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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National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2199, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Federal District 1 (Union) and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Gulf Breeze, Florida (Agency)
NFFE Local 2199 and Gulf Islands park (FLRA 0-NG-3111): Bridge-toll proposal dismissed
The National Park Service moved some employees' regular reporting location to a duty station reached by a toll bridge. The union proposed reimbursing employees who drove their own cars for the tolls or an annual bridge pass. The Authority found that these trips were commutes to the employees'…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 278 (Union)
CBP and NTEU Chapter 278 (FLRA 0-AR-4770): Suspension grievance upheld
Customs and Border Protection suspended an officer for seven days over alleged unprofessional conduct and absence from his work station. An arbitrator found that the agency had not proved the suspension was reasonable, after weighing delayed supervisor reports and evidence about the officer's brief…
Charles M. Lamon v. A-Z Corporation and Hartford Insurance Company
Lamon v. A-Z Corporation (BRB 11-0322): temporary total disability award affirmed
Charles Lamon worked as a welder for A-Z Corporation and had disabling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The company argued that smoking caused the disease and that workplace fumes caused only temporary flare-ups. The Board upheld the judge's finding that Lamon's exposure to welding…
F.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Office Window Unit, Huntsville, AL
F.C. (ECAB 11-1247): Neck and shoulder injury claim denied
F.C., a Postal Service mail handler, said a loose shelf on a mail container struck his head at work in December 2009. The Board accepted that the incident happened but found the medical evidence insufficient to connect it to a neck or left shoulder condition. One physician initially reported that…
T.H. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Grand Prairie, TX
T.H. (ECAB 11-1150): Disability claim lacked opinion for disputed dates
T.H., a Bureau of Prisons human resources specialist, had an accepted back injury after slipping while lifting a door stop with her foot. She sought compensation for time away from work after her continuation of pay ended. The Board found that her neurosurgeon’s reports described earlier treatment…
C.A. and Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration, Vancouver, WA
C.A. (ECAB 11-1063): Termination of shoulder medical benefits upheld
C.A., a Bonneville Power Administration secretary, had an accepted shoulder contusion after a crank struck her at work in 2009. OWCP ended medical benefits after a second-opinion physician concluded that the contusion and a temporary aggravation of preexisting arthritis had resolved. The Board…
H.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jersey City, NJ
H.R. (ECAB 11-1047): Right arm schedule award denial upheld
H.R., a Postal Service mail handler, had accepted right wrist and hand conditions from a 2002 injury and sought a permanent impairment award. One physician rated her right arm under the fifth edition of the A.M.A. Guides, but the applicable schedule award standard had changed to the sixth edition…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Des Moines, IA
M.S. (ECAB 11-878): Reconsideration request was timely
M.S., a Postal Service employee, asked OWCP to reopen a decision denying authorization for a spinal cord stimulator. OWCP treated his request as late and applied the stricter clear-error standard. The Board found that his September 20, 2010 letter identified the claim and issue and included new…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chandler, AZ
T.B. (ECAB 11-663): Two treatment visits qualify for wage loss
T.B., a Postal Service rural letter carrier, had accepted wrist sprains and carpal tunnel syndrome and claimed intermittent disability between January 2008 and October 2009. The Board found that treatment for his accepted injury supported four hours of wage-loss compensation on each of July 6 and…
M.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Margate, NJ
M.K. (ECAB 11-640): Right leg impairment increased to 27 percent
M.K., a Postal Service letter carrier, received a schedule award for 25 percent impairment of his right leg and sought a higher award and one for his left leg. The Board found that the right leg sensory and motor impairment percentages should be added under the applicable A.M.A. Guides method…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
R.H. (ECAB 11-1467): Psychiatric condition claim needs impartial review
R.H., a Postal Service employee with accepted back and shoulder injuries, asked OWCP to add a psychiatric condition as a consequence of those injuries. OWCP treated two physicians’ reports as conflicting and obtained what it called an impartial examination. The Board found that those first two…
W.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bay Pines, FL
W.H. (ECAB 11-1369): Back injury claim lacked medical causal explanation
W.H., a laundry machine operator at a Veterans Affairs medical center, reported back pain after stopping a laundry cart to avoid another worker. His physician diagnosed a lumbosacral strain and reported degenerative changes, but the Board found no adequate explanation of how the June 2010 work…
D.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Vandalia, OH
D.A. (ECAB 11-1224): Work incident accepted but foot injury claim denied
D.A., a Postal Service letter carrier, felt a pop in his right foot while walking his delivery route in December 2009. OWCP’s hearing representative denied the claim on the ground that the incident had not happened. The Board found the prompt claim, consistent account, and same-day treatment…
H.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Juana Diaz, PR
H.S. (ECAB 11-1170): Injury claim returned for translation of medical report
H.S., a Postal Service clerk in Puerto Rico, reported back, waist, and groin pain after unloading mail trays at work. OWCP accepted that the January 2011 incident occurred but denied his injury claim for lack of medical proof. The Board found that the record lacked a translation of the Spanish…
M.J. and U.S. Postal Service, W. Wabash Station, Evansville, IN
M.J. (ECAB 11-1092): Shoulder recurrence and disability denials upheld
M.J., a Postal Service rural carrier, had an accepted left shoulder strain from a 2007 incident and later sought compensation for a recurrence and more time away from work. Her physician attributed later shoulder symptoms to ongoing mail delivery duties rather than explaining a spontaneous…
J.W. and Department of the Air Force, Robins Air Force Base, GA
J.W. (ECAB 11-1017): Shoulder compensation termination reversed
J.W., an Air Force electronics technician, had accepted right shoulder conditions related to years of drill press work. OWCP terminated wage-loss and medical benefits after relying on an impartial medical specialist. The Board found his opinion internally inconsistent about whether injury-related…
D.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham Veterans Medical Center, Durham, NC
D.H. (ECAB 11-846): No additional wage-loss compensation owed
D.H., a medical technician at a Veterans Affairs medical center, had an accepted back injury from lifting boxes. She claimed she had received no compensation for a period beginning in July 2007. The Board reviewed timecards and payment records showing regular pay, continuation of pay, or wage-loss…
A.C. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Columbus, MS
A.C. (ECAB 11-549): Mold exposure claim lacked medical causal opinion
A.C., an Army Corps of Engineers office assistant, claimed that workplace mold caused or worsened her asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Mold reports supported that mold was present, and her physician confirmed that he had treated her respiratory conditions. The Board found that his…
G.P. and Department of the Army, Fire Department, Fort Drum, NY
G.P. (ECAB 11-382): Continuing knee compensation restored
G.P., an Army firefighter with an accepted knee injury, tried a light-duty job but worked only two and a half hours. OWCP treated his later compensation request as a recurrence claim and required him to prove renewed disability. The Board held that this brief return to work did not shift the burden…
Z.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, San Francisco, CA
Z.J. (ECAB 11-1351): Knee injury benefit termination upheld
Z.J., a Postal Service field supervisor, had an accepted right knee contusion from a 2006 incident. OWCP ended his compensation after an impartial specialist concluded that the accepted condition had resolved. The Board gave that specialist’s opinion special weight because it was based on the…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Ground-support citation vacated but withdrawal order affirmed
A 20-to-30-ton roof fall struck and damaged an occupied scaling excavator in an unbolted cap-rock area of Pattison Sand's underground mine, but the miner escaped without injury. MSHA issued a ground-support citation and a section 103(k) order barring activity in unbolted and unmeshed areas south of…
Timothy S. Gelinas v. Electric Boat Corporation
Gelinas v. Electric Boat (BRB 11-0515): security guard's coverage sent back for review
Timothy Gelinas worked as a security guard and emergency medical technician at Electric Boat's submarine production facility. He claimed that workplace noise caused hearing loss, but a judge denied benefits after finding that his duties did not qualify as maritime employment. The Board upheld the…
R.A. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Center, Bridgeport, CA
R.A. (ECAB 11-1524): Foot injury claim after fitness activity denied
R.A., a Marine Corps Center firefighter, reported foot pain after racquetball during a mandatory fitness program. Medical records documented gout and foot complaints, but the Board found that reports suggesting a sprain or nerve condition were tentative. The physicians did not give a firm diagnosis…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
R.C. (ECAB 11-1367): Hand injury and reconsideration denials upheld
R.C., a Postal Service mail handler, reported left hand pain and numbness after pulling heavy mail containers. A medical form listed trigger finger and carpal tunnel syndrome, but a checked box did not explain how his duties caused those conditions. He supplied no detailed medical report after OWCP…
M.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, ME
M.A. (ECAB 11-1322): Reconsideration refused without new medical evidence
M.A., a Postal Service rural carrier, sought to reopen a claim for a hand injury after slipping on ice. OWCP had denied the claim for lack of supportive medical evidence. The Board found that reports from physician assistants did not qualify as physician medical opinions under FECA and that the…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Nashville, TN
L.M. (ECAB 11-1246): Five percent right arm award upheld
L.M., a Postal Service mail processing clerk, had an accepted right shoulder sprain and surgery after pulling a mail tray. OWCP granted a schedule award for five percent permanent impairment of her right arm, equal to 15.60 weeks of compensation. The Board found that the rating reflected her own…
R.C. and Department of the Treasury, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Dallas, TX
R.C. (ECAB 11-1032): Vehicle collision injury claim lacked medical evidence
R.C., a Treasury special agent, was in a work-related vehicle collision in October 2010 and reported pain in several areas. OWCP accepted that the collision occurred in the performance of duty. It requested medical reports explaining a diagnosed injury, but the record before OWCP contained none…
T.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Denver, CO
T.M. (ECAB 11-528): Shuttle collision outside airport not covered
T.M., an airport security screener, was struck by a shuttle bus mirror while crossing a public walkway after work on her way to a bus home. The Board found that her shift had ended and the walkway was outside the employer’s premises, open to all airport travelers. The risk of a shuttle collision…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, London, KY
T.B. (ECAB 11-86): Termination of foot injury benefits reversed
T.B., a Postal Service distribution clerk, had an accepted temporary aggravation of preexisting right foot arthritis from prolonged standing at work. OWCP ended her benefits based on an impartial specialist’s opinion that the work-related aggravation had ceased. The Board found his reports…
Hoover Excavating, Inc.
Three penalty reopening motions denied
Hoover Excavating asked to reopen three final penalty assessments, saying its owner had relied on assistants to submit contests and believed the paperwork had been filed. The Secretary opposed relief because Hoover lacked a reliable process for confirming submissions and did not explain delays…
Hidden Splendor Resources, Inc.
Financial-record reopening denied
Nine months after a hearing on 23 contested citations and orders, Hidden Splendor asked to reopen the record with a recent SEC filing showing that its parent company's financial position had deteriorated. The operator argued that the report was relevant to whether penalties would affect its ability…
C.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
C.H. (ECAB 11-1946): Duplicate shoulder claim files must be combined
C.H., a Customs and Border Protection employee, filed two claims alleging a shoulder condition from repetitive fingerprinting. OWCP denied one claim without considering evidence in the other file, although the shoulder allegations overlapped. The Board found that the missing medical evidence was…
L.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Phoenix, AZ
L.Z. (ECAB 11-1415): Back claim returned for recurrence review
L.Z., a Postal Service rural carrier associate, reported renewed back and leg symptoms and tied them to an accepted 2007 work injury. OWCP asked whether she was claiming a recurrence or a new injury, but then denied the case under different theories without clearly deciding her recurrence claim…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dorchester, MA
M.M. (ECAB 11-1377): Fall claim lacked a medical diagnosis
M.M., a Postal Service carrier, said he slipped on ice at work and braced his fall with his left arm. The Board treated the January 2009 incident as accepted but found the medical evidence insufficient to establish an injury from it. The reports documented pain without diagnosing a condition or…
C.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Canteen Service, Lake City, FL
C.S. (ECAB 11-1366): Compensation suspension for missed examination upheld
C.S., a Veterans Canteen Service supply clerk with an accepted back injury, missed a scheduled second-opinion examination. She said she had not received the appointment letter. The Board found that OWCP had properly addressed and mailed the notice and that the record did not rebut the presumption…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albuquerque, NM
M.S. (ECAB 11-1184): End of temporary job was not disability recurrence
M.S., a Postal Service mail carrier with an accepted lumbar strain, had returned to modified duty. His temporary appointment ended in March 2010, and he sought compensation for a recurrence of disability. The Board found that the end of a temporary job did not itself establish medical disability…
G.H. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Cambridge, OH
G.H. (ECAB 11-1119): Trip from second job fell outside federal duty
G.H., a Census Bureau field employee, was injured in a government vehicle while driving to a federal meeting. His trip began at a private night watchman job rather than his home or a federal assignment. The Board found that this personal deviation took the trip outside the course of federal…
M.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Topanga Canyon, CA
M.G. (ECAB 11-1066): Related neck and back claim files must be combined
M.G., a Postal Service employee, claimed neck strain and stress connected to a May 2008 event that had already produced an accepted back injury file. OWCP denied the newer claim while the accepted back file was not before the Board. The Board found that the overlapping allegations required frequent…
G.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
G.J. (ECAB 11-1057): Examiner selection must be documented and redone
G.J., a Veterans Affairs medical center employee, claimed cervical and right arm conditions from repetitive work. OWCP denied the claim based on an impartial specialist’s opinion. The Board found that appointment records and screen shots did not show how the specialist was selected through the…
L.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Raleigh, NC
L.H. (ECAB 11-1034): Back injury denial affirmed with incident accepted
L.H., a Postal Service mail processing clerk, reported back pain after bending and sweeping mail at work. The Board found that the May 2009 incident occurred, correcting OWCP’s later factual finding. It nevertheless found the doctors’ reports insufficient to explain how that event caused her…
S.K. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Portland, OR
S.K. (ECAB 11-937): Emotional condition claim needs explained findings
S.K., a Bureau of Land Management employee, claimed an emotional condition linked to coworkers’ comments and other conduct at work. OWCP labeled some allegations compensable and rejected others without explaining the legal basis or how it assessed the evidence. It also left some allegations…
W.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Seattle, WA
W.T. (ECAB 11-891): Back claim files and medical conflict need review
W.T., a Postal Service employee with an accepted back injury, sought compensation for later intermittent disability. OWCP denied the claim without reviewing evidence in two other files involving the same body area. The Board found those records necessary for a full decision and also found that the…
W.M. and General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service, Kansas City, MO
W.M. (ECAB 11-887): Carpal tunnel claim and reopening denial upheld
W.M., a General Services Administration technical specialist, claimed that repeated keyboard and mouse use caused carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. OWCP accepted the repetitive hand movements, but her physician diagnosed the condition without explaining how work caused or aggravated it. The…
L.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
L.D. (ECAB 11-591): Wage capacity challenge needs modification review
OWCP reduced L.D.’s compensation using a constructed mortgage loan interviewer position. She challenged the finding, saying she lacked a current license and the training needed to obtain one. OWCP treated her filing as a request for reconsideration and declined merits review. The Board found that…
D.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Keyport, NJ
D.K. (ECAB 11-565): Lumbar condition and recurrence need impartial review
D.K., a Postal Service mail processing clerk, had an accepted aggravation of cervical radiculitis and later claimed that her 2007 work incident also caused a lumbar condition. She sought compensation for disability beginning in May 2008. Her treating physicians linked a lumbar condition and…
D.I. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
D.I. (ECAB 11-317): Vehicle jolt claim lacked diagnosed back injury
D.I., a Postal Service carrier, reported back pain after his delivery vehicle struck a curb while he parked it at work. The Board accepted that the November 2009 incident occurred. One doctor documented pain without diagnosing a compensable condition; another suggested imaging but did not give a…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, New Orleans, LA
R.C. (ECAB 11-267): Emotional condition claim not reopened
R.C., a Postal Service mail processor, sought reconsideration of a denied emotional condition claim based on alleged workplace harassment and personnel actions. The Board found that her arguments repeated matters already in the record and did not supply new evidence establishing a compensable work…
R.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Grand Junction Veterans Administration Medical Center, Grand Junction, CO
R.T. (ECAB 11-1440): New hip report requires merits review
R.T., a Veterans Affairs radiologic technologist, claimed that lifting and moving patients and equipment caused a right hip condition. OWCP declined to reopen the denied claim, treating his reconsideration materials as repetitive or irrelevant. The Board agreed about most submissions but found that…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Hilltop Station, Columbus, OH
J.H. (ECAB 11-1330): Increased leg award request needs merits decision
J.H., a Postal Service letter carrier, previously received a schedule award for 11 percent right leg impairment. He later submitted a physician’s new report rating a higher impairment. OWCP treated his filing as an untimely reconsideration request and rejected it under the clear-error standard. The…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Charlotte, NC
R.C. (ECAB 11-1236): Repeated back claim report did not reopen case
R.C., a Postal Service employee, previously claimed that route inspections aggravated a back condition. After the Board upheld denial of that claim, he asked OWCP to reconsider and resubmitted a medical report it had already reviewed. The Board found that the report was duplicative and his general…
D.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Fresno, CA
D.S. (ECAB 11-1220): Back claim, continuation of pay, and hearing denied
D.S., a Veterans Affairs health technician, reported back pain after changing beds at work. The Board found that the October 2010 incident occurred, but her doctor diagnosed only pain and did not identify a compensable back condition. She filed the injury notice more than 30 days after the…
J.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Englishtown, NJ
J.L. (ECAB 11-1193): Seven days of wage loss not established
J.L., a Postal Service letter carrier with accepted shoulder, wrist, and foot conditions, sought wage-loss compensation for seven intermittent days in 2008. His physician expected that he would sometimes need time off, but did not address his ability to work on the specific dates claimed. Other…
S.H. and Department of the Army, Fort George G. Meade, MD
S.H. (ECAB 11-1134): Termination reversed while medical conflict remains
S.H., an Army secretary, had accepted hand and arm conditions from typing at work. OWCP terminated benefits after a physician it selected for another opinion found no objective residuals. The Board had previously identified a conflict between her treating physician and OWCP physicians about…
C.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Salisbury, NC
C.M. (ECAB 11-0893): Emotional condition claim denied
C.M., a Veterans Affairs nurse, said she suffered a panic attack and worsened psychiatric symptoms after receiving a letter detailing her to another unit during an investigation of workplace conduct. OWCP denied her traumatic injury claim, finding no compensable work factor. The Board held that the…
L.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Office, Houston, TX
L.J. (ECAB 11-0631): Emotional condition claim denied after workplace dispute
L.J., a Veterans Affairs loan specialist and union steward, claimed panic attacks after an October 2009 confrontation with a coworker over a union assignment. OWCP denied her emotional condition claim. The Board acknowledged that proven workplace verbal abuse or threats can be compensable. It found…
J.W., T.W. & R.E., dependent children of T.W., and Department of the Army, Army Depot, Anniston, AL
J.W., T.W. & R.E. (ECAB 11-0597): Survivor benefits claim sent back for medical review
Three children sought survivor benefits after their father, an Army depot equipment repairer, died from a subdural hematoma. A coworker reported that he struck his head on a vehicle hatch while working overtime shortly before his death. OWCP accepted the work incident but denied the claim because…
National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (Agency)
NTEU and IRS (FLRA 0-AR-4754): Recruitment-incentive bargaining remedy upheld
The IRS changed how it identified hard-to-fill locations eligible for recruitment incentives and reduced the number of locations qualifying for the program. An arbitrator found that the change affected bargaining-unit employees and that the IRS violated its bargaining duty by giving the union no…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Manchester, IN
T.S. (ECAB 11-1456): Carpal tunnel claim denied for lack of medical proof
T.S., a postal clerk, attributed carpal tunnel syndrome to repetitive scanning, sorting, computer work, and lifting parcels. Her supervisor confirmed those work duties. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim because the medical evidence did not establish a connection between the condition and…
M.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Dewey Station, Rochester, NY
M.O. (ECAB 11-1449): Termination of wage loss and medical benefits upheld
M.O., a former postal mail carrier, had accepted neck and upper back sprains from a 1993 vehicle accident. OWCP later found that she could perform part-time data entry work, then terminated her remaining wage-loss and medical benefits after a new examination found no residuals from the accepted…
M.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Civic Center Station, Oakland, CA
M.Y. (ECAB 11-1262): Late reconsideration request denied
M.Y., a postal worker, sought compensation for an emotional condition he attributed to treatment by supervisors. OWCP denied the claim in 2006 and last reviewed its merits in August 2007. His representative later said he had requested reconsideration in December 2009, but the record contained no…
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.