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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Independence Coal Company, Inc., et al.
Part 50 audit records must be produced
Six Massey-controlled mine operators contested citations and failure-to-abate orders issued after they declined to provide records requested during MSHA Part 50 reporting audits. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews held that the Mine Act and 30 C.F.R. § 50.41 authorize MSHA to request accident-related…
M.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Salisbury, NC
M.G. (ECAB 10-2187): One percent right arm award upheld
M.G. had an accepted right elbow and forearm sprain and sought a higher impairment award. Her doctor first used state guidelines to rate her arm at three percent, but OWCP’s medical adviser applied the required federal impairment guides and found one percent. The treating doctor later agreed with…
G.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Jersey City, NJ
G.R. (ECAB 10-2127): Reconsideration refusal upheld
G.R. asked OWCP to reconsider a denied recurrence of disability involving his knee. The reports he submitted repeated earlier disability claims or omitted a causal explanation connecting disability to the accepted work injury. He also offered no new relevant legal argument. The Board found the…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
M.W. (ECAB 10-2105): Custodian knee aggravation claim sent for medical review
M.W., a postal custodian with a preexisting right knee condition, claimed that demanding work aggravated the knee. His physicians described worsening symptoms and one linked the deterioration to the physical demands of the job, though the reports did not fully prove causation. The Board found that…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baton Rouge, LA
C.W. (ECAB 10-2074): Suitable-work benefit termination reversed
C.W., a letter carrier with accepted injuries from a vehicle accident, was offered modified work. An impartial physician found she could perform sedentary work but could not drive while taking medication. The job offer did not specify whether lifting stayed within her time limits, and OWCP did not…
K.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
K.K. (ECAB 10-1950): Wage-loss termination upheld
K.K., a postal data entry clerk, had accepted neck and left shoulder injuries. An OWCP referral surgeon found that the accepted conditions had resolved and that she could perform her data entry duties. Her treating surgeon agreed she could do that job, and K.K. acknowledged she was working full…
E.P. and Department of the Navy, Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, SC
E.P. (ECAB 10-1869): Zero compensation for rehabilitation noncooperation upheld
E.P. had an accepted left knee injury and was referred for vocational rehabilitation. She missed a scheduled testing appointment after notices were sent to her address of record and did not establish good cause for the absence. The Board found that her later medical submissions also did not show…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, City of Industry, CA
A.R. (ECAB 10-1835): Suitable-work benefit termination reversed
A.R., a postal employee with several accepted injuries, was offered a modified position after an impartial specialist set work restrictions. The proposed duties required repeated handling, weighing, stamping, and writing on mail. The Board found that the medical evidence did not clearly show those…
J.C. and Department of the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, UT
J.C. (ECAB 10-1694): Asthma-related wage-loss claim denied
J.C., an Air Force repairman, had an accepted claim for asthma caused by workplace exposure. He sought compensation for intermittent disability in 2006 and 2007, several years after he was removed from the exposure source. His physicians described symptoms and work restrictions but did not explain…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Gateway Station Post Office, St. Petersburg, FL
J.S. (ECAB 10-1632): Emotional condition claim denial upheld
J.S., a postal employee, attributed an emotional condition to a meeting about attendance and a parcel delivery. He alleged that a supervisor yelled at and threatened him, but the participants gave conflicting accounts and the Board found insufficient support for those allegations. The record also…
M.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Cleveland Annex, Cleveland, OH
M.K. (ECAB 10-1572): Wage-loss and most medical benefit termination upheld
M.K. had accepted right leg and Achilles tendon injuries. An impartial physician found the accepted conditions no longer prevented her from working and that most had healed, while identifying scar hypersensitivity that still required treatment. The Board found that later reports did not overcome…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1546 (Union) and United States Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency (Agency)
AFGE Local 1546 and Defense Logistics Agency (FLRA 0-AR-4745): New argument barred on appeal
An arbitrator found that the Defense Logistics Agency had not violated its labor agreement by reassigning an employee. On appeal, the union argued that the reassignment conflicted with a presidential executive order. The Authority dismissed the exception because the union could have raised that…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
IRS and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-4699): Race discrimination remedy upheld
An IRS employee grieved her nonselection for a GS-13 revenue agent position, alleging race discrimination. The arbitrator found that the IRS's reasons for choosing someone else were pretextual and ordered a retroactive promotion and lost pay and benefits. The Authority denied the IRS's exceptions…
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-4571): Agency exceptions dismissed
The Broadcasting Board of Governors suspended an employee for allegedly failing to follow instructions and agency policy. An arbitrator found the agency had not proved intentional misconduct, sustained the union's grievance, and ordered lost pay and removal of the suspension from the agency's…
Jayson Turner v. National Cement Company of California
Discrimination dismissal vacated and remanded
Jayson Turner alleged that National Cement fired him in retaliation for raising safety concerns at its cement plant. An administrative law judge found that Turner engaged in protected activity but dismissed the complaint because she concluded the discharge was based on outside employment and poor…
Cape Wind Associates, LLC
In re Cape Wind Associates, LLC (EAB OCS Appeal No. 11-01): review denied
EPA Region 1 issued an Outer Continental Shelf air permit allowing Cape Wind Associates, LLC to construct and operate a 130-turbine wind project in Nantucket Sound. The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah challenged the permit’s treatment of one-hour…
Big Ridge, Inc. and Peabody Midwest Mining LLC
Part 50 audit citations affirmed
Big Ridge and Peabody Midwest contested citations and failure-to-abate orders issued after two mines declined to provide payroll, time-sheet, and accident-related medical records during MSHA Part 50 audits. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews held that the Mine Act and 30 C.F.R. § 50.41 authorize MSHA to…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
D.W. (ECAB 10-2225): Carpal tunnel claim denial upheld
D.W., a postmaster, attributed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome to repetitive hand use at work. OWCP accepted the work activities, but his physician offered only a general explanation that repetitive use can cause the condition, without connecting his particular duties to it. Another physician…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, Allen Park, MI
L.M. (ECAB 10-2084): Injury denial upheld; accident evaluation bill remanded
L.M., a postal special agent, was in a work-related vehicle accident and received hospital monitoring afterward. The Board found no physician diagnosis or causal opinion sufficient to establish a compensable traumatic injury. It nevertheless held that OWCP had used the wrong rationale to reject the…
T.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Rossland Post Office, Chicago, IL
T.V. (ECAB 10-2051): Late reconsideration request denied
T.V., a postal employee, requested reconsideration more than one year after a merit decision on intermittent disability from an accepted back condition. The notes he supplied did not explain how the accepted condition caused disability on the specific dates claimed. Imaging reports also did not…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlottesville, VA
M.F. (ECAB 10-2024): Eight percent left arm award upheld
M.F. had accepted left shoulder injuries and sought a 10 percent arm rating. The doctor supporting that rating combined two diagnosis-based impairments without explaining why both could be used under the applicable guides. OWCP’s medical adviser instead used range-of-motion findings to calculate…
C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Barberton, OH
C.R. (ECAB 10-1942): Job-duty stress recognized; medical issue remanded
C.R., a postal carrier, attributed an emotional condition to workload and her postmaster’s conduct. The Board found no support for her claimed verbal abuse or management error. It did find that pressure while performing regular mail delivery duties was a compensable employment factor. Because OWCP…
T.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Fayetteville, AR
T.B. (ECAB 10-1940): Hand condition claim denial upheld
T.B., an office automation clerk, claimed that eight hours of daily typing caused thumb arthritis and flexor tendinitis. OWCP accepted the typing duties. His doctor identified the conditions and called one work related, but did not describe the job history or explain how the duties caused the…
A.S. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshall Service, Covington, KY
A.S. (ECAB 10-1903): Schedule award denial upheld
A.S., a U.S. marshal with an accepted back condition, sought a schedule award for impairment affecting his legs. FECA does not award impairment for the spine itself, and his doctor’s proposed leg rating did not adequately explain its calculations under the applicable guides. Other medical findings…
R.S. and Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rockville, MD
R.S. (ECAB 10-1870): Existing arm and leg impairment awards upheld
R.S., a nuclear engineer, sought ratings above eight percent for his right arm, five percent for his left arm, and three percent for his left leg. His physician rated spinal and pain impairment without adequately applying the guides to the limbs. OWCP’s medical adviser used the supported nerve…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
J.W. (ECAB 10-1854): Temporary total disability claim denied
J.W., a rural carrier with an accepted lumbar disc injury, sought compensation for September 18 through October 23, 2009 after returning to light duty. His physician documented pain and gave time-off notes but did not explain why the accepted injury or surgery made him unable to work during that…
Mountain Edge Mining, Inc.
Three section 104(d)(1) violations affirmed with $127,073 penalty
MSHA cited Mountain Edge Mining for exceeding its roof-control-plan entry widths, failing to instruct miners on a revised ventilation plan, and failing to record methane-test results. Judge William B. Moran affirmed all three violations and every special finding attached to them. He emphasized 52…
Mountain Edge Mining, Inc.
Roof-control and preshift violations affirmed
MSHA cited Mountain Edge Mining during low-height retreat mining for failing to install required roof support and test holes and for an inadequate preshift examination that missed ventilation hazards. Judge William B. Moran affirmed both violations as significant and substantial, highly negligent…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Sago seal citation settled for $8,500
MSHA alleged that Wolf Run failed to follow its ventilation plan when constructing seals later destroyed in the January 2006 Sago Mine explosion. Post-accident testing showed that both the installed seals and seals built exactly to the plan likely would have withstood the 20-psi force required at…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Little Rock, AK
D.W. (ECAB 10-2215): Shoulder claim expansion denied; medical termination reversed
D.W. had an accepted left shoulder contusion after a workplace fall and sought acceptance of additional shoulder conditions. Her doctors diagnosed other conditions without explaining how the fall caused them, so the Board upheld refusal to expand the claim. OWCP also ended medical benefits without…
R.P. and Department of Defense, Defense Education Activity, Ankara, Turkey
R.P. (ECAB 10-2107): Six percent right arm award upheld
R.P., a Defense Department teacher, sought a higher impairment award after accepted right arm and shoulder injuries. Her treating doctor rated whole-person impairment using an older edition of the guides. An OWCP examiner and medical adviser applied the required edition to the rotator cuff injury…
T.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Burlington, NJ
T.N. (ECAB 10-2081): Twenty-five percent right leg award upheld
T.N. sought a rating above 25 percent right leg impairment after a total knee replacement. An occupational medicine specialist calculated 25 percent under the applicable guides after reviewing Dr. Weiss’s report. Dr. Weiss and OWCP’s medical adviser agreed. The Board found no probative evidence of…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
B.C. (ECAB 10-2061): Five percent awards for both arms upheld
B.C., a mail processing clerk with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, sought larger arm awards. The OWCP examiner and medical adviser used the applicable guide edition to calculate five percent impairment in each arm. Her treating physician’s higher figures used the older edition. The Board…
H.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Macon, GA
H.W. (ECAB 10-2047): Chest x-ray authorization sent back for medical review
H.W., a mail handler with an accepted workplace tuberculosis exposure, requested another annual chest x-ray on his physician’s advice. OWCP denied it using an unsupported statement about the timing of disease risk and did not seek a medical adviser’s opinion. The Board found the denial unreasonable…
R.Z. and Department of the Interior, BLM-National Interagency Fire Center, Boise, ID
R.Z. (ECAB 10-1915): Five percent right arm award and hearing denial upheld
R.Z., an electronics technician, sustained accepted injuries in a snowmobile accident. OWCP awarded compensation for five percent permanent impairment of his right arm. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish a higher impairment under the applicable rating guide. It also found…
R.L. and Department of the Navy, North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego, CA
R.L. (ECAB 10-1893): Injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
R.L., a Navy material handler, reported neck, back and right shoulder symptoms after moving boxes of ammunition at work. The Board accepted that the lifting incident occurred. It found that the submitted medical reports did not adequately explain how that incident caused or aggravated the diagnosed…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Las Vegas, NV
R.S. (ECAB 10-1634): Termination of back injury benefits upheld
R.S., a letter carrier, had accepted lumbar injuries after a collision involving his postal vehicle. OWCP terminated benefits after an impartial medical specialist found that the accepted conditions had resolved. The Board found her opinion well reasoned and supported by the examination and…
Y.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Tacoma Processing & Distribution Center, Tacoma, WA
Y.R. (ECAB 10-1589): Recurrence claim returned for findings on available work
Y.R., a postal clerk with accepted wrist tenosynovitis, claimed that her modified work hours were reduced beginning April 11, 2009. The postal service gave conflicting information about whether eight hours of suitable work remained available. The Board found that OWCP had not established whether…
Sanchez Arango Construction
Four violations affirmed and two vacated
OSHA cited Sanchez Arango Construction after an inspector saw an employee working about twenty-five feet above the ground without tying off. The judge affirmed serious violations for using a damaged synthetic sling and failing to provide fall protection, rejecting the employee-misconduct defense…
D.T. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Marianna, FL
D.T. (ECAB 10-2292): Prison infection claim denied for lack of work exposure evidence
D.T., a prison administrator, developed a staphylococcus infection and cellulitis in his right thigh. He attributed the condition to his work at the prison. The Board found no evidence identifying a specific workplace exposure to infection. It also found no physician’s reasoned opinion connecting…
H.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
H.G. (ECAB 10-2125): Leg injury claim denied for unclear accident account
H.G., a postal custodial laborer, alleged that he injured his leg while driving a jitney over a bad area of floor. The Board found that he did not explain the accident mechanism clearly enough to establish the incident as claimed. An employer inspection found no such floor defect, and the medical…
M.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
M.W. (ECAB 10-2102): Chair fall injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
M.W., a medical center housekeeping aide, fell when a chair collapsed at work. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred. The Board found that a nurse practitioner’s diagnosis could not establish medical causation under the Act. Later physician reports either did not connect the conditions to the fall…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Versailles, KY
R.C. (ECAB 10-1990): Denial of merit reconsideration upheld
R.C., a postal rural carrier, sought reconsideration after OWCP terminated benefits for an accepted right shoulder condition. The Board lacked jurisdiction to review the earlier termination on this appeal. It found that her request identified no legal error or new relevant legal argument and…
A.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Air Marshal Field Office, Philadelphia, PA
A.R. (ECAB 10-1929): Emotional condition claim returned for medical review
A.R., a field office program assistant, attributed stress and other conditions to several workplace events and duties. The Board found most of her allegations unsubstantiated or related to administrative actions without shown error. It found that her assigned vehicle custodian duties could be a…
I.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Springfield, MA
I.C. (ECAB 10-1887): $3,090.41 overpayment and repayment schedule upheld
I.C., a postal mechanic with an accepted knee injury, received compensation calculated using a pay rate that did not apply to later periods of disability. The Board upheld a $3,090.41 overpayment. It found no basis for waiver because his assets exceeded the applicable resource threshold and he had…
W.B. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Philadelphia, PA
W.B. (ECAB 10-1817): Relocation expense reimbursement denial upheld
W.B., a nurse with an accepted work injury, traveled to Washington to seek a federal position and later moved for the job. The Board found no authority to pay the costs of seeking employment. It also upheld denial of the move expenses because she left the new federal job after 10 days and did not…
N.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Tampa, FL
N.D. (ECAB 10-1813): Wage-loss claim denied for lack of disability evidence
N.D., a medical support assistant, had accepted neck and upper back injuries from moving a chair at work. She sought compensation for a later period when she did not work. The Board found that her medical reports described work restrictions but did not give a reasoned opinion establishing total…
N.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Marietta, GA
N.P. (ECAB 10-0952): Postal route fall held within performance of duty
N.P., a postal letter carrier, fell while delivering mail. The employer argued that prescription medication intoxication caused the fall and defeated coverage. The Board found that OWCP had not established intoxication as the proximate cause. It held that the fall occurred in the performance of…
National Institutes of Health (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2419 (Union)
NIH and AFGE Local 2419 (FLRA 0-AR-4692): Probationary employee award set aside
The National Institutes of Health told a probationary employee that his employment would end and offered him the option to resign. The employee asked for union representation at the meeting, and the agency denied the request. An arbitrator found a contract violation and ordered another meeting with…
Sangravl Company
Eight violations resolved with $7,671 penalty
MSHA cited Sangravl for eight safety violations at its sand and gravel facility involving compressed-gas storage, exposed or damaged electrical conductors, a defective truck parking brake, an unsecured raised truck bed, a missing roadway berm, and unsafe access to a fuel tank. Judge David F…
K.M. and Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Wapato, WA
K.M. (ECAB 11-0052): Merit reconsideration denied for irrelevant medical report
K.M. sought reconsideration of a denial of occupational disease claims for chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain syndrome and fibromyalgia. Her new physician report discussed lumbar stenosis and chronic pain but did not address whether work caused the conditions at issue. The Board found that the…
A.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dearborn, MI
A.L. (ECAB 10-2166): Foot and knee condition claim held untimely
A.L., a former postal carrier, claimed that mail delivery caused foot and knee conditions. Her exposure to the work factors ended October 4, 2006, but she did not file until October 10, 2009. The Board found that this exceeded the three-year filing period and that the record did not establish…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Placerville, CA
E.B. (ECAB 10-2072): Recurrence claim denied without supporting medical evidence
E.B., a postal carrier, fractured her right foot while stepping out of a mail truck in 2007, and OWCP accepted that injury. She later claimed that orthotic inserts caused plantar fasciitis and a recurrence of disability beginning October 15, 2008. The Board found no physician’s report diagnosing…
G.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Fox Valley, IL
G.H. (ECAB 10-2062): Medical reports did not link claimed injuries to dock work
G.H., a postal clerk, said he injured his back, shoulder, arm, and hand while pulling dock plates on December 7, 2009. OWCP accepted that the work incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting it to his conditions. The Board found that the treating physicians did…
C.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration, Houston, TX
C.G. (ECAB 10-1986): Mail sorting incident established; medical question remanded
C.G., a Veterans Affairs clerk, reported left wrist and hand pain while sorting and placing mail on October 20, 2009. OWCP rejected his traumatic injury claim because medical records described pain starting the day before and a possible foreign body in his hand. The Board found those details did…
M.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Miami Medical Veterans Center, Miami, FL
M.B. (ECAB 10-1906): Knee disease claim remanded for medical development
M.B., a Veterans Affairs supply technician, claimed that years of kneeling, bending, and squatting at work caused knee conditions. OWCP denied her claim after focusing on inconsistencies about a single day of kneeling. The Board treated her filing as an occupational disease claim and found that her…
M.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
M.P. (ECAB 10-1900): Intermittent wage loss claim lacked medical support
M.P., a Veterans Affairs housekeeping worker, had an accepted claim for allergic rhinitis related to workplace exposure to paper dust and other substances. She sought wage-loss compensation for 33.5 hours of intermittent absence between January 7 and March 4, 2009. Her pulmonologist attributed…
D.S. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, WV
D.S. (ECAB 10-1831): One percent leg impairment award upheld
D.S., a Bureau of Prisons cook, received a schedule award for one percent impairment of his right leg after an accepted ankle injury. His surgeon rated the impairment higher, but the Board found that the surgeon did not adequately apply the required edition of the impairment guide or explain his…
J.H. and Department of Commerce, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Wallops Island, VA
J.H. (ECAB 10-0834): Radiation exposure claim needs further medical review
J.H., an information technology specialist for NOAA, claimed that radio frequency radiation exposure at work caused several medical conditions. OWCP accepted that the exposure occurred but denied his injury claim after relying on an impartial neurologist’s report. The Board found that the report…
Hocker Construction, LLP
Reopening request denied without prejudice
Hocker Construction asked to reopen a penalty assessment that became final after it missed the 30-day contest deadline. The company said it believed the assessment did not need to be contested because the underlying citations had been terminated. The Secretary opposed reopening, noting that…
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.