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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B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
B.C. (ECAB 14-1659): Occupational disease claim barred by filing deadline
B.C., a former postal worker, filed a 2013 claim alleging that her earlier work aggravated a connective tissue disorder and neck pain. She had stopped working for the Postal Service in January 1989. The Board found that her claim was filed more than 24 years after her last exposure to the alleged…
S.R. and Department of the Army, Joint Munitions & Lethality Life Cycle Management Command, Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, AR
S.R. (ECAB 15-0658): Reconsideration denial upheld because evidence was repeated
S.R., an Army equipment repair inspector, attributed shoulder conditions to painting and using powered tools. OWCP had denied his claim for lack of medical evidence linking the conditions to his work. In a later request for reconsideration, he repeated his view that earlier medical reports…
A.C. and Department of the Air Force, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, GA
A.C. (ECAB 15-0354): Knee incident not established as alleged
A.C., an Air Force logistics specialist, said her left knee popped while she walked to her car outside her workplace. The Board found that her accounts of the event varied and that she had not disclosed earlier knee symptoms and treatment when asked about prior problems. It therefore held that she…
S.H. and Department of Health & Human Services, Social Security Administration, Richmond, CA
S.H. (ECAB 15-0316): Disability and emotional condition claims sent back for medical review
S.H., a Social Security Administration claims examiner, had accepted shoulder and neck conditions and sought disability compensation beginning July 1, 2013. She also claimed an emotional condition resulting from her accepted injuries. The Board found a medical conflict over whether those injuries…
C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Haledon, NJ
C.R. (ECAB 14-2072): Repeated medical opinion did not reopen postal injury claim
C.R., a postal letter carrier, claimed that carrying mail on a delivery route injured her back and right leg. OWCP denied the claim because the medical evidence did not establish a causal link to the work incident. She sought reconsideration, resubmitting an orthopedic surgeon’s report and an…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Mid-Carolinas District, Charlotte, NC
L.W. (ECAB 14-1984): Attendance meeting did not establish a covered emotional condition
L.W., a postal employee, attributed an anxiety episode to a supervisor’s meeting about late arrival and attendance. She alleged that the supervisor spoke abusively, questioned her ability to work, and told her to submit a leave slip. The Board found no evidence supporting the disputed remarks or…
UtahAmerican Energy, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Outburst reporting plan survives summary challenge
UtahAmerican Energy challenged additions to the Lila Canyon Mine's roof control plan for violent or unusually frequent coal and rock outbursts. The provisions required immediate notice to MSHA, a temporary production stop, restricted access while hazards were addressed, and a safety determination…
Eagle Mine LLC
In re Eagle Mine LLC (EAB UIC Appeal No. 15-01): petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Save the Wild U.P. asked the Environmental Appeals Board to review a groundwater discharge permit that Michigan issued to Eagle Mine LLC. The petitioner argued that the discharge should instead be regulated under an NPDES permit and asked the Board to require Michigan or EPA to act. The Board…
D.A. and Department of the Air Force, Headquarters, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
D.A. (ECAB 15-0734): Compensation reduction for missed rehabilitation upheld
D.A., a former Air Force aircraft electrician with an accepted shoulder injury, had his compensation reduced after he missed vocational training and certification tests for computer work. Earlier Board decisions had upheld that reduction. He again argued that his health prevented participation in…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Boise, ID
A.C. (ECAB 15-0710): Wage earning capacity challenge remanded for proper review
A.C., a postal mail processor with an accepted back injury, had his compensation reduced based on an assessed ability to work as a general clerk. He challenged the job’s suitability, the medical evidence used, and the estimated wages. OWCP treated his request as an untimely application for…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
J.S. (ECAB 15-0663): One percent leg impairment award upheld
J.S., a postal letter carrier, fractured his left fibula after stepping from a vehicle onto uneven ground. He had received a schedule award for one percent impairment of the left leg and sought a larger award based on an earlier physician’s rating. The Board found that a later examination showed…
E.O. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, CA
E.O. (ECAB 15-0635): Bare request did not reopen travel reimbursement dispute
E.O., a Navy computer scientist with accepted injuries from a vehicle accident, sought reimbursement for travel beyond OWCP’s mileage limit and more than four hours of wage loss per medical appointment. OWCP denied those additional amounts, and he requested reconsideration by marking an appeal form…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Southeastern, PA
L.M. (ECAB 15-0543): Surgery and claim expansion remanded after examiner selection error
L.M., a postal processing clerk with accepted right ulnar neuropathy, sought authorization for additional arm procedures and recognition of related conditions. OWCP relied on an examiner selected after more than 20 physicians were bypassed. The Board found that the record did not adequately…
S.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN
S.H. (ECAB 15-0329): Compensation termination reversed over stale local job search
S.H., a former Veterans Affairs nurse, lived in Mississippi after leaving a Minnesota job and receiving compensation for accepted injuries. Her employer offered a telemetry monitoring job in Minnesota, which she declined. The Board accepted a referee physician’s opinion that she could perform the…
GT Tile Loading
Notice of contest held timely and default set aside
An administrative law judge affirmed two serious items and $3,600 in penalties after concluding that GT Tile Loading filed its notice of contest one day late. The Commission recalculated the statutory fifteen-working-day period from the company's December 5, 2014 receipt of the citation. Saturdays…
Larry McMurran, d/b/a Lar's Plumbing, Inc.
Default set aside to examine settlement compliance
An administrative law judge entered default against Lar's Plumbing after the company did not respond to a show-cause order concerning an unfinished settlement agreement. The default affirmed nine serious items and restored the original $12,400 proposed penalty instead of the settlement amount of…
G.U. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oakland, CA
G.U. (ECAB 14-1705): Compensation forfeited for unreported restaurant work
G.U., a postal clerk receiving disability compensation, marked forms stating that she had no work or business activity. An investigation showed that she oversaw staff and performed other tasks at a family sandwich restaurant during the reporting period. She argued that she had no income and…
K.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baton Rouge, LA
K.K. (ECAB 14-0699): Insurance premium overpayment remanded for proof of start date
K.K., a postal mail carrier receiving disability compensation, elected to continue basic life insurance without a reduction in coverage. OWCP said it had failed to deduct premiums from May 2010 through October 2013 and found a $5,178.80 overpayment. The Board found that OWCP’s worksheets calculated…
V.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, New York, NY
V.G. (ECAB 14-0632): Termination upheld after accepted sprains resolved
V.G., a Veterans Affairs nurse, injured her neck and back when a chair tipped and she fell at work. OWCP accepted cervical and lumbar sprains, then ended benefits after an impartial medical examiner found those conditions had resolved. The Board found his opinion detailed and reasoned, giving it…
Globe Energy Services, LLC
Stair-rail item affirmed and exit-route item vacated
Globe Energy Services employees used a metal stairway to reach a platform about 20 feet above oil and saltwater tanks at a Henderson, Texas worksite. The stair rails were 40.5 inches high and lacked an intermediate rail, contrary to the general-industry stairway requirements. Globe's field…
Longhorn Service Company
Mixed ruling on well-rig fall and fire hazards
Longhorn Service Company operated a well-servicing rig near Alexander, North Dakota. The judge affirmed serious items involving an unguarded hole in the rig floor, an inadequately guarded open platform, and improperly maintained and inspected fire extinguishers. A repeat stair-railing item was also…
Secretary of Labor v. Drummond Company, Inc.
Refuge-component citation vacated, companion settled for $963
MSHA cited Drummond after an approved air-monitoring component was not installed in a refuge alternative by the December 31, 2013 deadline. Drummond had ordered the approved component with a confirmed pre-deadline delivery date, but the distributor delivered it one day after the citation. Judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Drummond Company, Inc.
Open mandoor violation affirmed at $2,678
Drummond propped open a ventilation mandoor for at least 90 minutes while a loader pushed a large drainage pipe through it at the gassy Shoal Creek Mine. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that this use defeated the door's purpose of separating intake and return air and disrupted the longwall…
L.B. and Department of the Army, Fort Bragg, NC
L.B. (ECAB 15-0761): Cardiac collapse at work not linked to a work event
L.B., an Army public safety dispatcher, collapsed and had a cardiac arrest while walking from a break room. A physician identified a congenital cardiac condition and suggested that an auditory stimulus at work could have triggered the event. The Board found that opinion speculative and noted that…
M.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Charlotte, NC
M.K. (ECAB 15-0693): Late schedule award reconsideration denied
M.K., a transportation security officer, had an accepted right mid-back strain and sought a permanent impairment award. OWCP denied the award because it did not receive an impairment rating for the accepted condition. More than a year after the last merits decision, she sought reconsideration…
J.G. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Fossil Plant, Drakesboro, KY
J.G. (ECAB 15-0641): Lung disability claim not reopened on repeated evidence
J.G., a retired Tennessee Valley Authority machinist with accepted pneumoconiosis, sought wage loss compensation for April 2011 through December 2013. OWCP denied the claim, finding insufficient proof that the accepted condition caused disability during that period. In seeking reconsideration, he…
L.H. and Department of the Army, Sierra Army Depot, Herlong, CA
L.H. (ECAB 15-0453): Benefits termination upheld after referee opinion
L.H., an Army depot explosives worker, had an accepted low back strain from moving boxes in 1994 and continued to receive compensation years later. A treating physician attributed her ongoing problems to that injury, while an OWCP examiner attributed them to degenerative disease. The Board found…
B.L. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
B.L. (ECAB 15-0428): Appointment pay overpayment set aside
B.L., an IRS employee with accepted injuries from a workplace fall, had received compensation for time spent at medical and physical therapy appointments. OWCP later said some of that pay was improper because she had been recorded as absent without leave during the period, and it found an $851.80…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Duluth, GA
D.H. (ECAB 15-0135): Late disability reconsideration did not show clear error
D.H., a postal clerk, had accepted wrist, knee, and back injuries from a workplace fall and sought compensation for later periods of disability. Nearly two years after OWCP’s last merits decisions, she asked it to reconsider, arguing that a wrist ligament tear and arthritis also resulted from the…
K.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
K.P. (ECAB 14-2019): Compensation termination upheld after suitable job refusal
K.P., a postal maintenance mechanic with accepted knee conditions, was offered a modified repair job. His physician objected to an initial offer that required riding a bicycle and using a rolling stool. The Postal Service removed those tasks and offered a revised position with the physician’s…
J.B. and Department of Justice, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Washington, DC
J.B. (ECAB 14-1914): Collision occurred, but injury claim lacked a firm diagnosis
J.B., a Justice Department employee, was rear-ended while driving a government vehicle to a work assignment. OWCP accepted that the collision occurred but denied her claim for an injury caused by it. The Board found that the physicians’ descriptions of pain and muscle spasm did not establish a firm…
J.P. and Department of the Army, Tank Automotive & Armaments Command, Texarkana, TX
J.P. (ECAB 15-0790): Written record review granted after missing postmark
J.P., an Army mechanic, received a schedule award for two percent permanent impairment of his right leg after a knee injury. He requested review of the written record 30 days after OWCP’s award decision, but OWCP denied the request as late. The case file lacked a legible envelope postmark to…
D.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Metro, GA
D.R. (ECAB 15-0729): Recurrence of disability not linked to accepted back injury
D.R., a postal tractor trailer operator, had an accepted lumbar strain and herniated disc from a 2005 work injury and later worked in a limited duty position. He stopped work in November 2014 and sought compensation for a recurrence of total disability. A physician who discussed proposed back…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albany, OR
R.R. (ECAB 15-0644): Treatment for unaccepted conditions denied
R.R., a rural postal carrier, had accepted right shoulder and neck injuries from a vehicle collision. OWCP had approved acupuncture and osteopathic manipulation for those accepted conditions. Her osteopath later sought treatment covering both arms and shoulders and a rheumatic polymyalgia…
G.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Johnson City, TN
G.H. (ECAB 15-0596): Knee injury claim returned for medical development
G.H., a city postal carrier, reported knee injuries while delivering mail in May 2013 and after stepping off a curb in January 2014. OWCP accepted that the reported events occurred but denied her compensation claim because the medical evidence did not establish that work caused or aggravated her…
S.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Air Cargo Center, Portland, OR
S.K. (ECAB 15-0541): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical explanation
S.K., a postal sorting clerk, reported back pain after bending over a cart at work in July 2013. OWCP accepted that the event occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that her doctors had not adequately explained how the event caused or worsened a diagnosed back condition, especially…
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lake Crystal, MN
P.C. (ECAB 15-0514): Left arm claim denied for insufficient medical reasoning
P.C., a rural postal carrier, reported left arm and shoulder pain that she associated with driving on snowy and icy roads. OWCP did not dispute that she drove in difficult conditions but denied her occupational disease claim. Her doctor diagnosed rotator cuff tendinitis and linked it to driving and…
V.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, San Juan, PR
V.S. (ECAB 14-2028): Training injury claim denied without reasoned medical link
V.S., a customs and border protection officer, reported falling backward during defensive tactics training and injuring his back and left arm. OWCP accepted that the incident happened and that back and arm strain had been diagnosed, but denied compensation because the medical evidence did not…
M.K. and Department of the Navy, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
M.K. (ECAB 14-1746): Wage calculation and reconsideration denials upheld
M.K., a former naval shipyard molder, disputed the pay rate OWCP used to calculate his compensation after a hand injury. He argued that returning to work after the injury entitled him to a higher rate. The Board found no evidence of that return or a higher pay step, and noted that his own…
Peacock Timber Company, Inc.
Lockout, respirator, and noise items affirmed
Peacock Timber operated a seven-employee sawmill in Troy, Alabama. The judge affirmed a serious lockout/tagout item because employees serviced multi-energy-source mill equipment without documented machine-specific procedures. An other-than-serious respirator item was affirmed because employees…
Secretary of Labor v. Vermont Quarries Corporation
Settlement motion denied for unexplained reductions
The Secretary asked to settle citations against Vermont Quarries involving unsecured marble slabs, hazardous overhead ice, unsafe access, inadequate ground examinations, and combustible material near an escapeway. Judge William B. Moran denied the motion because the proposed reductions were not…
Matter of Mario FRANCISCO-ALONZO, Respondent
Matter of Mario FRANCISCO-ALONZO (BIA ID 3839): felony battery is a crime of violence under the ordinary-case test
The Board reviewed the removal case of a Guatemalan lawful permanent resident convicted of felony battery in Florida. The Immigration Judge had terminated the proceedings after finding that the conviction was not categorically a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16(b). The Board held that the…
Keeler v. J.E. Williams Trucking, Inc.
Safety retaliation complaint dismissed
Julie Keeler reported concerns about drivers' hours, logs, and assignments while working for J.E. Williams Trucking and WHW. She alleged that the companies fired her because of those safety reports. An administrative law judge dismissed the complaint after a hearing. The Board questioned part of…
LeDure v. BNSF Railway Co.
Return-to-work complaint dismissal affirmed
Conductor Kenneth LeDure alleged that BNSF Railway retaliated by refusing to return him to work after his doctor issued a medical release. An administrative law judge dismissed his Federal Rail Safety Act complaint after a hearing. The Board held that BNSF had not established a statutory…
I.F. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Cleveland, OH
I.F. (ECAB 15-0625): Late reconsideration request rejected
I.F., an Internal Revenue Service customer service representative, sought to reopen an injury claim concerning a workplace incident in 2010. He requested reconsideration more than four years after OWCP’s last merit decision and asked that the filing limit be waived because of his health. The Board…
E.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
E.T. (ECAB 15-0611): Overpayment upheld, fault finding set aside
E.T., a postal clerk, returned to full-time light duty but received a direct deposit of disability compensation covering time after her return. The Board upheld OWCP’s calculation of a $1,733.36 overpayment. It found that OWCP had not shown she knew the first incorrect deposit was wrong when it…
C.P. and Department of the Army, Installation Management Command, Lawson Army Airfield, Fort Benning, GA
C.P. (ECAB 15-0600): Firefighter's back injury claim denied
C.P., an Army airfield firefighter, reported hurting his back while pulling a fire hose during a September 2013 shift. The employer did not dispute the event, but OWCP denied his claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused or aggravated his back conditions. The Board found…
M.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Atlanta Medical Center, Decatur, GA
M.M. (ECAB 15-0595): Head injury claim denied for lack of firm diagnosis
M.M., a Veterans Affairs nurse, reported striking her head on an open medical storage cabinet at work. Coworkers described the incident, and OWCP accepted that it happened. The Board found that an emergency room note diagnosing head trauma had no signature showing it came from a physician. A…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Boyertown, PA
T.H. (ECAB 15-0311): Carpal tunnel claim denied despite timely filing
T.H., a rural postal carrier associate, claimed that repetitive mail handling caused carpal tunnel syndrome. The Board found her claim timely because she filed two days after her last exposure to the work duties she identified. OWCP accepted that she performed repetitive tasks, but her doctor did…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Capitol Heights, MD
L.P. (ECAB 15-0116): Back strain claim denied without reasoned medical link
L.P., a postal mail handler, reported lower back pain after pulling containers from a truck in April 2014. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her injury claim. One doctor provided a work excuse without a diagnosis, and another diagnosed back strain but did not explain medically how…
T.K. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami, FL
T.K. (ECAB 14-2047): Recurrence and reconsideration claims denied
T.K., a former FBI special agent, claimed a recurrence of disability after what he described as withdrawal of light-duty work. The Board found no evidence that he had actually returned to work or been offered a light-duty job, so there was no job to withdraw. His arguments about restoration rights…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brick, NJ
K.M. (ECAB 14-1860): Emotional condition claim denied for lack of proven work factor
K.M., a postal clerk, attributed anxiety and other emotional conditions to alleged harassment, discrimination, discipline, schedule changes, and assignments that she said exceeded her medical restrictions. The Board found that the record did not sufficiently substantiate the alleged harassment or…
N.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Knoxville, TN
N.D. (ECAB 14-1757): Additional impairment awards partly denied and partly reconsidered
N.D., a former postal carrier, sought larger schedule awards for permanent impairments affecting his arms and legs. He died after filing the appeal, and the Board recognized his daughter as a substitute appellant. The Board found that his prior awards already covered the established impairment of…
Secretary of Labor v. Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Flagrant designation deleted from coal-dust order
MSHA designated extensive combustible accumulations along Oak Grove Mine's Main North 3 belt as a repeated flagrant violation. Judge Jerold Feldman emphasized that the accumulations remained a serious alleged section 75.400 violation, but held that the flagrant statute requires a condition capable…
Secretary of Labor v. Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Flagrant-violation test certified for review
A contemporaneous ALJ order removed the flagrant designation from an alleged coal-dust accumulation violation at Oak Grove Mine. Judge Jerold Feldman concluded that a flagrant violation must be reasonably expected to proximately cause death or serious bodily injury based on the conditions…
R.P. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Edinburg, TX
R.P. (ECAB 15-0703): Hearing award denied, hearing aids reconsidered
R.P., a Border Patrol agent, had accepted work-related hearing loss from noise exposure. The Board found that his hearing test results did not reach the level required for a schedule award, and that tinnitus could not add an award without a measurable hearing impairment. A physician nevertheless…
W.C. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Gallatin Fossil Plant, Gallatin, TN
W.C. (ECAB 15-0668): Hearing loss claim denied on causation
W.C., an electrician at a Tennessee Valley Authority plant, reported hearing loss after years of workplace equipment noise. OWCP did not dispute the exposure, but denied the claim on medical causation. A specialist concluded that his measured hearing loss was no greater than expected from…
E.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Seattle, WA
E.L. (ECAB 15-0629): Reconsideration denied after inconsistent injury accounts
E.L., a Veterans Affairs medical clerk, claimed an ankle and foot injury in October 2012. OWCP had denied the claim because the evidence did not establish how the incident occurred. In seeking reconsideration, she supplied a statement and timesheet concerning a planned office move, along with a…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Columbia, MD
P.W. (ECAB 15-0605): Emotional condition claim denied for lack of proven work factor
P.W., a postal customer service supervisor, attributed stress and other symptoms to long hours and alleged hostile conduct by her postmaster. The Board found insufficient evidence that her duties required the extended hours she described. It also found that the record did not substantiate the…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fayetteville, GA
J.B. (ECAB 15-0473): Claimed recurrence of knee disability denied
J.B., a postal carrier, had an accepted right knee injury from a work vehicle accident and later underwent knee replacement surgery. He worked full-time light duty until August 2013, when he stopped and claimed a recurrence of disability from the original injury. His doctor described pain and work…
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.