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 U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
J.A. (ECAB 15-0421): Recurrence of knee disability not established
J.A., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted knee contusion and meniscus tear after a fall at work. He returned to full duty, then stopped work again in July 2013 and claimed that the earlier injury caused renewed disability. His doctor described knee symptoms and a need for sedentary duty, but…
D.P. and Social Security Administration, Field Office, Rego Park, NY
D.P. (ECAB 15-0053): Reconsideration denied after duplicate evidence
D.P., a Social Security Administration claims representative, had accepted contusions after a fall at work and later claimed a recurrence of disability. OWCP denied the recurrence after relying on an impartial medical examiner who found that the accepted injuries had resolved. She sought…
T.G. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Boulder City, NV
T.G. (ECAB 15-0012): Elevator incident claim denied on medical causation
T.G., a Bureau of Reclamation administrative assistant, reported stress and physical symptoms after being trapped in a disabled elevator at work for 20 minutes. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied her claim. A physician diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, while other doctors…
T.G. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Blackfeet Indian Agency, Browning, MT
T.G. (ECAB 14-2026): Compensation reduction based on cashier work upheld
T.G., a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee, received compensation after injuries from a work vehicle accident. OWCP later calculated that he could earn wages in an entry-level cashier position and reduced his benefits. The Board credited an impartial physician’s opinion that he could work full time…
Frank Rodriguez v. Lehigh Southwest Cement Company
Confidential discrimination settlement completed
Frank Rodriguez brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Lehigh Southwest Cement Company. After several continuances and two hearing sessions, the parties reached a confidential settlement and asked the Judge to review it without public disclosure. Judge Alan G. Paez placed the agreement…
United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Passport Services (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1998 (Petitioner/Union)
State Department Passport Services and NFFE Local 1998 (FLRA WA-RP-13-0068): Analyst unit status upheld
The State Department challenged a regional director's decision to include passport acceptance facility analysts and most planning analysts in an existing bargaining unit. The Authority found that the acceptance facility analysts inspected outside facilities, rather than investigating the work of…
Luigi A. Malta v. Wood Group Production Services
Malta v. Wood Group (BRB 14-0312): offshore loading platform is a covered worksite
Luigi Malta worked as a warehouseman on a fixed offshore platform that received supplies by vessel and sent supplies to other oil and gas platforms. He was injured while unloading a vessel. An administrative law judge denied Longshore Act benefits because the facility supported oil production…
Graves v. MV Transportation, Inc.
Graves v. MV Transportation (DOL ARB 2015-0058): immediate appeal of amendment ruling denied
Michael Ben Graves sought to amend his complaint against MV Transportation and other respondents while it was pending before an administrative law judge. The judge struck a second proposed amendment without prejudice because Graves had not followed the procedure set at a status conference. Graves…
Schow v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
Schow v. Union Pacific Railroad (DOL ARB 2015-0048): rail safety settlement approved
Lonnie Schow alleged that Union Pacific Railroad retaliated against him for reporting a coworker's on-duty injury. An administrative law judge found a Federal Railroad Safety Act violation, and Union Pacific petitioned the Board for review. The parties then submitted a settlement agreement for the…
Harvey v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.
Harvey v. Union Pacific Railroad (DOL ARB 2015-0036): railroad withdraws appeal
An administrative law judge found for Tommy Lee Harvey in a Federal Railroad Safety Act case against Union Pacific Railroad. The judge awarded $25,000 for emotional distress and $100,000 in punitive damages and requested an attorney fee application. Union Pacific petitioned the Board for review…
Leiva v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., Inc.
Leiva v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. (DOL ARB 2014-0016): Retaliation ruling upheld, punitive damages remanded
Locomotive engineer Daniel Leiva alleged that Union Pacific Railroad disciplined him after he reported a safety concern involving another crew member. An administrative law judge found retaliation under the Federal Rail Safety Act and awarded back pay, expenses, and other relief. The Board upheld…
National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency)
NTEU and Customs and Border Protection (FLRA 0-AR-5029): Employee awards pool need not be fully spent
Customs and Border Protection set aside money equal to one percent of bargaining-unit salaries for employee awards in two fiscal years but did not spend all of it. The union argued that the agreement required full distribution of the awards pool. An arbitrator read the agreement's word "dedicate"…
Secretary of Labor v. Paramont Coal Company Virginia LLC
Belt-fire S&S ruling vacated for ignoring baffles
MSHA cited Paramont after a misaligned conveyor belt rubbed bottom roller hangers near coal-dust accumulations and wooden ventilation baffles. The ALJ found the alignment violation but ruled it was not significant and substantial, focusing on the hangers and excluding the baffles because they had…
United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Petitioner/Labor Organization)
Army Corps Huntsville and AFGE (FLRA AT-RP-14-0029): New union election remains ordered
During a union representation vote at an Army Corps of Engineers support center, management emailed employees an incorrect statement about what representation would mean for their other workplace claims and appeals. Employees voted against the union, but the regional director set that result aside…
Dho-Thomas v. Pacer Energy Marketing
Two retaliation claims dismissed
Jaquenette Dho-Thomas alleged that Pacer Energy Marketing retaliated against her under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act. After a hearing, an administrative law judge dismissed both claims. The Board upheld the transportation claim because the record did…
K.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command Centers, China Lake, CA
K.B. (ECAB 15-0662): Reconsideration denied without new medical evidence
K.B., a Navy mail assistant, claimed that computer and table work caused neck, back, and arm symptoms. OWCP denied the underlying claim because the medical evidence did not establish a causal link to her duties. In seeking reconsideration, she described her symptoms, work setup, and treatment but…
S.D. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth, TX
S.D. (ECAB 15-0661): Knee claim denied without a physician's diagnosis
S.D., an Army Corps civil engineering technician, reported knee pain after falling from a truck at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied his injury claim for lack of qualified medical evidence. The only medical report he submitted was signed by a nurse practitioner and was not…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Edison, NJ
B.S. (ECAB 15-0572): Termination of injury benefits upheld
B.S., a postal mail handler, had accepted arm and nerve conditions associated with his work. OWCP terminated his wage-loss and medical benefits after an impartial orthopedic examiner found that the accepted conditions and a temporary work-related cervical aggravation had resolved. The Board found…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wimberely, TX
C.W. (ECAB 15-0554): Recurrence denied and hearing request found late
C.W., a postal carrier, claimed that an earlier accepted back injury disabled her from working for several days in January 2014. The Board found that her doctors described back symptoms and work limits but did not adequately explain how the old injury caused the claimed period of disability. OWCP…
B.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
B.H. (ECAB 15-0491): Recurrence denial set aside for fuller medical opinion
B.H., a postal employee with an accepted earlier work injury, claimed a recurrence of disability after stopping work in February 2012. OWCP used an impartial medical examiner to address a conflict between physicians and then denied the claim. The Board found the examiner was properly selected but…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Manhattan, IL
M.M. (ECAB 15-0265): Overpayment upheld, first deposit fault finding reversed
M.M., a postal carrier, received disability payments after returning to full-time work in April 2013. The Board upheld OWCP’s $2,149.14 overpayment calculation and its refusal of a late request for a hearing before recovery. It found she was without fault for the incorrect portion of the first…
C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Winter Haven, FL
C.R. (ECAB 14-1526): Additional schedule award for sexual dysfunction denied
C.R., a postal custodian, had an accepted lumbar injury and an earlier schedule award for leg impairment. He sought an additional award for erectile dysfunction, asserting a link to the back injury. An impartial urologist concluded that the accepted injury had no clinical role in that condition and…
Mountain States Contractors, LLC
Willful crane wire-rope violation affirmed
Mountain States Contractors used a crawler crane while building bridges over the Cumberland River in Gallatin, Tennessee. The crane's boom cable snapped on May 21, 2013, causing the boom to collapse onto a highway. Daily and annual inspection records had documented damaged cables, broken wires, and…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 953 (Union) and United States Department of the Army, Pine Bluff Arsenal (Agency)
AFGE Local 953 and Pine Bluff Arsenal (FLRA 0-AR-4978): Industrial Worker grievance remains barred
Pine Bluff Arsenal combined duties from two jobs into an Industrial Worker position. The union challenged the position and sought pay and benefits for employees it said had performed higher-graded work. An arbitrator found that the grievance was essentially about position classification, which…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Charles Riordan v. Knox Creek Coal Corporation
Foreman fired after ventilation complaints wins reinstatement
Charles Riordan was an experienced foreman at Knox Creek's Tiller No. 1 Mine who repeatedly raised concerns about persistent ventilation problems. After he discussed those problems with the mine president at a company picnic, his direct supervisor accused him of throwing him "under the bus," and…
Matter of Z-Z-O-, Respondent
Matter of Z-Z-O- (BIA ID 3838): predictive findings are reviewed as facts
The Board reviewed a Chinese respondent's asylum claim based on alleged pressure from family planning officials, including a notice that one spouse should undergo sterilization. The Immigration Judge denied asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection after finding that…
L.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hamilton, MO
L.J. (ECAB 15-0695): Overpayment recovery upheld despite lack of fault
L.J., a postal carrier, received a higher compensation rate after identifying her grandson, for whom she was legal guardian, as a dependent. The Board held that a grandchild who had not been legally adopted did not qualify for the higher rate for disability compensation. OWCP therefore correctly…
T.H. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Washington, DC
T.H. (ECAB 15-0592): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
T.H., a federal criminal investigator, reported back and leg pain after moving a wheelbarrow while preparing equipment for duty. OWCP accepted the incident and identified diagnosed lumbar conditions, but denied her injury claim on causation. The Board found that her doctor connected only her pain…
B.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
B.T. (ECAB 15-0571): Ankle claim remanded for review with earlier injury file
B.T., a postal carrier with an accepted left ankle injury from 2011, reported renewed ankle pain while completing driving skills training on her return to work in 2012. She filed a recurrence claim, but OWCP treated the matter as a new traumatic injury. The Board found that the record lacked the…
T.D. and Department of the Army, Army Tank-Automotive Armaments Command, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX
T.D. (ECAB 15-0558): Shoulder claim returned for medical review
T.D., an Army depot mechanic inspector, reported shoulder pain while lifting an engine flywheel at work. OWCP denied his injury claim because it found the event had not been established. The Board credited his prompt report to a supervisor, a consistent account given during treatment, and coworker…
S.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
S.R. (ECAB 15-0409): Board orders related claim files combined
S.R., a postal clerk, appealed OWCP’s decision sustaining the termination of her medical and wage-loss benefits. OWCP had relied in part on records from a separate accepted carpal tunnel claim. The Board could not access that earlier claim file and therefore could not fully review the termination…
W.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Asheville, NC
W.B. (ECAB 15-0093): Foot injury claim and reconsideration denied
W.B., a Veterans Affairs supply clerk, said frozen bottles fell from a vending machine and injured his foot at work. His employer disputed the account, and he supplied no corroborating evidence or explanation for the delay in filing his claim. The Board found the workplace event had not been…
K.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Milford, CT
K.J. (ECAB 14-2067): Benefit termination for refusing suitable work upheld
K.J. had accepted back conditions and was offered a limited-duty nursing assistant position. The Board found that the offered duties complied with her treating doctor’s restrictions and that she declined the job after OWCP advised her it was suitable. The doctor later objected to patient care…
C.V. and Department of Defense, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Springfield, VA
C.V. (ECAB 14-1940): Benefit termination reversed, hip issue remanded
C.V., a federal police officer, had accepted back conditions following an injury during physical training. OWCP ended his wage-loss and medical benefits after a second opinion doctor said the conditions had resolved. The Board found her report internally inconsistent because it also described…
P.Q. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
P.Q. (ECAB 14-1905): Renewed back treatment not linked to old injury
P.Q., a postal maintenance mechanic, had an accepted 2009 back injury and returned to full duty after surgery in 2010. Nearly three years later, he sought further care and claimed the old injury caused renewed symptoms. The Board found that the lengthy gap in treatment placed the burden on him to…
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
S.P. (ECAB 14-1835): Reconsideration of back injury claim refused
S.P., a postal carrier, claimed a back injury after lifting a box at work. OWCP denied the underlying claim because the medical evidence did not connect a diagnosed condition to the accepted event. In seeking reconsideration, S.P. supplied coworker statements about the event and medical reports…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego Sector (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council, Local 1613 (Union)
San Diego Border Patrol and AFGE Local 1613 (FLRA 0-AR-5086): Assignment remedy challenge dismissed
An arbitrator found that the San Diego Border Patrol sector violated its agreement and a local policy when it assigned employees to another Customs and Border Protection component. She directed the agency to follow both sets of rules for future assignments. The agency challenged that combined…
Pocahontas Coal Company, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, Inc.
Pocahontas Coal Company, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-395-R, et al.): Limited fact discovery allowed into pattern-notice selection
Pocahontas Coal challenged a pattern-of-violations notice that grouped 42 enforcement actions involving roof control and emergency preparedness at its Affinity Mine. Depositions showed that attorneys in the Labor Department's Solicitor's Office, rather than MSHA personnel, had selected and grouped…
Daniel B. Lowe v. Veris Gold USA, Inc.
One amended retaliation claim allowed to proceed
Daniel Lowe sought to add several allegations and requested remedies to his private Mine Act discrimination complaint against Veris Gold. Judge William B. Moran applied Commission precedent requiring new claims in a section 105(c)(3) action to have been presented to and investigated by MSHA. He…
Lee v. Parker-Hannifin Corp.
Evaporator shutdown complaint dismissed
Environmental health and safety employee Jimmy Lee shut down and locked an evaporator at Parker-Hannifin's plant amid concerns about hazardous wastewater compliance. The company fired him, and he alleged retaliation under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. After an earlier remand, an administrative law…
N.G. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Yazoo City, MS
N.G. (ECAB 15-0864): Six percent right arm award upheld
N.G., a correctional officer, injured his right elbow at work and later received a schedule award for six percent impairment of the right arm. He sought a larger award and disputed the date of maximum medical improvement. The Board found the six percent rating supported by a second opinion…
T.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tulsa, OK
T.F. (ECAB 15-0372): Knee injury claim denied for insufficient medical explanation
T.F., a postal rural carrier, reported knee pain after pushing a gurney of parcels at work. The Board accepted that the work incident occurred and that she had diagnosed left knee conditions. It found that her medical evidence did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated those…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oakland, CA
D.D. (ECAB 15-0291): Back condition claim and late record review request denied
D.D., a postal carrier assistant, claimed that carrying a heavy mail satchel caused a back condition. The Board found that the medical reports repeated his account of the cause but did not offer a physician’s reasoned opinion connecting the diagnosed thoracic strain to his work. D.D. also sought…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Elkins Park, PA
P.S. (ECAB 15-0253): Termination of knee and back injury benefits reversed
P.S., a postal letter carrier, received benefits for an accepted right knee injury and a temporary aggravation of a back condition. OWCP terminated his wage-loss compensation and medical benefits after relying on an impartial physician’s report. The Board found that the physician used a different…
N.G. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Yazoo City, MS
N.G. (ECAB 15-0048): Insurance premium overpayment recovery upheld
N.G., a correctional officer, received compensation for a work injury. OWCP later found a $615.52 overpayment because health and life insurance premiums had not been collected for a period when his compensation was suspended. The Board agreed that the premiums remained owed after compensation…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Teutonia Station, Milwaukee, WI
S.D. (ECAB 14-1851): Attorney fee approval set aside for missing agreement
S.D., a postal carrier with accepted shoulder and related injuries, disputed OWCP’s approval of $2,816.66 in attorney fees. She said she had agreed to a contingency fee, while OWCP approved an application based on hourly work. The Board found that the record lacked the fee agreement needed to…
M.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Bernardino, CA
M.V. (ECAB 14-1471): Termination of back injury benefits upheld
M.V., a postal mail processor, received benefits for accepted back conditions. OWCP terminated her compensation and medical benefits after an impartial physician found that the work-related conditions had resolved. The Board found his opinion well reasoned and supported by the record, and affirmed…
C.T., claiming as widow of L.T., and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Dallas, TX
C.T. (ECAB 14-0806): Reconsideration of survivor claim refused
C.T. sought compensation after her husband, a postal mail handler with an accepted back injury, died of lung cancer. OWCP had denied her claim that his death was related to his federal employment. On this appeal, the Board reviewed only OWCP’s later refusal to reopen the claim. It found that C.T.’s…
United States Department of the Army, Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1442 (Union)
Letterkenny Army Depot and NFFE Local 1442 (FLRA 0-AR-5091): Pay-grievance appeal dismissed as premature
The union filed a grievance alleging pay violations at Letterkenny Army Depot, and the agency did not respond. An arbitrator found that the agency violated the negotiated grievance procedure and said the union's pay claims could proceed as part of the remedy for that default. The agency challenged…
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of HUD Locals 222 (Union)
HUD and AFGE Council 222 (FLRA 0-AR-4586): Promotion remedy challenge filed too late
An arbitrator had ordered HUD to provide retroactive placement and promotions after finding that it unfairly denied employees opportunities for positions with GS-13 promotion potential. The parties continued to dispute how to identify employees covered by the remedy, and the arbitrator issued…
Secretary of Labor v. West Ridge Resources, Incorporated
Missed scrubber check brings $30,000 penalty
West Ridge Resources operated an underground coal mine where a crew cut 30 feet before completing the required scrubber-velocity check on a continuous miner. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck credited the MSHA inspector's account and found that the foreman's instruction to start mining violated 30 C.F.R…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
D.L. (ECAB 15-0562): Back injury claim from mail container lifting denied
D.L., a postal supervisor, reported low back pain while lifting mail containers on September 7, 2010. OWCP accepted that the lifting incident occurred. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how that specific incident caused the claimed back injury. Much of the evidence…
E.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bad Axe, MI
E.P. (ECAB 15-0555): Foot injury recurrence claim denied
E.P., a postal worker, had an accepted temporary aggravation of a right foot condition after landing on his foot while working. He later claimed that the injury caused a new period of disability in October 2013. The Board found that his physician did not adequately connect that disability to a…
C.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Rosenberg, TX
C.H. (ECAB 15-0324): Insurance overpayment confirmed, amount sent back
C.H., a postal letter carrier receiving injury compensation, had life insurance coverage but OWCP did not withhold the premiums from his compensation. The Board agreed that this created an overpayment. It could not confirm OWCP’s stated $14,437.93 amount because the calculation used unexplained or…
A.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Melville, NY
A.B. (ECAB 15-0288): Off premises assault found outside performance of duty
A.B., a postal letter carrier, reported being struck by a coworker while walking to his car after work. The encounter occurred in a municipal parking lot near the post office. The Board found that the timing shortly after he clocked out did not alone defeat coverage. But the lot was outside the…
B.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, East Orange, NJ
B.P. (ECAB 15-0233): Left ankle injury claim denied for lack of medical connection
B.P., a medical support assistant, reported left ankle pain while walking through a tunnel at work on March 6, 2014. OWCP treated the matter as a new injury claim, and the Board accepted that the reported incident occurred. It found that her physicians did not explain how the March incident caused…
T.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
T.T. (ECAB 14-1255): Occupational disease claim denied for insufficient medical reasoning
T.T., a postal letter carrier, claimed that years of lifting, bending, and other mail delivery duties caused or aggravated several back and joint conditions. The Board accepted that he performed those duties. It found that his physicians did not adequately explain how the particular duties caused…
A.H. and General Services Administration, St. Louis West Field Office, Overland, MO
A.H. (ECAB 14-1180): Workplace stress claim denied without a compensable work factor
A.H., a General Services Administration contract specialist intern, claimed stress, headaches, and other symptoms related to workplace treatment. His allegations concerned training, evaluations, a denied pay step increase, and coworker conduct. The Board found no evidence of employer error or abuse…
Secretary of Labor v. Buzzi Unicem USA
Misaddressed penalty contest reopened
Buzzi Unicem sought to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final Commission order after the 30-day contest period expired. The company said it had prepared a timely contest but mistakenly sent the notice, together with payment for the uncontested penalties, to MSHA's payment…
Secretary of Labor v. Hanson Aggregates Southeast, LLC
Prompt reopening request granted
Hanson Aggregates missed the 30-day deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment. The company attributed the delay to unusual circumstances involving third-party engineers hired to evaluate the cited conditions and return visits by inspectors who monitored abatement. Hanson asked to reopen the…
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.