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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C.H. and Department of the Army, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Springfield, VA
C.H. (ECAB 15-0735): Foot and back sprain benefit termination upheld
C.H., an intelligence specialist, received benefits for accepted left foot and lumbar sprains after slipping at work. OWCP ended her benefits after an impartial orthopedic examiner found no remaining effects of those sprains and no work disability from them. Her treating physician reported other…
D.I. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Phoenix, AZ
D.I. (ECAB 15-0468): Work incident established, injury claim still denied
D.I., a Bureau of Land Management technician, reported being struck in the upper thigh and groin by a malfunctioning machine handle at work. OWCP denied his injury claim after finding that the incident had not occurred as alleged. The Board found the incident established by his account and two…
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
T.D. (ECAB 14-1873): Forearm injury claim lacked medical causation evidence
T.D., a postal clerk, reported that a rubber band snapped against her forearm while she bundled mail. The Board accepted that the workplace incident happened. Her emergency physician observed redness and warmth but did not give an opinion linking a diagnosed injury to the incident. The Board found…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Irving Valley Branch Station, Irving, TX
D.L. (ECAB 14-0607): Claimed wage loss after reassignment unproved
D.L., a postal carrier, had accepted knee and shoulder injuries and later worked in an acting supervisor position. He claimed wage-loss compensation for September through November 2012 and said the Postal Service later withdrew suitable light-duty work when his acting supervisor assignment ended…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center (Agency)
AFGE Local 2338 and John J. Pershing VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-5112): Promotion exception dismissed
AFGE Local 2338 challenged the grade assigned to a medical support assistant at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. An arbitrator found that the grievance concerned position classification and was therefore not arbitrable. The Authority dismissed the union's exception because it did not…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1917 (Union)
USCIS and AFGE Local 1917 (FLRA 0-AR-5007): Leave remedy for missed rest breaks upheld
Employees at a USCIS office usually combined an unpaid lunch period with two paid rest breaks into one uninterrupted hour. On a day with two required town hall meetings, the agency gave them only a 30-minute lunch period. An arbitrator found that the agency violated the parties' agreement on that…
United States Department of Labor (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12 (Union)
Department of Labor and AFGE Local 12 (FLRA 0-AR-4924): Accommodation award upheld
A Department of Labor employee requested changes to frequent face-to-face meetings with her supervisor because of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. An arbitrator found that the agency's alternative meeting arrangements did not accommodate her disability and that the failure affected…
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Detroit, MI
D.P. (ECAB 15-1061): Foot condition claim and late record review denied
D.P., a postal mail clerk with a prior accepted ankle injury, attributed later foot pain to pushing and lifting mail. OWCP treated her filing as a new occupational disease claim because she identified additional work duties. The Board found that her physicians diagnosed foot conditions but did not…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chico, CA
J.W. (ECAB 15-1048): Back condition aggravation claim lacked medical rationale
J.W., a rural postal carrier, had accepted injuries from a 2010 work vehicle accident and later claimed that repetitive mail duties worsened her spinal degeneration. The Board found she had properly identified an occupational disease claim and had medical diagnoses of cervical spine conditions. But…
A.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Madison Square Post Office, New York, NY
A.G. (ECAB 15-0917): Knee injury claim lacked a reasoned medical link to work
A.G., a postal letter carrier, said he felt a pop in his right knee while delivering mail on March 15, 2011. OWCP accepted that the work incident happened but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused a knee injury. On reconsideration, A.G. submitted additional…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Whitinsville, MA
T.S. (ECAB 15-0901): Emotional condition claim lacked a compensable work factor
T.S., a postal letter carrier, claimed severe depression from stress at work and comments made by coworkers. OWCP denied the claim because it found no compensable work factor. The Board found that her allegations concerned coworker harassment rather than her regular duties. Some remarks were…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
C.W. (ECAB 15-0667): Back and foot claim lacked medical explanation of work causation
C.W., a postal mail handler, said that standing and walking on concrete floors for long shifts aggravated her back and right foot conditions. OWCP accepted her work conditions but denied the claim for lack of medical proof connecting them to a diagnosed injury. Her doctors described back symptoms…
S.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Canteen Service, Dublin, GA
S.K. (ECAB 15-0221): Refusal to reopen occupational disease claim affirmed
S.K., a Veterans Canteen Service worker, sought benefits for neck and shoulder conditions that she attributed to her job. After OWCP denied the claim on the merits, she requested reconsideration and submitted a work restriction note, a description of her duties, and a statement. OWCP declined to…
C.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration Medical Center, Sioux Falls, SD
C.T. (ECAB 14-0410): Late reconsideration request did not show clear error
C.T., a VA nurse, had accepted wrist and neck injuries after slipping on ice at work. OWCP later ended wage loss benefits based on reports releasing her to unrestricted work for those conditions. Her reconsideration request arrived more than a year after the termination decision, so she had to show…
United States Department of Defense, Pentagon Force Protection Agency (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Union/Petitioner)
Pentagon Force Protection Agency and AFGE (FLRA WA-RP-12-0005): Union election objections rejected
Security and law enforcement officers at the Pentagon Force Protection Agency's Raven Rock site voted 76 to 1 for union representation. The agency challenged the election, arguing that it should have been delayed while an earlier review request was pending, that the ballots should not have been…
Edwin Jetnil v. Chugach Management Services
Jetnil v. Chugach (BRB 14-0361): off-duty island injury award affirmed
Edwin Jetnil, a Marshall Islands resident, painted facilities under a U.S. defense support contract. During a four-day assignment on a restricted island, he cut his foot while fishing after work. The injury developed into a severe infection, and his right leg was amputated below the knee. An…
Texas Roadhouse Management Corp.
Repeat wage violations support an $880 penalty
The Wage and Hour Division found underpayments at Texas Roadhouse restaurants in North Carolina and Maine and assessed an $880 civil penalty for a repeated violation. The company argued that the two sets of violations were too different and occurred at separate restaurants to count as repeated…
R.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tulsa, OK
R.L. (ECAB 15-1010): Shoulder claim lacked a reasoned medical causation opinion
R.L., a rural postal carrier, claimed that reaching into his delivery vehicle for mail injured his left shoulder. Following an earlier Board denial, he sought OWCP reconsideration and submitted a physician's letter linking his rotator cuff condition to that movement. The Board found that the letter…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Antonio, TX
R.S. (ECAB 15-0885): Termination of knee injury benefits affirmed
R.S., a postal mail processor, had accepted injuries to both knees and received compensation and medical benefits. OWCP terminated those benefits after an impartial orthopedic specialist concluded that the accepted injuries had resolved and attributed the remaining knee pain and restrictions to…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
D.B. (ECAB 15-0797): Knee claim was not reopened on reconsideration
D.B., a postal carrier, said she fell while delivering mail and injured her right knee. An OWCP hearing representative accepted that the fall occurred but found that the medical evidence did not connect the claimed knee injury to it. On reconsideration, D.B. repeated an argument about a previously…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Clearfield, UT
A.R. (ECAB 15-0791): Overpayment amount set aside for a new calculation
A.R., a postal carrier receiving wage loss compensation for a knee injury, returned to part time work in June 2014 while compensation continued. The Board agreed that this created an overpayment, but found that OWCP had not supported the $810.09 amount. A signed time analysis showed 29 hours of…
D.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Berwyn, IL
D.R. (ECAB 15-0670): Two bare reconsideration requests did not reopen claims
D.R., a postal carrier, had an accepted work-related aggravation of bunions in both great toes. OWCP later denied her claim for a recurrence of disability and her request for a schedule award. She requested reconsideration of each denial by checking a box on an appeal form, without supplying…
K.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
K.T. (ECAB 15-0231): Compensation reduction based on night auditor work upheld
K.T., a postal clerk, received compensation after a workplace injury affecting her back, neck, shoulder, and elbow. OWCP reduced her wage loss compensation based on an assessment that she could work as a night auditor earning $400 a week. The Board found that the position fit her physical…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Cincinnati, OH
L.W. (ECAB 14-0919): Wage loss denial set aside for missing claim evidence
L.W., a postal clerk with an accepted left foot condition, sought partial wage loss compensation after a short return to limited duty work. OWCP denied compensation for October 11, 2011 through February 24, 2012. The Board found that OWCP relied on material from another claim file without placing…
Secretary of Labor v. Remington, LLC
Inspection citation vacated and maintenance penalty paid
A loaded contractor truck lost power on a steep mine haul road, rolled backward, overturned, and caused a lost-time injury to its driver. MSHA found that six of the truck's ten brakes did not work properly and that the seat-belt tether was disconnected, issuing separate citations for inadequate…
Mark L. Lujan v. Signal Peak Energy, LLC
Miner could not file his own reinstatement application
Mark Lujan filed an individual Mine Act discrimination case after MSHA found insufficient evidence to pursue his discharge complaint. While that case awaited decision after a hearing, he separately asked the Commission for temporary reinstatement. Judge David F. Barbour held that section 105(c)(2)…
S.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
S.G. (ECAB 15-1063): Disability recurrence denial returned for medical review
S.G., a postal letter carrier, had accepted work-related cervical radiculopathy and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. She claimed a recurrence of disability beginning in April 2012 after working limited duty. OWCP denied the claim, focusing on chiropractic reports, but did not discuss several…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sacramento, CA
M.H. (ECAB 15-0893): Denial of continued injury-related benefits upheld
M.H., a postal clerk, had an accepted shoulder, arm, and neck strain after a workplace injury in 2003. OWCP later terminated her benefits, and the Board upheld that termination in 2009. She again sought review, arguing that OWCP had not adequately resolved the medical evidence. The Board held that…
L.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Little Rock, AR
L.J. (ECAB 15-0853): Overpayment finding returned for review of both claims
L.J., a postal processing clerk, received $930.27 in compensation under a right thumb injury claim. OWCP later said the payment related instead to a separate right carpal tunnel syndrome claim and ordered repayment. The Board found that the combined claim records did not show whether those benefits…
C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
C.R. (ECAB 15-0525): Timely overpayment hearing request sent back to OWCP
C.R., a postal rural carrier, requested a hearing after OWCP preliminarily found an overpayment caused by missing life insurance deductions. OWCP denied the hearing request as late, relying on the October 7, 2014 postmark of a second copy. The Board found that OWCP had scanned the first request…
D.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chattanooga, TN
D.F. (ECAB 14-1841): Additional medical travel expenses denied
D.F., a postal employee receiving authorized orthopedic treatment, sought reimbursement for travel beyond a 100-mile round trip and for lodging and meals. He argued that treatment with his chosen surgeon had been authorized and that a claims examiner had approved overnight expenses by telephone…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
A.R. (ECAB 14-1063): Termination of wage and medical benefits upheld
A.R., a postal employee, received compensation after a motor vehicle accident that caused accepted knee, neck, and upper back conditions. OWCP ended wage-loss and medical benefits effective May 23, 2012. The Board found that OWCP’s orthopedic examiner gave a reasoned opinion that the accepted…
M.J. and Department of the Air Force, McGuire Air Force Base, NJ
M.J. (ECAB 14-0990): Lumbar injury benefit termination upheld
M.J., an Air Force employee, received benefits for an accepted lumbar contusion after a 1990 workplace fall. OWCP ended wage-loss and medical benefits effective December 31, 2012. The Board found that OWCP’s orthopedic examiner gave a reasoned opinion that the accepted contusion had resolved…
The American Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
$236,162 outstanding settlement balance ordered on remand
These consolidated Galatia Mine cases involved 743 citations, many based on notices to provide safeguards, that had been settled or adjudicated in earlier decisions while American Coal appealed the safeguard issues. The company later withdrew its Commission appeal with prejudice and agreed to pay…
Dolores Montoya v. Navy Exchange Service Command
Montoya v. Navy Exchange (BRB 14-0379): alternate work start date remanded
Navy Exchange sales clerk Dolores Montoya injured her back at work and received an award covering periods of total and partial disability. The Board agreed that booth-based parking attendant jobs fit her restrictions and that her single job inquiry did not show a diligent search for work. It also…
Coates v. Grand Trunk Western Railroad Co.
Railroad retaliation award affirmed
Railroad employee Dennis Coates alleged that Grand Trunk Western Railroad retaliated after he filed an earlier safety complaint and reported a workplace accident and injury. An administrative law judge found a violation of the Federal Rail Safety Act and awarded damages, costs, and other relief…
F.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Cimarron Hills Post Office, Colorado Springs, CO
F.S. (ECAB 15-1052): Mail carrier’s shoulder claim denial upheld
F.S., a postal carrier, attributed left shoulder pain to repetitive casing and delivery of mail. OWCP accepted that he performed those duties but denied the injury claim. His physician diagnosed rotator cuff tendinitis and impingement syndrome and said they came from work. The Board found that the…
G.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
G.D. (ECAB 15-0953): Refusal to reopen occupational disease claim upheld
G.D., a VA management and program analyst, sought benefits for physical and emotional conditions she attributed to work. OWCP had accepted several claimed work factors but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting them to her conditions. She requested reconsideration and explained…
T.S. and Department of the Navy, Ocean Projects Department, Stennis Space Center, MS
T.S. (ECAB 15-0890): Shipboard illness claim denial upheld
T.S., a Navy electronics technician, reported fainting after a shower while aboard a ship for work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied his claim for lack of medical evidence linking an illness or injury to his employment. The Board found that some medical records were unsigned and…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chagrin Falls, OH
K.M. (ECAB 15-0820): Mail-lifting disc injury claim denied
K.M., a postal letter carrier, said he felt a pull in his lower back while lifting mail in September 2013. OWCP accepted that the lifting incident occurred but denied the claim for an L5-S1 herniated disc. The Board found that his physician relied on when symptoms appeared without explaining how…
C.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Syracuse, NY
C.E. (ECAB 15-0805): Five percent right leg award upheld
C.E., a postal mail handler, had received a schedule award for five percent permanent impairment of his right leg. He sought a larger award and submitted a physician’s 29 percent rating. The Board found that the physician improperly added range of motion and diagnosis based ratings and did not…
T.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh, PA
T.E. (ECAB 15-0648): Arm impairment award returned for referee clarification
T.E., a postal employee, had received schedule awards for 18 percent impairment of her right arm and 5 percent of her left arm. She sought an additional award. The Board found that OWCP had relied on a medical adviser’s disagreement with the referee physician without asking the referee to clarify…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lawrence, MA
J.S. (ECAB 15-0619): Hip arthritis occupational claim denial upheld
J.S., a postal letter carrier, attributed worsening arthritis in both hips to years of walking, climbing stairs, and carrying mail. The Board found that his physicians did not give a sufficiently reasoned explanation connecting those duties to his condition and that one opinion relied on an…
R.H. and Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Mid-Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Burbank, WA
R.H. (ECAB 15-0137): Overpayment and waiver denial upheld
R.H., a Fish and Wildlife Service equipment operator, was paid disability compensation using an hourly wage higher than his actual rate. OWCP found a $3,416.47 overpayment and denied waiver, though it found him without fault. The Board upheld the amount because the correct wage was $25.31 an hour…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, Council 33 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (Agency)
AFGE Council 33 and Bureau of Prisons (FLRA 0-AR-5094): Factory staffing grievance denied
The Bureau of Prisons announced factory closures and staffing cuts after a decline in sales of inmate-made products. Its union argued that the agency had to bargain before issuing the notice. An arbitrator found that the parties' agreement required bargaining over a reduction in force caused by…
Secretary of Labor v. Warrior Investment Company, Inc.
Belt-maintenance violation affirmed with $5,961 penalty
A section foreman tried to clean mud from a conveyor roller while the belt was stopped but not locked out or blocked against motion. Another miner started the belt, pulling the foreman's arm between the belt and roller and causing an injury that required hospital treatment and a month away from…
J.G. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Plant, KY
J.G. (ECAB 15-1179): Additional hearing loss award denied
J.G., a Tennessee Valley Authority employee, had received a schedule award for 54 percent impairment of hearing in both ears. He sought an additional award after later tests showed hearing loss. The Board found that his submissions lacked a reasoned physician’s opinion connecting any increased…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Health and Resource Management, Pittsburgh, PA
S.M. (ECAB 15-0876): Reconsideration refusal upheld
S.M., a retired postal manager, had an accepted claim for temporary aggravation of depression, anxiety, and hypertension. After OWCP found the accepted psychiatric conditions had resolved, she sought reconsideration and submitted a later report from the same psychiatrist. The Board found that the…
D.M. and Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Denver, CO
D.M. (ECAB 15-0814): Insurance for tinnitus device not reimbursed
D.M., a Census Bureau field representative with an accepted tinnitus claim, had an OWCP-authorized neuromonics device. He sought reimbursement for insurance on the device after OWCP had paid a premium in 2008. The Board held that insurance was not a medical service, appliance, or supply under FECA…
J.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Tulsa, OK
J.J. (ECAB 15-0727): Carpal tunnel disability claim denial upheld
J.J., a postal mail handler, had an accepted claim for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. He sought compensation for total disability over a period from September 2012 to January 2014. The Board found that none of the physicians gave an opinion linking total disability during that period to the…
P.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Mid-Hudson General Mail Facility, Newburgh, NY
P.D. (ECAB 15-0604): Wrist disability recurrence denial upheld
P.D., a postal clerk with accepted wrist tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, worked in a modified part-time assignment. She sought compensation after her physician reduced her work hours in March 2010. The Board found that the physician had not substantiated a worsening of the accepted…
R.J. and Defense Agencies, Defense Commissary Agency, Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK
R.J. (ECAB 15-0588): Refusal to reopen back injury claim upheld
R.J., a Defense Commissary Agency material handler, reported back pain after stocking shelves at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim because the records lacked a medical diagnosis connected to it. R.J. requested reconsideration and said he would submit…
E.W. and Department of the Navy, North Island Naval Air Rework Facility, San Diego, CA
E.W. (ECAB 15-0544): Overpayment upheld, first-deposit fault finding set aside
E.W., a Navy employee, kept receiving disability compensation at the rate for a worker with a dependent after his wife died. The Board upheld the overpayment but corrected the amount to $2,054.74, rather than the $2,074.54 mentioned elsewhere in the decision. It found E.W. at fault for later…
Z.T. and Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, National Computer Center, Baltimore, MD
Z.T. (ECAB 15-0250): Late reconsideration denial upheld
Z.T., a Social Security Administration employee, sought reconsideration of a 2008 denial concerning a claimed 2007 knee injury. She applied in 2014, beyond the one-year period, and argued that her supervisor had failed to sign a compensation form. The Board found that the form and a witness…
L.B. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Omaha, NE
L.B. (ECAB 15-0961): Late reconsideration denial upheld
L.B., an Army Corps of Engineers contract specialist, sought compensation for shoulder and back conditions she attributed to repeated lifting and stacking at work. OWCP denied the claim and later refused to reconsider it because her request arrived more than one year after its July 2011 merits…
D.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Administration, Forest Hills, NY
D.L. (ECAB 15-0902): Right knee injury claim denial upheld
D.L., a federal officer assisting after Hurricane Sandy, said he hurt his right knee while climbing into a bunk aboard a ship. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied compensation because the medical evidence did not connect a diagnosed knee condition to it. After an earlier Board…
P.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Little Silver, NJ
P.P. (ECAB 15-0887): Termination of back injury benefits upheld
P.P., a postmaster, received wage-loss and medical benefits after slipping on ice at work in 2005. OWCP ended those benefits effective December 15, 2013, finding that the accepted lumbar sprain had resolved. Her treating physician disagreed with an OWCP examiner, so OWCP obtained an impartial…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Atlanta, GA
M.S. (ECAB 15-0879): Right leg schedule award denial upheld
M.S., a postal mail handler, injured her right knee while carrying mail in 2009 and later sought a permanent impairment award. OWCP had accepted a knee contusion and medial meniscus tear, but surgery found the menisci intact. Her surgeon and an OWCP medical adviser found no permanent impairment…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Postal & Distribution Center, Fort Myers, FL
A.C. (ECAB 15-0767): Accident claim and reconsideration denials upheld
A.C., a postal custodian, was injured in a car accident and claimed that it happened while he was working. The Board found that he had not supplied the requested details of where and why he was driving, so the record did not establish that the accident occurred in the performance of duty. Medical…
N.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York City, NY
N.B. (ECAB 15-0708): Elevator injury claim denial upheld
N.B., a postal mail carrier, said an elevator door struck her head at work. She sought compensation for a neck injury and headache. The Board found that the submitted medical opinions did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated the diagnosed conditions. It upheld OWCP’s denial…
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.