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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Secretary of Labor v. Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
One-day-late contest reopened despite repeat history
Spartan Mining filed its penalty contest one day after the assessment became a final Commission order. The company attributed the late filing to a clerical error, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission noted that this was Spartan's fourth reopening request in two years based on…
Secretary of Labor v. Rockspring Development, Inc.
Amended contest wrongly treated as duplicate
Rockspring Development timely contested 21 proposed penalties and then filed an amended contest adding two more citations. MSHA received both filings but ignored the amendment because it mistakenly treated the document as a duplicate. The Secretary did not oppose relief and acknowledged the filing…
Secretary of Labor v. Gateway Eagle Coal Company
One-day mail-sorting delay excused
Gateway Eagle Coal filed its MSHA penalty contest one day after the assessment became a final Commission order. The company attributed the delay to an internal mail-sorting error. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged Gateway to improve its procedures for future 30-day deadlines. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Barrick Gold U.S., Inc.
MSHA deadline advice supports reopening
Barrick Gold told an MSHA field-office supervisor that it intended to contest three citations but asked that the proposed assessment be placed on hold until the inspection closeout conference. MSHA acknowledged that the supervisor mistakenly believed the 30-day penalty-contest deadline could be…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Sean Miller v. Savage Services Corporation
Safety-complaint firing found discriminatory
Sean Miller drove molten-sulfur trucks for Savage Services and repeatedly raised concerns about worn brakes, air leaks, bald tires, an overweight load, an unsafe replacement truck, a sharp detour, and a leaking sulfur hose. He also filed an MSHA hazard complaint and an earlier discrimination…
Secretary of Labor v. Premier Magnesia, LLC
Missing contest reopened after prompt inquiry
Premier Magnesia said it timely contested ten citations and mailed payment for nine uncontested citations. MSHA had no record of receiving the contest, although its payment office received a check dated before the deadline. Premier discovered the problem from a delinquency letter and promptly…
Secretary of Labor v. Mach Mining LLC
Omitted citation added back to contest
Mach Mining received an assessment covering 23 citations and timely contested nine of them. It paid the uncontested penalties but inadvertently failed to mark Citation No. 8449103 for contest, while also leaving that citation's penalty unpaid. After MSHA sent a delinquency letter, Mach promptly…
Secretary of Labor v. Pete Lien & Sons, Inc.
Missing contest form excused
Pete Lien & Sons made a $2,730 partial payment for uncontested MSHA penalties on the contest deadline. The company acknowledged that it inadvertently failed to include the MSHA form identifying which other penalties it intended to contest. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged the…
Secretary of Labor v. Billy Jack's Sand & Gravel
Mistaken online filing still leads to reopening
Billy Jack's Sand & Gravel said it timely contested an MSHA penalty assessment through the agency's online filing system. The company produced an email confirming an online submission, but the Secretary reported that the confirmation covered a quarterly mine report rather than a penalty contest…
Quintanilla v. Myriad RBM, Inc.
Quintanilla v. Myriad RBM (DOL ARB 2015-0039): settled appeal dismissed with prejudice
Quintanilla asked the Administrative Review Board to review an administrative law judge's decision in an Immigration and Nationality Act case against Myriad RBM. Before the Board decided the appeal, the parties told it they had reached a settlement. They jointly requested dismissal with prejudice…
Associated General Contractors of Maine
Maine wage determination upheld
Associated General Contractors of Maine challenged a Davis-Bacon wage determination covering laborer classifications in Cumberland County, Maine. The Wage and Hour Division denied the group's request for reconsideration and reissued the applicable determination. The Board found the agency's ruling…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3887 (Union) and United States Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid (Agency)
AFGE Local 3887 and Federal Student Aid (FLRA 0-AR-5106): Union's arbitration exceptions denied
The union challenged an arbitration award involving the Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid. The Authority used its expedited, abbreviated decision procedure and concluded that the union had not shown the award was deficient under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a). It denied the union's…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 200 (Union) and United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey (Agency)
AFGE Local 200 and FAA Technical Center (FLRA 0-AR-5085): Supervisory-position grievances remained outside the agreement
Four FAA employees challenged their nonselection for two supervisory positions. An arbitrator dismissed their grievances because the positions were outside the bargaining unit and the parties had not agreed to cover supervisory selections in their grievance procedure. The union asked the Authority…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, Council 33 (Union)
Bureau of Prisons and AFGE Council 33 (FLRA 0-AR-5079): Staff-search policy bargaining order upheld
The Bureau of Prisons put a new staff-search policy into effect while several union proposals about it remained unresolved. An arbitrator found that bargaining was incomplete and ordered the agency to resume negotiations, stop enforcing the policy until bargaining ended, and hold certain related…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1156 (Union) and United States Department of the Navy, Naval Supply Business Systems Center, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (Agency)
AFGE Local 1156 and Navy Supply Systems Center (FLRA 0-AR-4954): One-day telework suspension and fee denial upheld
The Navy suspended an employee for three days after a physical altercation with his wife while he was teleworking and for alleged lack of candor in reporting it. An arbitrator found support only for the fighting charge and reduced the suspension to one day. Because the original suspension had…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island, California (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1680 (Union)
Terminal Island prison and AFGE Local 1680 (FLRA 0-AR-4179): Arbitrator could resolve later overtime period
Correctional officers at the Terminal Island prison sought pay for work before and after their scheduled shifts. An arbitrator found unpaid overtime and later addressed the same work during a period after his first award. The agency argued that the arbitrator had exhausted his authority when he…
Midwest Fuels, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Midwest Fuels, Inc.
Midwest Fuels, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2013-157-M, et al.): Fuel delivery driver was not a miner
Midwest Fuels delivered diesel and other fuels to equipment at a portable crushing operation. MSHA cited the company because driver Travis Pearson had site-specific hazard training but no certified new-miner or experienced-miner training. Judge L. Zane Gill held that Part 46 clearly excludes…
Virginia Drilling Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Virginia Drilling Company, LLC
ANFO-truck fuel-leak penalty reduced to $37,416
An MSHA inspector found diesel fuel dripping from a worn line onto the exhaust manifold of Virginia Drilling's truck, which carried ammonium-nitrate/fuel-oil blasting agent over steep mine roads. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that the leaking line left the truck in unsafe operating condition and…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
J.W. (ECAB 15-0465): Disability recurrence claim denied
J.W., a Postal Service employee with an accepted back injury, claimed that he stopped limited-duty work in September 2013 because his assignment was withdrawn. The Board found that the job remained available and that he chose to use accumulated sick leave before disability retirement. It found no…
W.C. and Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
W.C. (ECAB 15-0424): Claimed periods of total disability denied
W.C., an Army employee with an accepted lumbar strain, sought compensation for periods when he said he could not work in late 2012 and January 2013. His physician linked the work absence to underlying lumbar degeneration, which OWCP had not accepted as work related. The Board found no adequate…
R.G. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Fossil Plant, Drakesboro, KY
R.G. (ECAB 15-0209): Lung impairment schedule award denied
R.G., a Tennessee Valley Authority employee, had an accepted claim for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and sought a schedule award for lung impairment. The Board found that two earlier pulmonary studies could not support a rating and that a later valid study showed no ratable impairment under the…
S.O. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Orlando, FL
S.O. (ECAB 14-1303): Wage loss benefits terminated after refusal of suitable work
S.O., a Transportation Security Administration employee with accepted neck and upper-body conditions, declined a modified security officer job. The Board found that the offered work fit the restrictions her treating physician gave OWCP. It also found that OWCP gave her notice and an opportunity to…
Secretary of Labor v. Hecla Limited and Secretary of Labor v. Doug Bayer, employed by Hecla Limited
Secretary of Labor v. Hecla Limited and Secretary of Labor v. Doug Bayer (FMSHRC WEST 2014-591-M, WEST 2012-760-M-A, WEST 2012-986-M): Ground-support violations draw $280,000
Hecla Limited mined beneath long sections of waste-rock pillars at its Lucky Friday Mine without engineering additional ground support. A massive fall of ground in one stope fatally injured miner Larry Marek. Judge Richard W. Manning held that Hecla violated 30 C.F.R. § 57.3360 in that stope and…
FutureGen Industrial Alliance, Inc.
In re FutureGen Industrial Alliance, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal Nos. 14-68 to 14-71): Carbon-sequestration permits upheld
EPA Region 5 issued FutureGen Industrial Alliance, Inc. four Class VI Underground Injection Control permits for wells designed to inject and store carbon dioxide. The petitioners challenged the size of the modeled carbon-dioxide plume, the number and placement of monitoring wells, the Region's…
Aviall Services, Inc.
In re Aviall Services, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 15-02C): $470,050 penalty paid and matter resolved
Aviall Services, Inc. faced an EPA Toxic Substances Control Act complaint alleging that it failed to comply with section 12(b) reporting requirements. The complaint proposed a $470,050 penalty. Aviall provided payment of the full amount, which waived its rights to contest the allegations and appeal…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Absecon Post Office, Absecon, NJ
D.B. (ECAB 15-0433): Occupational disease claim returned to resolve medical conflict
D.B., a Postal Service employee, claimed that work after earlier hand injuries aggravated conditions in her right arm, shoulder, and neck. Her treating physician linked the conditions to her work, while OWCP’s second-opinion physician found no objective work-related condition. The Board found an…
B.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Biloxi, MS
B.W. (ECAB 15-0351): Carpal tunnel occupational disease claim denied
B.W., a Department of Veterans Affairs medical records technician, claimed that keyboard and mouse work caused bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. OWCP accepted that she performed those duties, and medical reports established the diagnosis. The Board found that no physician explained a causal link…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Federal Way, WA
J.R. (ECAB 14-1949): Hand impairment schedule award denied
J.R., a Postal Service employee with accepted hand conditions, sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. Her physician reported that surgery had gone well but supplied neither a maximum-improvement finding nor an impairment rating. The Board affirmed denial of the award for lack of the…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
B.C. (ECAB 14-1660): Further medical benefits for healed hand abrasion denied
B.C., a Postal Service employee, sought additional treatment for a right hand abrasion accepted from a 1983 work incident. The contemporaneous medical record described a superficial abrasion that was healing days later. The Board found no medical evidence bridging the later years to show continuing…
J.M. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Greenbelt, MD
J.M. (ECAB 14-1311): Additional hearing loss award denied
J.M., a National Park Service employee with a prior hearing loss award, sought additional compensation for worsening hearing. The Board found that he had not documented later federal noise exposure. An OWCP-referred second-opinion physician attributed the increased hearing loss after earlier…
V.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Middle Village, NY
V.T. (ECAB 14-1251): Recurrence denial and reopening refusal affirmed
V.T., a Postal Service employee, claimed that an accepted elbow injury made him unable to continue work in October 2011. The Board found that his physician did not connect objective findings and specific job duties to the claimed disability. It also found that his reconsideration request offered no…
Secretary of Labor v. Dulin Construction, Inc.
Gravel-blocked ladder citation affirmed at $100
A three-foot-deep pile of crushed gravel blocked the base of the only ladder to a conveyor head pulley and work platform at Dulin Construction's small gravel pit. The company said the pile also served as a berm protecting the ladder and conveyor from a wheel loader. Judge David F. Barbour held that…
Social Security Administration, Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (Respondent) and Association of Administrative Law Judges, IFPTE, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
SSA Disability Adjudication and ALJ union (FLRA WA-CA-11-0302): Records memo complaint dismissed
The union representing Social Security administrative law judges challenged a memo about retaining and destroying working papers containing personal information. It alleged that the agency had changed the judges' working conditions without notice or bargaining. An FLRA judge found that the memo…
Secretary of Labor v. Wake Stone Corp.
Two inoperative-horn penalties set at $100 each
MSHA found inoperative service horns on an excavator and a dozer at Wake Stone's Nash County Quarry. The Commission had already held that both conditions violated 30 C.F.R. § 56.14132(a) and remanded only for penalty assessment. Judge L. Zane Gill found low negligence and unlikely injury because…
Los Alamos National Laboratory
In re Los Alamos National Laboratory (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 14-02): petition dismissed after permit modification
The U.S. Department of Energy and Los Alamos National Security, LLC petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board over NPDES Permit No. NM 0028355. After discussions with the petitioners, EPA Region 6 modified the permit to remove the requirements they challenged. The parties jointly asked the Board…
N.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
N.G. (ECAB 15-0567): Termination of neck injury benefits reversed
N.G., a Postal Service employee with an accepted neck sprain, challenged termination of wage-loss and medical benefits. OWCP relied on an impartial physician, but the factual statement given to him omitted a previously accepted shoulder injury. The Board found that the incomplete history undermined…
F.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Crandall, TX
F.W. (ECAB 15-0551): Occupational disease claim denied for missing work factors
F.W., a Postal Service sales service associate, claimed neck and joint conditions from her work. OWCP asked her to identify the particular work activities she believed caused or worsened those conditions. She did not provide the requested factual account. The Board found that she had not…
C.M. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Steam Plant, Drakesboro, KY
C.M. (ECAB 15-0471): Late reconsideration request denied
C.M., a Tennessee Valley Authority employee, sought to reopen an older fraud-related forfeiture and overpayment decision. He filed his request years after the latest merit decision, beyond the one-year reconsideration period. The Board found that his repeated arguments and new medical reports did…
C.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
C.D. (ECAB 15-0446): Benefits termination upheld with examiner status corrected
C.D., a Postal Service employee, received benefits for a temporary aggravation of a back condition from 1994. A later examination supported OWCP’s finding that the accepted aggravation had resolved without work-related residuals. The Board found that the doctor was a second-opinion examiner, rather…
C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
C.R. (ECAB 15-0430): Mail handling injury claim denied for insufficient medical link
C.R., a Postal Service employee, claimed a neck, back, and shoulder injury after lifting and moving mail bags in March 2013. OWCP accepted that she performed those activities. The Board found that the submitted medical reports did not explain how they caused the diagnosed conditions. It also found…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Lauderdale
R.S. (ECAB 15-0419): Injury claim and reopening refusal affirmed
R.S., a Postal Service employee, claimed an injury on July 17, 2014. Employer records showed he was not at work that day, and he supplied no evidence that the event occurred while he was performing his job. The Board affirmed denial of the injury claim. It also upheld OWCP’s refusal to reopen…
T.H. and Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, Tinker Air Force Base, OK
T.H. (ECAB 14-1417): Late written-record review request denied
T.H., an Air Force employee, requested a review of the written record more than 30 days after OWCP’s underlying decision. The Board found that the request missed the statutory deadline. It also found that OWCP acted within its discretion in denying a late review because she could raise her issues…
Brand Energy Solutions LLC
Scaffold housekeeping item vacated under specific-standard preemption
Brand Energy Solutions installed insulation at a Texas refinery after Hurricane Ike damaged existing insulation across a large area. The Commission held that the project was construction work because it was large, complex, nonroutine, and included installation of new insulation. OSHA cited Brand…
Wal-Mart Distribution Center #6016
Site-specific PPE assessment affirmed, three equipment items vacated
Wal-Mart relied on a personal-protective-equipment hazard assessment performed at an Arkansas distribution center as a global assessment for its New Braunfels, Texas facility. The Commission affirmed the hazard-assessment item because Wal-Mart had not verified that conditions at the two locations…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
Customs and Border Protection and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-4985): Backpay calculation method upheld
Customs and Border Protection changed officers' work assignment policies without giving the union notice and a chance to bargain. An arbitrator later set out a process for identifying affected officers and calculating lost pay. It uses individual claims when records are available and an estimating…
Secretary of Labor v. Regent Allied Carbon Energy, Incorporated
Unlocked cable-work citation affirmed at $11,500
During a mine-wide power outage, a Regent Allied foreman directed unqualified miners to handle, inspect, and re-tape splices along a shuttle-car trailing cable without locking and tagging out the cable's disconnect. Power was restored while the work area was not visible from the power center…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of J. Don Arnold v. BHP Navajo Coal Company and Its Successors
Secretary of Labor on behalf of J. Don Arnold v. BHP Navajo Coal Company (FMSHRC CENT 2013-541-D): Safety-complaint retaliation results in $20,000 penalty
Electrician and miners' representative J. Don Arnold repeatedly raised concerns about an open fan motor in BHP Navajo Coal's laboratory, helped cause a section 103(g) inspection, and supplied photographs to MSHA. BHP then held him out of service indefinitely without pay, although it later paid him…
J.N., widow of B.N., and Department of the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, UT
J.N., widow of B.N., (ECAB 15-0373): Death benefits claim returned for employment records
J.N. sought death benefits, alleging that her late husband’s civilian federal service in Vietnam involved an exposure that caused his prostate cancer. OWCP asked the Air Force for records about his service and possible exposure but received no response before denying the claim. The Board found that…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dover, OH
J.H. (ECAB 15-0294): Increased leg impairment awards upheld
J.H., a Postal Service employee with accepted knee and toe conditions, sought a larger schedule award for both legs. Earlier awards covered a total of 21 percent impairment of the right leg and 10 percent of the left. The Board found that the later medical reports did not adequately support a…
T.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Masillion, OH
T.M. (ECAB 15-0266): Knee injury wage loss claim denied
T.M., a Postal Service letter carrier with accepted right knee injuries, sought wage-loss compensation for intermittent and total disability in July and August 2013. His treating physician discussed disability related to knee arthritis and a knee replacement, but did not explain how those…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
M.B. (ECAB 15-0215): Workplace assault injury claim denied
M.B., a Postal Service postmaster relief employee, was assaulted at work by her former husband. The Board found that she was performing her duties at the time but that the assault arose from a personal relationship rather than a work-related risk. It affirmed OWCP’s denial because the injury did…
A.S. and Defense Agencies, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Fort Hood, TX
A.S. (ECAB 15-0101): Emotional condition claim denied
A.S., a Defense Finance and Accounting Service employee, attributed an emotional condition to a workplace exchange, reassignment, and work in a building connected to an earlier traumatic event. The Board found no abuse or error in the personnel actions and no established compensable work factor. It…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Woburn, MA
M.M. (ECAB 14-2076): Knee occupational disease claim denied
M.M., a Postal Service letter carrier, said vehicle entry and exit and stair climbing caused knee arthritis. OWCP accepted that he performed those duties. The Board found that his physician offered a conclusion of work causation without explaining how those duties caused or aggravated the diagnosed…
P.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Lexington Veterans Administration Medical Center, Lexington, KY
P.F. (ECAB 14-1881): Shoulder disability recurrence denied
P.F., a Department of Veterans Affairs employee with accepted left shoulder conditions, stopped a full-time light-duty job in June 2013 and claimed renewed disability. The Board found no well-reasoned medical explanation tying her inability to work to the accepted injury. It also found no proof…
F.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Corpus Christi, TX
F.R. (ECAB 15-0472): Late reconsideration request denied
F.R., a Postal Service employee, asked OWCP to reconsider denial of an occupational disease claim. His request arrived more than one year after the most recent merit decision. The Board found that his physician’s reports and arguments did not show clear evidence that the earlier denial was…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newark, NJ
L.C. (ECAB 15-0437): Wage loss claim returned for reasoned decision
L.C., a Postal Service employee with accepted spinal sprains, sought compensation for several years of claimed disability. OWCP denied the claim without discussing medical reports already in the case file or explaining why they failed to establish disability. The Board found that OWCP had not given…
M.F. and Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC
M.F. (ECAB 15-0397): Refusal to reopen occupational disease claim affirmed
M.F. asked OWCP to reconsider denial of an occupational disease claim and said new medical reports were attached. The reports were not in the record, and she did not submit them during an additional period OWCP allowed. The other material did not address the missing medical link between work and…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Park Station Post Office, Chicago, IL
C.M. (ECAB 15-0386): Stairway fall claim and reopening refusal affirmed
C.M., a Postal Service employee, reported a right knee injury after falling on stairs at work. OWCP accepted the fall but found no medical opinion linking it to a diagnosed injury; the Board agreed. It also found that his reconsideration request contained no new relevant evidence or legal argument…
J.E. and Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pearl Harbor, HI
J.E. (ECAB 15-0283): Occupational hearing loss claim denied
J.E., a Navy mechanic, claimed that turbine and generator noise at work caused hearing loss. OWCP accepted the noise exposure, and workplace audiograms showed threshold shifts. The Board found no physician report diagnosing hearing loss and linking it to the exposure. It also noted that he did not…
J.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, San Francisco, CA
J.C. (ECAB 14-0905): Late challenge to schedule award pay rate denied
J.C., an Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee, sought reconsideration of an older OWCP pay-rate decision affecting his schedule award. He filed years beyond the one-year deadline and argued that a later date should have set the compensation rate. The Board found that his legal argument did…
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.