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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S.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Houston, TX
S.G. (ECAB 11-0074): Shoulder condition claim denial upheld
S.G., a pharmacy technician, attributed shoulder and arm symptoms to repetitive preparation of intravenous treatments. Her doctors diagnosed shoulder conditions and restricted her work, but did not explain how her job duties caused the conditions. The Board also found her description of the…
G.B. and Department of Agriculture, Inspection Operations Program, Ripon, CA
G.B. (ECAB 10-2155): Unexplained workplace fall recognized; injury denial upheld
G.B., an egg products inspector, fell while walking down a workplace hallway and claimed injuries to her elbow, legs, and hips. The Board found no medical proof that a personal condition caused the fall, so it treated the unexplained fall as occurring in the performance of duty. Her medical reports…
D.I. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
D.I. (ECAB 10-2040): Wage capacity and recurrence denials upheld
D.I., a letter carrier with an accepted back injury, returned to a modified position before OWCP set his wage-earning capacity. He later sought a change to that determination and compensation for renewed total disability. The Board found no proof that the original capacity decision was erroneous or…
J.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Cleveland, OH
J.M. (ECAB 10-2003): Consequential left ankle claim denied
J.M., a baggage screener, argued that favoring an accepted right ankle injury caused a later left ankle condition. Her treating doctor diagnosed a left ankle strain but did not explain how the earlier injury produced it months later. A referral physician reviewed the history and found that the…
B.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brandywine, MD
B.G. (ECAB 10-1959): Back injury claim denial upheld
B.G., a letter carrier with an earlier back condition, reported feeling a pop while lifting a bag of circulars at work. OWCP accepted that the lifting incident occurred. The Board found that a physician’s later opinion did not explain how that incident aggravated B.G.’s preexisting lumbar stenosis…
H.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Pensacola, FL
H.L. (ECAB 10-1957): Late reconsideration request denied
H.L., a postal employee, requested reconsideration more than one year after OWCP’s merit decision. He argued that a supervisor’s conduct during a workplace meeting caused an emotional condition and supplied witness statements. The Board found the request untimely and the statements insufficient to…
W.J. and Federal Judiciary, U.S. Probation Office, Tampa, FL
W.J. (ECAB 10-1944): Long-distance treatment travel reimbursement denied
W.J., a probation officer with an accepted shoulder injury, moved from Kingsland to Macon, Georgia but wanted to continue treatment with his surgeon in Fort Myers. OWCP identified qualified shoulder specialists near his new home. The Board found that his preference for the Florida doctor did not…
J.H. and Department of Defense, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Columbus, OH
J.H. (ECAB 10-1927): Left arm impairment award increased to 20 percent
J.H. challenged a 19 percent left arm impairment rating. The Board rejected ratings that lacked explanation or used an outdated edition of the impairment guides. It accepted the range-of-motion method used by OWCP’s specialists but corrected the value assigned to shoulder extension. Applying the…
B.M. and Department of the Interior, National Business Center, Washington, DC
B.M. (ECAB 10-1925): Termination of compensation benefits upheld
B.M. had accepted injuries to a finger and thoracic spine. OWCP terminated benefits after an impartial medical specialist found that the accepted conditions had resolved and attributed current thoracic complaints to degeneration. The Board found the specialist’s opinion well supported and entitled…
United States Department of the Air Force, 325th Mission Support Group Squadron, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3240 (Charging Party/Union)
Tyndall Air Force Base and AFGE Local 3240 (FLRA AT-CA-06-0163): Reassignment case returned for findings
Tyndall Air Force Base moved two lodging-area laborers between work sites without giving the union notice or an opportunity to bargain. An administrative law judge dismissed the unfair labor practice complaint, finding that the moves did not change conditions of employment or had only a minimal…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1547 (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona (Agency)
AFGE Local 1547 and Luke Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-4739): Union exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1547 challenged an arbitration award involving Luke Air Force Base. The Authority found no supported ground to set the award aside, citing its standards for procedural arbitrability, an arbitrator's authority, and conflict with law. It did not consider the union's assertion that the…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Temple, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2109 (Union)
Central Texas VA and AFGE Local 2109 (FLRA 0-AR-4709): Attorney-fee award upheld
An arbitrator ordered the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System to pay AFGE Local 2109 $15,048.46 in attorney fees. The agency challenged the amount, arguing that an Equal Access to Justice Act regulation with a $125 hourly limit should guide the award. The Authority held that the regulation…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3955, Council of Prison Locals 33 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Tucson, Arizona (Agency)
AFGE Local 3955 and FCC Tucson (FLRA 0-AR-4703): Sick-leave grievance denial upheld
A physician assistant at the Tucson federal prison requested sick leave after responding to an inmate suicide attempt. The prison denied the request because of a staffing shortage; a supervisor later sent the employee home after seeing that he appeared tired and distressed. An arbitrator found no…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, California (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3584 (Union)
FCI Dublin and AFGE Local 3584 (FLRA 0-AR-4471): Staffing-post award upheld
Federal Correctional Institution Dublin left some correctional officer posts vacant in its food-service areas. An arbitrator found that the staffing practice violated the parties' health and safety agreement and ordered the prison to fill the posts with regular staff or overtime assignments. The…
B&J Excavating, Incorporated
Haul-road dust citation settled at $2,000
MSHA cited B&J Excavating for failing to control dust that reduced visibility on quarry haul roads. The citation alleged a significant and substantial violation and unwarrantable failure, with a proposed penalty of $3,689. B&J said it scraped the road, applied clean stone, and reduced the speed…
GMS Mine Repair & Maintenance
Discharged miner granted temporary reinstatement
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Louie Albert Rocchetti, a GMS laborer who alleged that he was discharged after trying to report a work injury. Rocchetti testified that he repeatedly sought an accident-report form and contacted several managers, but never received a form or a copy…
American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (Star Bright Plating Site)
In re American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 10-02): reimbursement denied
American Home Mortgage Servicing, Inc. sought reimbursement of about $200,000 plus interest for cleanup costs at the Star Bright Plating facility in Oregon. The company argued that emails and oral communications from an EPA Assistant Regional Counsel amounted to a CERCLA section 106(a) order. The…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 299 (Union) and United States Department of the Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 299 and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (FLRA 0-AR-4731): Merit pay grievance sent back to arbitration
A union claimed that Office of the Comptroller of the Currency employees had not received merit pay increases required by the agency's own guidelines. The arbitrator dismissed the grievance because an earlier Authority decision treated the agency's statutory control over pay as a bar to…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2018 (Union) and United States Marine Corps, Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command (Agency)
AFGE Local 2018 and Marine Corps Training Command (FLRA 0-AR-4696): Three-day suspension upheld
The Marine Corps suspended a financial management analyst for three days after an arbitrator found that he knowingly gave a false account during an agency investigation. The union argued that his activity as a union representative protected him from discipline and that the agency gave inadequate…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 164 (Union)
CBP and NTEU Chapter 164 (FLRA 0-AR-4437): Local leave bargaining award set aside
Customs and Border Protection reduced the annual leave slots available around major holidays. An arbitrator found that the agency had to bargain with the union over the change's impact and implementation. The Authority set that award aside because the agency's revised national assignment policy had…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, National Border Patrol Council (Union)
Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol Council (FLRA 0-AR-4404): Bargaining ruling split by proposal date
Customs and Border Protection changed the rotation and hardship designations of several Border Patrol locations, including the Ramey Sector in Puerto Rico. The union submitted proposals in 2004 and another set in 2006. An arbitrator found that the agency had failed to meet its bargaining…
Social Security Administration, Region IX (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 220 (Union)
Social Security Region IX and AFGE Council 220 (FLRA 0-AR-4334): Credit-card suspension overturned
Social Security suspended an employee over charges involving a government travel card, including expenses for a union caucus, a ticket reservation for another employee, and allegedly late payments. An arbitrator found no just cause for the suspension and ordered lost pay, benefits, and removal of…
Speed Mining, LLC
Reopening request denied for lack of detail
Speed Mining asked to reopen an assessment covering three citations after its contest form was not filed. The company attributed the default to a clerical error and said the form had been misplaced. The Secretary opposed reopening because that explanation was conclusory and lacked sufficient…
OCI Wyoming, L.P.
Final penalty assessments reopened and remanded
OCI Wyoming asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that had become final orders after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reviewed the circumstances and granted the requests. It remanded the matters to the Chief Administrative Law Judge…
Cumberland River Coal Company
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Cumberland River Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission granted the request. It remanded the case to the Chief…
Perovich Properties, Inc.
Reopening request dismissed because penalty was timely contested
Perovich Properties asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that it believed may have become a final order. After reviewing its records, the Secretary reported that Perovich had timely contested the proposed penalty. The Commission therefore found that the assessment never became a…
Lone Star Aggregates Acquisitions, LLC
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Lone Star Aggregates asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission reviewed the circumstances and reopened the assessment. It remanded the matter to the Chief…
United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort Totten Agency, Fort Totten, North Dakota (Agency) and Indian Educators Federation, Local 4524, American Federation of Teachers (Union)
Fort Totten Agency and Indian Educators Federation (FLRA 0-AR-4281): Grade and pay retention award upheld
The Fort Totten Agency separated two maintenance mechanics in a reduction in force, then hired them into lower-graded seasonal positions two weeks later. An arbitrator found that the agency's contract required it to seek to avoid the separation by reassigning them to those positions and awarded…
Mach Mining, LLC
Interlocutory review and stay denied
Mach Mining asked to stay this civil penalty proceeding while the Commission considered a related ventilation-plan issue in another case. An administrative law judge denied the stay and declined to certify the ruling for interlocutory review. The Commission concluded that Mach had not shown that…
H.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
H.T. (ECAB 10-1510): Claim for 35.5 hours of wage loss denied
H.T., a letter carrier with accepted right knee injuries, sought compensation for hours missed between August 31 and September 10, 2009. Her surgeon documented restrictions and later disability but did not explain why the accepted injuries prevented work on the specific dates claimed. She also did…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Merrick, NY
R.S. (ECAB 11-0355): Chiropractor evidence requires new review
R.S. appealed the denial of a claim arising from a workplace lifting incident. OWCP had rejected her chiropractor’s opinion because hospital x-rays did not show a spinal subluxation. The Board found that the chiropractor had interpreted his own x-rays as showing subluxation, making him a physician…
P.R., claiming as widow of E.R., and Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Munising, MI
P.R., claiming as widow of E.R., (ECAB 10-1963): Additional impairment award denial sent back
E.R. requested an additional schedule award before his death. His widow, P.R., pursued the claim. OWCP relied on its medical adviser’s impairment rating but did not explain why that rating represented the weight of the evidence. The Board found that OWCP and its hearing representative had failed to…
L.A. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Chicago O’Hare Airport, Chicago, IL
L.A. (ECAB 10-1872): Knee injury claim returned for review of omitted report
L.A., a transportation security officer, said she injured her knee after tripping on a rug at work. The work incident was accepted, but OWCP denied the claimed injury. On reconsideration she submitted an orthopedic surgeon’s report describing a knee sprain and aggravation of existing arthritis…
T.N. and Department of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service, Calipatria, CA
T.N. (ECAB 10-1810): Cervical condition claim sent back for proper examination
T.N. sought recognition of a cervical condition related to an accepted injury and compensation for an earlier period of disability. OWCP had arranged a second opinion examination, but the physician reviewed records without examining her after she requested a postponement for surgery. The Board…
N.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Bay Station Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
N.S. (ECAB 10-1766): Withdrawal of light-duty work supports recurrence
N.S., a postal employee with accepted injuries, stopped work after the Postal Service withdrew his light-duty assignment and offered a replacement position that did not meet all his restrictions. The Board found that the withdrawal caused disability beginning December 1, 2009 and that OWCP had…
S.Z. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, IL
S.Z. (ECAB 10-1764): Benefit termination and depression rescission reversed
S.Z., a Veterans Affairs employee, had accepted physical injuries and a consequential depression condition. OWCP terminated compensation based on an independent examiner’s opinion and rescinded its acceptance of depression. The Board found the examiner’s report insufficient to establish that the…
N.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mesa, AZ
N.C. (ECAB 10-1747): Earlier knee claim remand later set aside
N.C. appealed an OWCP denial of a right knee injury claim. This order found that OWCP had accepted an aggravated knee sprain one day before a hearing representative affirmed the earlier denial without addressing the acceptance. The Board returned the case for review of that apparent inconsistency…
V.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Newark, NJ
V.R. (ECAB 10-1739): Recurrence claim returned for review of job change
V.R., a transportation security screener with an accepted shoulder and arm injury, claimed renewed disability when her light-duty assignment was changed. OWCP analyzed her claim under shifting theories without resolving whether the assignment actually changed or her accepted condition worsened. The…
C.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Washington, DC
C.K. (ECAB 10-1665): Reconsideration request found timely
C.K. wrote to OWCP before the one-year reconsideration deadline, identifying the decision and indicating she was preparing a request. OWCP asked her to clarify whether the letter sought reconsideration, and she promptly did so. The Board treated the initial letter as a timely request in those…
N.D. and Office of Special Counsel, Headquarters, Washington, DC
N.D. (ECAB 10-1655): Stress-related claim files must be combined
N.D. filed separate claims concerning a workplace incident and longer term stress at the Office of Special Counsel. OWCP denied the incident claim without combining the related files, despite a hearing representative’s direction to do so. The Board found that the files needed to be considered…
J.B. and Department of Energy, State Energy Programs Division, Washington, DC
J.B. (ECAB 10-1651): Overpayment decision premature without requested hearing
OWCP determined that J.B. had received a $39,914.68 compensation overpayment and was at fault. She requested a prerecoupment hearing within the allowed period, but OWCP issued a final overpayment decision without holding or addressing that hearing. The Board found the decision premature and…
B.D., claiming on behalf of the estate of J.D., and Department of Labor, Mine Safety & Health Administration, Vincennes, IN
B.D., claiming on behalf of the estate of J.D., (ECAB 10-1627): Pneumoconiosis claim found timely
B.D. challenged the denial of a federal mine inspector’s occupational disease claim for pneumoconiosis. OWCP counted the filing period from his earlier black lung benefits application. The Board found that the earlier application, without positive medical evidence, did not establish that he knew of…
T.S. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, AL
T.S. (ECAB 10-1501): Emotional condition claim denial upheld
T.S. attributed an emotional condition to workload, training, management decisions, and alleged harassment at the Army Corps of Engineers. The Board found no sufficient factual support for overwork or harassment and no shown error or abuse in the administrative actions. Because she had not…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Bainbridge Island Station, Bainbridge Island, WA
J.K. (ECAB 10-1421): Benefit termination sent back for omitted response
J.K., a rural mail carrier, challenged the proposed termination of wage-loss benefits. OWCP issued the final termination decision stating that she had supplied no response, although it had received her letter disputing the medical basis three days earlier. The Board could not review that letter for…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albuquerque, NM
B.C. (ECAB 10-1112): Back recurrence claim requires reasoned review
B.C., a postal employee with an accepted 1991 back injury, said her back condition worsened in 2007. She asked OWCP to treat the later disability as a recurrence of the accepted injury rather than a new occupational disease claim. OWCP combined the files after an earlier remand but did not…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1164 (Union) and Social Security Administration, Auburn District Office, Auburn, Maine (Agency)
AFGE Local 1164 and SSA Auburn District Office (FLRA 0-NG-3094): Adjudication time negotiable, staffing increase rejected
A union at Social Security's Auburn office proposed rotating uninterrupted time for employees who both interview the public and decide claims. The Authority found that proposal negotiable because it could ease work stress while allowing management to suspend the rotation when operations require it…
Justin Nagel v. Newmont USA Limited
Late reconsideration request denied
Justin Nagel filed a discrimination complaint against Newmont USA Limited, and an administrative law judge dismissed it for failure to comply with discovery orders and lack of candor. The Commission had already denied Nagel's petition for discretionary review and his request for a new hearing. It…
Matter of Rudolf STRYDOM
Violating a domestic-violence no-contact order is deportable conduct
The Board reviewed a South African respondent's appeal from a removal order based on his violation of a Kansas domestic-violence protection order. The Board held that a conviction for violating a Kansas protection order can be analyzed under the modified categorical approach when the state statute…
James D. Hough v. Vimas Painting Company, Incorporated, Intech Contracting, L.L.C., and Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut
Hough v. Vimas Painting (BRB 10-0534): bridge worker's Longshore claim denied
James Hough vacuumed debris while a crew cleaned and painted a bridge over the Ohio River. He developed histoplasmosis after exposure to material that included bird droppings and sought Longshore Act benefits. Although he had briefly worked on a barge used to hold equipment and debris, the Board…
K.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Kentuckiana Performance Cluster, Louisville, KY
K.N. (ECAB 10-1884): Sales clerk wage capacity and overpayment upheld
K.N., a postal employee with accepted neck and arm conditions, challenged a reduction in compensation based on her ability to work as a sales clerk. The Board credited an impartial doctor’s work-capacity opinion and found the job reasonably available. It also upheld a $2,290.09 overpayment finding…
L.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
L.H. (ECAB 10-1717): Recurrence of emotional disability not established
L.H., a postal supervisor, had accepted depression and post-traumatic stress disorder from earlier workplace incidents. She claimed a recurrence of disability after returning to full duty. Her doctor described later workplace stressors but did not explain how the accepted conditions spontaneously…
F.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Las Vegas, NV
F.S. (ECAB 10-1616): Reflex sympathetic dystrophy claim denied
F.S. sought to add reflex sympathetic dystrophy to her accepted left ankle conditions. Her doctor supported the diagnosis, while an OWCP referral doctor did not. An impartial orthopedic specialist found no sensory, skin, or circulation changes consistent with the claimed condition. The Board found…
A.B. and Department of the Air Force, Headquarters, Tinker Air Force Base, OK
A.B. (ECAB 10-1557): Schedule award and reconsideration denials upheld
A.B., an Air Force employee with an accepted cervical condition, sought a schedule award. His impairment calculations were unsigned and did not show that a physician had prepared them. The Board found they could not establish permanent impairment of a scheduled body member. His reconsideration…
F.V. and Department of Health & Human Services, Public Health Service, Dallas, TX
F.V. (ECAB 10-1522): Additional right leg award and reconsideration denied
F.V. sought an increase over her existing 20 percent right leg impairment award. Her physician suggested a higher rating but did not show how it followed the applicable impairment guides or provide measurements sufficient to check it. The later submission did not address the rating issue. The Board…
H.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Virginia Beach, VA
H.S. (ECAB 10-1220): Termination of sciatica benefits reversed
H.S., a letter carrier, had an accepted sciatica claim after a workplace back injury. Her treating surgeon found continuing disability and recommended surgery, while an OWCP referral surgeon attributed the symptoms to unrelated degeneration. The Board found that these opposing opinions created a…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3979, Council of Prison Locals (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan, Oregon (Agency)
AFGE Local 3979 and FCI Sheridan (FLRA 0-AR-4741): Union exceptions denied
The union at Federal Correctional Institution Sheridan challenged an arbitration award. The Authority found that the union had not shown the award was deficient under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a), and denied its exceptions. It cited standards for claims that an arbitrator exceeded authority or read a…
National Association of Government Employees, Local 888 (Union) and United States Department of the Army, Army Garrison Camp Parks, Camp Parks, California (Agency)
NAGE Local 888 and Army Garrison Camp Parks (FLRA 0-AR-4735): Union exception denied
The union at Army Garrison Camp Parks challenged an arbitration award. After reviewing the record, the Authority held that the union had not established a defect under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied its exception. It cited the rule that a disputed fact at arbitration, or a fact not shown to be…
Brody Mining, LLC
Eight safety orders modified and penalties reduced
MSHA alleged eight violations at Brody Mine No. 1 involving ventilation, a preshift examination, a flooded escapeway, combustible accumulations, a haulage safeguard, and an unguarded shuttle-car opening. Judge L. Zane Gill found the underlying violations but reduced gravity or negligence findings…
S & S Dredging
Loader-step violation reduced to non-S&S with $300 penalty
S & S Dredging used a loader with a lower step missing rear supports and an upper step that was bent and had a hole. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the defects affected safety and had not been corrected in a timely manner, violating 30 C.F.R. § 56.14100(b). He found a fall reasonably likely but…
Stoneco Inc.
Reopening request denied without prejudice
Stoneco asked the Commission to reopen a two-citation penalty assessment that became final when the company did not submit a timely contest. Stoneco said it faxed a conference request to an MSHA office but overlooked the separate requirement to send the assessment contest form to MSHA's Arlington…
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.