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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K.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Bridgeport Processing & Distribution, Wallingford, CT
K.D. (ECAB 11-0077): Hearing abandonment finding affirmed
K.D., a postal employee, requested a hearing after OWCP denied her claim. OWCP mailed notice of the telephone hearing more than thirty days in advance. She did not call in, seek a postponement or explain her absence within ten days. The Board affirmed the abandonment finding without reaching the…
P.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle, WA
P.L. (ECAB 11-0015): Continuation of pay and subpoena denials affirmed
P.L., a VA employee, claimed continuation of pay for a January 2008 injury but filed his written injury claim more than thirty days later. Prompt oral notice to a supervisor did not satisfy that filing requirement. He also failed to show why requested testimony could be obtained only through…
Kirk L. Miller v. Associated Electric Cooperative, Incorporated
Miller v. Associated Electric Cooperative (BRB 11-0360): premature appeal dismissed
A judge ordered a new Department of Labor pulmonary evaluation for Kirk Miller because the earlier report had not addressed total disability or its cause. Associated Electric Cooperative appealed that order before the judge decided Miller's black lung claim. The Board dismissed the appeal as…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Bulk Mail Center, Philadelphia, PA
M.R. (ECAB 11-0419): Disability recurrence denial affirmed
M.R., a postal employee, stopped limited duty work and claimed a recurrence of total disability from an accepted injury. The Board found no reasoned medical opinion showing that her accepted condition changed enough to prevent that work. She also did not show that the assignment changed or exceeded…
S.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Bronx, NY
S.F. (ECAB 11-0176): Knee benefits termination reversed
S.F., a VA employee with an accepted knee injury, challenged termination of compensation and medical benefits. OWCP relied on an impartial examiner who concluded that her later arthritis was unrelated to the injury. The Board found his opinion insufficiently reasoned about whether the injury and…
J.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Windsor Locks, CT
J.B. (ECAB 11-0106): Personal errand injury claim denial affirmed
J.B., a TSA employee, was struck by a shuttle bus while returning from the parking lot during an overtime shift. She had gone there with permission to search for a lost personal cell phone. The Board found that the errand was a personal mission outside the performance of duty, even though a…
M.S. and Department of Energy, Southeastern Power Administration, Elberton, GA
M.S. (ECAB 11-0096): Health premium overpayment recovery affirmed
M.S., a Department of Energy employee, received compensation without deductions for elected health insurance premiums. The unpaid premiums totaled $5,371.50, which the Board upheld as an overpayment even though she was not at fault. She did not provide the financial information needed for waiver or…
K.N. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, West Roxbury, MA
K.N. (ECAB 11-0094): Actual earnings wage capacity finding affirmed
K.N., a VA employee, returned to full time work as a nurse practitioner in a dermatology practice and held the job for more than sixty days. The Board found that her actual earnings fairly represented her wage earning capacity. A separate claim for older retroactive compensation was not decided by…
A.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Parkgrove Station, Detroit, MI
A.B. (ECAB 11-0072): Leg impairment award remanded for impartial examination
A.B., a postal employee, sought more than the two percent right leg impairment award he had received. A later physician report rated substantially greater impairment and indicated worsening. The Board found an unresolved medical conflict that required a new impartial specialist. It set aside OWCP's…
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Capital Heights, MD
D.P. (ECAB 11-0036): New medical evidence required review of carpal tunnel claim
D.P., a postal letter sorter, sought a schedule award for impairment of both arms after accepted carpal tunnel injuries and surgery. OWCP had denied the award and then refused to reopen the claim after he submitted additional medical reports. The Board found that a new electrodiagnostic study…
L.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Stirling, NJ
L.H. (ECAB 11-0029): Five percent right arm impairment award upheld
L.H., a postal clerk with accepted right carpal tunnel syndrome, sought a schedule award above the five percent right arm impairment already paid. Her physician and OWCP's medical adviser gave different ratings, so OWCP obtained an impartial orthopedic examination. The Board found that the…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Soddy Daisy Main Post Office, Soddy Daisy, TN
J.R. (ECAB 11-0012): Back injury denial and refusal to reopen affirmed
J.R., a postal carrier, claimed a back injury after loading mail and parcels for her delivery route. OWCP accepted that the work activity occurred but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not establish a related injury. The Board found that her physician identified low back pain…
S.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Chicago, IL
S.A. (ECAB 11-0286): Termination of wrist-injury benefits upheld
S.A., a postal employee, received compensation for bilateral wrist tendinitis and a right hand ganglion cyst. A prior Board remand had asked OWCP to clarify whether two other conditions listed in its records were accepted work injuries. The Board found that the extra diagnosis codes were used to…
B.W. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Baltimore, MD
B.W. (ECAB 11-0230): Hearing-loss reconsideration refusal upheld
B.W., a retired Coast Guard pipefitter foreman, had received schedule awards for accepted hearing loss and sought a larger award. OWCP declined to reopen his claim and advised him to file a new occupational disease claim for the later period of workplace noise exposure. The Board found that the…
C.B. and Department of the Army, Carl R. Darnall Medical Center, Fort Hood, TX
C.B. (ECAB 11-0219): Compensation overpayment and repayment upheld
C.B., an Army clinical nurse receiving wage-loss benefits after a work-related knee injury, returned to a lower-paying modified job while a payment for total disability was still issued. The Board upheld OWCP's calculation that she received $1,348.97 more than she was due for July 20 through 31…
N.W. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, MDC Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
N.W. (ECAB 11-0212): Shoulder injury claim denied for lack of medical explanation
N.W., a corrections officer, reported shoulder pain after pulling heavy prison doors at work in January 2009. OWCP accepted that she pulled the doors but denied her injury claim because the medical evidence did not adequately link a diagnosed condition to that event. The Board found that her…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Snapper Creek Branch, Miami, FL
A.D. (ECAB 11-0151): Multiple occupational disease claims denied
A.D., a postal mail processing clerk, attributed wrist, elbow, back, knee, and foot conditions to years of lifting, carrying, sorting, and standing at work. The Board found no medical diagnosis in the record for several claimed conditions, including the knee and foot conditions. For conditions that…
W.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
W.L. (ECAB 11-0099): Back recurrence and surgery claims remain denied
W.L., a postal truck driver, had an accepted back strain and later claimed a recurrence of disability and a separate back injury after unloading mail containers in May 2008. He also sought authorization for lumbar surgery. A previous Board decision had upheld OWCP's denials; this appeal considered…
K.D. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Fort Myers, FL
K.D. (ECAB 11-0016): Injury denial upheld; authorized treatment sent back for payment
K.D., a federal special agent, reported neck pain and headaches after a rear-end collision while working. The Board accepted that the collision occurred but found insufficient medical evidence linking a diagnosed injury to it. Her chiropractor's reports did not qualify as physician evidence under…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
J.F. (ECAB 10-2378): Untimely reconsideration refusal affirmed
J.F., a postal mail processor, sought compensation for a shoulder injury he attributed to a 2000 workplace incident. OWCP denied the claim and later refused his June 2010 request to reconsider it. The Board held that the request came more than one year after the last decision on the injury claim's…
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
T.D. (ECAB 10-2280): Injury denial set aside for a fuller work history
T.D., a postal employee, claimed that work involving heavy doors and cold conditions aggravated conditions in her arms. In an earlier appeal, the Board had told OWCP to prepare a detailed statement of her work history, duties and medical restrictions before obtaining another medical opinion. OWCP's…
D.C. and Department of the Navy, Pugent Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
D.C. (ECAB 10-2052): Rescission of accepted knee conditions reversed
D.C., a naval shipyard employee, had an accepted left knee injury claim to which OWCP later added osteoarthritis and a meniscal tear. OWCP then rescinded acceptance of those two conditions while developing a schedule award. The Board found that its medical adviser's opinion lacked supporting…
Remington, LLC
Discovery motion granted in part
The Secretary moved to compel Remington to answer interrogatories and produce examination reports, employee statements, and training records in three penalty dockets. Judge David F. Barbour declined to compel records or information the company said it no longer possessed and refused an adverse…
Twentymile Coal Company
Mixed safety rulings and $83,662 ordered
MSHA brought citations and orders against Twentymile Coal involving ventilation stoppings, roof support, mine examinations, ventilation-plan requirements, escapeway reflectors, fire-suppression equipment, and communication-cable insulation at the Foidel Creek Mine. Judge Richard W. Manning affirmed…
M.P. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Dallas, TX
M.P. (ECAB 11-0420): Pallet incident established, injury claim denied
M.P., a Census Bureau clerk, said a pallet jack released while he was loading a pallet and caught his foot. The Board found that the April 2010 incident occurred, but the emergency room report did not explain whether it caused or aggravated a diagnosed condition. A chiropractor's report did not…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Rockford, IL
A.C. (ECAB 11-0277): Shoulder disability payments denied for an earlier period
A.C., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted left shoulder injury and later underwent surgery. She sought wage-loss compensation for time away from work in spring 2010. OWCP paid compensation beginning June 8 but denied payment for March 13 through June 7. The Board found that her surgeon's June…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
J.B. (ECAB 11-0270): Schedule award denial set aside for impartial examination
J.B., a postal tractor trailer operator, sustained accepted back and knee conditions in a work-related vehicle collision. He sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. His treating physician and OWCP's medical adviser disagreed about the extent of impairment in his left leg and whether the…
A.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Imperial Beach, CA
A.R. (ECAB 11-0252): Backhoe knee claim denied for lack of incident detail
A.R., a border patrol agent, said he aggravated a preexisting right knee condition while operating a backhoe at work. OWCP asked him to explain how the January 2010 incident happened, but he did not respond. A later medical report described a different knee incident in April 2008 and did not…
R.G. and Department of the Army, Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi, TX
R.G. (ECAB 11-0222): Reconsideration refusal affirmed after repeated requests
R.G., an Army depot employee, had sought benefits for claimed neck and back injuries from a 1994 incident. OWCP denied the claim after finding inconsistent accounts of how the injury occurred. Years after OWCP's July 2002 merits decision, R.G. sent several requests for reconsideration. The Board…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lincoln, NE
R.H. (ECAB 11-0080): Schedule award denial affirmed for lack of ratable impairment
R.H., a postal employee, sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. Her physician assessed two percent impairment of the whole person but did not give findings that would support a rating for either leg under the applicable impairment guide. The Board explained that FECA does not authorize…
B.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Canandaigua, NY
B.G. (ECAB 11-0046): Psychiatric injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
B.G., a medical center telephone operator, sought compensation for a psychiatric condition after an armed police officer confronted her at work. OWCP accepted that the confrontation occurred and fell within the scope of FECA. The Board found that her treating psychiatrist described the incident but…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Atlanta Processing & Distribution Center, Atlanta, GA
R.R. (ECAB 10-2272): Wage earning capacity reduction affirmed
R.R., a postal mail processing clerk, received compensation after a work related right shoulder injury and surgery. OWCP reduced his wage loss benefits after a vocational counselor identified an order clerk job paying $320 a week that was available in his commuting area. The Board found the job's…
R.O. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Corrections Complex, Lompac, CA
R.O. (ECAB 10-2143): Wrist impairment award returned for explanation
R.O., a federal prison sewage plant operator, had an accepted right wrist condition and received a schedule award for one percent impairment of his right arm. His treating surgeon rated the impairment at 12 percent using an older edition of the A.M.A. Guides. The Board agreed that OWCP should use…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
M.R. (ECAB 11-0970): Timely hearing request returned to OWCP
M.R. appealed an OWCP decision denying his recurrence claim and a later refusal to give him an oral hearing. OWCP had treated his hearing request as late because the envelope was postmarked January 16, 2011, more than 30 calendar days after its December 16 decision. The Board held that the…
K.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houlton, ME
K.J. (ECAB 11-0680): Claim denial returned for review of medical reports
K.J. sought federal workers' compensation, and OWCP denied her claim for lack of medical evidence linking her condition to work. The denial said no further evidence had arrived during the 30-day period allowed by OWCP's development letter. The Board found that OWCP had actually received two medical…
G.P. and Department of the Army, Fort Drum, NY
G.P. (ECAB 11-0492): Injury claim returned to assemble the record
G.P., an Army employee, sought compensation after falling in a workplace parking lot in December 2009. OWCP denied the claim based in part on his earlier knee and anxiety claims. The Board found that the record sent to it lacked evidence from those related claims, including material OWCP had relied…
M.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
M.J. (ECAB 11-0365): Injury claim returned after a decision page went missing
M.J., a postal carrier, claimed a right hand injury while entering his vehicle. OWCP denied the claim, and its hearing representative affirmed that denial. When M.J. appealed, the Board found that the record lacked the second page of the hearing representative's decision. Without the full decision…
A.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Baton Rouge, LA
A.S. (ECAB 11-0315): PTSD claim returned for review of medical evidence
A.S., a FEMA program specialist, had an accepted claim for swelling of her right eye after a 2005 work incident. She later claimed several consequential conditions, including PTSD. OWCP denied modification after an impartial neurosurgeon found that her meningitis and aneurysms were unrelated to the…
F.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Ponchatoula, LA
F.H. (ECAB 11-0292): Fibromyalgia claim returned to combine related files
F.H., a postal employee, claimed that a 2007 workplace fall aggravated her fibromyalgia. OWCP denied a later occupational disease claim involving that condition. The Board found that an earlier claim file also concerned fibromyalgia and contained medical evidence needed to review the new appeal. It…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellville, NJ
J.C. (ECAB 11-0268): Two percent arm impairment award affirmed
J.C., a postal letter carrier, received a schedule award after an accepted right shoulder contusion. Her physician first rated the arm impairment at 16 percent under the fifth edition of the A.M.A. Guides, then revised the rating to two percent using the sixth edition. OWCP adopted the revised…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sarasota, FL
J.C. (ECAB 11-0236): Reconsideration refusal affirmed
J.C., a postal letter carrier, claimed a right shoulder injury from lifting a package at work. OWCP denied the claim because it found the evidence insufficient to establish the incident as alleged. J.C. asked OWCP to reconsider but submitted no new evidence or legal argument. The Board held that…
W.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Old Hammond Station, Baton Rouge, LA
W.W. (ECAB 11-0229): Emotional condition claim returned for evidence review
W.W., a postal city carrier, claimed an emotional condition linked to aspects of his work, including overtime and work on different routes. OWCP denied the claim after obtaining a second opinion from a psychiatrist. The Board found that OWCP discussed only that psychiatrist's report and did not…
G.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
G.M. (ECAB 11-0190): Increased impairment award returned for proper calculation
G.M., a postal employee, sought an increased schedule award for right arm impairment after an earlier award of 14 percent. The Board had already returned the claim once because OWCP did not calculate impairment under the sixth edition of the A.M.A. Guides. On remand, OWCP again denied the increase…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Springfield, MA
L.G. (ECAB 11-0142): Denial of recurrence claim affirmed
L.G., a postal mail handler, received acceptance of a lumbar sprain from lifting magazines at work and returned to restricted duty. She later claimed that she became unable to work after her back pain worsened while lifting during a shift. The Board held that this account did not establish a…
C.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Syracuse, NY
C.E. (ECAB 11-0139): Increased arm impairment claim remanded
C.E., a postal employee, sought an increased schedule award after receiving a 14 percent left arm impairment award in 2008. OWCP denied an increase, relying on physicians who said they used the sixth edition of the A.M.A. Guides and rated impairment at 12 percent. The Board found that both…
H.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh, PA
H.E. (ECAB 11-0137): Increased hearing loss award denied
H.E., a retired postal mail handler, received a schedule award for 14 percent bilateral work-related hearing loss. He later sought an increased award, submitting an audiologist's evaluation and an otolaryngologist's note about hearing amplification. The Board explained that hearing loss may support…
D.J. and Department of the Air Force, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, CO
D.J. (ECAB 11-0120): Emotional condition claim not reopened
D.J., an Air Force budget technician, claimed an emotional condition related to events at work. OWCP denied the claim after finding that she had not established a compensable work factor. Her reconsideration request repeated arguments about her employer's handling of a clinic visit and supplied a…
L.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
L.V. (ECAB 11-0113): Injury claim returned for combined file review
L.V., a postal employee, claimed neck, upper back, shoulder and head injuries from an event in July 2009. OWCP denied the claim, and its hearing representative affirmed that denial after comparing L.V.'s statements with material from a separate earlier claim file. That earlier file was absent from…
A.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Paddock Branch Post Office, Ocala, FL
A.L. (ECAB 11-0018): Postal carrier's injury claim and reconsideration denial affirmed
A.L., a rural postal carrier, reported neck and shoulder symptoms after pulling down mail at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately identify a work-related injury and explain how the incident caused it…
N.F. and U.S. Postal Service, South Shore Annex, Staten Island, NY
N.F. (ECAB 11-0013): Benefits review remanded to consider all medical evidence
N.F., a postal mail handler, had received compensation for injuries from a 2006 work incident before OWCP terminated his benefits. He later asked OWCP to reconsider the termination and submitted a physician's report. OWCP denied modification after discussing that report, but it did not address…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Port Huron, MI
J.G. (ECAB 11-0006): Denial of hip condition claim affirmed
J.G., a postal letter carrier, injured his left knee in a work-related fall and later sought compensation for avascular necrosis in both hips. OWCP denied the hip claim after an impartial specialist concluded that the condition predated the fall and was unrelated to it. On reconsideration, J.G…
D.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
D.J. (ECAB 10-2401): Overpayment fault finding remanded
D.J., a postal flat sorter, received compensation payments without deductions for health and life insurance premiums. OWCP found a $5,234.36 overpayment and said she was at fault because she should have noticed the missing deductions. She did not dispute the amount, but she contested fault and…
G.O. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Lyons Veterans Administration Hospital, Lyons, NJ
G.O. (ECAB 10-2400): Nine percent right leg award affirmed
G.O., a Veterans Affairs recreational therapist, sought a schedule award after a right thigh injury at work. OWCP awarded benefits for nine percent impairment of his right leg. He argued that OWCP should have used the fifth edition of the AMA impairment guides because he had claimed an award before…
J.H. and Department of the Air Force, Texas Air National Guard, Houston, TX
J.H. (ECAB 10-2303): Reduced wage-loss benefits affirmed
J.H., an Air National Guard aircraft mechanic, received compensation after a work-related back injury. OWCP reduced his benefits based on its finding that he could earn wages in an available customer service clerk position. The Board found that an impartial medical examination supported his ability…
P.B. and Social Security Administration, Plainfield, NJ
P.B. (ECAB 10-2250): Right arm impairment award returned for a new rating
P.B., a Social Security Administration service representative, disputed the rating of her permanent right arm impairment after a work injury. OWCP and its hearing representative relied on medical opinions using the fifth edition of the AMA impairment guides. The Board found that the sixth edition…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, Office of Border Patrol, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
National Border Patrol Council and Border Patrol (FLRA 0-AR-4700): Marine manual stays in place during bargaining
The Border Patrol implemented a Marine Standardization Manual without giving the union notice and a chance to bargain over its impact. An arbitrator ordered bargaining, a notice posting, and an end to future violations, but refused the union's request to rescind the manual while bargaining…
The Plaza Group
In re The Plaza Group (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 11-03C): $37,267 penalty settlement approved
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and The Plaza Group signed and consented to entry of an attached Consent Agreement. The Environmental Appeals Board incorporated that agreement into its Final Order. The Board ordered The Plaza Group to comply with the agreement and pay a $37,267…
Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
Inoperative backup alarm violated maintenance rule
An MSHA inspector found that a lube truck's reverse warning alarm did not work in a noisy production pit where pedestrians stood near mobile equipment. The ALJ vacated the citation because the alarm had worked at the preshift examination and the operator had no opportunity to repair a defect it did…
Matter of E-R-M-F- & A-S-M-
Advisals begin when formal proceedings start
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal from termination of removal proceedings against a married couple from Guatemala. It held that the advisal requirement in 8 C.F.R. § 287.3(c) applies after an alien arrested without a warrant is placed in formal proceedings by the filing of a Notice to Appear, so…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Augusta, SC
R.C. (ECAB 11-0696): Injury denial affirmed, treatment expense issue remanded
R.C., a postal rural carrier associate, reported that an object entered her right eye while she delivered mail. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred, but the only emergency room report submitted for the injury claim was illegible. The Board found no usable medical evidence establishing a…
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.