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.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford, CT
D.G. (ECAB 11-1847): Additional leg impairment award denied
D.G., a postal carrier, had an accepted right knee injury and a schedule award for 10 percent impairment of the right leg. She sought a larger award. The Board found OWCP’s medical adviser had applied the applicable AMA Guides method and that the record did not establish a higher rating. It…
W.S. and Department of Labor, Mine Safety & Health Administration, Mount Hope, WV
W.S. (ECAB 11-1828): Late reconsideration request denied
W.S., a Mine Safety and Health Administration employee, sought OWCP reconsideration after the applicable filing period. He argued that OWCP had not reviewed all submitted evidence. The Board found the request untimely and the record insufficient to establish clear error in the earlier decision. It…
W.C. and Department of the Navy, Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
W.C. (ECAB 11-1659): Additional leg impairment awards denied
W.C., a Navy shipyard employee, sought schedule awards above the existing 10 percent left-leg and 2 percent right-leg ratings. The Board treated the selected physician as an impartial examiner and found his opinion that there was no greater leg impairment adequately reasoned. It noted flaws in some…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oklahoma City, OK
J.B. (ECAB 11-1301): Psychological treatment authorization denied
J.B., a postal carrier with accepted right knee injuries, sought authorization for psychological treatment years later. The supporting report also attributed her psychiatric conditions to alleged workplace harassment. The Board found no reasoned medical explanation connecting the requested…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Petersburg, FL
M.W. (ECAB 11-1169): Arm impairment claim sent for further evaluation
M.W., a postal employee, sought an award above her existing five percent right-arm impairment rating. Her doctor reported a higher rating, and OWCP’s medical adviser recommended a second opinion. OWCP denied the request without carrying out that recommended development. The Board set aside the…
D.G. and Department of Defense, Defense Depot Ogden, Ogden, UT
D.G. (ECAB 11-1074): Additional arm impairment award denied
D.G., a Defense Depot employee, had already received schedule awards totaling 49 percent impairment of the right arm. He sought a further award. The Board found that the current medical evidence did not establish impairment above the amount already compensated. It affirmed OWCP’s denial of an…
E.H. and Department of Labor, Benefits Review Board, Washington, DC
E.H. (ECAB 11-0798): Emotional condition claim denial sustained
E.H., a Benefits Review Board attorney adviser, attributed an emotional condition to a parking-garage interaction and alleged mishandling of parking and EEO matters. The Board found no established work-duty factor, substantiated harassment, or error or abuse in the administrative matters. It…
J.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley Medical Center, Tampa, FL
J.D. (ECAB 11-0694): Late reconsideration request denied
J.D., a Veterans Affairs employee, sought reconsideration of an earlier denial of intermittent disability compensation. She filed more than one year after the last merits decision. The Board found her material did not clearly show that OWCP had erred in denying the earlier claim. It affirmed the…
V.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
V.G. (ECAB 12-0033): Missed oral hearing treated as abandoned
V.G., a postal employee, requested an oral hearing after OWCP denied her compensation claim. OWCP mailed notice of the hearing to her and her representative. She did not appear, request postponement, or explain the absence within the required period. The Board affirmed the finding that she…
E.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Teterboro, NJ
E.O. (ECAB 11-1898): Recurrence after back surgery not established
E.O., a postal employee, had an accepted lumbar disc injury and later underwent spinal fusion surgery. She claimed a recurrence of disability tied to the earlier injury. The Board found the medical evidence did not adequately connect the later surgery and disability to the accepted 1993 injury. It…
L.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
L.Y. (ECAB 11-1881): Carpal tunnel claim and reconsideration denied
L.Y., a postal employee, attributed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome to years of manual and custodial work. The Board accepted that he performed the described duties but found no medical report explaining how they caused or aggravated the diagnosed condition. His reconsideration request supplied no…
M.W. and Department of Energy, Southwest Power Administration, Tulsa, OK
M.W. (ECAB 11-1850): Wage-earning capacity finding left in place
M.W., a Department of Energy lineman, sought modification of a wage-earning capacity finding based on his actual earnings as an electrician helper. The Board found that the full-time job was not an artificial or seasonal placement and that the earnings fairly represented his earning capacity. He…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Ocala, FL
A.C. (ECAB 11-1800): Shoulder occupational disease claim denied
A.C., a postal carrier, attributed right shoulder conditions to casing and delivering mail. The Board accepted the work duties but found that his doctors did not explain how those activities caused or aggravated the diagnosed shoulder conditions. Their conclusions lacked the medical reasoning…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
P.W. (ECAB 11-1787): Sidewalk hip injury claim denial affirmed
P.W., a postal employee, tripped on a sidewalk and twisted his body while preventing a fall. OWCP accepted the incident. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the twisting caused the diagnosed hip findings, and one causation opinion was speculative. It affirmed the…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Norwich, NY
J.S. (ECAB 11-1772): Recurrence denied; new injury issue sent back
J.S., a postal employee, claimed a recurrence of a medical condition and later disability from an accepted injury. The Board found that her medical reports did not adequately establish those recurrences. It also found that the record warranted further development of a possible new occupational…
T.C. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Philadelphia, PA
T.C. (ECAB 11-1414): Additional right-leg impairment award denied
T.C., an FBI employee, had a schedule award for three percent impairment of the right leg and sought a higher rating. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser applied the relevant AMA Guides method to the clinical findings. No medical evidence established impairment greater than the amount…
S.Y. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Europe, 5th Signal Command, Germany
S.Y. (ECAB 11-0964): Overpayment corrected by one day
S.Y., an Army employee, received compensation that overlapped with another federal benefit and incurred an overpayment. The Board corrected OWCP’s calculation from $19,776.11 to $19,747.22, a difference of one day’s offset. It found that recovery need not be waived, upheld withholding $500 every 28…
Northshore Mining Company
Partial shovel lockout violated full de-energization rule
Northshore miners performed mechanical work on a large electric shovel after locking out two low-voltage control breakers, while the machine remained connected to a 7,200-volt power source. Judge Janet G. Harner held that the electrical standard requires equipment to be fully de-energized before…
T.M. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Asheville, NC
T.M. (ECAB 11-1890): Left-arm injury claim denied
T.M., an IRS revenue officer, reported a left-arm injury at work. OWCP accepted the reported incident but received no medical evidence establishing a diagnosed injury or causal connection. The Board found the record insufficient despite OWCP’s request for supporting material. It affirmed denial of…
D.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
D.O. (ECAB 11-1766): Termination of thoracic sprain benefits affirmed
D.O., a postal employee, had an accepted thoracic sprain and received wage-loss and medical benefits. OWCP terminated them after an impartial medical examiner found the accepted sprain had resolved. The Board found the examiner’s opinion supported termination and affirmed OWCP’s decision.
R.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Diego, CA
R.K. (ECAB 11-1721): Late reconsideration request denied
R.K., a postal employee, sought reconsideration years after OWCP’s last merits decision concerning work capacity and vocational rehabilitation. The Board found the request untimely. The submitted material offered a contrary medical view but did not clearly show that OWCP’s earlier decision was…
W.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Kilmer Processing & Distribution Center, Edison, NJ
W.M. (ECAB 11-1706): Additional left-arm award denied
W.M., a postal employee, sought a schedule award above two percent impairment of his left arm after a median nerve crush injury. His physician used a diagnosis that OWCP’s medical adviser found unsupported by the record. The Board found the adviser’s two percent calculation followed the applicable…
J.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Bulk Mail Center, Philadelphia, PA
J.E. (ECAB 11-1657): Postal worker’s injury claim sent back for medical review
J.E., a postal mail handler, said his neck and shoulder began hurting when he moved a container from a truck. OWCP denied his claim because it found the incident unproven and the medical evidence insufficient. The Board found that a coworker’s account, same-day hospital visit, and generally…
Y.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Bruno, CA
Y.F. (ECAB 11-1527): Termination of postal worker’s injury benefits upheld
Y.F., a postal letter carrier, received benefits for accepted neck, shoulder, and migraine conditions arising from two work injuries. OWCP terminated her compensation and medical benefits after a second-opinion physician found that the accepted conditions had resolved. The Board found his…
SPORT Air Traffic Controllers Organization (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California (Agency)
SPORT and Edwards Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-4750): Air Boss grievance remains denied
Edwards Air Force Base created an Air Boss management position in the air traffic control room. The controllers' union said the agency had failed to give advance notice and bargain over the position's effects. An arbitrator found that the Air Boss worked with supervisors and did not directly direct…
Sport Air Traffic Controllers Organization (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California (Agency)
Sport Air Traffic Controllers and Edwards Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-4708): Noon shift start upheld
Air traffic controllers at Edwards Air Force Base worked four ten-hour shifts, and the Air Force changed some shifts to start at noon. Their union grieved the change, but an arbitrator found that the parties' agreement allowed changes to tours of duty and working hours without renegotiating the…
NewChem, Inc. Facility
In re NewChem, Inc. Facility (EAB RCRA (3008) 12-01): appeal dismissed after EPA withdrew challenged decision
NewChem, Inc. appealed EPA Region 3's November 29, 2011 Final Decision and Response to Comments concerning its proposed remedy. NewChem and EPA Region 3 later filed a joint notice of voluntary dismissal after working cooperatively to resolve the appeal. EPA withdrew the challenged final decision…
Amgen Manufacturing, Ltd.
In re Amgen Manufacturing, Ltd. (EAB NPDES 11-09): appeal dismissed after permit modifications agreement
Amgen Manufacturing, Ltd. appealed an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region 2 for permit PR0026695. Amgen and Region 2 asked the Board to stay the matter while they pursued settlement through the EAB's pilot alternative dispute resolution program. Amgen later reported that the parties reached a final…
Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority
In re Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (EAB NPDES 11-08): petition dismissed without prejudice during permit settlement
Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority and EPA Region 2 reached a settlement through the Environmental Appeals Board's Alternative Dispute Resolution pilot program. The settlement required several modifications to PRASA's disputed NPDES permit through the public notice-and-comment process. The…
Matter of Miguel LEMUS-Losa
Unlawful presence bars section 245(i) adjustment without a waiver
The Board reconsidered a Mexican respondent's eligibility for adjustment of status under section 245(i) after he entered the United States without inspection, departed, and reentered without inspection. It reaffirmed that inadmissibility for one year or more of unlawful presence, followed by…
J.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command Stations, Jacksonville, FL
J.W. (ECAB 11-1995): Late reconsideration request did not reopen injury claim
J.W., a Navy tools and parts attendant, sought to reopen a denied claim for injuries from an alleged fall at work. OWCP refused because he requested reconsideration more than one year after its last merits decision and did not show clear evidence of error. The Board agreed that the request was…
L.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Houston, TX
L.H. (ECAB 11-1888): Dependent-rate claim sent back for explanation
L.H., a VA nurse receiving injury compensation, sought the higher rate available to a worker with a dependent. She said her daughter was a full-time student while taking classes at two colleges. OWCP denied part of the claim because the classes were not all at one institution. The Board found that…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
J.B. (ECAB 11-1848): Late request did not reopen knee injury claim
J.B., a postal worker, sought to reopen a denied claim for a knee injury from a work incident. OWCP rejected her reconsideration request as late and found no clear evidence of error. The Board agreed that she filed more than a year after the last merits decision. Her new medical reports described…
R.I. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, New Orleans, LA
R.I. (ECAB 11-1823): Repeat medical report did not reopen infection claim
R.I., a Customs and Border Protection employee, claimed that an abrasion from a workplace treadmill led to a skin infection. OWCP denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting the condition to work. When he requested reconsideration, he submitted another report from the same doctor…
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Rogers, AR
S.P. (ECAB 11-1756): Arm impairment award sent back for new examination
S.P., a postal letter carrier injured in a vehicle accident, received a schedule award for three percent permanent impairment of her right arm and sought a larger award. The Board found the shoulder rating inadequately explained because the examiner did not justify her use of two diagnoses or the…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oak Ridge, TN
R.M. (ECAB 11-1701): Wage-loss termination reversed for unresolved foot condition
R.M., a postal employee, received benefits for accepted right wrist and left foot conditions. OWCP ended her wage-loss payments after her doctor released her right hand without restrictions and said the remaining foot restrictions were not directly work related. The Board found that the doctor also…
J.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration, Winston Salem, NC
J.S. (ECAB 11-1356): $3,189.38 overpayment and fault finding upheld
J.S., a VA employee, continued receiving wage-loss payments after OWCP ended his entitlement to them. OWCP found that the extra payments totaled $3,189.38 and that he was at fault for accepting them. The Board agreed that the payments covered a period after the effective date stated in OWCP’s…
D.B. and U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, Chicago, IL
D.B. (ECAB 11-1058): Asthma wage-loss denial and refusal to reopen upheld
D.B., a Railroad Retirement Board employee, sought wage-loss compensation for several months after OWCP accepted a temporary aggravation of her asthma from workplace fumes. The Board found that a second-opinion physician explained why her respiratory condition did not cause total disability during…
Mining & Property Specialists
One-dollar penalty reaffirmed on remand
Mining & Property Specialists kept required electrical examination records at its office a few miles from the mine rather than at the mine site. An earlier ALJ decision upheld the violation but reduced the proposed $100 penalty to $1, and the Commission remanded for a fuller explanation of the…
E.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Harrisburg, PA
E.W. (ECAB 11-1895): Left carpal tunnel claim denial upheld
E.W., a rural postal carrier, claimed that holding mail and driving caused left carpal tunnel syndrome. Her doctor diagnosed the condition but recorded negative clinical signs and did not link it to her job duties. The Board found the medical evidence insufficient to establish a work-related…
S.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dayton, OH
S.Y. (ECAB 11-1816): Claim denied for lack of medical causation evidence
S.Y., a postal clerk with diabetes, said she developed symptoms after she could not take a scheduled break to eat while working at the service window. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the medical report diagnosed a headache without…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Gaffney, SC
D.W. (ECAB 11-1769): Repetitive-duty injury claim denial upheld
D.W., a rural postal carrier, attributed wrist, elbow, foot, and neck conditions to her work duties. OWCP accepted her account of the duties but denied the claim for lack of medical proof of causation. Her doctor diagnosed several conditions but did not discuss their cause in his first reports. A…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Houston Performance Cluster, Houston, TX
R.H. (ECAB 11-1753): Twelve percent right arm schedule award upheld
R.H., a Postal Service clerk, received a schedule award for 12 percent permanent impairment of her right arm after accepted carpal tunnel and shoulder injuries. The rating combined three percent for carpal tunnel syndrome with nine percent for limited shoulder motion after rotator cuff repair. The…
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sidney, MT
D.C. (ECAB 11-1450): Emotional condition claim denied without a proven work factor
D.C., a Postal Service distribution clerk, claimed a work-related emotional condition after her hours were reduced and she reported harassment by management. The Board held that coworker statements did not substantiate specific harassment directed at her. It treated disputes over leave and keys as…
M.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Rella, MO
M.D. (ECAB 11-1346): Left leg schedule award denial upheld
M.D., a Postal Service rural carrier, had accepted left hip and thigh injuries and had previously received a four percent schedule award for her right leg. She sought a left leg award based on a physician's 13 percent rating for left knee atrophy and limited hip motion. The Board found that OWCP…
J.R. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
J.R. (ECAB 11-1305): Emotional condition claim denied without a proven work factor
J.R., a Navy shipyard electrician, attributed an anxiety condition to changes in her position, a request for updated work restrictions, a referral for placement assistance, and disputed leave charges. The Board treated these as personnel matters and found no evidence that the shipyard made an error…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
J.C. (ECAB 11-1080): Late reconsideration refusal upheld
J.C., a Postal Service rural carrier, sought to reopen a denied claim for a back injury she reported while delivering parcels. OWCP received her reconsideration request more than one year after its last merits decision. She said she had mailed it before the deadline, but the postmark could not be…
D.T. and Department of the Interior, Badlands National Park, Interior, SD
D.T. (ECAB 11-1015): Seasonal-job wage capacity reduction reversed
D.T., a seasonal National Park Service employee, received injury compensation after an accepted back condition. OWCP reduced his benefits using earnings from a later seasonal visitor use assistant position. The Board had previously reversed that approach because the record did not show the offered…
Virginia Construction & Management Company, Inc.
Willful canopy fall violation affirmed
Two Virginia Construction employees chipped concrete on a canopy 16 feet 7 inches above a sidewalk without fall protection, safety-toe footwear, hard hats, or eye protection. They accessed the canopy by climbing an inadequately configured scaffold, and the company lacked qualified scaffold…
BP America Production Company, Florida River Compression Facility
In re BP America Production Company, Florida River Compression Facility (EAB CAA 10-04): petition dismissed with prejudice after settlement
WildEarth Guardians petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board to review BP America Production Company's Florida River Compression Facility permit in CAA Appeal No. 10-04. WildEarth moved to dismiss with prejudice after the parties entered into a settlement agreement effective February 6, 2012. The…
D.D. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Oklahoma City, OK
D.D. (ECAB 11-1899): June 2008 reinstatement date upheld after missed examination
D.D.'s compensation was suspended in 2003 after she missed a scheduled psychiatric examination. She contacted OWCP in 2007 and May 2008 seeking renewed benefits, but those requests did not clearly say she was willing to attend an examination. OWCP treated her June 30, 2008 visit as that agreement…
J.W. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Chamblee, GA
J.W. (ECAB 11-1854): Bilateral arm award returned for a proper impairment rating
J.W., an IRS tax examiner with accepted carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists, received schedule awards for two percent permanent impairment of each arm. She sought higher awards using a therapist's functional evaluation and reports from an orthopedic surgeon. The Board found that the therapist was…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
D.S. (ECAB 11-1729): Rural carrier wage-loss calculation returned for pay records
D.S., a rural letter carrier with an accepted neck condition, disputed OWCP's calculation of partial disability compensation for 2001 through 2007. The Board found conflicting figures for her pay at the time of injury and directed OWCP to verify that pay with the Postal Service. It also found that…
T.B. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, New Orleans, LA
T.B. (ECAB 11-1680): Additional leg impairment awards denied
T.B., a retired U.S. marshal with accepted knee conditions, had already received awards for 10 percent impairment of his left leg and 12 percent of his right leg. He sought larger awards based on new physician reports. The Board found that one physician had not explained a rating under the A.M.A…
T.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK
T.G. (ECAB 11-1641): Telephone job upheld as wage capacity measure, calculation returned
T.G., a VA pharmacy technician with accepted neck and right arm conditions, returned to work as a telephone operator. The Board held that the job had a real description and meaningful duties, was within the referee physician's restrictions, and was an appropriate measure of her wage capacity…
S.J. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Dallas, TX
S.J. (ECAB 11-1639): Wage capacity ruling left in place after desk audit
S.J. argued that a desk audit of her later duties showed OWCP had wrongly based her 2007 wage capacity ruling on a front desk position. The Board found that she had worked at the front desk when the original determination was made and that the offered job had a title, description and meaningful…
C.P. and Department of the Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base, OK
C.P. (ECAB 11-1263): Leg impairment dispute returned for an impartial examination
C.P., a former Air Force quality assurance specialist with an accepted back injury, received a schedule award for 34 percent left leg impairment. His physician rated both legs and gave a higher left leg percentage, while OWCP's second opinion physician attributed impairment only to the left leg…
Loudoun Quarries, Division of Chantilly Crushed Stone, Inc.
Brake-light citation vacated and cord citation affirmed
MSHA cited Loudoun Quarries after finding inoperative brake lights on a parked spare loader and a pickup truck parked on an energized extension cord. Judge George A. Koutras vacated the brake-light citation because the loader had not been placed into service, no full preshift had occurred, and the…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
D.M. (ECAB 11-2052): Accepted recurrence could not be rescinded without justification
D.M., a Postal Service mail handler with accepted wrist tendinitis, sought benefits for a recurrence beginning July 2010. OWCP accepted the recurrence and authorized surgery, then stopped processing benefits and issued a denial after an employer inquiry. The Board held that OWCP had effectively…
W.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Jamaica, NY
W.C. (ECAB 11-1906): Late written review request denial upheld
W.C., a Transportation Security Administration inspector, sought written record review after OWCP denied his claimed back and neck injury. His request was postmarked January 19, 2011, seven days after the 30-day period ended. The Board found that he had no right to review after that deadline and…
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.