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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D.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration Medical Center, Columbia, SC
D.B. (ECAB 11-1986): Four-day wage-loss denial affirmed
D.B., a VA nurse with accepted lumbar sprain and chronic pain syndrome, sought wage-loss compensation for June 27 through 30, 2011. OWCP told her what medical evidence was needed to show disability on those dates. Her emergency records did not explain why the accepted injury prevented work, and a…
T.L. and Department of Defense, Defense Agencies, Fort Eustis, VA
T.L. (ECAB 11-1979): Injury claim returned for complete medical review
T.L., a Defense Department technician, reported that a heavy metal service window struck her at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied that it caused an injury, relying on a medical adviser who had not reviewed the available x-ray reports. Her treating physician described swelling, tenderness…
Z.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Glendale, CA
Z.P. (ECAB 11-1965): Refusal to reopen injury claim affirmed
Z.P. asked OWCP to reconsider its denial of a traumatic injury claim after withdrawing a hearing request. She said she intended to submit more evidence but did not provide evidence or argument with the reconsideration request. The Board held that she had not identified a legal error, offered a new…
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Haltorn City Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
P.C. (ECAB 11-1918): Wage-loss, schedule award, and overpayment rulings affirmed
P.C., a postal employee, appealed denials of wage-loss compensation, an additional right arm schedule award, and recovery of an overpayment. The Board found no medical evidence of total disability for the claimed periods and no impairment greater than the 34 percent already awarded. It also upheld…
L.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kearny, NJ
L.F. (ECAB 11-1703): Emotional condition claim denial affirmed
L.F., a postal clerk, claimed that coworker harassment and supervisory conduct caused an emotional condition. OWCP treated her filing as a new occupational disease claim. The Board found no reliable evidence establishing the alleged coworker incidents or error or abuse in the supervisor's…
S.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Chicago, IL
S.S. (ECAB 11-1559): Termination of wage-loss compensation affirmed
S.S., a transportation security screener, received compensation for accepted lower back conditions after lifting a bag at work. OWCP terminated wage-loss benefits effective October 24, 2010, relying on his attending physician's opinion that he could work without restrictions. The Board found her…
E.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, San Juan, PR
E.R. (ECAB 12-0024): Shoulder claim and late review request denials affirmed
E.R., a VA pharmacy technician, claimed that repetitive work caused right shoulder rotator cuff tears. The Board found that an MRI established the diagnosis, but no reasoned medical opinion linked the tears to her current work duties rather than an earlier shoulder condition. Her request for…
M.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Las Vegas, NV
M.H. (ECAB 12-0009): Hearing-loss claim returned for fuller noise inquiry
M.H., a transportation security officer, claimed bilateral hearing loss from workplace noise. OWCP denied the claim after the employer supplied limited noise measurements below 85 decibels and no earlier exposure records. The Board explained that prolonged lower-level exposure can still cause…
R.M. and Department of the Air Force, Langley Air Force Base, VA
R.M. (ECAB 11-2044): Refusal to reopen schedule award claim affirmed
R.M. asked OWCP to reconsider a schedule award and to review his records or arrange another evaluation. He raised concerns about symptoms and sick leave but did not identify a legal error or offer a new legal argument. The materials accompanying his request repeated evidence already in the record…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fayetteville, NC
M.W. (ECAB 11-1982): Refusal to reopen back claim affirmed
M.W., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reconsider the denial of a claimed work-related back condition. He submitted hospital and imaging records that documented back problems but gave no medical opinion about their cause. Witness statements likewise did not address the medical link to his work. The…
J.S. and Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Underwater Warfare Center, Keyport, WA
J.S. (ECAB 11-1942): Hearing-loss claim denial affirmed
J.S., a former Navy employee, claimed that workplace noise caused his hearing loss. The record showed noise exposure, but the physician attributed the hearing pattern to age-related loss rather than industrial exposure. The physician did not support a link between the hearing loss and J.S.'s…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Wayne, IN
R.M. (ECAB 11-1921): Shoulder injury claim denial affirmed
R.M., a postal employee, said that moving mail tubs injured her right shoulder in November 2010. Earlier imaging and treatment records showed shoulder problems before that date, while her physician's reports gave conflicting accounts of the injury and an earlier fall. The Board found those…
A.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Corona, NY
A.P. (ECAB 11-1802): Modified-duty back claim denial affirmed
A.P., a postal employee, attributed worsening back pain to modified duties after returning to work. OWCP treated the filing as a new occupational disease claim because it concerned those later duties rather than a recurrence of the original injury. His physician described back conditions but did…
G.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
G.S. (ECAB 11-1686): Left leg impairment returned for impartial rating
G.S., a postal employee, sought a schedule award above 10 percent impairment of his left leg. His physician and OWCP's medical adviser agreed on the basic diagnosis but disagreed about a functional history modifier that could raise the rating to 12 percent. The Board rejected the claim that the…
F.I. and Department of Transportation, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY
F.I. (ECAB 11-1540): Cervical claim and wage-capacity modification denied
F.I., a Merchant Marine Academy employee, sought recognition of a cervical injury and a change to OWCP's constructed wage-earning capacity ruling. The Board found that he had not established that his 2001 work injury caused a cervical condition. It also held that his argument about conditions…
Matter of M-W-
Reckless second-degree murder qualifies as aggravated felony murder
The Board reviewed the removal case of a Polish national who entered the United States as a refugee, later became a lawful permanent resident, and was convicted in Michigan of two counts of second-degree murder after a fatal traffic incident. The Board held that a conviction for murder under a…
M.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Dallas, TX
M.T. (ECAB 11-1992): Reduction based on appointment clerk job reversed
M.T., a postal employee with accepted wrist conditions, challenged OWCP's reduction of her compensation based on a proposed appointment clerk job. OWCP could refer her to vocational rehabilitation, but the selected job required reaching more often than her physician allowed. The Board found that…
P.B. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Dallas, TX
P.B. (ECAB 11-1884): Car-door injury claim denial affirmed
P.B., a Census Bureau enumerator, reported that wind blew a car door into her while she worked, injuring her hip, leg, and back. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. The Board found that her physician did not explain how the impact caused or aggravated the claimed conditions. Diagnostic…
D.L. and Department of Defense, Fort Benning, GA
D.L. (ECAB 11-1840): Lumbar benefit termination upheld; knee medical benefits restored
D.L., a Defense Department employee, had accepted lumbar and left knee conditions. An impartial physician supported OWCP's finding that the lumbar condition no longer caused work-related disability, so the Board upheld the wage-capacity modification and end of lumbar benefits. The physician's knee…
B.J., claiming as widow of P.J., and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Memphis, TN
B.J. (ECAB 11-1822): Widow’s benefits denial affirmed
B.J. sought survivor benefits after the death of her husband, a postal employee whose work-related depression had been accepted by OWCP. He died of Alzheimer's disease. An impartial psychiatrist reviewed the record and found no medical basis to conclude that the accepted emotional conditions caused…
G.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Carrier Annex, Tampa, FL
G.V. (ECAB 11-1580): Overpayment, fault, and recovery rulings affirmed
G.V., a postal employee, received compensation for dates when he also received paid leave. The Board upheld OWCP's calculation of a $4,546.57 overpayment and found that he should have known he could not accept both payments. Because he was at fault, recovery could not be waived. He did not provide…
A.G. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Installation Management Agency, Fort Stewart, GA
A.G. (ECAB 11-1512): Eye award increased to full statutory period
A.G., an Army heavy equipment mechanic, lost all vision in his right eye after an accepted work injury. OWCP awarded 44.8 weeks of compensation using a 28 percent impairment rating calculated from the visual acuity scores for both eyes. The Board held that the absence of light perception in the…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
D.B. (ECAB 11-1293): Recurrence denied; facial disfigurement award returned
D.B., a postal employee, appealed the denial of a recurrence of disability and a $50 award for a surgical facial scar. The Board found no evidence that his accepted condition or limited-duty job changed enough to establish disability beginning in June 2004. OWCP had not obtained the required…
Millard Refrigerated Services
Mixed ruling after major ammonia release
About 32,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia escaped from a cracked roof header and a broken evaporator coil at Millard's refrigerated warehouse. Roughly 150 people were taken to hospitals and released, and the company lost about $4 million in product. The judge affirmed items involving unguarded…
T.L. and Social Security Administration, Johnson County Office, Glendale, AZ
T.L. (ECAB 11-0527): Upper-extremity recurrence claim denial affirmed
T.L., a Social Security Administration employee with accepted upper extremity conditions, claimed disability after returning to full duties in April 2010. The Board found no proof that the job requirements changed beyond her medical restrictions or that the accepted conditions worsened at that…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baton Rouge, LA
L.P. (ECAB 11-0489): Longstanding disability claim returned for medical development
L.P., a postal carrier with accepted right knee and shoulder conditions, sought wage-loss compensation beginning in December 2000. Her surgeon's reports did not fully prove disability for that period, but they raised a substantial, uncontradicted indication that the accepted conditions kept her…
Safe Environmental Corporation of Indiana (Cleveland Trencher Site)
In re Safe Environmental Corporation of Indiana (Cleveland Trencher Site) (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 12-01): reimbursement petition dismissed as premature
Safe Environmental Corporation of Indiana sought reimbursement for costs incurred while performing removal activities at the Cleveland Trencher Site in Euclid, Ohio, under an EPA unilateral administrative order. The company submitted a final report, but EPA Region 5 found deficiencies, requested…
C.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
C.T. (ECAB 11-2102): Compensation suspension and hearing denial affirmed
C.T., a postal employee receiving compensation, did not return a requested employment activity form within 30 days of OWCP's April 2011 letter. The Board held that OWCP properly suspended her benefits until it received the information. Her later request for a hearing was outside the 30-day period…
J.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Salisbury, NC
J.E. (ECAB 11-2006): Schedule award and reconsideration denials affirmed
J.E., a VA employee, sought a schedule award for permanent impairment after an accepted fall and then requested reconsideration of its denial. Her treating physician found that the accepted back and knee sprains had resolved and did not rate any permanent impairment. He also did not establish that…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, KS
S.W. (ECAB 11-1957): Back and carpal tunnel claim denial affirmed
S.W., a postal rural carrier, claimed low back and right carpal tunnel conditions from her work duties. Her physicians documented the conditions but did not give a reasoned explanation of how the duties caused or aggravated them. One opinion only suggested that heavy lifting might have caused the…
C.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Birmingham, AL
C.B. (ECAB 11-1937): Right-eye award claim returned for a current rating
C.B., a VA employee, sought a schedule award for permanent right-eye impairment. OWCP's medical adviser used an older vision examination even though later reports continued to diagnose double vision, and did not address possible visual field or functional vision impairment. The Board found the…
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
D.C. (ECAB 11-1913): Additional left leg schedule award denied
D.C., a postal employee, sought another schedule award for a left knee meniscal injury. The supported medical rating was two percent left leg impairment, which OWCP had already included in an earlier 11 percent left leg award. A physician's higher rating did not explain how it applied the…
K.R. and Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Tucson, AZ
K.R. (ECAB 11-1911): Vocational rehabilitation reduction affirmed
K.R., a DEA investigator, withdrew from an online course arranged through vocational rehabilitation and did not resume contact with his counselor. He reported neck pain after computer work, but his physician did not say that he could not continue the course or explain why his medication prevented…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
P.S. (ECAB 11-1692): Additional right leg award denied
P.S., a postal letter carrier, sought a schedule award above two percent impairment of his right leg after a knee injury. An impartial physician applied the impairment guide to his meniscus surgery and measured no difference in calf size to support a separate atrophy rating. The Board gave that…
B.W. and Department of Defense, Defense Supply Center, Richmond, VA
B.W. (ECAB 11-1532): Twenty-one percent left thumb award affirmed
B.W., a Defense Department employee, sought a higher schedule award for a left thumb injury. The Board found that the thumb joint could still bend passively, so a physician's rating for a fused joint overstated the loss. OWCP's consultant correctly combined measured motion losses under the…
K.B. and Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Fort Worth, TX
K.B. (ECAB 11-0384): Harassment claim returned for medical causation review
K.B., a Treasury police officer, claimed anxiety and depression from workplace sexual harassment by a supervisor. An employer investigation corroborated the harassment, but OWCP had treated the allegation as unsupported and did not assess the medical evidence. The Board found a compensable…
R.M. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps, Camp Pendleton, CA
R.M. (ECAB 12-0026): Back injury and late hearing denials affirmed
R.M., a Marine Corps employee, claimed a back injury from an April 2011 work incident. He did not provide medical evidence explaining how the incident caused a diagnosed condition. His later request for an oral hearing arrived after the 30-day deadline, and OWCP declined a discretionary hearing…
R.T. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX
R.T. (ECAB 11-1990): Right shoulder occupational disease claim denied
R.T., an IRS tax technician, claimed a right shoulder condition from work duties. Her physician attributed symptoms to a reaching incident but gave no definite diagnosis or reasoned explanation connecting the condition to her routine duties. That account also did not support the occupational…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Beltsville, MD
C.S. (ECAB 11-1984): Parcel-lifting injury claim denial affirmed
C.S., a postal letter carrier, reported back pain after unloading a parcel at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred, but her physicians did not explain how it caused the diagnosed back sprain or a shoulder condition. A checked box on a medical form and physical therapy notes did not supply…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sallisaw, OK
J.H. (ECAB 11-1936): Carpal tunnel and late review denials affirmed
J.H., a postal letter carrier, claimed that repetitive casing and delivery work caused carpal tunnel syndrome. Her medical records established the diagnosis but did not explain how specific duties caused or aggravated it. Her request for written-record review was also made more than 30 days after…
E.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
E.C. (ECAB 11-1893): Late reconsideration request denial affirmed
E.C., a postal employee, requested reconsideration more than a year after OWCP's last merit decision on a recurrence of disability. He argued about earlier benefit payments and contacts with an impartial examiner, but the Board found those points did not show clear error in the recurrence decision…
V.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kearny, NJ
V.B. (ECAB 11-1883): Cervical injury claim denial affirmed
V.B., a postal mail handler, claimed that moving mail trays caused or aggravated a cervical condition. The work incident was accepted, but his physicians did not explain how that activity caused the diagnosed neck conditions. Some reports instead referred to an older injury, while others documented…
S.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, American Lake Medical Center, Tacoma, WA
S.S. (ECAB 11-1727): Emotional condition claim returned for specialist review
S.S., a VA employee, claimed that a work incident in which a truck nearly struck him aggravated preexisting post-traumatic stress disorder. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. Several physicians linked worsening symptoms to it, but their opinions lacked enough explanation to establish the…
G.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Neosho, MO
G.P. (ECAB 11-1664): Termination of wage-loss benefits affirmed
G.P., a postal custodian, received wage-loss compensation after a right shoulder injury and surgery. His treating physician released him to regular work without restrictions in November 2009, and G.P. asked OWCP to stop compensation. Later claims that the physician misunderstood his job duties…
R.S. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
R.S. (ECAB 11-0958): Disability reconsideration returned for merits review
R.S., a shipyard employee, asked OWCP to reconsider a denial of disability compensation for December 2007 through March 2009. A new physician report addressed that exact period and linked the claimed disability to the accepted injury. The Board held that the report was relevant new evidence…
Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC
Special-assessment review forms held irrelevant to de novo penalty decision
MSHA proposed $29,400 in specially assessed penalties for two alleged failures to maintain required rock-dust percentages. Pocahontas Coal sought the Secretary's special-assessment review forms, arguing that they were needed to defend the case and discuss settlement. Judge Jerold Feldman held that…
Dane R. Koepp v. Trinity Industries, Incorporated
Koepp v. Trinity Industries (BRB 11-0611): small vessel exemption defeats claim
Dane Koepp injured his back while working at Trinity Industries' barge construction facility in Louisiana. The Department of Labor had certified a small vessel exemption for the area where the injury occurred. Koepp argued that other parts of his shipbuilding work were covered by the Longshore Act…
David Martin v. BPU Management, Incorporated/Sherwin Alumina Company
Martin v. BPU Management (BRB 11-0502): covered site and disability award affirmed
David Martin injured his back while clearing spilled bauxite from a conveyor beneath Sherwin Alumina's storage building. His employer argued that the location was part of manufacturing rather than a covered unloading area. The Board upheld coverage because the building was connected to the docks by…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Little Rock, AR
A.C. (ECAB 11-1975): Left biceps tendon claim denial affirmed
A.C., a postal employee, reported a left arm injury after moving metal at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred, and imaging showed a partial tendon tear. His physicians diagnosed the condition but did not give a medical opinion explaining how the work incident caused it. The Board…
A.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Southeastern Processing and Distribution Center, Southeastern, PA
A.P. (ECAB 11-1931): Right shoulder recurrence claim denial affirmed
A.P., a postal employee, sought benefits for a recurrence of a right shoulder condition and proposed surgery after an accepted 2008 injury. Her physician associated current symptoms with both the older injury and later mail-handling activity, but did not explain how the accepted injury caused the…
J.G. and Government Printing Office, Bureau of Labor Statistics, New York, NY
J.G. (ECAB 11-1896): Computer-equipment lifting claim denial affirmed
J.G., a federal economic assistant, reported upper back pain after lifting computer equipment at work. The Board accepted that the lifting incident occurred but found the medical opinions speculative or lacking a full history and explanation. One physician did not address how lifting affected…
S.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, Buffalo, NY
S.S. (ECAB 11-1885): Right foot claim denial affirmed
S.S., a border patrol officer, developed right foot pain after repeatedly climbing stairs at work. The Board accepted that she performed the stair climbing. It found that her doctors had not adequately explained how that activity caused or aggravated a diagnosed foot condition. The Board affirmed…
D.F. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, Springfield, MO
D.F. (ECAB 11-1869): Wage loss, surgery, and hearing decisions affirmed
D.F., a security screener, had an accepted right foot fracture and two authorized surgeries. He later sought wage-loss compensation and another foot procedure. The Board found that his doctors did not explain how the accepted fracture or its treatment caused his later inability to work or the need…
W.I. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Leavenworth, KS
W.I. (ECAB 11-1866): Late reconsideration request denial affirmed
W.I., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted back and neck injury and later challenged the termination of wage-loss benefits. He requested OWCP reconsideration more than one year after its most recent merits decision. The Board found the request untimely and the new medical material insufficient…
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Little Rock, AR
D.C. (ECAB 11-1865): Wage loss denial after modified duty offer affirmed
D.C., a rural letter carrier with an accepted left shoulder tear, sought wage-loss compensation beginning March 12, 2010. Her employer had offered a modified position that the Board found consistent with her physician’s stated restrictions. The physician had not reviewed the formal job duties or…
M.C. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Monterey Park, CA
M.C. (ECAB 11-1699): Ventral hernia claim denial affirmed
M.C., a Census Bureau supply clerk, said repetitive lifting and stacking of heavy boxes caused a ventral hernia. The Board accepted his description of the work but found that the medical reports did not adequately connect it to the diagnosed hernia. One report addressed a different hernia, while…
S.G. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Fort Lauderdale, FL
S.G. (ECAB 11-0942): Compensation forfeiture reversed
S.G., an IRS investigator receiving disability compensation, gave occasional advice to a family business. OWCP found that he had knowingly failed to report earnings and forfeited $82,320.23 in compensation. The Board found no sufficient evidence that his limited activity produced reportable wages…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Travis Caudill v. Cam Mining, LLC
Safety complaints caused discriminatory discharge
Preshift examiner Travis Caudill repeatedly told Cam Mining supervisors that he lacked enough time to inspect his assigned underground areas, especially after the ride used to reach the East Mains broke down. After MSHA found that the area had gone unexamined for about a week and issued an order…
J.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Morganville, NJ
J.A. (ECAB 11-1996): Consequential neck condition claim denied
J.A., a postal employee, had several accepted injuries from a work-related vehicle accident. He later sought acceptance of cervical spine conditions and proposed neck surgery. The Board found that his physician relied largely on the absence of symptoms before the accident and did not adequately…
S.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Rockville, MD
S.L. (ECAB 11-1991): Reconsideration denial for foot claim affirmed
S.L., a postal letter carrier, claimed that repetitive work caused right foot tendinitis. After OWCP denied the claim, she requested reconsideration and resubmitted a medical report already reviewed. The Board found no new relevant evidence, new legal argument, or identified legal error 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.