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.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Vehicle Maintenance Facility, New York, NY
D.A. (ECAB 11-968): Schedule award under sixth impairment guide affirmed
D.A., a postal motor vehicle operator with an accepted right wrist injury, challenged the edition of the impairment guide used for his schedule award. He argued that OWCP’s delay deprived him of an award under the earlier fifth edition. The Board found that the applicable edition was determined by…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3937 (Union) and Social Security Administration (Agency)
AFGE Local 3937 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-NG-3056): Office security proposals outside bargaining duty
The Social Security Administration was relocating its Mount Vernon, Washington, field office. AFGE Local 3937 proposed making a west-wall door the main employee entrance and installing polycarbonate shields at four reception windows. The Authority found that both proposals conflicted with the…
Buckingham Slate Company
Omitted checkmark excused and assessment reopened
Buckingham Slate sought to reopen a final penalty assessment after it mistakenly failed to check the contest box for Citation No. 8633701. Its submitted form showed that it had checked every other citation and had also marked the box requesting a formal hearing on all listed violations. The…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
T.W. (ECAB 11-732): Hearing request returned because mailing date was missing
T.W. appealed a termination of compensation and OWCP’s refusal to give her a hearing. OWCP had treated the hearing request as late because it arrived more than 30 days after the termination decision. The Board held that the deadline depends on the postmark or carrier date, but OWCP had not kept the…
Conshor Mining, LLC
History-only test for flagrant violations rejected
The Secretary classified three roof-control violations as flagrant largely because Conshor had paid penalties for two earlier unwarrantable violations of the same general standard within 15 months. Judge Jerold Feldman held that MSHA's internal policy-letter and news-release criteria were…
Era-Valdivia Contractors, Inc.
Independent lifeline item affirmed
Era-Valdivia employees painted a water tower from suspended Spider baskets about 80 feet above the ground. One painter climbed outside his basket and tied his harness lanyard to the scaffold's suspension cable instead of an independent lifeline. The judge vacated a general-duty item based on…
C.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Edmonton Alberta, Canada
C.H. (ECAB 11-1947): Respiratory claim returned to combine related records
C.H., a Customs and Border Protection employee, claimed asthma and allergic rhinitis from workplace exposure to fumes and other substances. OWCP denied the new claim without considering medical evidence held in an earlier, closely related claim file. That earlier file involved substantially the…
A.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Inwood, WV
A.B. (ECAB 11-1241): Overpayment fault upheld, amount sent back for recalculation
A.B., a postal rural carrier, returned to full-time work on February 3, 2011 but received and cashed a disability compensation check covering days after his return. The Board agreed that this created an overpayment and that A.B. was at fault because he knew or should have known the payment was…
K.D. and Department of the Navy, Washington Naval Yard, Washington, DC
K.D. (ECAB 11-1165): Late hearing request returned for discretionary review
K.D., a Navy program analyst, sought a hearing on OWCP’s 2009 denial of her claimed shoulder injury from an elevator door. Her March 2011 request was beyond the 30-day period for a hearing as of right. The Board found that OWCP still had discretion to grant a late hearing, but its denial discussed…
I.M. and Department of the Navy, Navy Commissary Store, Great Lakes, IL
I.M. (ECAB 11-1138): Knee treatment claim returned for review of medical reports
I.M., a former Navy commissary worker, sought to reopen medical treatment for a right knee condition accepted after a 1981 injury. OWCP denied the request, finding no sufficient link between his current knee condition and that injury. The Board found that OWCP’s decision had not addressed three…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
B.S. (ECAB 11-1090): Reconsideration request returned for merits review
B.S., a postal worker, sought compensation for continuing depression and panic disorder after OWCP accepted a temporary work-related aggravation. OWCP refused to reopen her claim when she requested reconsideration. The Board could review that refusal, but the earlier merits decisions were outside…
R.I. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Moorhead, MN
R.I. (ECAB 11-1086): Impairment award returned for review of physician’s report
R.I., a retired postal letter carrier with accepted carpal tunnel syndrome, received a schedule award for five percent impairment of his right arm and four percent of his left arm. Before OWCP issued the award, he submitted a physician’s report rating each arm at nine percent. OWCP’s decision did…
D.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Coatesville, PA
D.L. (ECAB 11-1054): Occupational disease claim returned to combine case files
D.L. claimed that a week of modified work at a veterans medical center aggravated injuries affecting her brain, neck, and back. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim. The Board found that the appeal record lacked medical evidence from two earlier injury claims that could bear on the cause of…
N.W. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Philadelphia, PA
N.W. (ECAB 11-1026): Hearing request restored after notice sent to wrong address
N.W., a correctional officer, claimed a left eye injury after water from a fire extinguisher struck her face at work. OWCP denied the injury claim, and she requested a hearing. When she did not appear, OWCP found that she had abandoned the request. The Board found that OWCP had sent the hearing…
K.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Port Jefferson Station, NY
K.E. (ECAB 11-0861): Emotional condition claim denied for lack of proven work factor
K.E., a postal custodian, claimed that work assignments and management treatment aggravated an earlier emotional condition. She alleged that she had been asked to shovel snow outside her restrictions and treated unfairly over duties, overtime, travel reimbursement, and medical records. OWCP denied…
A.W. and Department of the Navy, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, NH
A.W. (ECAB 11-0830): Thoracic injury claim returned to reconstruct record
A.W., a Navy shipyard pipe fitter, claimed a thoracic condition related to his work. OWCP denied the claim, finding the medical evidence did not establish whether his condition was a new injury or related to an earlier accepted back injury. The Board found that the record before it lacked the…
J.O. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command, Cherry Point, NC
J.O. (ECAB 11-0804): Hearing loss acceptance returned for missing earlier claim file
J.O. filed a Navy hearing loss claim in 2009, which OWCP initially accepted. OWCP later rescinded acceptance, saying the claim duplicated a hearing loss claim it had accepted in 1998. The earlier claim file was absent from the record sent to the Board, so the Board could not evaluate the basis for…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
D.G. (ECAB 11-0669): Back claim returned for consequential injury review
D.G., a postal mail processor, claimed that a back condition developed when previously injured knees gave way. OWCP denied the claim but said the back condition should be pursued as a consequential injury under an earlier claim file. The Board found that OWCP had not developed the case on that…
K.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
K.L. (ECAB 11-0659): Compensation reduction based on information clerk work upheld
K.L., a postal worker with accepted arm, elbow, and wrist conditions, received compensation after she stopped working. OWCP reduced her benefits effective April 11, 2010 based on an information clerk job identified through vocational rehabilitation. Her physician had earlier approved that job but…
H.K. and Department of the Air Force, Hickam Air Force Base, HI
H.K. (ECAB 11-0543): Overpayment upheld, fault finding set aside
H.K., an Air Force firefighter, received disability compensation calculated using an incorrect workweek and pay rate. OWCP found that this caused a $7,541.21 overpayment and that H.K. was at fault for accepting the payments. The Board upheld the amount and found his request for a prerecoupment…
M.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
M.D. (ECAB 11-0494): Medical dispute requires an impartial examination
M.D., a medical support assistant at a VA medical center, claimed that repetitive computer work caused carpal tunnel syndrome and a brachial plexus condition. OWCP accepted a cervical strain but denied those two conditions. Her treating physicians linked the disputed conditions to her work, while…
J.L. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Air Stations, Camp Lejeune, NC
J.L. (ECAB 11-0452): Board orders more medical evidence on arm injury
J.L., a Navy equipment mechanic, caught a falling ladder with his left arm at work and was later diagnosed with a blood clot in that arm. OWCP accepted that the ladder incident occurred but denied his injury claim, finding that the medical evidence did not adequately connect the clot to the…
Broadcasting Board of Governors (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1812 (Union)
Broadcasting Board of Governors and AFGE Local 1812 (FLRA 0-AR-4669): Hiring grievance awards left in place
The Broadcasting Board of Governors hired noncitizens for foreign language programming jobs under a statute that permits such hiring when suitably qualified U.S. citizens are unavailable. AFGE Local 1812 challenged the agency's policy of comparing the applicants' qualifications, and an arbitrator…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan, Oregon (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3979, Council of Prison Locals (Union)
FCI Sheridan and AFGE Local 3979 (FLRA 0-AR-4645): Leave slots restored after retaliation finding
The Federal Bureau of Prisons reduced the number of employees who could schedule leave at the same time in housing units at its Sheridan, Oregon, institutions. An arbitrator found that the agency had retaliated against the union for pursuing an earlier leave grievance and ordered the prior leave…
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and BP Corporation North America Inc.
In re BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and BP Corporation North America Inc. (EAB SDWA Appeal No. 11-02C): consent order ratified
EPA published notice of a proposed Final Order resolving a Safe Drinking Water Act matter involving BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and BP Corporation North America Inc. The public comment period closed on October 31, 2011, and EPA received no comments. The Environmental Appeals Board incorporated the…
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Products North America Inc., BP West Coast Products LLC, and BP Corporation North America Inc.
In re BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and related companies (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 11-03C and SDWA Appeal No. 11-02C): consent order ratified
The Environmental Appeals Board considered a Consent Agreement resolving a consolidated RCRA and Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement matter involving four BP companies. Under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b) and RCRA sections 3008(a) and (h), the Board incorporated the agreement into its Final Order and…
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Products North America Inc., BP West Coast Products LLC, and BP Corporation North America Inc.
In re BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and related companies (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 11-03C): consent order ratified
The Environmental Appeals Board considered a Consent Agreement resolving a RCRA enforcement matter involving BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Products North America Inc., BP West Coast Products LLC, and BP Corporation North America Inc. Under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b) and RCRA sections 3008(a) and (h)…
E.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Memphis, TN
E.R. (ECAB 11-1215): Postal worker's injury denial upheld
E.R., a postal mail processing clerk, reported back and leg pain after opening truck doors at work on July 6, 2010. OWCP accepted that the work incident occurred but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the physicians diagnosed back and knee conditions without explaining how the described…
E.M. and Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Jackson, TN
E.M. (ECAB 11-1209): Written-record review request was late
E.M., a Census Bureau enumerator, claimed an injury from a dog bite while working. OWCP denied the injury claim in October 2010. E.M. sought review of the written record, but the request was postmarked November 16, one day after the extended deadline. The Board held that OWCP properly found the…
W.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
W.B. (ECAB 11-1182): Denial of massage chair upheld
W.B., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted back injury and asked OWCP to pay for a massage chair. His treating physician said the chair would relieve pain and muscle spasms, while an OWCP medical adviser concluded that it was unlikely to provide meaningful improvement. The Board found that the…
D.D. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institute, Tallahassee, FL
D.D. (ECAB 11-1166): Prison employee's fall claim returned for medical review
D.D., a prison laundry supervisor, fell at work and reported pain in her hand, ankle, neck and back. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but denied the injury claim for lack of a reasoned medical opinion linking the conditions to it. The Board found that treatment notes cosigned by a physician and…
J.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Franklin D. Roosevelt Veterans Administration Hospital, Montrose, NY
J.R. (ECAB 11-1157): Termination of neck injury benefits upheld
J.R., a VA food service worker, had an accepted cervical sprain after reaching overhead at work in 2000. OWCP later ended his wage-loss compensation and medical benefits, finding that the accepted injury no longer caused his condition or disability. The Board gave special weight to an impartial…
R.C. and Department of the Army, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX
R.C. (ECAB 11-1155): Knee treatment recurrence claim denied
R.C., an Army depot employee, had an accepted right knee meniscus tear from a 1989 work injury. In 2010 he claimed that he again needed treatment for that injury. A later orthopedic report diagnosed arthritis in the same knee and attributed it to the old injury. The Board found that the physician…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Wedgwood Station, Seattle, WA
M.W. (ECAB 11-1130): Termination of postal worker's benefits reversed
M.W., a postal letter carrier, had accepted injuries to her right leg, ankle and foot. OWCP terminated her compensation after an impartial orthopedic specialist said she could perform her letter carrier job. The specialist also said she should avoid climbing, although OWCP’s statement of accepted…
P.M. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, San Francisco, CA
P.M. (ECAB 11-1072): Lower extremity impairment award denied
P.M., a DOL claims examiner, had accepted lumbar injuries after walking down stairs during a fire drill. She sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of her lower extremities. Her treating physician rated impairment of the spine and whole person under an older edition of the impairment…
W.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fayetteville, NC
W.M. (ECAB 11-1005): Late reconsideration request denied
W.M., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of OWCP’s 1993 denial of a claim that his later back disability resulted from an accepted 1987 work injury. He requested reconsideration in October 2010 and submitted a new orthopedic report linking the earlier injury and postal work to his later disc…
J.R. and Department of the Army, Alabama National Guard, Enterprise, AL
J.R. (ECAB 11-989): Duplicate hearing loss award created an overpayment
J.R., an Army National Guard mechanic, had received two schedule awards totaling 77 percent hearing loss before OWCP paid a third award for 54 percent hearing loss. The Board found that the third award duplicated compensation already paid, creating an $81,989.83 overpayment. It also agreed that…
R.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, North Little Rock, AR
R.B. (ECAB 11-976): Reconsideration denied for lack of relevant evidence
R.B., a Veterans Affairs health technician, sought compensation for intermittent work absences in 2005 after an accepted back injury. OWCP denied the wage loss claim and later refused to reopen it on reconsideration. Her attorney said she had supplied proof of disability, but the Board found no…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Bulk Mail Center, Philadelphia, PA
M.R. (ECAB 11-930): One percent arm impairment award upheld
M.R., a postal mail handler, injured her left arm while driving a power jack and received a schedule award for one percent impairment. Her physician rated several conditions together and calculated eight percent impairment. The Board found that OWCP had accepted only left hand tendinitis in this…
M.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
M.L. (ECAB 11-880): Recurrence of disability not established
M.L., a postal letter carrier, had accepted left shoulder and neck conditions after a 2008 work injury and returned to modified duty. She stopped work in November 2010 and sought compensation for a recurrence of disability. The Board found no claimed change to the duties of her modified job, so…
B.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration Southern New Health Care System, North Las Vegas, NV
B.C. (ECAB 11-101): Termination of injury benefits upheld
B.C., a Veterans Affairs health technician, received benefits for injuries from a workplace fall and an automobile accident accepted as a consequence of that injury. An earlier Board decision had found a medical conflict and rejected a prior termination of benefits. OWCP obtained another impartial…
GRG Construction Co., Inc.
Final assessment reopened without opposition
GRG Construction asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was recorded. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the submissions, the Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further…
Heavy Materials, LLC
Final assessment reopened without opposition
Heavy Materials asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was recorded. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed the Secretary…
H&K Materials, Inc.
Reopening denied for unreliable assessment tracking
H&K Materials faxed a proposed assessment to its counsel, but clerical and filing errors prevented the contest from being docketed and returned to MSHA. The company did not seek reopening until Treasury collection activity began, almost six months after the assessment became final and more than…
Prairie State Generating Co.
Flooding-report citation reduced to $112
Heavy rain caused unplanned flooding in the slope of Prairie State's underground coal mine while it was under construction. Management concluded that the event was not an inundation and did not notify MSHA within 15 minutes. Judge L. Zane Gill found that the flooding was reportable under 30 C.F.R…
Drum Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Disputed contest mailing remanded for fact-finding
Drum Sand & Gravel sought reopening after MSHA treated its penalty contest as late. The owner swore that he mailed the contest within ten days of receiving the assessment, while the Secretary produced an envelope postmarked four days after the assessment became final. The Commission majority found…
Anderson Sand and Gravel
Final assessment reopened without opposition
Anderson Sand and Gravel asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was recorded. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed the…
United States Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, Florida (Petitioner/Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Incumbent Labor Organization/Union)
Hurlburt Field and AFGE (FLRA AT-RP-08-0029): Employees remain in consolidated unit
The Air Force sought to remove Hurlburt Field employees from an AFGE consolidated bargaining unit after organizational changes and a move to a separate personnel office. The regional director refused to leave those employees without representation. The Authority denied the Air Force's application…
T.E. and Department of the Army, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, CA
T.E. (ECAB 11-990): Work-related back condition not established
T.E., an Army supply technician, claimed that lifting computer printers at work aggravated a preexisting back condition. The Board accepted that printer lifting was part of her job and that she had diagnosed neck and back conditions. It found the medical evidence did not adequately explain how the…
B.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
B.R. (ECAB 11-862): Seven percent wrist impairment award upheld
B.R., a Veterans Affairs housekeeping aide, injured his left wrist while moving a desk and received a schedule award for seven percent arm impairment. His physician calculated nine percent using a higher physical examination modifier. The Board found that the physician’s report did not show the…
L.G. and Department of the Navy, Naval Electronics System Communication, Charleston, SC
L.G. (ECAB 11-544): Denial of additional paint exposure conditions upheld
L.G., a Navy computer technician, sought to add respiratory and other conditions to a claim arising from exposure to paint fumes at work. OWCP had accepted dysphagia and chronic pharyngitis and later added chronic obstructive asthma. The Board found that the physicians’ reports did not adequately…
K.T. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, New Orleans International Airport, New Orleans, LA
K.T. (ECAB 11-505): Right arm schedule award denial upheld
K.T., an airport security screener, strained her right shoulder while lifting a bag onto a baggage belt. OWCP accepted the injury, and she later sought a schedule award for permanent right arm impairment. Her treating surgeon said she had reached maximum medical improvement but did not provide an…
B.S. and Department of the Navy, Naval Aviation Depot, Pensacola, FL
B.S. (ECAB 11-487): Health premium overpayment recovery upheld
B.S., a former Navy aircraft worker receiving injury compensation, had health insurance premiums that OWCP failed to deduct from his payments for nearly 15 years. The Board upheld OWCP’s finding that the missing deductions created a $9,040.69 overpayment, although B.S. was not at fault. It also…
H.T. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Cleveland, OH
H.T. (ECAB 11-329): Termination of injury benefits reversed
H.T., a Defense Logistics Agency quality assurance representative, received compensation after a work-related motor vehicle accident injured his neck and back. OWCP sought to end both wage compensation and medical treatment after a second opinion doctor said the accepted conditions had resolved. An…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1167 (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, Homestead Air Force Base, Homestead, Florida (Agency)
AFGE Local 1167 and Homestead Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-4784): Union exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1167 challenged an arbitration award involving Homestead Air Force Base. The Authority found that the union's exceptions did not show that the award was deficient under the statutory grounds for reviewing arbitration awards. It denied the exceptions, leaving the award in place. The…
P.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN
P.S. (ECAB 11-1411): Denial of lifting injury claim upheld
P.S., a Veterans Affairs housekeeping aide, reported left arm and neck symptoms after lifting a bag of sheets at work. OWCP accepted that he lifted at work but denied his claim because the medical evidence did not establish an injury caused by that incident. The Board found that one physician…
G.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albany, NY
G.F. (ECAB 11-1175): Refusal to reopen injury claim upheld
G.F., a postal letter carrier, sought benefits for carpal tunnel syndrome he attributed to casing mail. OWCP denied the underlying claim in November 2009, and he requested reconsideration in January 2011. The Board found that the request came more than a year after the merits decision. His doctor’s…
B.M. and Department of the Army, Pacific Command, Fort Richardson, AK
B.M. (ECAB 11-1131): Wage loss claim after accepted fall denied
B.M., an Army engineering technician, injured his back in a work-related fall, and OWCP accepted a lumbar sprain and abrasions. He sought wage loss compensation for a period extending from January 2009 through August 2010. The Board found that his doctor stated he could not work but did not explain…
N.F. and Department of the Navy, Naval Hospital, Camp LeJeune, NC
N.F. (ECAB 11-1027): Social Security offset overpayment upheld
N.F., a former Navy hospital food service worker receiving injury compensation, also received Social Security retirement benefits partly based on her federal service. OWCP failed to apply the required offset and later calculated a $3,848.68 overpayment. The Board upheld that calculation even though…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, IN
T.H. (ECAB 11-1011): Refusal to reopen tree limb injury claim upheld
T.H., a postal letter carrier, reported injuries after a tree limb struck her while she was delivering a parcel. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her injury claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused the claimed conditions. After several unsuccessful…
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.