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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GP Roofing & Construction, LLC
Willful residential fall violation affirmed
Four GP Roofing employees installed shingles on townhomes while wearing harnesses but remaining untied on roof sections as high as 19.5 feet. The judge rejected claims that fall protection created a greater hazard or was infeasible because the company did not seek a variance, prove the claimed…
Secretary of Labor v. Elk Run Coal Company, Inc.
Escapeway-map citation modified in $7,205 settlement
Elk Run Coal Company and the Secretary proposed settling three citations by reducing total penalties from $11,807 to $7,205. The agreement changed an escapeway-map citation from reasonably likely and S&S to unlikely and non-S&S because the miners worked on the active section, knew the current…
Secretary of Labor v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Company, Inc.
Reporting and scene-alteration citations upheld
A miner fell nearly 22 feet from an elevated platform at Clintwood Elkhorn's preparation plant and sustained head, wrist, and other injuries. Judge Priscilla M. Rae vacated a citation alleging an unprotected opening because the space between the platform edge and nearby wall was not an opening…
J.M. and Department of Justice, U.S. Probation Department, Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY
J.M. (ECAB 14-0482): Injury claim denial upheld despite accepted vehicle incident
J.M., a federal probation officer, was struck by a vehicle while crossing a street on official business. She sought compensation for injuries to her knees, back, and right shoulder. The Board accepted that the workplace incident occurred but found that her physicians did not provide enough medical…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Merrifield, VA
S.M. (ECAB 14-0405): Late request to reopen treatment dispute denied
S.M., a Postal Service clerk with accepted wrist and low-back conditions, sought authorization for lumbar injections. After OWCP denied authorization, she requested reconsideration of the treatment decision. The Board found that OWCP received her request after the one-year deadline measured from…
W.J. and Federal Judiciary, U.S. Probation Office, Tampa, FL
W.J. (ECAB 14-0376): Attendant allowance denial upheld
W.J., a federal probation officer, had accepted shoulder and rib injuries from a vehicle collision. He sought payment for personal care that his wife provided over more than two years. His physician supported an attendant allowance but did not explain why W.J. needed ongoing help with basic…
N.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kent, CT
N.C. (ECAB 14-0370): Part-time wage capacity ruling reversed
N.C., a Postal Service rural carrier with accepted cervical and fibromyalgia conditions, worked in a four-hour-per-day modified job after her injury. OWCP used that part-time job to set her wage-earning capacity and later refused to change the calculation when the employer withdrew her assignment…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newtown, PA
C.C. (ECAB 13-2082): Schedule award claim returned for accurate medical review
C.C., a Postal Service employee with accepted upper-extremity and cervical conditions, sought a schedule award for permanent arm impairment. OWCP’s referral physician rated two percent impairment of each arm, while OWCP’s medical adviser found no ratable impairment. OWCP denied the claim. The Board…
W.D. and Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Albany, CA
W.D. (ECAB 13-1974): Compensation overpayment sent back for recalculation
W.D., an Agriculture Department employee receiving disability compensation, also received Social Security retirement benefits and disclosed them on annual forms. OWCP did not apply the required offset for the portion attributable to his federal employment until 2012, producing an overpayment. The…
L.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Milwaukee, WI
L.M. (ECAB 13-1700): Schedule award claim returned to review submitted records
L.M., a Transportation Security Administration employee, sought a schedule award for right-arm impairment related to accepted shoulder and arm conditions. OWCP denied the claim, stating that he had not submitted more evidence after its request. The Board found that L.M. had in fact submitted…
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Detroit, MI
S.S. (ECAB 13-1590): Recurrence denial reversed after limited-duty work ended
S.S., a Postal Service clerk, had an accepted lumbar disc injury and later worked in a modified assignment. She claimed a recurrence of total disability after the employer sent her home because it had no work within her restrictions. OWCP denied the claim, reasoning that she had not shown a medical…
B.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
B.J. (ECAB 13-1157): Disability and surgery questions returned for medical review
B.J., a former Postal Service mail processor, sought disability compensation for years after an accepted cervical injury and authorization for thoracic outlet surgery. OWCP denied both requests. The Board found that a referral physician had addressed whether disability continued in 2010 without…
Secretary of Labor v. Rock N Road Quarry
Safe-access citation reduced to non-S&S and $80
Rock N Road Quarry used a ladder, harness, retractable lanyard, and static tie-off point to reach and maintain an elevated crusher screen. Judge Richard W. Manning found a safe-access violation because the company had not trained miners to move across the I-beam without creating a swing hazard away…
E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Company
In re E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Company (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 13-01 and 13-02): appeals dismissed as moot
EPA Region 2 issued a final RCRA corrective action permit modification for the DuPont Pompton Lakes Works facility. DuPont and the Passaic River Coalition separately petitioned the EAB to review that permit, and the Board stayed the appeals while the parties pursued settlement discussions. The…
ExxonMobil Chemical Company (Baytown Olefins Plant)
In re ExxonMobil Chemical Company (Baytown Olefins Plant) (EAB PSD Appeal No. 13-11): Greenhouse-gas permit review denied
EPA Region 6 issued ExxonMobil Chemical Company a greenhouse-gas prevention of significant deterioration permit for a new natural gas-fired ethylene production unit at the company's Baytown, Texas, facility. Sierra Club challenged the Region's best available control technology analysis, especially…
Secretary of Labor v. Conmat, Inc.
Improper task-training certification upheld
A competent trainer at Conmat task-trained a miner and signed the form's certification line, but he was not one of the people designated in the mine's approved Part 46 plan as responsible for health and safety training. Conmat argued that it had up to 12 months to obtain a proper certification and…
A.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
A.H. (ECAB 14-0664): Reconsideration of leg impairment award denied
A.H., a Postal Service postmaster, had received a schedule award for permanent left-leg impairment after an accepted vehicle injury. He asked OWCP to reconsider whether his impairment exceeded 26 percent. The Board found that his request repeated his disagreement with the existing rating, while the…
D.E. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Bradford, PA
D.E. (ECAB 14-0537): Shoulder injury denial upheld as modified
D.E., a Bureau of Prisons maintenance foreman, fell onto his left shoulder after a jack handle came off while he was moving a boiler. OWCP accepted the incident but denied his injury claim because the medical records did not explain how the fall caused supraspinatus tendinitis. The Board agreed…
G.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Minneapolis, MN
G.K. (ECAB 14-0496): Termination of foot injury benefits upheld
G.K., a Postal Service mail handler, had an accepted aggravation of a preexisting left-foot plantar fibroma after a workplace incident. His treating physician said he still had work-related limitations, while OWCP’s referral physician found no remaining effects of the accepted injury. OWCP obtained…
Y.T. and Department of the Navy, Miramar Fire Department, San Diego, CA
Y.T. (ECAB 14-0406): Knee injury claim denial upheld for lack of medical reasoning
Y.T., a Navy fire inspector, reported left-knee pain after exercising at her station and getting out of bed the next morning. Her employer disputed whether the exercise was part of her work duties. The Board upheld the claim denial because the medical evidence did not adequately explain how the…
D.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
D.T. (ECAB 14-0332): Occupational disease claim returned for clearer medical opinion
D.T., a Postal Service employee, claimed that repetitive lifting and other work activities caused upper-body and back conditions. Earlier medical opinions conflicted, and OWCP obtained an impartial neurologist’s assessment. That specialist found no current work-related condition but said the work…
E.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh, PA
E.Z. (ECAB 14-0309): Cubital tunnel syndrome claim denial upheld
E.Z., a Postal Service employee, claimed that repetitive hand and arm work caused bilateral cubital tunnel syndrome. His treating physician supported a work connection, while OWCP’s physician disagreed, so OWCP sought an impartial opinion. The impartial examiner found that work with flexed elbows…
E.B. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Morgantown, WV
E.B. (ECAB 14-0141): Late request to reopen occupational disease claim denied
E.B., a former Bureau of Prisons cook foreman, claimed that events around his 1978 departure from federal employment aggravated his post-traumatic stress disorder. OWCP had denied his occupational disease claim as untimely, and the Board had previously upheld that decision. E.B. later requested…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
Unsupported blanket penalty reduction denied on reconsideration
The Secretary asked Judge William B. Moran to reconsider an earlier denial of a settlement that cut every penalty for 32 citations by 30 percent without changing any citation, gravity finding, or negligence finding. The renewed motion supplied no additional citation-specific facts and argued that…
Secretary of Labor v. Alden Resources, LLC
Lifeline examination dispute required a hearing
Alden Resources asked for summary decision on a citation alleging an inadequate preshift examination after a mine lifeline remained defective and incomplete for nine days. The operator argued that the examination rule covered methane, oxygen, airflow, and specified mandatory standards, but not the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc.
Retaliation settlement approved over dissent
Armstrong filed a Kentucky civil lawsuit against miner Reuben Shemwell after he exercised Mine Act discrimination rights. An ALJ found that the lawsuit unlawfully interfered with those rights but later rejected a proposed settlement. The Commission majority vacated that denial and approved an…
Secretary of Labor v. Sequoia Energy, LLC
Mobile-equipment penalties reassessed after Commission remand
The Commission vacated $8,300 in penalties for four significant-and-substantial mobile-equipment citations at Sequoia Energy's Kentucky coal preparation plant and remanded for a clearer penalty analysis. Judge Jerold Feldman explained that his earlier reference to prior proposed penalties was…
North County Sand & Gravel, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor, MSHA
EAJA eligibility granted after unjustified special assessment
North County Sand & Gravel sought attorney fees and expenses after the judge reduced an MSHA fall-protection penalty from the Secretary's original $35,500 demand to $3,500 and modified several citation designations. Judge Richard W. Manning held that North County was a prevailing party because the…
G.P. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Springdale, AR
G.P. (ECAB 14-0649): Late request to revisit wage-loss termination denied
G.P., a former Agriculture Department food inspector, had an accepted bilateral carpal tunnel claim. OWCP had terminated wage-loss benefits after finding that her work-related disability had ended. She later sought reconsideration, challenging the signatures and details in the medical reports…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Blue Springs, MO
J.R. (ECAB 14-0458): Disability recurrence claim denial upheld
J.R., a Postal Service employee, sought compensation for a recurrence of disability after an accepted 2007 vehicle injury. She had also been involved in a separate 2008 collision before the claimed recurrence. Her physician said the later collision was minor and did not affect her work-related…
L.D. and Department of the Navy, Space & Naval War Systems, New Orleans, LA
L.D. (ECAB 14-0400): Fall injury claim returned for medical development
L.D., a Navy information technology specialist, fell while walking toward her workplace and later learned she had a T8 compression fracture. OWCP denied her claim despite a coworker’s account and a physician’s report describing the fall and fracture. The Board found the incident established. It…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Island Lake, IL
C.C. (ECAB 14-0392): Overpayment case returned to complete the record
OWCP found that C.C., a Postal Service employee, received $735.82 in compensation after returning to work and denied waiver of recovery. But the memorandum attached to its decision did not explain the waiver ruling. The Board could not review the basis for that ruling from the incomplete record. It…
J.J. and Department of the Interior, Lower Colorado Dams Office, Boulder City, NV
J.J. (ECAB 14-0369): Four-percent leg impairment award upheld
J.J., an Interior Department employee, twisted her left ankle while walking on a damaged parking lot and later sought a schedule award. An examining orthopedic surgeon and OWCP’s medical adviser used ankle range-of-motion findings to rate permanent impairment at four percent of the left leg. J.J…
A.M. and Department of Agriculture, Inspections Operations Program, Brawley, CA
A.M. (ECAB 14-0161): Wage-capacity reduction upheld
A.M., an Agriculture Department food inspector, received compensation for accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. OWCP found that he could perform the duties of a customer complaint clerk and reduced his compensation using that position’s wages. The Board found that the job fit the work…
D.A. and Department of the Army, Army National Guard
D.A. (ECAB 14-0103): Asbestos claim filed after three-year limit
D.A., a retired Army National Guard mechanic, claimed that workplace asbestos exposure caused pulmonary fibrosis. He said he knew of a possible work connection by May 13, 2008, but filed his claim on June 25, 2012. The Board held that he filed after FECA's three-year limit and had not shown that…
C.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
C.A. (ECAB 13-1364): Recurrence claim lacked reasoned medical support
C.A., a former postal carrier, claimed he became unable to work in March 2006 because of accepted ankle injuries and related emotional conditions. He submitted reports from psychiatrists and other physicians to support the recurrence claim. The Board found the reports did not explain in enough…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lucero Zambonino v. Colonial Mining Materials, LLC and Infinity Mining Materials, LLC
Successor operators ordered to temporarily reinstate scale clerk
Lucero Zambonino worked as a ticketing agent at a Florida sand and shell mine and complained about safety and sanitation conditions before MSHA inspected the operation. Colonial Mining Materials ended her employment shortly afterward, and the parties stipulated that her discrimination complaint was…
G.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Boston, MA
G.K. (ECAB 14-0418): Back injury recurrence claim denied
G.K., a Veterans Affairs health technician, returned to modified duty after an accepted back sprain. She claimed that the injury again kept her from working beginning February 6, 2013. The Board found that her physicians described back problems and work restrictions but did not adequately explain…
P.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Needham, MA
P.R. (ECAB 14-0300): Weekend deadline makes reconsideration request timely
P.R., a postal worker, sought reconsideration of OWCP's July 13, 2012 refusal to add a consequential back injury to his claim. OWCP received the request on July 15, 2013 and treated it as outside the one-year filing period. The Board held that the anniversary date fell on a Saturday, so the…
C.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration Medical Center, Tomah, WI
C.S. (ECAB 14-0269): Chiropractic opinion lacked an explanation of cause
C.S., a Veterans Affairs nurse, reported back pain after pushing a patient in a wheelchair. The Board accepted that the work incident occurred and recognized her chiropractor as a physician under FECA because he diagnosed spinal subluxations by x-ray. The delay before that x-ray did not by itself…
F.E. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Irving, TX
F.E. (ECAB 14-0166): Referee opinion needed clarification on crash injuries
F.E., an immigration enforcement agent, sought acceptance of additional spine, shoulder, and right knee conditions after a work-related vehicle collision. OWCP obtained an impartial specialist's opinion to resolve conflicting medical views, then denied the claimed right knee and shoulder conditions…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Federal Way, WA
J.M. (ECAB 14-0150): Travel reimbursement denial used an outdated rule
J.M., a postal employee with accepted work-related conditions, sought reimbursement for a 646-mile round trip to a treating surgeon who had moved his practice. OWCP denied the request using an older 25-mile guideline. The Board held that the revised regulation generally treats a round trip of up to…
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Marblehead, MA
T.D. (ECAB 14-0127): Repeated ankle evidence did not reopen claim
T.D., a postal letter carrier, sought reconsideration of a denied claim for left ankle problems that she attributed to her walking and other work duties. She submitted additional reports from her orthopedic surgeon. The Board found that the reports repeated symptoms and a work-causation opinion…
D.B. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Westbury, NY
D.B. (ECAB 13-2047): Air traffic controller's stress claim sent back for review
D.B., an air traffic controller, reported an emotional reaction after a near midair collision during his shift. The Board accepted that the incident occurred while he performed his duties. His psychologist's reports supported a possible causal link but did not fully explain it, so the Board…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, White Plains, NY
D.H. (ECAB 13-1885): Rescission of accepted conditions reversed
D.H., a postal mail handler, had a claim that OWCP expanded to include several preexisting conditions it found aggravated by work. OWCP later tried to rescind acceptance of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and tethered cord syndrome. The Board held that OWCP bore…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, West Racine, WI
L.S. (ECAB 13-1710): Overlapping arm injury files must be combined
L.S., a postal carrier, sought coverage for a right forearm nerve condition. A separate earlier claim already covered a right elbow strain from the same reported work date, but its medical evidence and decisions were missing from the record on appeal. The Board held that it could not fairly decide…
Sandra DiCecca v. Battelle Memorial Institute
DiCecca v. Battelle Memorial Institute (BRB 13-0378): death benefit award affirmed for overseas taxi trip
Gerald DiCecca worked for Battelle Memorial Institute at a Defense Department laboratory in Tbilisi, Georgia. He died from injuries in a car crash while taking an employer-paid taxi to a grocery store. An administrative law judge awarded death benefits to his widow, Sandra, under the Defense Base…
M.M. and National Credit Union Administration, City of Schenectady Office, Albany, NY
M.M. (ECAB 14-0367): Reconsideration request did not reopen injury claim
M.M., a federal examiner, sought reconsideration of a denied claim for back, neck, and shoulder problems after twisting to catch a falling file. She argued that OWCP had taken too long to decide an earlier reconsideration request, but the Board found that decision came within the usual 90-day…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
J.G. (ECAB 14-0318): Two percent knee award and review refusal upheld
J.G., a postal maintenance mechanic, sought a larger award for permanent impairment of his right leg after a work-related knee injury. OWCP had awarded two percent impairment and later refused to reopen the award on reconsideration. The Board found that surgery confirmed a medial meniscus tear but…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
J.B. (ECAB 14-0242): No ratable impairment from accepted injuries
J.B., a postal worker, sought a schedule award after accepted back and left knee injuries from a vehicle accident. An impartial orthopedic specialist found no ratable permanent impairment of the knee or of the arms or legs from spinal nerve injury. The Board gave his reasoned opinion special…
R.L. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, Las Vegas, NV
R.L. (ECAB 14-0155): Seventeen percent hearing award upheld
R.L., a deputy U.S. Marshal, received a schedule award for hearing loss after workplace noise exposure at a firing range. OWCP rated his binaural hearing loss at 12 percent and added five percent for tinnitus, for a total of 17 percent through February 1, 2012. The Board upheld that rating and…
M.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Diego, CA
M.L. (ECAB 13-2074): Shoulder claim and late hearing request denied
M.L., a postal worker with a prior military shoulder injury, claimed that repetitive lifting and other mail duties worsened his right shoulder condition. The Board accepted the reported work duties but found that his physicians did not adequately explain how they caused or aggravated the condition…
A.D. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Atlanta, GA
A.D. (ECAB 13-1641): Cashier job mismatch invalidated benefit reduction
A.D., a correctional officer with accepted shoulder injuries, received disability compensation. OWCP proposed reducing it based on a sedentary cashier I job, then finalized the reduction using a different cashier II job classified as light work. The Board found no vocational assessment selecting…
G.Y. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Fossil Plant, Drakesboro, KY
G.Y. (ECAB 13-1558): Hearing loss claim filed too late
G.Y., a former Tennessee Valley Authority pipefitter, claimed that workplace noise caused his hearing loss. He filed in 2012, more than 23 years after his last federal work exposure, and said he did not learn of a work connection until reviewing a doctor's report that year. The Board found that his…
V.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
V.A. (ECAB 14-722): Termination of compensation reversed
V.A., a Postal Service mail handler, received compensation for an accepted aggravation of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome after a 2007 workplace fall. OWCP ended his benefits on the ground that the injury had no continuing effects. The impartial medical examiner questioned whether the accepted…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
M.R. (ECAB 14-0544): Right shoulder claim lacked medical causation
M.R., a Postal Service city carrier, claimed that her letter carrier duties caused a torn right rotator cuff. Her doctors documented the tear and planned surgery. The Board found that their reports did not explain how her specific work duties caused or contributed to the condition. A checked box…
K.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
K.D. (ECAB 14-0285): Later disability from foot conditions was not proved
K.D., a Postal Service mail processing clerk, had accepted foot conditions and previously received compensation. OWCP terminated his compensation effective March 11, 2012 after resolving a medical conflict. In this appeal from a later decision, the Board considered whether he had proved disability…
R.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, San Diego, CA
R.C. (ECAB 14-0201): Reduced work hours did not establish recurrence
R.C., a transportation security officer with accepted right shoulder and back conditions, claimed a recurrence of disability beginning August 14, 2013. His physician restricted him to five hours of work per day. The Board found that the physician did not explain what had worsened or which duties of…
E.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, ME
E.D. (ECAB 14-0079): Reconsideration denied without merits review
E.D. asked OWCP to reconsider a denied claim involving an ankle and knee injury. His appeal reached the Board too late for review of the underlying merit decision, so the Board examined only OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim. The Board found that he offered no new relevant medical evidence, new…
P.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
P.D. (ECAB 13-2034): Wage loss for claimed disability period not proved
P.D., a Postal Service clerk, had accepted lumbar strain and degenerative disc conditions. He sought wage-loss compensation for claimed disability from March 4, 2011 through July 13, 2012. The Board found that his physician did not explain how the accepted conditions prevented work during that…
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.