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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Left Fork Mining Company, Inc.
Default vacated and case remanded
Left Fork Mining defaulted after the Commission did not receive its answer to the Secretary's penalty petition. The company supplied a copy of an answer responding to 17 penalties and conceding 17 others, and said the assigned Labor Department attorney had received it. The Secretary did not oppose…
M.H. and Department of the Air Force, AFPCI/DPIRPC, Laughlin Air Force Base, TX
M.H. (ECAB 10-2269): Hearing loss schedule award upheld
M.H., a retired Air Force aircraft attendant supervisor, had an accepted claim for work-related hearing loss. OWCP awarded him 10.4 weeks of compensation for 20 percent hearing loss in his left ear. The Board found that the medical measurements supported that rating and no ratable loss in the right…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Washington, MD
C.B. (ECAB 10-2185): Neck condition not linked to claimed work incident
C.B., a postal worker, sought compensation for a neck condition he attributed to work on October 16, 2008. After an earlier Board denial, he submitted a physician’s report describing repetitive mail carrying and casing duties that preceded that date. The Board found that the report did not explain…
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Monroe, MI
D.H. (ECAB 10-1981): Back and hip conditions not linked to pallet unloading
D.H., a postal clerk, said unloading heavy pallets of phonebooks on January 30, 2009 caused back and hip conditions. OWCP ultimately accepted that the unloading occurred but found the medical evidence insufficient to connect it to her conditions. The Board found that imaging and treatment reports…
J.H. and Department of Defense, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Indianapolis, IN
J.H. (ECAB 10-1979): Four-hour daily wage loss claim denied
J.H., a Defense Department accounting technician, had an accepted right toe contusion after a paper towel dispenser fell on her foot at work. She sought compensation for working four hours a day instead of full days from February 1 to April 27, 2010. Her doctor attributed the restriction to back…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
J.F. (ECAB 10-1978): Forklift incident not medically linked to back condition
J.F., a postal forklift operator, reported back and leg pain after getting off his forklift on April 16, 2009. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied his injury claim for lack of medical proof connecting it to his condition. The Board found that his orthopedic surgeon diagnosed lumbar…
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
J.D. (ECAB 10-1973): Shoulder impairment award denied for lack of causal proof
J.D., a postal worker, sought a schedule award for right arm impairment more than 20 years after OWCP accepted her right shoulder dislocation. Her physician rated her arm impairment at 32 percent. The Board found his report insufficient because it did not address a separate October 1987 right arm…
J.M. and Department of the Air Force, Logistics Readiness Squad, Robins Air Force Base, GA
J.M. (ECAB 10-1965): Elbow disease claim was filed on time
J.M., an Air Force employee, claimed that years of aircraft mechanic work caused bilateral tennis elbow. OWCP denied the claim as late because his last exposure to that work was in 2002. The Board found no evidence showing that he knew or reasonably should have known before December 2, 2009 that…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Birmingham, AL
M.W. (ECAB 10-1943): Shoulder impairment award needs further assessment
M.W., a former postal mail processor, already had a schedule award for eight percent right arm impairment after accepted shoulder conditions. She sought a larger award following another shoulder surgery. Her physician’s 11 percent rating did not adequately apply the required edition of the…
M.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Southeastern, PA
M.P. (ECAB 10-1918): Arm impairment award remanded to assess prior shoulder injury
M.P., a postal mail handler, received a schedule award for six percent right arm impairment after an accepted elbow injury. Her physician also rated a right shoulder condition, but OWCP’s medical adviser excluded it because it was accepted under a different claim. The Board found the elbow rating…
J.J. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Europe, Seventh Army, APO, AE
J.J. (ECAB 10-1758): Left knee impairment award denied
J.J., an Army employee, had an accepted left knee contusion and aggravation of osteochondritis after striking his knee while entering a truck. He sought a schedule award for permanent leg impairment. The Board gave weight to an impartial orthopedic specialist who explained that the accepted…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mountain View, CA
D.L. (ECAB 10-2298): Neck injury claim remanded for impartial medical opinion
D.L., a postal employee, reported neck and arm pain after turning to use a telephone at her desk. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied compensation after its physician found no resulting injury. Her treating orthopedic surgeon reached the opposite conclusion and explained how the…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wichita, KS
S.D. (ECAB 10-2121): Refusal to reopen knee claim upheld
S.D., a retired postal clerk, sought to reopen a claim involving knee pain she attributed to her work. OWCP had denied the occupational disease claim, and the Board could review only the later refusal to reconsider it because the merits appeal period had passed. Her new submission described a…
C.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, New Orleans, LA
C.G. (ECAB 10-2039): Termination of wage and medical benefits reversed
C.G., a FEMA employee, received compensation for an accepted leg abrasion and lumbar sprain after a workplace fall. OWCP ended his wage-loss and medical benefits based on a treating surgeon’s checked box stating that he could perform his usual job. The Board found that the form contained no…
D.B. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Cumberland Fossil Plant, Cumberland City, TN
D.B. (ECAB 10-2036): Refusal to reopen carpal tunnel claim upheld
D.B., a Tennessee Valley Authority worker, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied his occupational disease claim for carpal tunnel syndrome. The underlying denial rested on insufficient medical evidence connecting the condition to his work. For reconsideration, he submitted a personal statement…
F.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dayton, OH
F.W. (ECAB 10-1975): Knee injury claim lacked a reasoned medical link
F.W., a postal mail carrier, reported that her left knee buckled while she delivered mail on September 28, 2009. OWCP accepted that she was walking and delivering mail but denied her claim because the medical evidence did not establish a resulting injury. The Board found that her orthopedist said…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
P.W. (ECAB 10-1928): New occupational injury from seating not established
P.W., a postal rehabilitation clerk, said her chair and work area worsened shoulder and neck conditions from earlier accepted injuries. OWCP accepted the reported work factors but denied her new occupational disease claim. The Board found that her physician described deterioration without…
W.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lakeland, FL
W.F. (ECAB 10-1828): Suitable-work benefit termination reversed
W.F., a postal worker with accepted back conditions, refused a modified six-hour job because she said the drive exceeded her medical limits. An impartial doctor had cleared her to drive up to 34 minutes with adjustments, while route estimates she supplied put the trip at 40 or 41 minutes. OWCP…
S.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Office, Cincinnati, OH
S.L. (ECAB 10-1824): Shoulder aggravation after ladder slip not established
S.L., a postal electronic technician with a preexisting left shoulder condition, slipped while descending a ladder at work and caught himself on a gutter. OWCP accepted the incident but denied his claim that it aggravated his shoulder arthritis. The Board found that his surgeon did not explain how…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Troy Post Office, Troy, MI
R.S. (ECAB 10-1704): Right shoulder condition not linked to prior injury
R.S., a postal letter carrier, had accepted neck and left shoulder injuries from lifting a parcel in 2002. She later sought to add a right shoulder rotator cuff condition and surgery as a consequence of that injury. Her treating physician and OWCP’s physician disagreed, so OWCP obtained an…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing & Delivery Center, New York, NY
D.G. (ECAB 10-1667): Mail tray incident established; case returned to OWCP
D.G., a postal mail processor, said he developed back pain while lifting a tray of mail during an overnight shift. OWCP rejected his traumatic injury claim, disputing both the incident and medical causation. The Board found his account and the supporting evidence sufficient to establish that the…
Matter of A-G-G-
Firm-resettlement findings must focus on an offer of permanent resettlement
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of asylum to a Mauritanian respondent who had lived in Senegal for more than eight years. The Board established a four-step framework for deciding whether an asylum applicant was firmly resettled in…
C.P. and Department of the Army, Fort McCoy, WI
C.P. (ECAB 10-2068): Emotional condition claim lacked a substantiated work factor
C.P., an Army military pay technician, claimed that events and interactions at work contributed to an emotional condition. Her allegations included performance monitoring, comments from a supervisor, and coworker harassment. The Board found no evidence of error or abuse in the personnel matters and…
G.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Maintenance Department, St. Louis, MO
G.H. (ECAB 10-2023): Four-day wage claim remanded for employer records
G.H., a postal custodian, sought wage-loss compensation for four days after an accepted injury involving a freight elevator gate. She said she tried to return to work but was not allowed to do so and that suitable light duty was unavailable. OWCP denied the claim, yet an employer letter indicated…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, East Austin Post Office, Austin, TX
R.B. (ECAB 10-2010): Three percent left leg impairment award upheld
R.B., a former postal letter carrier, received a schedule award for three percent left leg impairment after an accepted meniscus injury and surgery. His physician had proposed a much higher rating, but another examiner found no ligament instability and calculated the rating under the required…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grand Rapids, MI
A.J. (ECAB 10-2002): Intermittent 2008 wage-loss claim denied
A.J., a postal worker with accepted right foot conditions, sought wage-loss compensation for 278.21 intermittent hours in 2008. The Board found she could not receive wage-loss benefits through April 24 because a schedule award already covered that period. For later dates, her physician listed…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
T.S. (ECAB 10-1995): Schedule award denied for lack of impairment evidence
T.S., a postal letter carrier, sought a schedule award after OWCP accepted lumbar strain, coccyx contusion, and back contusions. OWCP asked for a medical report and impairment evaluation, but he submitted no medical evidence supporting permanent impairment. The Board explained that a back or spine…
R.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Tacoma Central Carrier Facility, Tacoma, WA
R.W. (ECAB 10-1972): Compensation reduction set aside for missing notice to representative
R.W., a postal letter carrier with an accepted left tibia fracture, appealed an OWCP decision that reduced his wage-loss compensation based on actual earnings. OWCP mailed the decision to him and his employer, but the record did not show that it mailed a copy to his authorized representative. The…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newark, NJ
L.S. (ECAB 10-1818): New medical findings required merit review
L.S., a postal mail handler, sought reconsideration of OWCP’s denial of her claim for a recurrence of disability related to accepted arm and wrist conditions. OWCP declined to reopen the claim, finding a new physician report cumulative. The Board found that the report added a treatment history and…
D.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Madison, WI
D.A. (ECAB 10-1801): Reconsideration denial set aside because OWCP overlooked evidence
D.A., a postal supervisor, claimed that work stress caused mental and physical symptoms. After OWCP denied the claim, he sought reconsideration and submitted medical reports, statements, and workplace records. OWCP said he had provided no new and relevant evidence. The Board found that OWCP had…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, New Orleans, LA
A.R. (ECAB 10-1797): Emotional condition claim remanded for findings on workplace evidence
A.R., a postal employee, claimed an emotional condition related to workplace events, including disputed pay and supervisory duties. OWCP found she had not established a compensable work factor. On reconsideration, she supplied pay records and witness statements, but OWCP did not discuss that…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Baltimore, MD
J.M. (ECAB 10-1765): Shoulder injury claim and hearing abandonment affirmed
J.M., a postal tractor-trailer operator, reported right shoulder pain after pulling a jammed trailer door at work. The Board accepted that the incident occurred but found the medical evidence did not adequately connect it to his rotator cuff tear or another shoulder condition. OWCP had also mailed…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Detached Carrier Unit, Grants Pass, OR
D.G. (ECAB 10-1684): Earlier postmark made reconsideration request timely
D.G. asked OWCP to reconsider its December 30, 2008 denial of her compensation claim. Her envelope bore two postmarks, one dated December 23, 2009 and another dated January 5, 2010. OWCP used the later date and rejected the request as beyond the one-year limit without explaining its choice. The…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing & Delivery Center, New York, NY
D.G. (ECAB 10-1666): Disability claim required review of wage-earning capacity finding
D.G., a postal mail processor, stopped working in a modified position after OWCP had determined that the job represented his wage-earning capacity. He later claimed disability and submitted medical evidence that he could no longer perform the modified job. OWCP treated the matter as a recurrence…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Waltham, MA
L.G. (ECAB 10-1614): Closed disability period required a recurrence decision
L.G., a postal mail processor with accepted carpal tunnel syndrome, had worked in a limited-duty assignment used to determine her wage-earning capacity. She sought compensation after the employer withdrew that assignment in March 2009, but she returned to work around August 14, 2009. OWCP addressed…
J.B., claiming as widow of T.B., and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
J.B., widow of T.B. (ECAB 10-1555): Cancer claim remanded for specialist opinion
T.B., a naval shipyard employee, claimed that workplace chemical exposure caused renal cancer. An OWCP hearing representative directed the agency to obtain a second opinion from an appropriate specialist. OWCP instead sought a file review from its medical adviser, who also recommended a specialist…
C.L. and Peace Corps, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
C.L. (ECAB 10-1483): Delayed reconsideration decision required merit review
C.L., a former Peace Corps volunteer with accepted injuries, requested reconsideration of an OWCP merit decision issued December 8, 2008. OWCP took almost 10 months to respond and declined to review the merits. The Board found that the delay had effectively prevented her from appealing the earlier…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
R.R. (ECAB 10-1474): Increased left arm schedule award denied without new evaluation
R.R., a postal mail handler, had received a schedule award for 28 percent permanent impairment of his left arm after an accepted left hand injury. He later sought an increased award. The Board explained that the new claim had to be evaluated under the sixth edition of the impairment guides because…
F.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Care Systems, Biloxi, MS
F.S. (ECAB 10-1398): Workplace altercation established, but medical causation was not
F.S., a Veterans Affairs nurse, claimed an emotional condition arising from interactions with a coworker. The Board found that an October 11, 2008 altercation over a tape recorder occurred in the performance of duty and was a compensable work factor. It found her other allegations of harassment…
J.W. and U.S. Peace Corps, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
J.W. (ECAB 10-2182): Reimbursement for colposcopy denied without visit records
J.W., a Peace Corps volunteer, had an accepted claim for human papillomavirus (HPV) causing abnormal Pap smears. She sought reimbursement for a cervical colposcopy performed on March 31, 2010. OWCP asked for notes from that visit showing why the procedure was needed for the accepted condition, but…
K.F. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Inez, KY
K.F. (ECAB 10-2160): Schedule award denied without ratable covered impairment
K.F., a correctional officer, sought a schedule award after accepted chest, abdominal, hand, and groin injuries. A physician rated a gastrointestinal impairment, but the Board held that the colon and rectum are not covered by the statutory or regulatory award schedule. The physician’s lung testing…
D.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Seattle, WA
D.A. (ECAB 10-2112): Hand injury claim denied for lack of incident details
D.A., a Veterans Affairs radiologic technologist, reported hurting his left hand while restraining a patient during a code green alert. OWCP requested more factual and medical evidence, but he provided no details beyond the claim form and no witness statements or medical evidence before its…
M.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Trenton Carrier Annex, Trenton, NJ
M.A. (ECAB 10-1911): Termination of medical benefits reversed
M.A., a postal carrier, continued working in a limited-duty position after an accepted shoulder and neck injury. OWCP ended his medical benefits, relying on a referral physician who said some conditions had resolved. The Board found that the physician did not address residuals of two other accepted…
J.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
J.N. (ECAB 10-1864): Suitable work termination reversed for premature notice
J.N., a postal mail handler with accepted shoulder injuries, received wage-loss compensation. OWCP sent a suitable work notice on April 1, 2009, but the record did not show that her employer had made a written job offer by then. The employer’s April 27 letter appeared to be the actual offer. The…
A.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
A.E. (ECAB 10-1862): Lumbar sprain termination affirmed, radiculopathy issue remanded
A.E., a postal mail processor, had an accepted lumbar sprain and later sought recognition of lumbar radiculopathy as part of the claim. The Board found sufficient medical support for OWCP’s conclusion that the accepted sprain had resolved, so it affirmed the December 2009 termination of benefits…
M.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
M.A. (ECAB 10-1814): Termination of compensation for resolved accepted conditions affirmed
M.A., a former Veterans Affairs nursing assistant, had received compensation for accepted lumbar strains and a psychogenic pain disorder following 1976 work injuries. OWCP terminated benefits after medical evaluations found those accepted conditions had resolved. The Board gave special weight to an…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Logistics & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
J.K. (ECAB 10-1780): Disability denial upheld, intervening cause finding set aside
J.K., a former postal worker with an accepted cervical condition, sought wage-loss compensation after her temporary appointment ended. The Board found that her physician’s disability opinion did not account for her continued work after the injury or the stated reason for the appointment ending. It…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
L.G. (ECAB 10-1707): Compensation reduction for ending rehabilitation affirmed
L.G., a postal letter carrier with accepted knee contusions, entered an OWCP vocational rehabilitation program after an impartial physician found she could perform limited-duty work. She completed an initial testing session, then told her counselor she intended to stop rehabilitation and seek…
United States Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 245 (Union)
Patent and Trademark Office and NTEU Chapter 245 (FLRA 0-AR-4697): Compensatory time award narrowed
The Patent and Trademark Office replaced a policy that let employees carry up to 80 hours of compensatory time forward indefinitely after a federal regulation imposed a time limit for using it. An arbitrator ruled that the change breached the parties' agreement and ordered restoration of the old…
United States Department of the Air Force, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1547 (Union)
Luke Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1547 (FLRA 0-AR-4410): Temporary employee award set aside
Luke Air Force Base terminated two temporary security guards after about two months of work. An arbitrator found that the agency lacked just cause to remove one guard and ordered reinstatement and backpay. The Authority set aside the award because temporary employees could not contest their…
T.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Gretna, LA
T.Y. (ECAB 10-2078): Shoulder claim remanded for evidence of postal job duties
T.Y., a postal letter carrier, attributed a left shoulder condition to repetitive overhead work casing mail. His physician linked diagnosed impingement syndrome to repeated arm movement, but the employer did not answer OWCP’s request for details of his duties. The Board held that OWCP shared…
W.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
W.S. (ECAB 10-2063): Accepted hearing loss yielded no ratable schedule award
W.S., a postal custodian, had an accepted claim for bilateral hearing loss caused by workplace noise. An OWCP referral physician diagnosed mild left ear hearing loss, and a medical adviser applied the agency’s schedule award formula to the audiogram. The resulting impairment rating was zero percent…
V.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Omaha, NE
V.P. (ECAB 10-1885): Arm impairment claim remanded for current guide edition
V.P., a postal letter carrier with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, already had a schedule award for one percent left arm impairment. She sought an increased award and submitted a physician’s later arm ratings calculated under the fifth edition of the impairment guides. OWCP denied an…
D.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Healthcare System, Miami, FL
D.M. (ECAB 10-1844): New medical causation opinion required merit review
D.M., a Veterans Affairs nurse, claimed that added work duties aggravated her low back condition. After OWCP denied the claim, she sought reconsideration with a new physician report linking her symptoms and treatment to her work. The Board found that the report addressed causation, the issue behind…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
A.D. (ECAB 10-1837): Wage-loss claim denied without explanation of disability period
A.D., a postal window clerk, had an accepted claim for tenosynovitis of the left hand and wrist. She sought compensation for a period after her continuation of pay ended. Her physician said she could not work but did not explain why the accepted condition disabled her during the specific claimed…
R.B. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, CA
R.B. (ECAB 10-1805): Additional leg schedule award premature before medical improvement
R.B., a Navy boiler plant operator, had received schedule awards after an accepted left foot condition and related treatment. He sought additional compensation for impairment of his left lower extremity. The Board found the existing medical evidence did not establish more than the 10 percent lower…
D.N. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Louis Stokes Medical Center, Brecksville, OH
D.N. (ECAB 10-1762): Mold exposure claim denied for insufficient medical causation
D.N., a Veterans Affairs employee, was exposed to mold at work on March 7, 2006 and claimed that the exposure caused a pulmonary condition. The Board found that his physician’s account of extensive floor contamination lacked support in the workplace assessment. It also found that the physician had…
L.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Redding, CA
L.L. (ECAB 10-1725): Rehabilitation reduction upheld, restoration date moved earlier
L.L., a postal letter carrier, missed a functional capacity evaluation arranged as part of vocational rehabilitation. The Board found her medical submissions did not establish good cause for missing it, so OWCP could reduce her compensation to zero beginning December 12, 2008. Her representative…
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Carol Stream, IL
G.W. (ECAB 10-1556): Leg impairment dispute required an impartial examination
G.W., a postal clerk, disputed OWCP’s finding that his accepted left knee condition caused no more than 37 percent impairment of his left lower extremity. OWCP had treated earlier examiners as impartial, but the Board found that no qualifying conflict between a treating physician and government…
U.S. Silver - Idaho, Inc.
Late penalty contests reopened and remanded
U.S. Silver asked to reopen three penalties after its assessment contest form reached MSHA after the 30-day deadline. The operator attributed the delay to an administrative error while it paid the other penalties, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission majority noted that U.S…
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.