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.A. and Department of the Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, Denver, CO
J.A. (ECAB 14-1863): Forfeiture periods narrowed; overpayment recalculation ordered
J.A., an Air Force mechanic receiving compensation, had worked in a home improvement business he owned with his wife without reporting those activities on several EN1032 forms. The Board found that he knowingly omitted reportable work, even though he said it was intermittent and unpaid. It narrowed…
L.L. and Social Security Administration, Region IV, West Palm Beach, FL
L.L. (ECAB 14-1525): Emotional condition claim denial upheld
L.L., a Social Security claims representative, attributed depression to a stressful work environment. The Board accepted one work factor: she had to handle two benefits interviews scheduled for the same time. Her broader allegations about workload, office conditions, management, and harassment…
R.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, San Diego, CA
R.C. (ECAB 15-0843): Reconsideration denial upheld
R.C., a customs officer, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied her occupational disease claim for lack of specific evidence about the work factors she believed caused her condition. Her reconsideration submission included a chiropractor’s report describing symptoms and examination findings, but…
E.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, West Haven, CT
E.T. (ECAB 15-0839): Traumatic injury claim denial upheld
E.T., a postal custodian, reported a right-side and back injury after a coworker put him in a headlock. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. A nurse practitioner’s note could not provide the required physician opinion under FECA. A physician diagnosed a musculoskeletal strain and checked a…
E.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
E.W. (ECAB 15-0764): Right leg schedule award denial upheld
E.W., a former postal clerk, sought a schedule award for right leg impairment after an accepted back injury. His physician rated a 21 percent right leg impairment, while another examiner found no objective neurologic deficit. An impartial orthopedic specialist examined E.W. to resolve that conflict…
M.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Los Feliz Station, Los Angeles, CA
M.N. (ECAB 15-0758): Late reconsideration denial upheld
M.N., a postal carrier, asked OWCP to reconsider an earlier denial of his bilateral knee claim. His request arrived more than one year after the last merit decision. The Board held that OWCP’s later mailing of another copy of that decision did not restart the deadline. It also found that the…
D.J. and Department of Defense, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, MD
D.J. (ECAB 15-0720): Claimed truck-loading injury denied
D.J., a National Security Agency project manager, attributed back and leg symptoms to loading a truck and stepping down from it at work. The Board found significant inconsistencies about when his symptoms began and what caused them. His early medical and therapy records described symptoms predating…
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
G.W. (ECAB 15-0628): Wage-loss claim denial upheld
G.W., a postal worker with an accepted left wrist condition, claimed wage-loss compensation after declining a limited-duty carrier assignment. He argued that the job required more left-hand fine manipulation than his physician allowed. The Board found that the written offer fit the existing…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Downey, CA
P.S. (ECAB 14-1395): Left leg impairment rating returned for new examination
P.S. sought a schedule award for left leg impairment after an accepted lower back injury and surgery. One examiner rated his leg at seven percent, while OWCP’s medical adviser recommended five percent, which OWCP awarded. The Board found both reports insufficient: the adviser did not identify the…
K.H. and Department of the Army, Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, PA
K.H. (ECAB 14-0968): Occupational asthma request returned for exposure evidence
K.H., an Army depot mechanic, sought to add occupational asthma to a claim that included work-related headaches. His physician linked asthma to chemical exposure at work, using his reported history, exposure data, testing, and a pattern of symptoms improving away from work. The Board found this…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Salt Lake City, UT
C.C. (ECAB 14-0939): Occupational disease claim denial upheld
C.C., a postal rural carrier, attributed hand conditions to repetitive motion at work. OWCP asked her to describe the specific job activities she believed caused or worsened those conditions. She did not provide that description. The Board held that a general reference to repetitive motion did not…
David Stillwell d/b/a David Stillwell Roofing
Roofing citations affirmed after default
OSHA observed David Stillwell and three other individuals installing shingles on a commercial roof in Northport, Alabama without fall protection or eye protection while using pneumatic nail guns. Stillwell argued that he had no employees, but two workers told OSHA they worked for him and the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Richard B. Harrison v. Consolidation Coal Co.
Safety-based bonus protest supported temporary reinstatement
Richard Harrison was a beltman at the Loveridge No. 22 Mine who had previously filed a discrimination complaint and participated in Mine Act proceedings. In 2015, he raised concerns that a production-based bonus plan would encourage miners to put production ahead of safety, then returned a voided…
Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Interlocutory review and stay denied
Pocahontas Coal challenged a pattern-of-violations notice involving 42 enforcement actions at its Affinity Mine. During discovery, the Judge permitted limited questions about the facts behind MSHA's selection and grouping of those actions while protecting privileged legal opinions, deliberations…
Secretary of Labor v. Mill Branch Coal Corporation
Four S&S violations affirmed and two unwarrantable findings removed
Mill Branch Coal contested four enforcement actions at its underground Osaka Mine involving damaged roof bolts, an inadequate preshift examination, a non-permissible electrical box in a return air course, and an inadequate electrical examination. Judge Alan G. Paez found all four violations S&S and…
Mark Gray v. North Fork Coal Corporation
Handwriting evidence did not change dismissal of discrimination claim
Coal miner Mark Gray alleged that North Fork Coal fired him for refusing to roof bolt an excessively deep cut and for insisting that ventilation curtains be hung while he worked. The Commission had vacated an earlier dismissal and remanded the case because the Judge improperly excluded expert…
Portable, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Unjustified inspection-delay case supported fee award
Portable prevailed in the underlying penalty case after Judge William B. Moran found that a roughly 30-minute wait for an escort did not unreasonably delay or indirectly deny an MSHA inspection. Portable then sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Secretary…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Minneapolis, MN
D.S. (ECAB 15-0821): Achilles injury and reconsideration denials upheld
D.S., a postal carrier, sought benefits for right Achilles tendinopathy and a small tendon tear, attributing them to repeated walking at work. OWCP accepted his walking duties but found the medical evidence did not explain how they caused the diagnosed conditions. The Board agreed: his doctors’…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Detroit, MI
D.S. (ECAB 15-0606): New leg impairment rating returned for review
D.S., a postal custodian with accepted sciatica and lumbar radiculopathy, had previously been denied a schedule award because an earlier examination found no ratable leg impairment. On reconsideration, he submitted a new physician’s rating of 15 percent left leg impairment based on later motor and…
M.R. and Department of the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, UT
M.R. (ECAB 15-0529): Hearing loss did not qualify for a schedule award
M.R., a retired Air Force Base employee, had accepted work-related hearing loss and tinnitus. OWCP authorized hearing aids but denied a schedule award because the medical evaluation found no ratable hearing impairment. The Board agreed that the hearing loss did not meet the schedule award…
S.B. and Department of the Army, Installation Management Command, Fort Bliss, TX
S.B. (ECAB 14-1971): Claim returned for review of medical evidence
S.B., an Army security guard and police officer, claimed that work activities caused pelvic and lumbar symptoms. OWCP accepted that the alleged work events occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting the conditions to work. On reconsideration, OWCP misidentified some…
K.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
K.C. (ECAB 14-1798): Reconsideration denial upheld
K.C., a postal employee, challenged a reduction of her compensation to zero after OWCP found that she had not complied with vocational rehabilitation. She sought reconsideration and submitted statements and medical records. The Board reviewed only OWCP’s later refusal to reopen the claim, because…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Graceland Station, Chicago, IL
M.B. (ECAB 14-1689): Leg impairment review returned for a new medical opinion
M.B., a postal worker with accepted foot conditions, had received schedule awards for 23 percent right leg and 16 percent left leg impairment. She sought a greater award. OWCP relied on a second opinion physician who evaluated her as though bilateral tarsal tunnel syndrome were not an accepted…
E.C. and Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Washington, DC
E.C. (ECAB 14-1467): Benefit termination and overpayment upheld
E.C., a Department of Education vocational rehabilitation specialist, received compensation for a work-related knee and thoracic injury. OWCP ended her wage-loss and medical benefits after a referral physician found no remaining injury-related condition. The Board upheld that finding and determined…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baton Rouge, LA
R.C. (ECAB 14-1098): Late reconsideration request denied
R.C., a postal worker, sought to reopen a denial of disability benefits related to an accepted 1988 work injury. He requested reconsideration in November 2013, years after the last merits decision. OWCP treated the request as late and found that his new medical evidence did not clearly show an…
R.M. and Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC
R.M. (ECAB 14-1083): Schedule award claim reopened for merits review
R.M., a Smithsonian utility systems repair operator, sought a schedule award for impairment after an accepted workplace fall. OWCP denied the award and later refused to reopen his claim. The Board found that OWCP’s earlier decision and medical adviser had not addressed an impairment evaluation…
M.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh, PA
M.O. (ECAB 14-1077): Conflicting knee impairment ratings sent for resolution
M.O., a postal worker, had received schedule awards totaling 31 percent impairment of his right leg after an accepted knee injury and later surgery. His physician rated impairment at 59 percent, while OWCP’s medical adviser rated it at 31 percent. The Board found that both physicians supported…
Secretary of Labor v. Jeppesen Gravel
Sanctions denied but trial evidence limited
The Secretary sought sanctions after Jeppesen Gravel, a small pro se operator, allegedly failed to provide complete discovery responses in a case involving 18 citations. Judge Priscilla M. Rae found that Jeppesen had responded to the extent of his abilities and that the Secretary's multiple sets of…
L.T. and Department of the Air Force, MacDill Air Force Commissary, MacDill, FL
L.T. (ECAB 15-0637): Additional shoulder award claim stayed closed
L.T., a former Air Force commissary meat cutter, had received a schedule award for 27 percent impairment of his left arm after an accepted shoulder injury. OWCP later denied an additional award. He asked OWCP to reconsider, saying his shoulder had worsened and requesting help finding a physician to…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brookland, NY
A.D. (ECAB 15-0618): Termination of ankle injury benefits upheld
A.D., a postal carrier, received benefits after a work-related left ankle fracture. OWCP terminated wage-loss and medical benefits after an impartial physician found that the accepted fracture had resolved without residuals. The Board gave that opinion controlling weight and found that the treating…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Honolulu, HI
J.B. (ECAB 15-0393): Late reconsideration of knee claim denied
J.B., a postal letter carrier, claimed that years of standing and walking at work aggravated his right knee condition. After OWCP denied the claim, he submitted a request for reconsideration more than one year after the last merits decision. The Board found that the request was late and that the…
M.P. and Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Jamaica, NY
M.P. (ECAB 15-0383): One percent elbow impairment award upheld
M.P., an FDA microbiologist, injured his left elbow in a fall and received a schedule award for one percent impairment of his left arm. His treating physician proposed a 25 percent rating, but the Board found that the report did not explain the calculations required by the impairment guides. A…
J.F. and Department of Defense, Education Activity, Alexandria, VA
J.F. (ECAB 15-0360): Claimed disability periods not established
J.F., a Defense Department employee, claimed wage-loss compensation for two periods in 2013 and 2014 based on accepted hand and wrist injuries. An OWCP second opinion physician found that he could perform the modified custodial position with restrictions. The Board found that his treating physician…
M.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ
M.P. (ECAB 15-0113): Knee-related disability recurrence recognized
M.P., a postal employee with accepted knee conditions, sought compensation for a recurrence of disability after an earlier termination of wage-loss benefits. OWCP denied the claim based on a physician’s view that he could do some light duty. The Board observed that the same physician said M.P…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Metro, GA
T.B. (ECAB 15-0001): Termination of benefits upheld after impartial examination
T.B., a postal carrier, received benefits for injuries accepted after a work-related vehicle collision. OWCP ended those benefits after an impartial physician found no remaining work-related strain or disability. On this appeal, she argued that OWCP’s questions and case materials had improperly…
M.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Dominick V. Daniels Center, Kearny, NJ
M.D. (ECAB 14-1335): Right leg rating upheld, left leg rating returned
M.D., a postal employee, sought greater schedule awards for impairment of both legs. The Board upheld OWCP’s 21 percent right leg rating because the supporting physician and medical adviser properly applied the impairment guides. For the left leg, the physician and medical adviser disagreed on…
H.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Austin, TX
H.W. (ECAB 14-1315): Life insurance overpayment calculation returned
H.W., a postal clerk receiving disability compensation, was told that OWCP had failed to deduct postretirement life insurance premiums and that she owed $9,893.27. The Board found that OWCP had not documented the retroactive start date or explained why premiums were charged during a period when she…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jackson, MS
M.M. (ECAB 14-1021): Impairment awards returned for medical development
M.M., a former postal employee, had received schedule awards for impairments affecting both legs and her left arm after accepted foot and shoulder conditions. OWCP later modified prior awards to zero impairment based on a second opinion examination and began overpayment proceedings. The Board found…
United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Respondent/Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 723, AFL-CIO (Charging Party/Union)
USGS Great Lakes Science Center and AFGE Local 723 (FLRA CH-CA-13-0115): Agency ordered to restore vessel meal allowances
The U.S. Geological Survey reduced meal and incidental expense allowances for employees assigned to research vessels on four Great Lakes. The union said the agency had changed a long-standing working condition without bargaining. The Authority upheld the unfair labor practice finding: the agency…
Mack Strickland
Insulator wage rate sent back for review
Insulator Mack Strickland challenged the wage rates added to two federal construction wage determinations for barracks renovation work in Georgia. The Wage and Hour Division had approved an insulator classification at $13 an hour in each determination. The Board upheld the classification and rate…
United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
Customs and Border Protection and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-4968): Reconsideration of scheduling award denied
An arbitrator found that Customs and Border Protection had used unlawful schedules for some employees from 2004 to 2008 and ordered a claims process for backpay. The Authority had already dismissed or denied the agency's challenges to that award. The agency sought reconsideration, arguing that the…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prisons Local 33 (Union)
Bureau of Prisons and AFGE Council 33 (FLRA 0-AR-4941): Cell phone reimbursement change required bargaining
The Bureau of Prisons issued a nationwide memo changing how employees on work travel claimed reimbursement for personal cell phone calls. An arbitrator found that the memo changed procedures at some facilities and that the bureau should have bargained with the union before issuing it. The Authority…
M.S. and Department of the Navy, Strategic Systems Program, Mitchell Field, NY
M.S. (ECAB 14-1079): Workplace collapse claim denied
M.S., a Navy employee, was found unconscious at work and sustained a brain injury. Her representative argued that she had eaten at work before collapsing and that a delay in aid contributed to the injury. The Board found the evidence did not establish an on-premises meal linked to the collapse or a…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1034 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Pollock, Louisiana (Agency)
AFGE Local 1034 and Pollock prison complex (FLRA 0-AR-5087): Overtime remedy changed to backpay
An arbitrator found that a federal prison complex had offered overtime to supervisors before bargaining-unit employees, contrary to its agreement with the union. He ordered an audit to identify affected employees and directed the prison to offer them make-up overtime, but did not award backpay. The…
B.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Lexington, KY
B.M. (ECAB 15-0273): Dual-benefit overpayment upheld
B.M., a former VA nurse, received FECA compensation while also receiving Social Security benefits partly based on federal service. OWCP determined that the overlap created a $103,158.42 overpayment. The Board upheld that amount and found her at fault because her benefit disclosure forms denied…
G.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Weirton, WV
G.L. (ECAB 14-2041): Knee replacement impairment award upheld
G.L., a postal letter carrier, received a schedule award for 25 percent impairment of his right leg after a work-related aggravation of knee arthritis and an authorized knee replacement. His evaluating physician proposed a 59 percent rating, while OWCP’s medical adviser rated the replacement as a…
C.S. and Department of Health and Human Services, National Disaster Medical Services, Bethesda, MD
C.S. (ECAB 14-1994): Refusal to reopen claim affirmed
C.S., a federal health technician and paramedic, claimed that an infection diagnosed after a deployment to Haiti arose from that work. After earlier denials, he sought reconsideration with his attorney’s argument, general medical publications, and diagnostic tests. The Board found that these…
C.S. and Department of Health and Human Services, National Disaster Medical Services, Bethesda, MD
C.S. (ECAB 14-1994): Reconsideration granted to correct decision date
C.S.’s counsel identified a wrong year for an earlier Board decision in the jurisdictional paragraph of the Board’s January 21, 2015 ruling. The Board agreed that the date should read April 24, 2014 and granted reconsideration to correct it. It directed reissue of the decision with that correction…
H.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Redding, CA
H.H. (ECAB 14-1985): Wage-earning capacity reduction returned for review
H.H., a postal worker with accepted knee conditions, had his compensation reduced after OWCP found that he could earn wages as an information clerk. OWCP relied on a second opinion that he could perform sedentary work. The Board found that OWCP had overlooked his treating surgeon’s contrary report…
E.W. and U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, MD
E.W. (ECAB 14-1977): Additional shoulder impairment award denied
E.W., a Coast Guard electrician, had already received schedule awards totaling 46 percent impairment of his right arm after accepted shoulder injuries. An updated physician’s rating found 26 percent impairment, below the amount previously awarded. The Board found no medical basis for an additional…
T.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
T.O. (ECAB 14-1186): Termination of neck and wrist benefits upheld
T.O., a postal carrier, received benefits for accepted carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical radiculopathy. OWCP terminated the benefits after an impartial specialist found that the work-related conditions had resolved. The Board upheld the specialist’s selection and found his opinion well reasoned…
K.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
K.Y. (ECAB 14-0739): Overpayment upheld, waiver decision returned
K.Y., a postal employee, received total disability compensation after returning to part-time work, creating an $11,597.32 overpayment. The Board upheld the overpayment amount and found she was without fault. OWCP had denied waiver after saying she failed to respond to a later questionnaire, but she…
A.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
A.D. (ECAB 14-0253): Wage-earning capacity ruling affirmed
A.D., a VA nurse, challenged OWCP’s wage-earning capacity determination and the pay rate used in its calculation. The Board found that OWCP had corrected an earlier holiday-pay figure and properly calculated her remaining wage-earning capacity. The medical evidence did not establish a work-related…
A.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
A.D. (ECAB 14-0253): Misaddressed decision ordered reissued
The Board had prepared a decision affirming OWCP’s wage-earning capacity ruling in A.D.’s case. Its clerk mailed that decision to an incorrect address. The Board held that the mailing error meant the decision had not been properly issued and ordered it reissued. The order did not change the…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Pollock, Louisiana (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals #33, Local 1034 (Union)
Pollock prison complex and AFGE Local 1034 (FLRA 0-AR-4942): Reconsideration of backpay ruling denied
A correctional officer lost overtime opportunities while the Pollock prison complex investigated an inmate's accusation against him. An arbitrator awarded backpay, but the Authority had set the award aside because the arbitrator did not find that the agency violated a law, rule, regulation, or…
Black Beauty Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor
Accident-site citation settled after remand
A roof bolter at Black Beauty Coal's Air Quality No. 1 Mine was struck by fallen roof material, remained able to walk, and was treated for contusions and abrasions. Black Beauty reported the event to MSHA but resumed mining at the roof-fall site before an inspector arrived, leading to a citation…
Matter of P. SINGH, Attorney
Impersonating legal assistant warrants suspension
The Board reviewed disciplinary action against P. Singh, a California attorney. The Executive Office for Immigration Review alleged that Singh enlisted a legal assistant to impersonate him during telephonic appearances in at least eight cases, and the adjudicating official sustained the charges…
D.T. and Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
D.T. (ECAB 15-0812): Hearing loss claim returned for medical opinion
D.T., an Army depot equipment operator, claimed that workplace noise contributed to his hearing loss. OWCP accepted the noise exposure but denied the claim after its referral physician attributed left-ear loss to a condition predating federal employment. The Board found that the physician had not…
O.H. and Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, LA
O.H. (ECAB 15-0778): Back condition recurrence not established
O.H., an Army Corps civil engineering technician, claimed that an accepted 2003 lumbar disc injury again required treatment in 2011. His medical benefits had remained available, but the claim sought recognition of a recurrence after years without documented treatment for the accepted condition. The…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, White Plains, NY
A.S. (ECAB 15-0614): Back injury claim after fall denied
A.S., a postal carrier, slipped on ice at work and reported back pain after the fall. OWCP denied his claim for a back condition. The Board found that his physicians described the fall and his symptoms but did not adequately explain how it caused a new back condition or aggravated a preexisting…
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.