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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L.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Beaverton, OR
L.R. (ECAB 15-0105): Schedule award merit review denied
L.R., a retired Postal Service letter carrier with accepted back and knee injuries, sought a schedule award. OWCP denied the award, and he requested reconsideration with medical reports and objections to its impairment assessment. The Board found that the new reports did not address permanent…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
J.R. (ECAB 14-1728): Date-of-injury pay rate affirmed
J.R., a Postal Service custodian, worked in modified-duty positions after a 2006 injury. When the Postal Service withdrew his light-duty work in 2012, he sought compensation at a recurrent pay rate. The Board held that his modified assignments were not regular full-time employment, so the statutory…
L.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Miami Vehicle Maintenance Facility, Miami, FL
L.J. (ECAB 14-1597): Traumatic injury claim denied
L.J., a Postal Service mail handler, alleged that she hurt her back while opening station gates on July 22, 2013. The Board found that she had not established the incident as alleged. She filed her claim months later, her medical forms listed a different injury date, and the record did not identify…
A.P. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Newark, NJ
A.P. (ECAB 14-1409): Recurrence and additional conditions denied
A.P., a federal detention and removal assistant, had an accepted right elbow and ulnar nerve injury. He later claimed three recurrences of disability and sought to add several cervical, arm, and shoulder conditions. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately explain why he could…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1336 (Union) and Social Security Administration (Agency)
AFGE Local 1336 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-AR-5084): Employee suspensions upheld
The Social Security Administration suspended an employee for two days after a customer interaction and failure to follow supervisory instructions, then for fourteen days after later workplace incidents. An arbitrator denied the union's grievances challenging both suspensions. The Authority rejected…
Matter of Alcibiades Antonio PENA, Respondent
Matter of Alcibiades Antonio PENA (BIA ID 3842): returning permanent residents must be charged under the proper provision
The Board reviewed the removal case of a Dominican citizen who had been granted lawful permanent resident status and later returned to the United States after travel abroad. The Immigration Judge treated him as an arriving alien and sustained inadmissibility charges based on alleged fraud and…
John Peroulis & Sons Sheep, Inc.
H-2A worker discharge dispute returned for fact finding
A Colorado sheep ranch discharged an H-2A worker and was ordered to pay wages, travel costs, and civil penalties. The administrative law judge had relied on the ranch's failure to give prompt written notice of the discharge. On appeal, the Wage and Hour Division abandoned that ground and urged the…
Kruse v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co.
Agreed $105,611.46 fee award ordered
The Board had previously found that Norfolk Southern Railway retaliated against employee Marcus Kruse after he reported an injury. Kruse was entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs under the Federal Rail Safety Act. The parties later submitted a joint stipulation setting the amount at…
W.P. and Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
W.P. (ECAB 15-0840): Hearing loss schedule award denied
W.P., an Army depot mechanic, claimed a schedule award for workplace noise related hearing loss and tinnitus. The Board agreed that the audiogram and the applicable impairment formula yielded zero percent binaural hearing loss. His loss was therefore not ratable, and tinnitus could not produce an…
J.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Saint Ann, MO
J.C. (ECAB 15-0824): Intermittent disability claim denied
J.C., a transportation security officer with an accepted knee sprain, sought wage-loss compensation for March 29 and April 1, 4, and 5, 2014. The Board found no medical evidence that she was unable to perform her restricted work or attended injury-related treatment on those dates. Her surgery was…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
D.S. (ECAB 15-0626): Increased schedule award and merit review denied
D.S., a Postal Service mail handler, sought an increased schedule award for her right arm after having received an award for 17 percent impairment. The Board found that the current shoulder rating was lower than the previously awarded shoulder rating and did not establish greater overall…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kearny, NJ
K.B. (ECAB 15-0498): Termination of compensation affirmed
K.B., a Postal Service mail handler, received compensation for accepted shoulder and arm conditions. OWCP later terminated benefits based on an independent examiner’s finding that the accepted conditions had resolved and she could work without restrictions. The Board found that the examiner’s…
Social Security Administration (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1395, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1395 (FLRA CH-CA-10-0370): Overtime change complaint dismissed
A Social Security Administration hearing office in Indianapolis told employees that overtime for two upcoming workweeks would end at 6 p.m. The union said this changed an established practice of allowing later overtime without prior bargaining. An administrative law judge found that the office had…
B.J. and Department of the Army, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX
B.J. (ECAB 15-0795): Merit review refusal affirmed
B.J., an Army depot forklift operator, sought reconsideration of a denied occupational disease claim involving back and eye conditions. His new physician report described diagnoses and work restrictions but did not address whether accepted work activities caused those conditions. The Board held…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
L.G. (ECAB 15-0788): Wage-earning capacity reduction affirmed
L.G., a Postal Service mail handler, received disability compensation for accepted foot conditions. OWCP reduced her benefits after vocational review identified a reasonably available customer complaint clerk position. The Board found that the job’s duties fit the medical restrictions documented by…
L.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Seattle, WA
L.G. (ECAB 15-0752): Injury claim denial affirmed
L.G., a federal investigator, claimed injury after a vehicle collision while she was pregnant. The Board found that the submitted physician reports did not establish a diagnosed injury from the incident. Her chiropractor’s opinion did not qualify as physician evidence under FECA because no spinal…
J.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Tampa, FL
J.P. (ECAB 15-0711): Continuing disability claim denied
J.P., a Veterans Affairs nursing assistant, sustained an accepted fracture of his left great toe. His treating physician found that the fracture had resolved, and the record contained no medical evidence linking work disability or ongoing treatment on or after December 18, 2014 to that injury. The…
P.J., widow of S.J., and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashville, TN
P.J. (ECAB 15-0686): Survivor benefits denied
P.J. sought survivor benefits after her husband, a Postal Service carrier with accepted right knee injuries, died in 2013. His death certificate identified pneumonia as the immediate cause. The Board found no reasoned medical opinion connecting his death to the accepted knee conditions or his…
S.O. and Social Security Administration, Los Angeles Teleservice Center, Los Angeles, CA
S.O. (ECAB 15-0357): Emotional condition claim remanded
S.O., a Social Security teleservice representative, claimed an emotional condition after a June 2014 meeting with his supervisor. The Board found that OWCP had not sought the employer’s account of the disputed events, leaving the factual record too incomplete to resolve the claim. It set aside the…
K.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Duluth, GA
K.J. (ECAB 15-0034): Traumatic injury claim denied
K.J., a Postal Service mail processing clerk, alleged injury after a coworker collided with her at work. The Board accepted the incident but found that the medical opinions did not adequately explain how it caused a diagnosed condition. Some records reported symptoms rather than a diagnosis, and…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 32 (Union) and United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Automated Collection Service, Denver, Colorado (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 32 and IRS Denver (FLRA 0-AR-4967): Attorney fees denied after leave grievance
After a snowstorm changed their start time, IRS employees disputed how much administrative leave and work time should appear on their timesheets. An arbitrator ruled for the union on the underlying grievance but denied its request for attorney fees after the Authority sent that issue back for…
Mark L. Lujan v. Signal Peak Energy, LLC
Medical-condition work-refusal claim required a hearing
Mark Lujan alleged that Signal Peak suspended and later terminated him after gout flare-ups made him unable to walk and, in his view, unsafe to enter the mine. Signal Peak sought summary decision, arguing that a medical absence was not protected activity, that Lujan left after time-sheet…
Windfall Oil & Gas, Inc.
In re Windfall Oil & Gas, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal Nos. 14-73 through 14-190): UIC permit review denied
EPA Region 3 issued Windfall Oil & Gas, Inc. a Class II Underground Injection Control permit for the Zelman #1 disposal well in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. One hundred eighteen petitioners challenged the permit, raising concerns about the area of review, the geologic confining layer, natural…
Santiago v. Metro-North Commuter Railroad Co., Inc.
Santiago v. Metro-North Commuter Railroad Co. (DOL ARB 2013-0062): June 2015 medical treatment ruling later vacated
Anthony Santiago alleged that Metro-North interfered with medical treatment for his work-related back injury by reclassifying it as unrelated to work. After an earlier Board remand, an administrative law judge found interference and awarded damages. In this June 2015 decision, the Board upheld the…
R.E. and Department of the Air Force, Air Combat Command, Randolph Air Force Base, TX
R.E. (ECAB 15-0750): Late reconsideration request denied
R.E., an Air Force employee, sought reconsideration of a denied back injury claim after the one-year filing period. The Board found the request untimely and held that the new medical report did not show clear evidence of error in OWCP’s earlier decision. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to reopen the…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Southern Maryland Processing & Distribution Center, Capital Heights, MD
M.S. (ECAB 15-0685): Wage earning capacity request sent back for merits review
M.S., a postal mail handler with an accepted herniated disc, received reduced compensation after OWCP found he could earn wages as a general clerk. Years later he asked OWCP to restore full compensation, asserting that his physical and mental conditions prevented work and that he had been…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bradenton, FL
L.C. (ECAB 15-0643): Mail truck collision injury claim denied for lack of medical link
L.C., a postal carrier, reported a neck injury after a car struck the back of her mail truck. OWCP accepted that the collision happened but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not explain how it caused her condition. The Board found that the emergency room record and chiropractor’s…
A.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Trenton, NJ
A.G. (ECAB 15-0616): Knee condition claim denied for lack of medical explanation
A.G., a retired postal letter carrier, claimed that years of walking, standing, and carrying mail injured both knees. OWCP’s hearing representative accepted his account of his work duties but upheld the claim denial because the medical evidence did not establish a causal link. His osteopath…
C.B. and Department of the Army, Guthrie Clinic, Fort Drum, NY
C.B. (ECAB 15-0503): Right arm impairment award denied
C.B., an Army nursing assistant, sought a schedule award for right arm impairment after an accepted neck injury from a fall at work. Her physician estimated a 60 percent loss of arm use but did not rate impairment under the required A.M.A. Guides. An OWCP referral orthopedist and medical adviser…
S.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Diego, CA
S.C. (ECAB 15-0010): Benefit termination reversed because offered work exceeded restrictions
S.C., a postal mail handler with accepted back conditions, lost benefits after she left a modified job that OWCP considered suitable. OWCP based the job offer on her treating physician’s restrictions. The Board found that an impartial medical examiner’s more restrictive opinion deserved greater…
Scott D. McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Part 90 pay cut held discriminatory before relief phase
Scott McGlothlin was a continuous-miner operator who began the medical evaluation process for Part 90 protection after being diagnosed with pneumoconiosis. While that evaluation was pending, Dominion permanently reassigned him to less-dusty scoop work and reduced his hourly pay from $35 to $25.67…
Secretary of Labor v. Mize Granite Quarries, Inc.
Fall-protection citation settled at $27,250
An MSHA inspector observed a miner drilling without fall protection on a sloping quarry ledge, within six feet of an edge more than 20 feet above the quarry floor. Mize Granite conceded the violation but argued that the proposed $45,000 penalty would threaten its ability to remain in business…
Matter of J-R-R-A-, Respondent
Matter of J-R-R-A- (BIA ID 3841): competency concerns require a careful asylum credibility assessment
The Board reviewed a Honduran respondent's asylum, withholding, and Convention Against Torture claims after the Immigration Judge found him removable and denied relief. The record showed that the respondent had difficulty answering basic questions, gave confusing and disjointed testimony, and might…
Swinney v. Fluor Corp.
One-day-late petition dismissed
Qingming Swinney asked the Board to review an administrative law judge's dismissal of her Sarbanes-Oxley complaint against Fluor. The judge issued the decision on March 31, 2015 without the notice of appeal rights usually included in such orders. Swinney received it on April 6 and filed her…
V.W. and Department of the Air Force, Anderson Air Force Base, Guam
V.W. (ECAB 15-0640): Termination of compensation and medical benefits upheld
V.W., an Air Force program technician, had accepted left arm conditions after a fall at work. Her wage loss compensation had been reduced to zero in 2000 because she did not participate in vocational rehabilitation; in 2014 she offered to participate. OWCP then terminated entitlement to wage loss…
C.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Lexington, KY
C.B. (ECAB 15-0570): Brain injury and bipolar aggravation claim denied
C.B., a VA social worker, reported striking her head on a steering wheel in a vehicle accident during work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her claim for a traumatic brain injury and aggravation of a preexisting bipolar condition. The Board found that the physicians who…
R.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, San Antonio, TX
R.M. (ECAB 15-0062): Hearing loss and tinnitus claim denied
R.M., a DHS special agent, reported years of occupational noise exposure, including firearms training. OWCP accepted the exposure but denied his claim for binaural hearing loss and tinnitus. The Board credited an OWCP specialist’s audiogram showing no sensorineural hearing loss. That specialist…
T.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Southeast Station, Oklahoma City, OK
T.C. (ECAB 14-2023): Thirteen percent left leg impairment award upheld
T.C., a postal letter carrier, received a schedule award for 13 percent left leg impairment after an accepted ankle injury and two surgeries. Her treating podiatrist rated impairment at 50 percent, but the Board found that his report lacked supporting detail and misidentified the classification in…
B.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Mail Processing Annex, Indianapolis, IN
B.A. (ECAB 14-1741): Shoulder claim remanded for medical development
B.A., a postal mail handler, claimed that years of regular duties and later modified work aggravated a left shoulder condition. The Board accepted his account of the work activities. His physician linked a rotator cuff tear and tendinopathy to those duties but did not explain medically how they…
L.K. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, CA
L.K. (ECAB 14-0820): Claim expansion sent back for a medical opinion
L.K., an FBI clerk, injured her right wrist and arm while lifting mail crates at work. OWCP accepted wrist and shoulder conditions; the appeal concerned her claimed cervical spine and right brachial plexus conditions. OWCP referred her to an orthopedist, but its request did not specifically ask…
K.T. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Chicago, IL
K.T. (ECAB 14-0218): Dental claim denied; authorized treatment payment left open
K.T., a DOL claims examiner, reported breaking a tooth while biting a cracker at her desk during work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her dental injury claim. Her dentist diagnosed a broken tooth and checked a box linking it to work without explaining the connection, which the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2058 (Union) and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Agency)
AFGE Local 2058 and Independence National Historical Park (FLRA 0-NG-3234): Park agreement provisions split
The National Park Service disapproved several provisions of its agreement with a union at Independence National Historical Park. The Authority ruled that a broad ban on routine camera monitoring at employee duty stations conflicted with the park's security practices, but separate limits on camera…
B.T. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
B.T. (ECAB 15-0786): Injury claim denied because assault did not arise from work
B.T., an IRS criminal investigator, reported injuries after a coworker threw her to the floor at work. She and the coworker had previously been in a personal relationship. OWCP denied the claim because the dispute did not arise from work. The Board held that being on duty and at the workplace alone…
V.N. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
V.N. (ECAB 15-0649): Late reconsideration request denied
V.N., a VA patient services assistant with accepted carpal tunnel syndrome, sought coverage for a related emotional condition. OWCP denied that claim in January 2011. Her December 2014 reconsideration request came more than a year later, so OWCP refused to reopen the case. The Board found that a…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Federal Way, WA
J.R. (ECAB 15-0513): Three days of wage loss compensation allowed
J.R., a postal letter carrier with accepted hand conditions, had surgery for a trigger finger. OWCP paid some time off but denied compensation for October 1 through 3, 2014, believing her surgeon had released her to work on October 1. The Board found that one scanned copy of the surgeon’s form made…
J.S. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Honolulu, HI
J.S. (ECAB 15-0510): Hotel gym injury outside work coverage
J.S., a Bureau of Prisons psychologist traveling for work training, injured his knee while running on a treadmill in his hotel gym. OWCP denied the claim because the injury did not occur in the performance of duty. The Board found that the workout was voluntary personal recreation, which the…
L.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration New Jersey Health Care System, Lyons, NJ
L.B. (ECAB 14-1687): Termination of compensation and medical benefits upheld
L.B., a VA nurse, received benefits for accepted contusions after a fall at work. OWCP ended wage loss compensation and medical benefits based on a second opinion physician’s finding that the accepted conditions had resolved. The Board found that opinion detailed and well reasoned, meeting OWCP’s…
T.S. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM
T.S. (ECAB 14-0807): Emotional condition claim denied for lack of covered work factor
T.S., a Forest Service administrative support clerk, attributed an emotional condition to extra duties, work assignments, her dealings with a new supervisor, and financial strain. The Board found that she had volunteered for the temporary extra duties and that the record did not establish a…
M.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sutter Creek, CA
M.O. (ECAB 14-0706): Overpayment finding set aside for missing forfeiture findings
M.O., a postal employee receiving compensation, had reported no work activity on annual forms while selling items at her farm and offering tours. OWCP concluded that she had forfeited compensation and owed $148,642.64, finding her at fault. The Board held that OWCP had not adequately addressed…
G.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Pittsburgh, PA
G.W. (ECAB 14-0593): Airport officer’s fall excluded as a personal medical event
G.W., a transportation security officer with diabetes, fainted at work and injured his head. He said that a supervisor had delayed a medically needed break, contributing to his fall. The Board found that his diabetes caused the fainting episode and that he struck the floor without hitting any…
MDC Drywall, Inc.
Repeat aerial-lift violation affirmed with reduced penalty
OSHA observed two MDC Drywall employees in an aerial-lift basket about 24 feet above a mall parking lot in Oklahoma City. The foreman wore a harness and lanyard but had not attached it to the lift, while the other employee wore no harness or lanyard. The foreman's knowledge was imputed to the…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Forrest City, Arkansas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals #33, Local 922 (Union)
Forrest City prison complex and AFGE Local 922 (FLRA 0-AR-4913): Promotion award upheld after mistaken investigation
A federal prison mistakenly opened a misconduct investigation of a correctional officer after an inmate complained about a different officer with a similar surname. The prison left the investigation open even after learning of the mistake and considered it when denying the first officer a…
A.T. and Department of the Army, Tank Automotive & Armaments Command, Texarkana, TX
A.T. (ECAB 15-0632): Lubricant exposure established, but injury claim still denied
A.T., an Army equipment mechanic, said he inhaled spray lubricant while coating gears and became dizzy. OWCP rejected his claim, finding both that the incident was unproven and that the medical evidence did not establish an injury. The Board found that the May 28, 2013 exposure did occur, relying…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chariton, IA
R.S. (ECAB 15-0576): Left knee condition not linked to accepted 2009 injury
R.S., a postal clerk, had an accepted right knee and shoulder injury from a 2009 fall while delivering mail. She later asked OWCP to add a left knee meniscus tear, saying she favored the injured right leg after returning to work. The Board found that her account and her surgeon’s opinion pointed to…
T.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Attleboro, MA
T.G. (ECAB 15-0566): Insurance premium overpayment found, amount and fault remanded
T.G., a postal clerk receiving disability compensation, elected to keep full basic life insurance coverage. OWCP failed to deduct the required premiums and found a $1,116.47 overpayment for February through November 2013, charging him with fault. The Board agreed that the missed deductions created…
D.V. and Department of the Air Force, Travis Air Force Base, CA
D.V. (ECAB 15-0402): Disability claim denied after referee medical opinion
D.V., an Air Force secretary, had an accepted carpal tunnel condition and sought disability compensation after April 4, 1993. Earlier Board decisions had sent the case back because the medical conflict about continuing disability had not been properly resolved. A later referee physician reviewed…
W.T. and Department of Defense, Education Activity, Fort Knox, KY
W.T. (ECAB 14-1729): Surgery for ruptured finger tendon denied
W.T., a first grade teacher, injured her right wrist while opening a classroom door. OWCP accepted a wrist sprain and hand and wrist tenosynovitis, but declined to authorize later surgery for a ruptured right index finger tendon. Her surgeon suggested that the rupture could have developed from the…
Secretary of Labor v. Austin Powder Company
Explosives storage area held within MSHA jurisdiction
Austin Powder provided blasting services at Parsons Quarry and leased an explosives storage area located within the quarry property. After MSHA cited conditions at that facility, the company argued that the storage site fell outside Mine Act jurisdiction and that inconsistent earlier enforcement…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining LLC
$642,196 settlement approved
MSHA cited Peabody Midwest Mining for failing to provide requested Part 50 information and later proposed a $4,000 daily penalty until the company complied. The underlying citation was affirmed by the Seventh Circuit, and the daily penalty accrued to approximately $2.76 million before Peabody said…
Matter of Mario A. FAJARDO ESPINOZA, Respondent
Matter of Mario A. FAJARDO ESPINOZA (BIA ID 3840): Family Unity benefits do not count as an admission
The Board reviewed the removal case of a Mexican respondent who received Family Unity Program benefits in 2002 and became a lawful permanent resident in 2005. After a 2012 conviction for possessing methamphetamine, the Immigration Judge found him removable and denied cancellation of removal and…
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.