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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P.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, OR
P.L. (ECAB 12-0873): Shoulder impairment conflict needs impartial review
P.L., a retired postal carrier, sought a schedule award for right arm impairment after an accepted shoulder injury. OWCP's second opinion physician measured impairment but later said it was unrelated to the work injury. P.L.'s physician continued to attribute the impairment to that injury. The…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jacksonville, FL
D.B. (ECAB 12-0870): Back claim denial upheld with diagnosis recognized
D.B., a rural postal carrier, attributed back problems to repetitive lifting, turning, and vehicle work. OWCP denied the claim after finding that she lacked a firm diagnosis. The Board found that her physician had diagnosed disc degeneration, correcting that part of OWCP's reasoning. His reports…
J.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pendleton, SC
J.E. (ECAB 12-0838): Trigger thumb claim lacked reasoned work connection
J.E., a rural letter carrier, attributed left trigger thumb to repetitive mail handling. The Board found that her duties and diagnosis were established. Her physician said that such work could cause or aggravate the condition but did not explain medically how her particular duties did so. Other…
C.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration New Jersey Health Care System, Lyons, NJ
C.C. (ECAB 12-0810): Supervisory stress claim lacked medical causation
C.C., a Veterans Affairs supervisor, attributed an emotional condition to staff issues and her manager's conduct. The Board found that dealing with staff problems was part of her regular job and therefore a covered work factor. Her allegations about evaluations, leave, lack of support, and…
S.J. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Los Angeles, CA
S.J. (ECAB 12-0511): Box lifting injury claim lacked medical causation
S.J., a Bureau of Prisons correctional systems officer, reported back and neck pain after lifting boxes at work. The Board accepted that the lifting occurred but found no reasoned medical opinion tying it to a back, shoulder, or neck injury. A physician attributed her condition mainly to…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Denver, CO
D.S. (ECAB 12-0389): OWCP must reconsider withdrawn light duty job
D.S., a postal employee with accepted right shoulder and elbow conditions, returned to a modified clerk position. OWCP found in 2008 that her earnings in that position showed no wage earning capacity loss. After the Postal Service withdrew the job through the National Reassessment Program, she…
W.D. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Division of Nuclear Power, Chattanooga, TN
W.D. (ECAB 12-0945): Hearing loss claim was timely but lacked medical proof
W.D., a former Tennessee Valley Authority laborer, attributed hearing loss to noise from his work, which ended in 1981. OWCP denied his 2011 claim as untimely based on the date of his last exposure. The Board found no substantial evidence that he knew or reasonably should have known of a link…
J.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Scranton, PA
J.A. (ECAB 12-0929): Evidence did not support a larger leg impairment award
J.A., a former postal mail carrier, received schedule awards for four percent permanent impairment to each leg after accepted back injuries. He sought larger awards based on another physician's assessment. The Board found that physician's account of the injuries inaccurate and his use of whole…
M.H. and Department of the Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base, OK
M.H. (ECAB 12-0733): OWCP must develop the hearing loss record
M.H., an Air Force electronics worker, claimed that decades of workplace noise caused bilateral hearing loss. OWCP found her claim timely but denied a work connection. The Board found that the employer had not supplied requested details about noise levels and duration, and OWCP had not followed up…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Decatur, IL
D.D. (ECAB 12-0729): OWCP must review reduced postal job under its guidance
D.D., a postal letter carrier with accepted neck and back injuries, had worked in a full time modified position used to set his wage earning capacity. The Postal Service later offered him only four hours a day under the National Reassessment Program. He asked OWCP to modify its earlier capacity…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
J.H. (ECAB 12-0592): Stroke was not linked to accepted work injury
J.H., a former postal clerk, had an accepted traumatic nervous reaction after a 1977 workplace incident. He later suffered a stroke and asked OWCP to recognize it as a consequence of that injury. His medical submissions described his condition but did not explain a connection to the earlier work…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Waycross, GA
R.M. (ECAB 11-1826): Unexplained work fall did not establish a diagnosed injury
R.M., a postal employee, fainted and fell while working in February 2010. The Board found that the medical record did not establish a personal condition as the cause of the fall, so it treated the fall as unexplained and within FECA coverage. That finding did not establish a compensable injury by…
R.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Egg Harbor Township, NJ
R.B. (ECAB 11-1320): Parking lot facts needed before rescinding injury claim
R.B., a transportation screener, fell while walking from an airport employee parking lot to work. OWCP had accepted her injuries, then rescinded coverage after finding that the fall occurred outside the work premises. The Board found conflicting evidence about the parking lot's use and whether…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Cincinnati, OH
J.K. (ECAB 11-1136): Withdrawn light duty job required further review
J.K., a postal mail handler with accepted bilateral plantar fasciitis, returned to a modified job in 2004. OWCP treated the job's earnings as his wage earning capacity and reduced his compensation to zero. The Postal Service withdrew the limited duty position through the National Reassessment…
R.M. and National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC
R.M. (ECAB 11-0704): Emotional condition claim lacked proven work factors
R.M., a former National Transportation Safety Board financial specialist, attributed depression and anxiety to his work duties, management actions, and pain from other claimed work injuries. The Board found that his allegations about overwhelming and high profile duties were not factually…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Baltimore Performance Cluster, Baltimore, MD
L.M. (ECAB 12-0868): Left arm impairment did not exceed earlier award
L.M., a postal mail handler, had received a schedule award for 35 percent permanent impairment of her left arm after an accepted shoulder injury. She sought an increase based on her doctor's report. The Board found that the doctor did not explain how the current impairment guides supported his 35…
S.B. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Covington, KY
S.B. (ECAB 12-0858): Fall claim lacked a medical link to back strain
S.B., an Internal Revenue Service clerk, fell at work after feeling dizzy and was diagnosed with an acute lumbosacral strain. OWCP accepted that the fall happened but denied her injury claim. The Board found no medical evidence establishing a personal condition that caused the fall, so it remained…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Ridgewood, NY
M.H. (ECAB 12-0854): Knee condition lacked a reasoned work connection
M.H., a postal letter carrier, attributed her left knee condition to repeated walking, stair climbing, and carrying weight at work. Her surgeon treated a meniscus tear and supported a work connection, but his explanation did not address the significance of a fall at home in May 2010 or explain the…
H.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, La Puente, CA
H.J. (ECAB 12-0827): Knee recurrence claim needed medical development
H.J., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted left knee sprain in 2001 and later underwent knee replacement surgery after developing osteoarthritis. OWCP denied his claim that the later condition was related to the original injury. The Board found that his doctors' opinions did not yet prove…
C.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Las Vegas, NV
C.M. (ECAB 12-0641): Additional spinal conditions were not tied to work injury
C.M., a transportation security screener, had accepted cervical and lumbar conditions after a 2004 work injury. She sought recognition of additional cervical disc and lumbar degenerative conditions. An impartial orthopedic examiner attributed those additional conditions to chronic degeneration…
S.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Blue Bell, PA
S.A. (ECAB 12-0463): Compensation termination for abandoned job reversed
S.A., a postal carrier injured in a work related vehicle accident, was offered a part time modified job. OWCP terminated her compensation after she worked briefly and then stopped. An impartial physician found the job suitable from a physical standpoint, but a psychiatrist's report raised a…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
L.P. (ECAB 12-0284): Foot claim and late hearing request denied
L.P., a postal letter carrier, attributed a toe bone spur to walking a long mail route in required work shoes. He identified the work activities but supplied no medical evidence in response to OWCP's request for a physician's explanation of causation. The Board upheld the injury claim denial on the…
P.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
P.M. (ECAB 12-0283): Benefit termination upheld; impairment rating sent back
P.M., a postal mail handler with accepted carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms, challenged both a benefits termination and a denial of larger schedule awards. The Board found an impartial examiner's opinion sufficiently supported the conclusion that the accepted condition had resolved, so it upheld…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Daly City, CA
M.R. (ECAB 11-0361): Withdrawn coding job required wage capacity review
M.R., a postal distribution clerk with accepted arm conditions, worked part time in a video coding job used to set her wage earning capacity. The Postal Service withdrew work from her under the National Reassessment Program. An OWCP hearing representative had found the coding job to be make work…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Lompoc, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3048
FCC Lompoc and AFGE Local 3048 (FLRA 0-AR-4621): Protective-equipment bargaining award remanded
After a correctional officer was killed in a stabbing at a federal prison, AFGE Local 3048 sought local bargaining over stab-resistant vests and other protective equipment at FCC Lompoc. The Bureau of Prisons provided vests and bargained on some issues nationally, but declined further local talks…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Northern Arizona VA Health Care System, Prescott, Arizona and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2401
Northern Arizona VA Health Care System and AFGE Local 2401 (FLRA DE-CA-11-0181): VA must recognize union's retired representatives
The Northern Arizona VA Health Care System stopped dealing with two representatives chosen by AFGE Local 2401 because they had retired from VA employment. A 1974 local agreement said negotiating committee members would be VA employees, but the VA had recognized the union president as a…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Canteen Service and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
VA Veterans Canteen Service and AFGE (FLRA BN-CA-08-0183): Complaint over unimplemented arbitration award dismissed
The Veterans Canteen Service removed a food service worker, and an arbitrator ordered his reinstatement with backpay and a shorter suspension. The VA refused to implement that award. An FLRA administrative law judge found an unfair labor practice for failing to comply with the award, but the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 and United States Department of Defense, Defense Information Systems Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
AFGE Local 1858 and Defense Information Systems Agency (FLRA 0-AR-4847): Union's arbitration exception dismissed
The union challenged an arbitrator's decision that a contract clause giving union officials top seniority for shift preferences was unenforceable. The agency argued that the union filed too late and had not given a legally recognized reason to set the award aside. The Authority found the exception…
Long Branch Energy
Late penalty petitions reinstated after District 4 backlog
The Secretary filed seven penalty petitions between about seven and eleven months after the Commission's 45-day deadline, and the judge dismissed the cases. The Commission clarified that adequate cause exists when the Secretary gives a plausible, supported explanation showing the delay did not…
The American Coal Company
Twelve safeguards upheld and one invalidated
American Coal challenged the facial validity of thirteen mine-specific safeguards governing underground transportation conditions at its Galatia mine. The Commission held that a safeguard identifies the nature of a hazard when it describes a hazardous condition, and it need not list every possible…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lawrence L. Pendley v. Highland Mining Company
Termination and reinstatement-work claims remanded for fuller analysis
After the Sixth Circuit reversed part of an earlier Commission ruling, the Commission reconsidered Lawrence Pendley's claims that Highland Mining discriminatorily fired him and later changed his work after temporary reinstatement. The majority remanded the termination claim so the judge could…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Flint, MI
K.M. (ECAB 11-0298): OWCP must reassess withdrawn postal position
K.M., a postal carrier with an accepted right elbow condition, worked for years in a modified position used to set his wage earning capacity. The Postal Service later said it lacked enough work within his restrictions and withdrew the position under the National Reassessment Process. OWCP denied…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals 33, Local 506 and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Coleman, Florida
AFGE Local 506 and FCC Coleman (FLRA 0-NG-3126): One prisoner escort safety proposal is negotiable
At a federal prison in Coleman, Florida, the warden reduced the number of officers allowed to carry firearms while escorting prisoners to hospitals. The union proposed five measures it said would protect escort officers. The Authority found that proposals for individual GPS communications devices…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Justin Slaton v. Star Mine Services, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement affirmed
Justin Slaton alleged that Star Mine Services fired him for activity protected by the Mine Act. A judge found the temporary-reinstatement application was not frivolously brought and ordered Star to return Slaton to his former outby support position at Warrior Coal's Cardinal Mine. Star argued on…
B.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Tennessee Performance Cluster, Nashville, TN
B.A. (ECAB 12-0939): Right leg award claim needed medical adviser review
B.A., a postal employee, sustained accepted right hip and knee injuries in a work related vehicle accident. Her surgeon rated her right leg at 29 percent permanent impairment, but OWCP denied a schedule award because the rating lacked sufficient explanation. The Board agreed that the reports did…
E.L. and Department of Transportation, Transportation Security Administration, Albuquerque, NM
E.L. (ECAB 12-0791): Attendant allowance lacked medical support
E.L. sought an allowance for care from his spouse after surgery for an accepted cervical condition. His physician anticipated some supervised care and later stated that attendant services might have been needed for two to four weeks. The physician did not explain what personal care E.L. needed…
D.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Biloxi, MI
D.B. (ECAB 12-0747): Reconsideration request did not warrant merit review
D.B., a Veterans Affairs nursing assistant, sought an increased schedule award for her arms after an earlier award for 21 percent impairment of each. OWCP denied the increased award, and she then requested reconsideration. The Board reviewed only OWCP's refusal to reopen the case because the…
R.F. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bainbridge Island, WA
R.F. (ECAB 12-0684): Unserved decision set aside for proper issuance
R.F. appealed OWCP's denial of a schedule award for hearing loss. His attorney said he had not received the decision, even though OWCP had acknowledged him as R.F.'s authorized representative. The Board found that OWCP mailed the decision without sending a copy to the attorney. Because the…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Michigan City, IN
R.B. (ECAB 12-0488): Recurrence after home lifting was not tied to work injury
R.B., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted temporary aggravation of lumbar disc disease and later returned to unrestricted work. She stopped work in June 2010 after back pain began while lifting a laundry basket at home. Her physicians discussed her longstanding back condition, but the Board…
R.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Brownsville, TX
R.L. (ECAB 12-0086): Hearing loss filing deadline needed more evidence
R.L., a retired immigration inspector and firearms instructor, claimed that workplace noise caused hearing loss and tinnitus. OWCP denied his 2010 claim as untimely. The Board found that the record lacked evidence about what his supervisor knew when he resigned from firearms instruction and about…
L.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Acton, MA
L.B. (ECAB 11-2076): Overpayment upheld; lump sum recovery set aside
L.B., a retired postal carrier receiving FECA compensation, also received Social Security retirement benefits attributable to his federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld OWCP's $29,077.33 overpayment calculation and its refusal to waive recovery, given the household income and…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Troy, MI
J.B. (ECAB 11-2036): Withdrawn postal job required wage capacity review
J.B., a postal clerk with an accepted back condition, worked in a modified position that OWCP used to set his wage earning capacity. The Postal Service later withdrew the job through the National Reassessment Process because it found no work within his restrictions. OWCP denied his request to…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1662 and United States Department of the Army, Raymond W. Bliss Army Health Center, Fort Huachuca, Arizona
AFGE Local 1662 and Bliss Army Health Center (FLRA 0-AR-4845): Liquidated damages added; attorney fees remanded
An employee at the Bliss Army Health Center regularly worked for fifteen minutes before his scheduled shift without pay. An arbitrator found that the Army had permitted the work and awarded overtime compensation, but denied liquidated damages and attorney fees because the dispute was resolved in…
United States Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 2296
Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and IAM Local 2296 (FLRA 0-AR-4833): Late arbitration exceptions dismissed
An arbitrator ordered the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station to restore environmental differential pay to employees and provide backpay. The Navy prepared exceptions to the award, but its package was returned by the installation post office for improper packaging. Under the filing rules…
United States Department of the Air Force, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1709
Dover Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1709 (FLRA WA-RP-11-0028): Three bargaining units may consolidate
AFGE Local 1709 sought to combine three Dover Air Force Base bargaining units: police officers, other appropriated-fund employees, and nonappropriated-fund employees. A regional director found that the combined unit met the statutory tests for a shared community of interest, effective dealings with…
Shamokin Filler Company, Inc.
Carbon plant held subject to Mine Act
Shamokin operated a plant that dried, screened, stored, bagged, and sold anthracite coal to customer specifications. The Commission affirmed that these activities made the plant a custom coal-preparation facility and therefore a mine under the Mine Act, even though the plant also handled non-coal…
S.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Patrol, Reston, VA
S.C. (ECAB 12-0765): Timely reconsideration request sent back for review
S.C. requested reconsideration after OWCP denied his traumatic injury claim. OWCP treated the request as late and rejected it for lack of clear evidence of error. The Board found that S.C. made the request less than one year after the latest merit decision. That made the late request standard…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Denver, CO
M.M. (ECAB 12-0442): Referee physician selection required a new review
M.M., a postal worker with accepted back conditions, challenged a wage earning capacity determination based in part on a referee physician's opinion. The Board found that the record contained an appointment notice but no evidence showing how OWCP selected that physician through its rotating system…
S.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Trenton, FL
S.O. (ECAB 11-2112): Withdrawn light duty job required medical development
S.O., a postal carrier with an accepted lumbar strain after a work related vehicle accident, returned to limited duty. The Postal Service withdrew that job under the National Reassessment Process, and she claimed a recurrence of disability and wage loss. OWCP denied the claim after finding that her…
R.C. and Department of Health & Human Services, Food & Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD
R.C. (ECAB 11-2072): Late reconsideration request showed no clear error
R.C., a Food and Drug Administration officer, challenged OWCP's termination of wage loss benefits after an accepted neck injury. His attorney said he had sent a reconsideration request within the one year period, but the record contained no proof that the earlier request was mailed. The Board…
K.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
K.G. (ECAB 11-1832): Automation work injury claim needed specialist review
K.G., a postal automation clerk, reported lower back and right shoulder problems after returning to work on sorting machines. OWCP treated the claim as an occupational disease because the duties extended beyond one shift and denied it for insufficient medical causation. Her physician described the…
L.J. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, El Segundo, CA
L.J. (ECAB 11-1622): Psychiatric benefit termination upheld; later conflict remanded
L.J., an Internal Revenue Service officer, had accepted work related depression and hypertension. OWCP ended benefits for the psychiatric part of her claim after a second opinion psychiatrist found no continuing depression residuals. The Board upheld that termination based on the evidence available…
P.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Minneapolis, MN
P.Y. (ECAB 11-0837): Withdrawn clerk position required wage capacity review
P.Y., a postal clerk with an accepted back condition, worked in a modified position that OWCP used to determine her wage earning capacity. The Postal Service withdrew the position under the National Reassessment Process, and she sought compensation. OWCP denied modification after finding that the…
H.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, South Hero, VT
H.S. (ECAB 11-0734): Recurrence rescission affirmed; wage capacity issue remanded
H.S., a Postal Service clerk with an accepted right shoulder injury, worked in a modified position that OWCP used to determine her wage earning capacity. The Postal Service withdrew that position under its National Reassessment Program, and she sought wage loss compensation. OWCP initially accepted…
Elliot Construction Corp.
Carbon monoxide violations affirmed as willful
Elliot Construction used gas-powered equipment for an indoor concrete pour, and four employees reported feeling ill from carbon monoxide exposure. Two employees were diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning. The foreman knew the equipment produced carbon monoxide and recognized the employees'…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 and United States Department of the Army, Research Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
AFGE Local 1858 and Redstone Arsenal Army Center (FLRA 0-AR-4846): New damages claim barred on review
An arbitrator found that the Army improperly denied official time to a union president who represented employees in other bargaining units, and ordered nonmonetary remedies. The union asked the Authority to add compensatory damages, but the arbitration record showed that it had requested leave…
Twentymile Coal Company
Escapeway violations split with $27,605 total penalties
MSHA cited Twentymile Coal for escapeway marking and lifeline-access conditions at its underground Foidel Creek Mine. Judge Richard W. Manning upheld an order involving inadequate primary-escapeway route markers and assessed $18,000. He also upheld a citation for a water hose that impeded access to…
A.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Harrison, MI
A.P. (ECAB 12-0851): Reconsideration refusal upheld
A.P., a Postal Service window clerk with accepted shoulder conditions, sought compensation for a claimed recurrence of disability beginning in July 2003. OWCP denied the recurrence claim, and she later requested reconsideration. The Board found that her request did not show a specific legal error…
K.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albuquerque, NM
K.Z. (ECAB 12-0784): Forfeiture upheld, overpayment fault set aside
K.Z., a Postal Service rural carrier associate, received wage loss compensation after an accepted back injury. She bought and resold merchandise online but answered no when claim forms asked about outside earnings. The Board held that she knowingly omitted earnings and forfeited compensation for…
V.A. and Department of Defense, Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington, DC
V.A. (ECAB 12-0637): Overpayment confirmed, amount and waiver remanded
V.A., a nurse with an accepted knee injury, returned to work but received wage loss compensation through December 18, 2010. The Board agreed that this created an overpayment. It found that OWCP had calculated the amount using gross compensation despite deductions for insurance premiums, and sent…
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.