postal Service carrier, was struck in the right ankle by equipment pushed by a coworker. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied his injury claim. The Board found that his podiatrist did not explain how the collision caused diagnosed tendinitis or a fracture, particularly when…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lexington, KY
C.P. (ECAB 15-1593): Reconsideration of arm-impairment award denied
C.P., a Postal Service employee previously awarded 22 percent right-arm impairment, sought reconsideration of a denial of a larger schedule award. He argued that a medical adviser's 14 percent rating should be added to the earlier 22 percent. The Board found that this argument did not warrant…
C.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI
C.G. (ECAB 15-0909): Emotional-condition claim denied
C.G., a program support assistant at a Veterans Affairs medical center, sought compensation for an emotional condition she attributed to events at work on March 28, 2014. She was distressed when a coworker covered by a no-contact restriction unexpectedly came to work, and she alleged that…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford, CT
C.P. (ECAB 15-0781): Compensation reduced to zero after rehabilitation refusal
C.P., a Postal Service letter carrier with accepted back conditions, was referred to vocational rehabilitation after an impartial physician found she could perform sedentary work with restrictions. OWCP reduced her compensation to zero when it found that she had not cooperated with the…
Secretary of Labor v. Warrior Investments Co., Inc.
Missing refuge-chamber beacon readers were S&S
Warrior Investments failed on two occasions to install an inline beacon reader where a refuge-chamber lifeline met the primary escapeway lifeline, as its approved emergency response plan required. Judge David F. Barbour evaluated the violations by assuming the mine emergency the tracking system was…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
B.B. (ECAB 16-0410): Misfiled noise exposure statement requires new review
B.B., a Postal Service employee, claimed that years of workplace machine noise caused hearing loss. OWCP denied the claim after finding that she had not described her exposure and that the employer had no noise survey. The Board found that B.B. had submitted a detailed account of daily noise…
W.S. and Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Parkersburg, WV
W.S. (ECAB 16-0344): Hand impairment claim returned for medical evaluation
W.S., a Treasury Department mail clerk, sought a schedule award for accepted hand arthritis and elbow conditions. OWCP denied the claim because it found insufficient evidence that his conditions had reached maximum medical improvement, the stage at which permanent impairment can be rated. The Board…
A.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
A.N. (ECAB 16-0230): Prior suitable work refusal bars later wage loss claim
A.N., a Postal Service mail carrier, received compensation for an accepted left elbow injury. OWCP terminated his wage loss and schedule award benefits in 2010 after he refused a suitable modified carrier position. In 2015 he claimed a recurrence of disability and sought wage loss compensation for…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Poland, OH
J.S. (ECAB 16-0217): Schedule award claim not reopened on reconsideration
J.S., a Postal Service clerk, sought a schedule award for permanent right shoulder impairment after an accepted injury. OWCP had denied the award after concluding that a prior decision terminating benefits for lack of residuals left no basis for an impairment award. On reconsideration, J.S…
M.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bloomfield Hills, MI
M.G. (ECAB 16-0110): Back condition claim denied for insufficient medical explanation
M.G., a Postal Service distribution clerk, claimed that lifting and bending at work caused or worsened a low back condition. Her physician attributed the condition to work and later addressed a separate 2002 incident in which a car hood fell on her neck. The Board found that his reports did not…
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.