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.
P.K. and Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Randlett, UT
P.K. (ECAB 12-0046): New work restrictions required reconsideration on the merits
P.K., a Fish and Wildlife Service maintenance worker with accepted lumbar conditions, challenged OWCP's reduction of his wage-loss compensation based on the earning capacity of a customer service representative. OWCP refused to reopen his claim after an earlier merits review. The Board found that a…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
R.H. (ECAB 12-0035): Shoulder impairment rating requires further review
R.H., a postal mail handler with an accepted right shoulder injury, sought a schedule award after surgery. OWCP denied the claim, stating that it had not received an impairment rating. The Board found that her surgeon had in fact submitted a 10 percent right upper extremity rating, which OWCP's…
F.C. and Federal Judiciary, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Los Angeles, CA
F.C. (ECAB 12-0025): Information clerk job remained a valid wage capacity measure
F.C., a federal court reporter with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, had her compensation reduced based on the earning capacity of an information clerk. She sought modification, arguing that the job required repetitive typing beyond her medical restrictions. The Board found that the…
D.H. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Decatur, AL
D.H. (ECAB 11-2130): New appraisals did not reopen hearing-loss timeliness ruling
D.H., a former Tennessee Valley Authority engineer, claimed hearing loss from workplace noise. Earlier Board decisions held his claim untimely. He sought another reconsideration, arguing that supervisors should have known his hearing loss was work related and supplying old performance appraisals…
A.S. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega, AL
A.S. (ECAB 11-2097): Cervical injury ratings did not establish a schedule award
A.S., a correctional institution painter, sustained accepted cervical disc and nerve conditions when a roof hatch fell on his head. He sought a schedule award based on physicians' impairment ratings. The Board found that one rating did not identify the affected arm, another rated whole-body…
D.N., claiming as the widower of P.N., and U.S. Postal Service, Lorenzo Post Office, Lorenzo, TX
D.N. (ECAB 11-2059): Survivor-benefit overpayment and waiver denial upheld
D.N. received survivor's benefits after his wife, a postal carrier, died from a work-related injury. He remarried at age 51 but continued receiving monthly benefits for more than two decades. The Board upheld OWCP's calculation of a $357,733.95 overpayment after crediting the lump sum and health…
H.C. and Department of the Navy, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
H.C. (ECAB 11-1407): Prior arm awards stand after merits review clarified
H.C., a former Navy ship builder with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, had received schedule awards for six percent impairment of each arm. He sought higher awards using a physician's later calculation of 17 percent for his right arm and five percent for his left. The Board found that the…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Union) and United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (Agency)
NATCA and FAA (FLRA 0-NG-3070): Supervisory coverage proposals dismissed
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association proposed changes to how the FAA covered shifts when supervisors were absent. It sought to limit supervisors' leave and spread their shifts and regular days off more evenly, while barring mandatory overtime for controllers covering absent supervisors…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, Rhode Island (Agency) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-134, Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers, Local R1-144 (Unions)
Navy Undersea Warfare Center and Newport unions (FLRA 0-AR-4405): Bottled-water dispute remanded
The Navy stopped providing bottled water at its Newport facilities after testing its drinking fountains, and two unions challenged the change. An arbitrator ordered the Navy to resume the prior practice, and the Authority initially denied the Navy's exceptions. A federal appeals court vacated that…
Knife River Corporation, Northwest
Truck-scale guardrail citation and failure-to-abate order vacated
MSHA cited Knife River because the rub rails on an elevated truck scale were below the mid-axle guardrail height required for mine roadways, then issued a failure-to-abate order. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that the portable weighing scale was equipment, not a roadway or part of the mine's…
Secretary of Labor, on behalf of Robert A. Albrecht v. Conmat, Inc.
Global settlement ends temporary-reinstatement case
Robert A. Albrecht sought temporary reinstatement after alleging that Conmat laid him off or discharged him for discriminatory reasons. Conmat later recalled him at lower pay and benefits while the parties prepared for a temporary-reinstatement hearing. Before the hearing began, the Secretary…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Reuben Shemwell v. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc. and Armstrong Fabricators, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement remanded for required hearing
An administrative law judge ordered Reuben Shemwell temporarily reinstated on summary decision after the operators had timely requested a hearing. The Commission held that Procedural Rule 45 required the requested hearing and that cross-examination and other hearing protections were part of the…
C.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Sells, AZ
C.H. (ECAB 12-0080): Conflicting impairment ratings require impartial examination
C.H., a former customs patrol officer, had accepted injuries from a work-related vehicle accident. OWCP awarded compensation for 24 percent right arm impairment and 15 percent right leg impairment. His physician had rated the same limbs at 36 and 16 percent, respectively, but OWCP's medical adviser…
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service, JFK Station, Boston, MA
J.D. (ECAB 12-0073): Prolonged standing and foot aggravation not established
J.D., a postal window clerk, alleged that prolonged standing aggravated a left foot condition following fractures from a nonwork car accident. His employer disputed how long he stood, and he did not provide the detailed work description OWCP requested. The Board found that the claimed…
M.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Providence, RI
M.C. (ECAB 12-0064): Earlier wage-loss period not reopened for review
M.C., a postal mail handler with accepted left Achilles tendinitis, received wage-loss compensation for part of 2009 but was denied an earlier period. He sought reconsideration, arguing that payment of medical expenses established his entitlement to wages for the earlier period. The Board held that…
M.S. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Coleman, FL
M.S. (ECAB 12-0056): Left shoulder injury during training not medically established
M.S., a correctional officer, claimed a left shoulder injury while using monkey bars on a workplace training course. OWCP accepted that the training incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence of a resulting injury. The Board found that his physician documented improving…
K.S. and Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Eureka, CA
K.S. (ECAB 11-2085): Census worker overpayment calculation returned for review
K.S., a Census Bureau recruiting assistant with accepted neck and shoulder conditions, received wage-loss benefits calculated from a pay rate OWCP later challenged. OWCP found a $63,711.81 overpayment, fault, and a deduction from continuing benefits. The Board found the overpayment period unclear…
R.H. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Bastrop, TX
R.H. (ECAB 11-2067): Untimely reconsideration lacked clear evidence of error
R.H., a prison accounting technician, claimed an emotional condition from workplace harassment and discrimination. OWCP denied the underlying claim because it found no compensable employment factor. Nearly a decade after the last merits decision, R.H. again requested reconsideration and alleged…
R.C. and Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, AL
R.C. (ECAB 11-1908): Resolved back strains support benefit termination
R.C., an Army depot worker, received compensation after accepted lumbar and thoracic strains from lifting at work in 1988. OWCP later concluded that those strains had resolved, modified a 1992 wage-earning capacity determination, and ended wage-loss and medical benefits. The Board gave weight to a…
V.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
V.W. (ECAB 11-1827): Termination upheld after accepted sprains resolved
V.W., a postal worker, had accepted cervical and left rhomboid sprains and received compensation for intermittent disability. OWCP terminated benefits after a second-opinion orthopedist found those sprains resolved and no continuing work-related disability. The Board found that later reports…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Delivery Center, San Francisco, CA
J.M. (ECAB 11-1681): Arm impairment awards returned for rating clarification
J.M., a postal mail processor, had accepted shoulder, neck, nerve, and bilateral carpal tunnel conditions. OWCP awarded schedule compensation based on 15 percent right arm and 3 percent left arm impairment, far below a second-opinion physician's ratings. The Board found that the physician had…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1001 (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (Agency)
NFFE Local 1001 and Vandenberg Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-4799): Overtime grievance dismissed under filing rules
NFFE Local 1001 filed a grievance alleging that Vandenberg Air Force Base wrongly treated employees as exempt from federal overtime pay. The arbitrator classified it as a group grievance and dismissed it because the union had not supplied the employee names required by the parties' agreement. He…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 26 (Union) and United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 26 and IRS (FLRA 0-AR-4730): Appeals-office workspace grievance denied
The IRS moved an employee outside the bargaining unit into an empty workstation in its appeals office. NTEU Chapter 26 said the move required notice and bargaining and violated its agreement and agency workplace standards. The arbitrator denied the grievance, finding no bargaining-unit employee was…
D.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, West Roxbury, MA
D.R. (ECAB 12-0617): Benefit termination reversed because job suitability was unproven
D.R., a former Veterans Affairs nursing assistant, received compensation for accepted low back conditions. Her employer offered a limited-duty position, which she declined before relocating to Arizona. OWCP ended her compensation for refusing suitable work. The Board found that OWCP's own medical…
W.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Southaven, MS
W.D. (ECAB 12-0260): Claimed workplace spider bite lacked supporting evidence
W.D., a postal clerk, reported a left leg injury from a spider bite at work. His employer disputed the claim, and OWCP asked for further factual and medical evidence. The Board found that W.D. had supplied only a claim form, with no further account establishing the incident and no medical evidence…
M.W. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Methuen, MA
M.W. (ECAB 12-0119): Abdominal and leg injury claim and reopening denial upheld
M.W., an IRS correspondence examiner, reported abdominal and left leg pain after stopping suddenly to avoid a coworker. OWCP accepted the workplace event but found no reasoned medical opinion tying a diagnosed condition to it. The Board agreed: her surgeon's checkmark on a causation form lacked an…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Norview Post Office, Norfolk, VA
K.M. (ECAB 12-0068): Late recurrence reconsideration lacked clear evidence of error
K.M., a postal carrier with accepted right ankle injuries, claimed a later recurrence of disability that OWCP denied in 2007. He requested reconsideration in 2011, supplying employer letters, VA appointment notices, and a laboratory slip. The Board found the request outside the one-year period for…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Benson Post Office, Omaha, NE
R.R. (ECAB 12-0060): Knee condition not linked to mail carrier duties
R.R., a postal city carrier, reported knee pain during and after mail delivery. OWCP accepted the claimed work factors but denied compensation because the medical evidence did not connect a diagnosed knee condition to them. The Board found that imaging reports described knee findings without…
J.L. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Amarillo, TX
J.L. (ECAB 12-0048): Overpayment case returned for requested hearing
OWCP alleged that J.L., a postal employee, had received an overpayment because it had not deducted health benefit premiums. J.L. timely requested a prerecoupment hearing and disputed fault, but OWCP held a telephone conference with a claims examiner instead and issued a final overpayment decision…
S.N. and Department of Health & Human Services, St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington, DC
S.N. (ECAB 12-0031): Wage capacity challenge must be decided as modification request
S.N., a former hospital worker with an accepted lumbar strain, challenged OWCP's reduction of wage-loss benefits based on a caregiver position. She said she had worked as a caregiver for only one week and could not perform that job, and she submitted a letter and medical reports. OWCP treated her…
H.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jacksonville, FL
H.W. (ECAB 11-2139): Left shoulder claim denied without medical evidence
H.W., a postal city carrier, claimed that lifting, mail casing, driving, and greater use of his left arm while his right arm was restricted caused left shoulder pain. OWCP accepted that he performed those work duties and asked for supporting medical evidence. He supplied no medical evidence before…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Plainfield, NJ
B.B. (ECAB 11-2133): Timely reconsideration request returned for decision
B.B., a postal employee, requested reconsideration of an OWCP compensation decision. OWCP treated a March 2011 letter as the request and denied it as more than a year late. The Board found that the record contained an earlier request received in November 2010, within a year of the January 2010…
M.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Las Vegas, NV
M.G. (ECAB 11-2121): No proven continuing effects of temporary aggravations
M.G., a postal employee, had an accepted right knee injury and temporary aggravations affecting his spine, left shoulder, and left lower extremity. OWCP determined that the temporary aggravations ended by August 25, 2008, and the Board had previously upheld that termination. M.G. submitted later…
F.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Ossining, NY
F.B. (ECAB 11-2101): Postal truck collision claim denied for insufficient medical explanation
F.B., a postal letter carrier, reported neck and back symptoms after another vehicle struck her parked postal truck on July 6, 2011. OWCP accepted that the collision occurred but denied her traumatic injury claim for lack of sufficient medical evidence linking a diagnosed condition to it. The Board…
K.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Hunter/Holmes/McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center, Richmond, VA
K.S. (ECAB 11-2096): Timely reconsideration request returned for review
K.S. sought reconsideration after the Board affirmed the denial of her compensation claim in November 2010. OWCP measured her February 2011 request against its November 2009 decision and rejected the request as late under the clear evidence of error standard. The Board held that its own November…
B.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, VA
B.W. (ECAB 11-2090): Unexplained reconsideration refusal returned to OWCP
B.W., a Navy medical center secretary, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied an increased schedule award for her accepted hand conditions. OWCP declined the request in a short notice that gave no findings of fact or explanation. The Board held that an OWCP decision must state its factual…
A.C. and Department of the Army, White Sands Missile Range, NM
A.C. (ECAB 11-2077): Earlier impairment files needed for schedule award review
A.C., an Army firefighter, sought an increased schedule award for impairment of his right lower extremity after an accepted knee injury. OWCP denied the claim because two earlier files had already produced awards totaling 20 percent impairment of the same leg. The Board found that the record lacked…
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service, New Jersey International & Bulk Mail Center, Jersey City, NJ
D.C. (ECAB 11-2062): Impartial medical examiner selection unverified
D.C. received a schedule award for four percent impairment of her left lower extremity after conflicting medical opinions about its degree. OWCP relied on an impartial medical specialist, Dr. Hutter. The Board found that the record lacked the selection screenshots needed to verify that OWCP had…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Collins, CO
D.B. (ECAB 11-2046): Knee claim returned for a properly selected impartial examiner
D.B., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted temporary aggravation of right knee osteoarthritis and later underwent knee replacement. OWCP relied on an impartial medical specialist to find that the replacement and impairment resulted from the natural progression of preexisting disease. The Board…
H.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
H.F. (ECAB 11-2031): Related back injury files must be combined
H.F., a postal employee, challenged the termination of benefits for an accepted lumbar strain from lifting a mail tub. He had also filed a separate occupational disease claim involving his back. OWCP's hearing representative relied in part on information from that separate file, but the Board did…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Toledo, OH
T.S. (ECAB 11-2016): Sixth edition impairment guide applied to schedule award
T.S., a postal employee, sought an increased schedule award and argued that OWCP should use the fifth edition of the American Medical Association impairment guides because he filed his claim before OWCP adopted the sixth edition. His attorney did not otherwise challenge the impairment rating. The…
G.A. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA
G.A. (ECAB 11-1933): Emotional condition claim returned for missing records
G.A. appealed OWCP's refusal to change its denial of her emotional condition claim and its treatment of a second claim as a duplicate. The Board found that OWCP's decision discussed medical and factual evidence missing from the record sent to it. Without those materials, the Board could not fairly…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Huntsville, AL
T.W. (ECAB 11-1924): Right elbow claim returned for record reconstruction
T.W. appealed OWCP's denial of his right elbow injury claim after requesting a schedule award. OWCP had initially paid limited medical expenses on the 1994 claim without formally deciding its merits. The Board found that the record sent to it omitted the original injury claim and medical evidence…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nipoma, CA
J.G. (ECAB 11-1812): Compensation reduction for refusal of rehabilitation upheld
J.G., a postal carrier with an accepted right shoulder condition, was referred to vocational rehabilitation and began computer training. OWCP reduced his monetary compensation to zero after finding that he had stopped cooperating with the training. J.G. cited shoulder symptoms and other health…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hummelstown, PA
D.S. (ECAB 11-1708): Related back injury files must be combined
D.S. challenged OWCP's termination of compensation following a refusal of suitable work. OWCP's decision referred to a separate claim for an earlier back injury, and its medical opinion connected her later condition to that earlier injury. The Board found that the other claim file might contain…
Coal River Mining, LLC
Incomplete weekly examination brings $34,652 penalty
Coal River Mining could not reach an evaluation point because oxygen was low, yet it allowed miners to enter the Fork Creek No. 1 Mine without completing the required weekly examination. Judge Kenneth Andrews found that none of the attempted checks included all required methane, oxygen…
Matter of A-Y-M-
CSPA protects derivative asylum eligibility
The Board reviewed an El Salvadoran respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied her asylum application and ordered her removed. Her mother had been granted asylum and had included her as a derivative beneficiary when she was under 21. The Board held that the Child Status Protection Act…
S.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Middletown, OH
S.C. (ECAB 12-0155): Shoulder injury claim denied for lack of medical explanation
S.C., a postal mail processing clerk, reported right shoulder pain after throwing a bundle of advertising mail into a hamper. OWCP accepted that the work incident occurred but denied his traumatic injury claim. The Board found that his doctor's reports diagnosed a shoulder strain without explaining…
L.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Huntington Station, NY
L.D. (ECAB 12-0045): Abandonment of requested hearing upheld
L.D., a postal letter carrier, requested a hearing after OWCP denied his traumatic injury claim. OWCP sent notice of the scheduled hearing to his address of record at least 30 days ahead. He did not attend, seek a postponement, or explain his absence within 10 days. The Board upheld OWCP's finding…
P.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Network Distribution Center, Hazelwood, MO
P.M. (ECAB 12-0037): Right arm occupational disease claim denied
P.M., a postal clerk, attributed right arm symptoms to repeated keying and lifting of mail. OWCP accepted the described duties but denied her occupational disease claim. The Board found that one doctor did not explain medically how those duties aggravated a preexisting condition, while another…
G.H. and Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Seattle, WA
G.H. (ECAB 11-2064): Elevator area injury claim lacked a clear account
G.H., a Department of Labor employee, said she heard a pop in her right leg or ankle near an elevator as she left work. OWCP denied her traumatic injury claim, and the Board affirmed. Her account did not identify a clear work activity that caused the injury, and the medical records described…
H.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command, West Palm Beach, FL
H.B. (ECAB 11-2058): Emotional condition denial and hearing abandonment upheld
H.B., a Navy administrative employee, attributed depression and anxiety to management actions and alleged mistreatment at work. The Board found no established compensable work factor: the administrative actions were not shown to involve error or abuse, and the harassment allegations lacked…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
L.M. (ECAB 11-2037): Leg impairment ratings returned for clarification
L.M. received a schedule award for seven percent impairment of each lower extremity after an accepted back injury. The Board found that conflicting medical opinions about her left leg required a reasoned assessment from the impartial examiner. His report did not identify a diagnosis, apply the…
A.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Corvallis Post Office, Corvallis, OR
A.P. (ECAB 11-2015): Retroactive wage capacity decision reversed
A.P., a postal carrier with accepted knee and ankle injuries, worked in a modified position until his hours were reduced. OWCP accepted a recurrence of disability caused by his work injuries but later retroactively found that his prior modified earnings represented his wage-earning capacity and…
E.G. and Department of the Army, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX
E.G. (ECAB 11-1974): Refusal to reopen disability claim upheld
E.G. sought reconsideration of OWCP's denial of wage-loss compensation following an accepted back strain. His request repeated arguments about the medical evidence but supplied no new relevant medical evidence or new legal argument. The Board found that he had not met the regulatory requirements…
G.U. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Nogales, AZ
G.U. (ECAB 11-1948): No ratable left leg impairment established
G.U., a customs officer, sought a schedule award after accepted ankle and Achilles conditions and authorized surgery. His attending podiatrist found residual symptoms but rated left leg impairment at zero percent under the sixth edition impairment guides. OWCP's medical adviser agreed. The Board…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 723 (Union) and United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Agency)
AFGE Local 723 and USGS Great Lakes Science Center (FLRA 0-NG-3125): Vessel medical-screening proposals dismissed
The U.S. Geological Survey planned medical and physical exams and random drug and alcohol testing for scientific staff who helped operate its research vessels. AFGE Local 723 proposed to keep scientific personnel outside that program through changes to employee definitions, existing examination…
A.P. and Department of the Navy, New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, NY
A.P. (ECAB 12-0122): Retirement offset overpayment returned for investigation
A.P., a former Navy shipyard pipefitter, was found to have received a $136,280.31 overpayment after OWCP offset his compensation for Social Security benefits it attributed to federal service. The Board found that his federal employment ended before the Federal Employees Retirement System began…
K.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Salt Lake City, UT
K.F. (ECAB 12-0118): Shoulder claim lacked medical causal opinion
K.F., a VA medical support assistant, reported shoulder pain after helping move a patient from a stretcher to a bed. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied his traumatic injury claim. The Board found that his orthopedic surgeon diagnosed shoulder impingement and acromioclavicular…
S.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Costa Mesa, CA
S.C. (ECAB 12-0036): Leg injury claim lacked medical link to parcel work
S.C., a postal distribution clerk, reported a left leg injury after pushing a roller bench loaded with parcels. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. Her physician diagnosed a ruptured popliteal cyst but did not explain whether or how the work incident caused it. The Board affirmed OWCP's…
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.