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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
D.H. (ECAB 14-0735): Chemical-exposure claim not reopened
D.H., a postal rural carrier, reported nausea and stomach pain after handling a leaking package at work. OWCP denied the injury claim for lack of medical evidence establishing a condition caused by the reported exposure. D.H. requested reconsideration and submitted medical notes and summary forms…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
M.F. (ECAB 14-0597): Head injury claim denied after factual and medical inconsistencies
M.F., a postal letter carrier, said she struck her head on a truck shelf while lifting a package and later underwent treatment for subdural hematomas. OWCP ultimately denied the claim after finding the reported incident insufficiently established. The Board pointed to the delay in reporting it…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
J.W. (ECAB 14-0595): Life-insurance premium overpayment recovery upheld
J.W., a postal clerk receiving injury compensation, was undercharged for federal life-insurance premiums over several years. OWCP calculated a $10,286.39 overpayment and found that he was not at fault. The Board upheld the amount and held that lack of fault alone did not require waiver. Based on…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
L.W. (ECAB 14-0503): Additional left leg schedule award denied
L.W., a postal letter carrier, had received schedule awards totaling 22 percent permanent impairment of his left leg after an accepted knee injury. He sought an additional award following a total left knee replacement. His physician rated the current impairment at 21 percent, and OWCP denied an…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Santa Barbara, CA
M.S. (ECAB 14-0444): Reconsideration request arrived after one-year deadline
M.S., a postal window clerk, claimed that changed duties worsened upper extremity conditions. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim, and she later asked it to reconsider. Her request was dated within one year of the last merits decision but reached OWCP after the deadline. The Board held that…
M.E. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Chicago, IL
M.E. (ECAB 14-0399): Cervical disability recurrence not established
M.E., a former DOL employee, had an accepted cervical disc condition and later worked for the VA. She claimed that the condition spontaneously worsened and disabled her beginning in May 2012. Her orthopedic physician cited imaging changes but also attributed symptoms to later repetitive work…
V.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Versailles, KY
V.S. (ECAB 14-0265): Work incident accepted, medical link to injury unproved
V.S., a postal rural carrier associate, reported falling while getting out of her truck to deliver a parcel. OWCP accepted that the December 2012 incident occurred but denied her injury claim for lack of medical proof of causation. The Board found that her pain specialist did not accurately account…
Alcides Avelar
Late contest dismissed for lack of excusable neglect
OSHA issued Alcides Avelar two serious scaffold-related items with $5,900 in proposed penalties. The citation was received at the company's record address, but the owner was out of town and did not submit a written notice of contest until several weeks after the 15-working-day deadline. The judge…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 922 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Forrest City, Arkansas (Agency)
AFGE Local 922 and Forrest City prison (FLRA 0-AR-4998): Reassignment award upheld
A federal prison reassigned an employee to duties with fewer chances for overtime and premium pay during a criminal investigation. After no charges were filed, the employee returned to his original job and the union sought backpay for the missed opportunities. An arbitrator found that the…
Big Ridge, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Mixed rulings and $309,376 total penalty
Big Ridge operated the Willow Lake Portal underground bituminous coal mine in Illinois. The consolidated cases involved roof control, combustible accumulations, ventilation controls, belt alignment, and pre-shift examinations, along with the operator's right to accompany MSHA inspectors. Judge…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
R.S. (ECAB 14-0927): No ratable impairment from accepted back and neck conditions
R.S., a postal letter carrier, sought a schedule award for impairment of her arms and legs after accepted neck and back injuries. Her physician rated impairment of both lower limbs, but an OWCP specialist found no objective evidence of radiculopathy tied to the accepted conditions and rated…
T.M. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, GA
T.M. (ECAB 14-0892): Duplicate claim not reopened for merit review
T.M., a former Navy mechanic, sought reconsideration after the Board found that his 2012 occupational disease claim duplicated an earlier claim based on the same chemical exposure. He submitted earlier decisions and medical records, along with records of later treatment for heart symptoms. The…
W.C. and Department of the Army, Army Sustainment Command, Fort Campbell, KY
W.C. (ECAB 14-0633): Hearing loss claim returned for a clearer medical opinion
W.C., an Army mechanic supervisor, reported hearing loss after years of workplace noise exposure. OWCP denied his claim based on a specialist’s view that his hearing loss did not exceed what age could explain. The Board found that the specialist’s opinion was equivocal and that the facts supplied…
G.P. and Department of State, Foreign Service, Near Eastern Affairs, Washington, DC
G.P. (ECAB 14-0601): Repeated medical evidence did not reopen fracture claim
G.P., a State Department employee in Iraq, fell while running from a nearby explosion. OWCP accepted lumbar fractures and related surgery but denied coverage for later thoracic fractures and surgery. He sought reconsideration and submitted a previously reviewed report with a physician’s signature…
C.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
C.O. (ECAB 14-0543): Repeated account of a fall did not reopen injury claim
C.O., a postal carrier, claimed a foot injury after slipping on steps while delivering mail. Her earlier claim was denied because she had not established that the incident occurred as alleged. Seeking reconsideration, she resubmitted her claim form and a medical report and supplied a narrative and…
M.B. and Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, Othello, WA
M.B. (ECAB 14-0099): Tick-bite injury claim filed outside FECA deadline
M.B., a wildlife refuge specialist, claimed that a 2006 tick bite at work caused Lyme disease. She filed a traumatic injury claim in 2013, after the three-year FECA filing period. The Board found no evidence that an immediate supervisor received timely notice of the bite. It also found that the…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
T.B. (ECAB 13-1400): Recurrence claim returned for facts about work duties
T.B., a postal letter carrier with an accepted foot and ankle injury, claimed a recurrence of disability after returning to work following surgery. The record did not establish what duties or restrictions applied when she returned, or what happened when she stopped work later that month. The Board…
P.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Las Vegas, NV
P.B. (ECAB 13-1092): Emotional condition remanded, physical injury denial affirmed
P.B., a postal carrier, was struck with gasoline while delivering mail and later fell while pursuing the person who threw it. OWCP accepted the gasoline attack as a work event but denied compensation for his emotional and physical conditions. The Board found that his psychiatrist’s reports…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lansing, MI
P.S. (ECAB 13-1018): Wage-loss compensation termination upheld
P.S., a postal letter carrier with accepted spine and emotional conditions, had worked modified duty before stopping work. OWCP terminated her wage-loss benefits in July 2012 based on an impartial orthopedic examiner’s opinion that she could return to work with preventive restrictions. The Board…
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 26 (Union) and General Services Administration (Agency)
IBEW Local 26 and GSA (FLRA 0-AR-4930): Hazard-pay claim denied
Twenty-one GSA electricians sought a higher hazard-pay differential for work they said exposed them to polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. An arbitrator found that the agency had removed the principal source of exposure and that the union had not established the conditions needed for the higher…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York, New York (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals #33, Local 3148 (Union)
New York Metropolitan Correctional Center and AFGE Local 3148 (FLRA 0-AR-4894): Lunch breaks restored
The New York Metropolitan Correctional Center ended unpaid, duty-free lunch breaks for day-shift correctional officers after years of providing them. An arbitrator found that the change violated the labor agreement and ordered the breaks restored. The prison argued that an earlier unfair labor…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Keith Overfield v. Highland Mining Company, LLC
Temporary reinstatement ordered without tolling
Keith Overfield worked as a mine examiner at Highland Mining's Highland No. 9 coal mine. He alleged that the company terminated him because of safety complaints and examination practices protected by the Mine Act. Highland conceded at the hearing that the complaint was not frivolously brought, but…
D.C. and Office of Personnel Management, Boyers Human Resource Services, Boyer, PA
D.C. (ECAB 14-0670): Medical evidence did not link whiplash to work collision
D.C., an Office of Personnel Management investigator, reported neck symptoms after a collision involving several vehicles while she was working. Her employer accepted that the collision occurred in the performance of duty. The Board found that an internist diagnosed whiplash but did not explain its…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
C.P. (ECAB 14-0590): Knee injury claim lacked a reasoned medical link
C.P., a postal letter carrier, reported tripping on wet pavement and injuring her right knee. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her claim for lack of medical evidence connecting it to the knee condition. The Board found that her physicians recorded diagnoses and her account of the…
S.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Readiness Support Office, Washington, DC
S.H. (ECAB 14-0545): Claim rescission not reopened without relevant medical evidence
S.H., a Homeland Security administrative assistant, claimed that workplace dust and other irritants aggravated a respiratory condition. OWCP initially accepted the claim, then rescinded its acceptance after reviewing additional evidence. Seeking reconsideration, he submitted correspondence and…
S.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Des Moines, IA
S.C. (ECAB 14-0506): Supervisor’s notice made fall claim timely
S.C., a postal carrier, filed a claim more than three years after reporting two falls on ice at work. OWCP denied the claim as untimely. The Board found that his postmaster knew of the falls on the day they happened and heard him report related soreness and hip pain within six days. That notice to…
B.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford, CT
B.M. (ECAB 14-0488): Knee and ankle claim returned for specialist review
B.M., a postal carrier, attributed knee and ankle problems to years of walking, climbing stairs, carrying mail and entering and leaving his truck. His orthopedic surgeon identified diagnosed conditions and linked them generally to repetitive work activity. The Board found that the opinion lacked…
K.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bakersfield, CA
K.H. (ECAB 14-0478): Missing related claim file requires remand
K.H., a postal employee, sought compensation for bilateral knee osteoarthritis and knee replacements. She also had accepted knee conditions in a separate claim arising from a 2009 vehicle accident, but that claim file was missing from the record sent to the Board. The Board found that both files…
R.H. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Fossil Plant, Drakesboro, KY
R.H. (ECAB 14-0452): Conflicting lung readings require impartial review
R.H., a Tennessee Valley Authority laborer, claimed a lung condition after exposure to coal dust and asbestos at work. His pulmonologist read a chest x-ray as showing occupational pneumoconiosis, while an OWCP referral physician disagreed and relied on a CT scan to attribute the findings to another…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
R.M. (ECAB 13-2019 and 14-0310): Overpayment and wage-loss termination upheld
R.M., a former postal employee receiving compensation for accepted physical and emotional conditions, understated or omitted earnings on required forms. The Board held that she forfeited compensation for the reporting period and affirmed the resulting $127,142.08 overpayment and fault finding…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Flint, MI
K.M. (ECAB 14-0206): Wage-earning capacity finding needs its original job record
K.M., a postal employee with accepted elbow conditions, sought to modify a wage-earning capacity finding after his modified job was withdrawn. On an earlier appeal, the Board had directed OWCP to document the actual job underlying its 1994 capacity determination. The Board found that OWCP again…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
R.M. (ECAB 13-2019 and 14-0310): Overpayment and wage-loss termination upheld
R.M., a former postal employee receiving compensation for accepted physical and emotional conditions, understated or omitted earnings on required forms. The Board held that she forfeited compensation for the reporting period and affirmed the resulting $127,142.08 overpayment and fault finding…
M.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
M.A. (ECAB 13-1630): Dog bite claim accepted without a medical report
M.A., a postal letter carrier, reported a dog bite to his right hand while reaching into a mailbox. His supervisor signed the injury form and separately confirmed the incident. The Board held that a promptly reported, undisputed minor bite could be accepted under OWCP procedures without a…
P.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Upland, CA
P.T. (ECAB 14-0680): Foot claim not reopened without new evidence
P.T., a postal letter carrier with accepted plantar fasciitis, claimed that work activity and an altered gait caused a right ankle tendon tear. OWCP denied that claim for insufficient medical reasoning. In requesting reconsideration, he said he was supplying additional medical evidence, but the…
M.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
M.P. (ECAB 14-0542): Shoulder injury claims lacked consistent facts and medical reasoning
M.P., a postal equipment operator, claimed a right shoulder injury from moving equipment and later attributed the condition to repetitive work. The Board found that her accounts of the alleged single incident differed on its date and circumstances, so she had not established a traumatic event as…
L.B. and Department of the Air Force, Civil Engineering Support Agency, Tyndall Air Force Base, FL
L.B. (ECAB 14-0463): No proven basis to change wage-earning capacity
L.B., a former Air Force employee with accepted back conditions, sought to change a 1991 finding based on his earnings in a later private-sector job. He argued that his work-related condition had worsened enough to prevent work. An OWCP referral surgeon found that he could perform light duty, and…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lebanon, TN
K.B. (ECAB 14-0443): Injury denial upheld after merit review reclassification
K.B., a rural mail carrier, claimed a tailbone and lower back injury after a fall at work. OWCP denied the claim, then labeled its reconsideration decision as a refusal to reopen. The Board held that OWCP had actually evaluated the medical evidence, so the later decision was a merit decision. It…
D.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Depot, Cherry Point, NC
D.W. (ECAB 14-0248): No proven arm impairment for a schedule award
D.W., a former Navy machinist with accepted cervical conditions, sought a schedule award for impairment of his arms. A later physician assigned a three-percent rating but did not specify the body part rated, cite the impairment-guide tables used, or establish a connection to the accepted work…
L.W. and Department of the Army, Directorate of Logistics, Camp Ripley, MN
L.W. (ECAB 14-0196): Earnings increase produced a nonwaivable overpayment
L.W., an Army employee receiving FECA benefits after an accepted injury, also worked in the private sector. His pay increased, but OWCP continued calculating compensation using his earlier, lower earnings. The Board affirmed the resulting $1,194.29 overpayment and found him at fault because he had…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, St. Louis, MO
C.M. (ECAB 14-0083): Missing nerve studies require a new impairment rating
C.M., a postal mail handler, sought a schedule award after accepted bilateral tarsal tunnel conditions and surgery on both feet. An OWCP referral physician rated both legs at zero percent but said he needed earlier nerve conduction studies to complete his evaluation. The Board found that the rating…
C.V. and Department of the Army, Pentagon, Office of the Assistant Secretary, Financial Management & Comptroller, Arlington, VA
C.V. (ECAB 13-2108): Guardianship did not qualify for augmented compensation
C.V., an Army budget analyst receiving FECA compensation, was paid at the higher rate for a worker with a dependent after she became her nephew’s legal guardian. The Board held that guardianship alone did not make him an eligible child for that rate because she had not adopted him. It affirmed the…
K.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
K.H. (ECAB 13-1723): Erroneous cervical surgery authorization rescinded
K.H., a postal carrier, had accepted back conditions after her vehicle was rear-ended at work. OWCP’s fiscal unit authorized cervical surgery, then rescinded that authorization because no cervical condition had been accepted as work related. The Board found that an impartial specialist gave a…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
A.M. (ECAB 14-0614): Termination of wage-loss and medical benefits upheld
A.M., a former postal clerk, had accepted cerebral and conversion disorder conditions after a workplace head injury. OWCP ended her wage-loss and medical benefits after a referral specialist concluded that the accepted conditions no longer had residual effects. The Board found the specialist’s…
E.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, St. Thomas, VI
E.S. (ECAB 14-0493): Accepted vehicle incident lacked a reasoned medical link
E.S., a customs officer, reported backing his vehicle into a wall while leaving for a work assignment. OWCP ultimately accepted that the incident occurred in the performance of duty but denied the injury claim for lack of medical proof. The Board found that one doctor’s proposed link to his…
J.Z. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, San Diego, CA
J.Z. (ECAB 14-0455): Minor vehicle-description differences did not defeat claim
J.Z., a customs officer, reported injuring his left thumb while closing the rear door of a vehicle during an inspection. OWCP denied the claim because records called the door a trunk lid, tailgate or hatchback. The Board found that those accounts described substantially the same incident, which…
L.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
L.B. (ECAB 14-0425): Late reconsideration request showed no clear error
L.B., a retired postal worker with an accepted cervical strain, sought reconsideration of OWCP’s earlier denial of a schedule award and disability compensation. OWCP received her request more than one year after the merit decision. She argued that a light-duty assignment had been unsuitable, but…
H.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Downtown Delivery Annex, Baltimore, MD
H.G. (ECAB 14-0401): Later reports did not establish continuing injury effects
H.G., a postal carrier, sought compensation for continuing neck and back problems after his benefits had been terminated. A prior Board decision had upheld that termination based on an impartial orthopedic opinion. The Board found that one later physician repeated earlier views without new…
D.A. and Department of the Air Force, Headquarters, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
D.A. (ECAB 14-0365): Compensation reduction for interrupted rehabilitation upheld
D.A., an Air Force aircraft electrician, injured his left shoulder at work in 1988 and later entered a program to train for computer work. OWCP reduced his compensation after finding that he stopped attending classes and refused a certification test without good cause. The Board had upheld that…
R.C. and Department of Agriculture, Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, Riverdale, MD
R.C. (ECAB 13-1636): Emotional condition claim returned for fact development
R.C., a USDA communications outreach specialist, sought workers’ compensation for physical and emotional conditions she attributed to workplace treatment. OWCP denied the claim, finding no established compensable employment factor. The Board agreed that she had not shown error or abuse in the…
P.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Memphis, TN
P.G. (ECAB 13-1332): Nurse's compensation rate requires comparable employee pay
P.G., a VA nurse, was injured while securing a patient less than a month after starting her job. OWCP based her compensation rate on her fixed salary and prorated premium pay from the short period she worked. The Board held that this method was wrong because she had not worked in the position for…
Secretary of Labor v. Twentymile Coal Company
One S&S finding affirmed and two remanded
MSHA cited Twentymile Coal Company for two extensive coal-dust accumulations and an inadequate pre-shift examination at its Foidel Creek Mine in Colorado. The Commission upheld the judge's significant-and-substantial finding for heavy float coal dust in the longwall tailgate because the gassy mine…
Jay Mitri v. Global Linguist Solutions
Mitri v. Global Linguist Solutions (BRB 13-0497): interim benefits restored after invalid stipulations
Jay Mitri was injured while working as a linguist and cultural adviser in Iraq. An administrative law judge entered an interim order for temporary total disability and medical benefits, then vacated it and accepted the parties' stipulations for ongoing payments. The stipulations would have let…
P.L. and Department of the Navy, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, HI
P.L. (ECAB 14-0658): Knee claim lacked a medical explanation linking it to work
P.L., a Navy electronics mechanics supervisor, said that crawling through tight spaces, twisting his knee, and carrying equipment at work worsened his right knee. OWCP accepted the described work activities but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting them to a diagnosed condition…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Statesville, NC
B.B. (ECAB 14-0626): Knee injury claim lacked a reasoned medical link to fall
B.B., a postal carrier, reported hurting his left knee when he fell on wet grass during a delivery route. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but denied compensation because the medical reports did not adequately link his knee condition to it. The Board found that one doctor did not explain how…
M.P. and Department of the Navy, Camp Lejeune, NC
M.P. (ECAB 14-0600): Back injury denial and reconsideration refusal upheld
M.P., a Navy contact service representative, reported low back pain after removing rain pants at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because the medical reports did not explain how it caused a diagnosed back condition. The Board agreed that work restrictions and…
R.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
R.T. (ECAB 14-0561): Overpayment and denial of waiver upheld
R.T., a postal mail processor, received disability payments for days after she returned to full-time work at her regular salary. OWCP found an overpayment of $1,112.74 for September 11 through 21, 2013 and found her without fault. She did not provide the financial information requested with OWCP’s…
L.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wilmington, DE
L.B. (ECAB 14-0538): Recurrence claim lacked proof of changed duties or injury
L.B., a postal worker with accepted right shoulder and arm conditions, claimed that she could no longer work after her modified assignment changed. She said she had been returned to duties like those that caused her original injury. The Board found insufficient evidence that the requirements of her…
T.H. and Department of Labor, Mine Safety & Health Administration, Pikeville, KY
T.H. (ECAB 14-0534): Hearing loss claims returned for combined review
T.H. had previously received awards for hearing loss attributed to noise exposure during his federal employment. OWCP denied a later hearing loss claim, concluding that the claimed occupational noise exposure had not occurred and that any further loss after retirement was unrelated to work. The…
P.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Phoenix, AZ
P.M. (ECAB 14-0469): Reconsideration request did not warrant merit review
P.M., a postal carrier, sought reconsideration after OWCP ended her wage-loss payments because she had refused an offered modified job. OWCP declined to reopen her case for a new decision on the merits. The Board found that the earlier work restriction reports she submitted were already in the…
K.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Bend, WA
K.S. (ECAB 14-0275): Termination of compensation for back conditions upheld
K.S., a postal carrier, received benefits after falling on steps during a delivery and sustaining a lumbar strain and right L4 radiculopathy. OWCP later terminated compensation, relying on medical evidence that the accepted conditions had resolved. The Board agreed that the attending physician had…
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.