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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J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Omaha, NE
J.W. (ECAB 15-1282): Life insurance overpayment reduced to $218.74
J.W. received refunds of basic life insurance premiums that OWCP had wrongly withheld from his compensation. OWCP assessed a $1,117.74 overpayment, but the Board found that $899.00 of the payments it counted had gone to other people. Only a duplicate $218.74 refund was an overpayment to J.W. The…
B.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Washington Field Office, Chantilly, VA
B.M. (ECAB 15-1233): Training injury claim lacked medical causation
B.M., a supervisory federal air marshal, claimed right shoulder and neck symptoms after squad training involving sparring and pull-ups. His physicians diagnosed shoulder and cervical conditions. The Board found that their reports relied on incomplete or inconsistent injury histories, checked boxes…
P.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Memphis, TN
P.H. (ECAB 15-1197): Wage loss denial and refusal to reopen affirmed
P.H., a postal equipment operator, had an accepted lumbar sprain after a workplace forklift incident. She sought wage loss compensation for a later period when back pain returned. The Board found that her physician had not explained how the accepted sprain caused her inability to work from August…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
E.B. (ECAB 15-0924): Carpal tunnel condition not added to accepted wrist claim
E.B., a postal carrier assistant, injured her right wrist while using a vehicle’s emergency brake. OWCP accepted right de Quervain’s tenosynovitis, and E.B. sought to add carpal tunnel syndrome. Her physician initially noted signs of carpal tunnel syndrome but later reported that they were absent…
L.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Las Vegas, NV
L.K. (ECAB 15-0675): Knee sprain benefits ended; additional conditions rejected
L.K., a transportation security officer, twisted her left knee at work, and OWCP accepted a sprain. The Board found that the accepted sprain had resolved, supporting termination of benefits. It also reviewed whether the incident caused a meniscus tear or aggravated preexisting arthritis. The Board…
G.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cambridge, MA
G.M. (ECAB 15-0624): Schedule award pay rate of $415.37 upheld
G.M., a postal letter carrier, challenged the pay rate used for an additional left leg impairment award stemming from a 1982 knee injury. A prior Board decision sent the case back because OWCP had used inconsistent salary figures. The employer then confirmed his 1982 annual salary as $21,599…
P.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, St. Cloud Veterans Administration Medical Center, St. Cloud, MN
P.D. (ECAB 15-0593): Sacroiliac conditions not added to accepted injury claims
P.D., a Veterans Affairs medical clerk, had accepted injuries from falls at work in January and August 2008. She sought to add sacroiliac joint strain and dysfunction to those claims. The Board gave special weight to an impartial orthopedic examiner who found no supported causal link between either…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane imminent-danger order affirmed
An MSHA inspector measured more than five percent methane in a roof cavity at Jim Walter Resources' No. 7 Mine and issued an imminent-danger withdrawal order. A Commission majority affirmed the ALJ because substantial evidence supported the inspector's conclusion that a nearby mobile…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane withdrawal order and evidentiary rulings affirmed
An MSHA inspector found 5.6 percent methane in a roof cavity in an active section of Jim Walter Resources' No. 7 Mine. Nearby roof-bolting work, a continuous miner, energized equipment, cables, and a recent roof fall supplied potential ignition sources. The Commission held that substantial evidence…
Darrell Edwards v. Marine Repair Services, Incorporated
Edwards v. Marine Repair Services (BRB 15-0112): settlement forfeiture dismissal vacated
Darrell Edwards sought Longshore Act benefits after a truck struck his vehicle near his employer's facility. He also settled a lawsuit against the truck's owners. An administrative law judge dismissed his benefits claim because he had not obtained the employer's prior written approval or notified…
NCC Electrical Services, Inc.
Three-year debarment upheld
NCC Electrical Services performed electrical work on a federally funded school construction project. The company classified some workers as apprentices or laborers and paid them below the prevailing rate for their electrical work. An administrative law judge found that NCC and its owner, Jerry…
Nelson v. Energy Northwest
Nuclear worker complaint dismissal affirmed
Richard Nelson supplied workers to Energy Northwest's nuclear facility through his company. He alleged that the facility revoked his access badge after protected safety activity. An administrative law judge dismissed his retaliation complaint after a hearing. The Board held that Nelson could be…
DeFrancesco v. Union Railroad Co.
Relief for injury report retaliation affirmed
Kenneth DeFrancesco reported a back injury after slipping at work, and Union Railroad suspended him for 15 days. Following an earlier Board remand, an administrative law judge found that the railroad failed to prove it would have imposed the same discipline without his injury report. The Board…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12 (Union) and United States Department of Labor (Agency)
AFGE Local 12 and Department of Labor (FLRA 0-NG-3131): Transit-benefit proposals negotiable
After the Department of Labor converted its transit-benefit program to an electronic system, AFGE Local 12 proposed ways for employees to continue obtaining passes that were incompatible with the agency's chosen transit card. The Authority found all three proposals negotiable. The agency did not…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council 119 (Union)
USCIS and AFGE Council 119 (FLRA 0-AR-5105): Break-policy backpay set aside and remedy remanded
USCIS employees were entitled to two paid fifteen-minute breaks, and an arbitrator found that the agency had not implemented the break agreement promptly in every office. The arbitrator awarded backpay for missed breaks. The Authority held that the Back Pay Act did not authorize that remedy because…
United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2923 (Union)
NIEHS and AFGE Local 2923 (FLRA 0-AR-5062): Budget guidance did not bar employee awards
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences budgeted money for employee performance awards but withheld them after federal spending cuts and budget guidance. An arbitrator found that the agency's agreement with AFGE Local 2923 required payment and ordered a remedy for affected…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Leeds, Massachusetts (Agency) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-274 (Union)
Leeds VA Medical Center and NAGE Local R1-274 (FLRA 0-AR-5033): Psychologist's performance plan corrected
A psychologist at the Leeds VA Medical Center spent 60 percent of her workweek on union duties and challenged two standards in her performance plan. An arbitrator found that a weekly patient-testing target did not account for that schedule and that a consult-scheduling requirement did not reflect…
United States Office of Personnel Management (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32 (Union)
OPM and AFGE Local 32 (FLRA 0-AR-5003): Employee appraisal remedy upheld
An OPM senior accountant challenged her performance appraisal after her assigned duties changed but her performance plan did not. An arbitrator found the standards too unclear to permit an objective assessment, changed one rating to outstanding, and ordered OPM to reevaluate another rating under a…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
IRS and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-4988): Bargaining remedy for contracted IT work upheld
The IRS expanded a contract for computer support work that bargaining unit employees also performed. An arbitrator found that the agency failed to notify the union and bargain over the effect of the 2011 contract on those employees. She ordered bargaining, information sharing, a temporary return to…
Secretary of Labor v. Brody Mining, LLC
POV dismissal vacated and pattern standard defined
An ALJ invalidated Brody Mining's pattern-of-violations notice before taking evidence because the Secretary had not clearly explained how the listed citations formed a pattern. On interlocutory review, the Commission held that the ALJ had jurisdiction because contests of section 104(e) withdrawal…
Secretary of Labor v. Small Mine Development
Refuge required with sole exploration escapeway
Small Mine Development advanced an exploratory decline about 1,000 feet with only one escapeway and had not installed the refuge chamber positioned outside the portal. A Commission majority held that 30 C.F.R. § 57.11050(a) is ambiguous about refuge requirements when exploration or development…
General Electric Aviation
In re General Electric Aviation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 14-03): petition dismissed after settlement
General Electric Aviation sought review of an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region 1. The company moved to dismiss its petition on September 24, 2015. It reported that the parties had reached a settlement and resolved all pending issues through a permit modification proceeding. The Environmental…
Salyer v. Sunstar Engineering
Dismissal of truck safety complaint affirmed
Beauford Salyer reported safety concerns while working as a probationary driver for Sunstar Engineering. The company extended his probation, and he later resigned. A judge found that the extension affected his benefits but dismissed his retaliation complaint. Salyer's Board petition did not…
R.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Denver, CO
R.L. (ECAB 15-1481): Late hearing request denial affirmed
R.L., a postal employee, sought an oral hearing after OWCP denied his shoulder injury claim. He mailed the request more than 30 days after the claim decision, so he had no hearing right under the statutory deadline. OWCP considered a discretionary hearing but concluded that he could pursue the…
M.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indianapolis, IN
M.C. (ECAB 15-1141): Back injury benefits termination affirmed
M.C., a rural mail carrier, had accepted back and hip conditions and underwent authorized spine surgery. OWCP terminated benefits after an impartial examiner found no objective residuals of the accepted conditions and concluded she could resume her regular work. The Board found his examination and…
A.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wilmington, DE
A.P. (ECAB 15-0915): Refusal to reopen impairment award claim affirmed
A.P., a postal employee with accepted left arm and thoracic outlet conditions, sought reconsideration of an impairment award ruling. Her counsel repeated objections to the impartial examiner’s testing and examination and submitted a further report from her treating physician. The Board found that…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Harker Heights, TX
A.D. (ECAB 15-0732): Vehicle loading incident established; injury claim returned
A.D., a rural postal carrier associate, reported chest and shoulder pain while loading her vehicle at work. OWCP doubted that the incident occurred as claimed, citing differing accounts involving a discussion with her supervisor. The Board found that the accounts and a contemporaneous accident…
L.K. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Phoenix, AZ
L.K. (ECAB 14-1722): Refusal to reopen back injury claim affirmed
L.K., an air traffic controller, sought reconsideration after OWCP ended benefits for an accepted back strain. His representative challenged the case record and repeated arguments about medical evidence and other claims. The Board found that the request did not supply a relevant new legal argument…
R.B. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Adelanto, CA
R.B. (ECAB 14-1663): Emotional condition claim returned for factual findings
R.B., a Bureau of Prisons disciplinary hearing officer, attributed an emotional condition to alleged coworker intimidation and workplace conduct. An OWCP hearing representative treated the allegations as factual after the employer did not respond, then found them noncompensable. The Board held that…
R.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Little Rock, AR
R.F. (ECAB 14-0770): Emotional condition claim from union dispute denied
R.F., a postal mail handler and union representative, claimed an emotional condition after an altercation with a coworker over a local union election. The Board found that the dispute concerned internal union business and was a diversion from his work duties, even though he had been on official…
Independent Union of Pension Employees for Democracy and Justice (Union) and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (Agency)
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and IUPE (FLRA 0-AR-5075): Coercive union newsletter award upheld
A union newsletter identified a Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation employee who had testified for management in a separate arbitration, called her a traitor, and told coworkers to avoid her. An arbitrator found that the article threatened the employee and violated the union's statutory and…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
Customs and Border Protection and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5064): Unsupported schedule deviations require backpay
NTEU challenged work schedules for customs officers and agriculture specialists that departed from the standard federal workweek rules. An arbitrator found that an agency memorandum allowed deviations in qualifying circumstances but did not excuse managers from keeping support for each deviation…
United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Great Plains Region, Colorado/Wyoming Area Office (Agency) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1759 (Union)
Bureau of Reclamation and IBEW Local 1759 (FLRA 0-AR-5021): Rest-period pay corrected for arithmetic error
Three employees at a Bureau of Reclamation hydroelectric plant worked long hours during an emergency. Their agreement provided an eight-hour rest period after 16 hours of work within 24 hours and extra pay for work during the rest period. An arbitrator awarded the extra pay for time worked beyond…
Michael K. McNary v. Alcoa World Alumina, Inc.
Summary dismissal for no adverse action
Michael McNary, an Alcoa employee and miners' representative, raised concerns during an emergency involving hot slurry and alleged that his supervisor threatened to remove him as a representative, from the department, and from the plant. Judge William B. Moran excused McNary's late filing because…
Franchini v. Argonne National Laboratory
Nuclear safety complaint sent to hearing
Felipe Franchini raised safety concerns about working conditions and possible radiation at Argonne National Laboratory. He alleged that Argonne later fired him because of those reports. An administrative law judge dismissed his whistleblower complaint without a hearing, and the Board previously…
D.S. and U.S. Post Office, Post Office, Paoli, PA
D.S. (ECAB 15-1207): Compensation suspension reversed for missing notice
D.S., a postal clerk with accepted carpal tunnel claims, missed a rescheduled impartial medical examination. OWCP suspended her compensation without sending a new notice allowing her 14 days to explain the absence. The Board held that OWCP’s own procedures required this notice even though D.S…
G.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Highland, IN
G.B. (ECAB 15-1175): Refusal to reopen knee condition claim affirmed
G.B., a postal carrier, claimed that years of walking, twisting, and stair climbing contributed to his right knee degeneration. OWCP had denied the claim on medical causation grounds. In seeking reconsideration, G.B. supplied a duty status report that did not discuss causation and repeated earlier…
L.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Frazer, PA
L.J. (ECAB 15-0320): Impairment award returned for missing medical report
L.J. appealed a schedule award for two percent permanent impairment of her left arm. A medical adviser relied on an orthopedic examination report when calculating the award, but that report was missing from the record sent to the Board. The Board ordered OWCP to supply the missing report within 30…
Q.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
Q.W. (ECAB 14-1941): Refusal to reopen recurrence claim affirmed
Q.W., a postal carrier, sought reconsideration of a denied recurrence of disability claim tied to earlier accepted injuries. Her counsel argued that OWCP had mishandled the combined claim files and should have recognized additional psychological and physical conditions. The Board found those…
M.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, New York, NY
M.B. (ECAB 14-0619): Termination of injury benefits affirmed
M.B., a nurse, received benefits for accepted neck, back, shoulder, and arm sprains after pulling a hospital bed. OWCP ended benefits when a second opinion physician found the accepted sprains had resolved. The Board found his report sufficient to support termination. It also gave special weight to…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Eatontown, NJ
E.M. (ECAB 14-0178): Left leg impairment award denial affirmed
E.M., a postal clerk with accepted lumbar conditions, sought a schedule award for permanent left leg impairment. Her physicians disagreed on whether the leg had a ratable impairment. The Board gave special weight to an impartial examiner who found no objective sensory or motor deficit meeting the…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Muskegon, MI
T.S. (ECAB 14-0172): Schedule award claim returned for complete record
T.S. appealed OWCP decisions concerning a schedule award. The record sent to the Board lacked the claim form, accepted facts, impairment evaluation, medical adviser review, and related claim files needed to assess the award. OWCP did not complete the record after the Board ordered it to do so. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Warrior Investments Company, Inc.
Defective scoop parking brake citation affirmed
An unloaded scoop at Warrior Investments' low-coal mine rolled several feet after its parking brake was applied and stopped only when the operator lowered the bucket. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that the brake failed to hold the machine stationary and that normal practices of leaving scoops…
Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor; Secretary of Labor v. Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC; United Steelworkers, Local 235A, Intervenor
Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC CENT 2015-151-RM, et al.): Original lockout walkaround decision superseded
Sherwin Alumina locked out about 450 union-represented miners and barred their designated miners' representative from accompanying MSHA inspections. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that locked-out miners who cannot be permanently replaced remain miners for section 103(f) walkaround purposes because…
G.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jacksonville, FL
G.P. (ECAB 15-1360): Ankle disability claim for early 2015 denied
G.P., a postal tractor trailer operator, had accepted right ankle sprain and instability from a workplace fall. He sought wage loss compensation for several weeks in early 2015 after returning to full duty. His physician recommended time off for ankle pain but did not explain how the accepted…
J.T. and Social Security Administration, Region IX, Richmond, CA
J.T. (ECAB 15-1309): Cervical condition claim lacked medical link to office work
J.T., a Social Security claims representative, attributed a cervical spine condition to prolonged sitting, typing, reaching, and turning to assist clients. She underwent spine surgery and sought workplace adjustments. The Board accepted the described work duties but found that her physicians’…
B.B. and Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Dallas, TX
B.B. (ECAB 15-1113): Dog bite claim denied over conflicting incident accounts
B.B., a Census Bureau field representative, reported being bitten by a dog while working on an interview. A medical note instead described the bite as occurring while he was going to a friend’s house, and a rabies form identified him as the dog’s owner. The Board found that these conflicting…
G.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, Biloxi, MS
G.H. (ECAB 15-1025): Hearing request denial affirmed after reconsideration
G.H., a former Veterans Affairs housekeeping aide, sought a hearing after OWCP denied an additional schedule award. He requested the hearing more than 30 days after that award decision and had already sought reconsideration of it. The Board held that both circumstances defeated his right to a…
C.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration, Washington, DC
C.R. (ECAB 15-0844): Emotional condition claim denial affirmed
C.R., a Veterans Benefits Administration employee, attributed an emotional condition to alleged harassment and disputes with her supervisor over work assignments and telework. The Board found that she had not shown error or abuse in the supervisor’s administrative actions, including a request to…
L.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Diego, CA
L.A. (ECAB 14-1818): Bilateral elbow condition claim denial affirmed
L.A., a rural postal carrier, claimed that regular carrier duties from 2009 to 2012 caused a bilateral elbow condition. The Board accepted that she performed those duties but found no medical opinion linking the diagnosed condition to that period of work. One physician attributed current symptoms…
Tom Reed Contracting
Default set aside for reconsideration of medical circumstances
An administrative law judge entered a default against Tom Reed Contracting after the company did not file an answer or respond to later orders. The company's owner had timely asked for rescheduling after the first show-cause order because he was receiving treatment for a serious medical condition…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Islandia, NY
D.L. (ECAB 14-0897): Shoulder claim returned to combine related files
D.L., a postal letter carrier, reported renewed right shoulder problems after returning to work following an accepted shoulder injury. He filed a recurrence claim, but OWCP treated it as a new occupational disease and denied it. The Board found that the earlier injury file concerned the same body…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Malcolm, IA
M.M. (ECAB 14-0617): Left shoulder claim returned to combine related files
M.M., a retired postmaster, claimed that reliance on her left arm while recovering from an accepted right shoulder injury contributed to a left shoulder condition. OWCP denied the new claim, but the prior right shoulder file was absent from the record sent to the Board. The Board held that the…
Secretary of Labor v. United Salt Corporation
Verbal predicate citation sustained section 104(d) chain
Two MSHA inspectors verbally issued a section 104(d)(1) predicate citation and a later withdrawal order during the same inspection, then reduced both to writing and delivered them the next morning. United Salt argued that the predicate citation had to be written and physically served before the…
Lake Erie Construction Co.
Vehicle-standard coverage made location-specific and case remanded
A Lake Erie Construction crew was removing highway guardrail posts when a truck-mounted attachment contacted or came close enough to an overhead power line for electricity to travel through the equipment and fatally injure an employee holding a chain. OSHA cited the company for willfully failing to…
Richard Kaposy d/b/a Treeman Landscaping
Case remanded after court vacated Rule 60 relief
An administrative law judge had granted Richard Kaposy relief from a final judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6). The judge found that the self-represented employer had mistakenly understood the consequences of withdrawing its notice of contest after a mandatory settlement…
United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service (Agency) and National Weather Service Employees Organization (Union)
National Weather Service and NWSEO (FLRA 0-AR-5042): Disposable-dining-ware award set aside
The National Weather Service stopped supplying disposable cups, plates, and utensils promised in a union agreement. An arbitrator ordered it to resume the supplies and found that the agency had unlawfully repudiated the agreement. During the appeal, the Comptroller General concluded that the…
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1534 (Union)
Overseas Private Investment Corporation and AFGE Local 1534 (FLRA 0-AR-4303): Waiver of hiring-pay debt upheld
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation found that it had hired an employee at too high a salary step and promoted her to the next step too early, creating an overpayment. An arbitrator found that the employee reasonably believed the hiring salary was correct and ordered the agency to waive the…
J.J. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Hauppauge, NY
J.J. (ECAB 15-1365): Telework knee injury claim lacked medical causation
J.J., an IRS revenue officer, reported twisting her right knee while walking to a fax machine during approved telework. OWCP accepted that the work incident occurred. The Board found that physicians diagnosed knee conditions but did not adequately explain how that specific incident caused them. A…
K.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, St. Louis, MO
K.M. (ECAB 15-1290): Shoulder claim returned for a merits review
K.M., a nurse at a Veterans Affairs medical center, reported a left shoulder injury while helping a patient who pulled on her arm. OWCP denied her claim and later refused to reopen it for a merits review. On reconsideration, K.M. submitted a physician's letter explaining how the patient's pull…
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.