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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P & K Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Reopening granted after repeated misdirected contest efforts
P & K Sand & Gravel did not follow the assessment form's contest instructions but repeatedly wrote to MSHA, Treasury, and the Solicitor's Office after receiving the assessment and later collection notices. The small family-owned operator said it misunderstood its contest rights and initially…
Carline Coal Company, Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Carline Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. The…
Essroc Cement Corporation
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Essroc Cement Corporation asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. The…
M.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, White River Junction, VT
M.B. (ECAB 10-2004): Back disability recurrence denial affirmed
M.B., a VA nurse, had an accepted back sprain from a 2006 patient care incident and later returned to unrestricted work. She sought compensation for a recurrence of disability beginning in February 2009. The Board found that her account linked the new pain to another patient care incident, while a…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Winter Springs, FL
A.C. (ECAB 10-1793): Right leg impairment award returned for referee examination
A.C. appealed a schedule award for additional right leg impairment. In an earlier appeal, the Board had found a conflict between two physicians’ impairment ratings and directed OWCP to obtain a referee examination. OWCP instead obtained another second opinion and issued an additional eight percent…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Teterboro, NJ
D.W. (ECAB 10-1772): Two percent right leg impairment award affirmed
D.W., a postal mail processor, injured his right knee at work and later sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. His physician had initially rated impairment at 15 percent under an older edition of the A.M.A. Guides, then rated it at two percent under the sixth edition. OWCP awarded two…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Southeastern, PA
R.P. (ECAB 10-1716): Right hand condition claim denial affirmed
R.P. claimed that handling mail caused or aggravated a contracture affecting fingers of his right hand. His treating physician and an OWCP second opinion physician disagreed, so OWCP selected a referee physician. The referee concluded that the condition was not caused or aggravated by the work…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Paul Laurence Dunbar Post Office, Dayton, OH
R.S. (ECAB 10-1710): Left knee traumatic injury claim denial affirmed
R.S., a postal letter carrier, reported that his left knee buckled while he walked down a ramp toward his vehicle. The Board accepted that the ramp incident occurred but found the medical evidence insufficient to establish that it caused a left knee injury. One physician attributed the symptoms to…
R.G. and Department of the Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
R.G. (ECAB 10-1703): Schedule award for spleen loss denied
R.G., a seasonal Air Force laborer, injured his spleen in a work fall, and OWCP accepted the injury and resulting removal of the organ. He later sought a schedule award for permanent loss. The Board explained that FECA schedule awards cover only body members and organs named in the statute or its…
C.R. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, NC
C.R. (ECAB 10-1631): Wage-earning capacity decisions affirmed
C.R., a former Navy pipefitter, sought disability compensation years after transferring to an emergency services clerk position and retiring. OWCP revised its earlier wage-earning capacity decision to recognize a wage loss while he held the clerk position, but declined to replace the clerk position…
B.R. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Montgomery, AL
B.R. (ECAB 10-1455): Schedule award denied after hand fracture
B.R., a Postal Service electronic technician, fractured a bone in his right hand at work and sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. OWCP accepted the fracture but denied the award. His physician reported full motion and normal sensation, and did not document a permanent impairment. An…
J.L. and Government Printing Office, Public Documents Department, Washington, DC
J.L. (ECAB 10-1323): Wage-earning capacity case returned for missing records
J.L. asked OWCP to change a 1979 decision that based his wage-earning capacity on an order clerk job. OWCP denied his request, finding he had not shown that the original determination was wrong or that his circumstances met another ground for modification. The Board found that the record sent for…
K.E. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Seattle, WA
K.E. (ECAB 10-1211): Retroactive wage-earning capacity reduction reversed
K.E., an Army Corps of Engineers biologist, returned to modified work after an accepted left knee injury. She later claimed that her injury prevented her from continuing that work and sought compensation for lost time. OWCP reduced her compensation to zero based on her earlier earnings as a…
G.P. and Federal Aviation Administration, Stapleton Airport, Denver, CO
G.P. (ECAB 10-1143): Requests for additional medical expense reimbursement denied
G.P., a former air traffic controller with accepted heart and vascular conditions, sought payment for CoQ10 capsules and additional expenses from a medical records review. OWCP paid part of the review charge under its fee schedule but declined to cover the balance and related expenses. It also…
Korte Construction Co.
Flexible-cord damage citation vacated
Korte Construction routed two heavy-duty electrical cables and a smaller extension cord through friction-hinged windows at a construction project. OSHA alleged that the cords were insufficiently protected from sharp edges and pinch-point damage. The judge found that the heavy rubber sheathing…
E.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hallandale, FL
E.P. (ECAB 10-1787): Foot condition ruling affirmed in part
E.P., a Postal Service letter carrier, had an accepted work aggravation of plantar fibromatosis and later worked in modified jobs. When his employer withdrew limited duty, OWCP paid wage-loss compensation, then ended his benefits after finding that the work aggravation had ceased. The Board…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
S.M. (ECAB 10-1720): Additional leg impairment claim returned for review
S.M., a Postal Service worker with accepted knee conditions, had received schedule awards for impairment of both legs and sought additional compensation. OWCP denied the new claim after its medical adviser found no further impairment. The Board found that the adviser had not explained the rating…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Upper Black Eddy, PA
M.F. (ECAB 10-1619): Increased right arm schedule award denied
M.F., a former Postal Service rural carrier, had already received a schedule award for 19 percent permanent impairment of her right arm. She sought an additional award based on a shoulder evaluation that used an older edition of the impairment guide. The Board held that the sixth edition governed…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Boone, NC
J.C. (ECAB 10-1533): Benefits termination returned for physician selection review
J.C., a Postal Service supervisor, received benefits for an accepted temporary aggravation of sleep apnea. OWCP ended his benefits after a neurologist it selected as an impartial physician concluded that the work aggravation had resolved. J.C. had objected that the physician lacked sleep medicine…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Charlotte, NC
S.H. (ECAB 10-1531): Wage-loss termination for refusing work reversed
S.H., a Postal Service manual clerk with an accepted back injury, worked part time in a modified position and later retired. OWCP ended her wage-loss compensation because she did not continue in an offered full-time position it deemed suitable. The Board found that OWCP relied on an impartial…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
A.C. (ECAB 10-1521): Medical benefits restored and wage-loss claim returned
A.C., a Postal Service mail processing clerk, received benefits for an accepted chest wall condition and later sought wage-loss compensation after stopping light-duty work. OWCP denied the wage-loss claim and terminated her medical benefits. The Board found that the impartial physician had not…
K.G. and Department of the Army, Munson Army Health Center, Fort Leavenworth, KS
K.G. (ECAB 10-1426): Emotional condition claim denial affirmed
K.G., an Army industrial hygienist, attributed an emotional condition to management actions, workplace disputes and alleged harassment. OWCP denied the claim after finding that he had not established a compensable work factor. The Board found that the personnel and administrative matters he…
F.B. and Department of the Army, Redstone Arsenal, AL
F.B. (ECAB 10-1382): Right leg schedule award claim returned for assessment
F.B. sought a schedule award after an accepted work injury involving her right leg. An OWCP hearing representative directed a medical evaluation of permanent impairment under the sixth edition of the impairment guide. OWCP referred her to a physician but did not ask him to provide that assessment…
C.P., claiming as widower of H.P., and Tennessee Valley Authority, Western Area Radiological Laboratory, Muscle Shoals, AL
C.P., widower of H.P. (ECAB 10-1345): Survivor claim returned for medical review
H.P. worked as a radiological chemist for the Tennessee Valley Authority and died in 2005. Her husband, C.P., sought survivor benefits, arguing that workplace fume exposure contributed to her fatal illness. OWCP denied the claim after an agency physician concluded that the exposure was unrelated to…
L.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Louis Stokes Medical Center, Brecksville, OH
L.H. (ECAB 10-1209): Reduction of wage-loss compensation reversed
L.H., a VA sleep lab technician, received compensation after an accepted injury sustained while transferring a patient. Her physician initially released her for limited duty, but she did not return to work and later reported continued pain. The VA offered a modified position, and OWCP reduced her…
N.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Altos, CA
N.W. (ECAB 10-1198): Femur fracture claim denial affirmed
N.W., a Postal Service letter carrier, slipped and fell while delivering mail and sought compensation for a left femur fracture. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but found the medical evidence insufficient to establish that it caused the fracture. The Board noted that contemporaneous hospital…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 4052 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (Agency)
AFGE Local 4052 and Guaynabo Detention Center (FLRA 0-NG-3063): Entrance proposal dismissed
The union proposed that staff at a federal detention center be allowed to enter through any of three listed entrances, citing concerns about public exposure near the front entrance. The agency argued that the proposal conflicted with its rights to set security practices and assign work. The…
J.M. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Detroit, MI
J.M. (ECAB 10-1937): Occupational back condition claim found untimely
J.M., a retired federal special agent, filed an occupational disease claim in 2009 for lumbar disc conditions he attributed to his work. The Board found that he knew of the alleged work relationship and had stopped the relevant work by October 12, 2004. The three-year filing period therefore ended…
E.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Diego, CA
E.L. (ECAB 10-1792): Leg impairment award returned for medical review
E.L., a former Postal Service rural carrier, had received a schedule award for six percent impairment of her left leg and no award for her right leg. She submitted a later orthopedic report describing additional leg findings and seeking higher ratings. OWCP dismissed the report because the…
D.S. and Department of the Army, Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC
D.S. (ECAB 10-1730): Laundry worker’s shoulder claim returned for medical review
D.S., an Army medical center laundry worker, attributed shoulder conditions to pushing heavy linen carts and lifting bags at work. OWCP accepted that she performed those duties but denied her claim for lack of a reasoned medical opinion linking them to the conditions. The Board found that her…
C.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
C.D. (ECAB 10-1698): Recurrence of carpal tunnel disability not established
C.D. developed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome during Postal Service employment and later became a city police officer. She sought wage-loss compensation for a period in 2008 when hand symptoms kept her from police work. OWCP denied the recurrence claim. The Board found that her physician had not…
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newark, NJ
G.W. (ECAB 10-1608): Schedule award claim reopened for merits review
G.W. sought a higher schedule award for right leg impairment after OWCP found that he had no more than the 26 percent already compensated. He requested reconsideration and submitted a new physician report rating the impairment at 50 percent. OWCP declined to reopen the claim because it considered…
J.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oklahoma City, OK
J.N. (ECAB 10-1500): Right leg award claim returned for new impairment rating
J.N., a former Postal Service mail handler, had received a schedule award for 29 percent right leg impairment and sought an increase. OWCP denied the new claim using physician ratings based on the fifth edition of the impairment guide. The Board held that the sixth edition governed the later rating…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, ME
R.H. (ECAB 10-833 and 10-1429): Knee claim expansion and benefit termination affirmed
R.H., a Postal Service maintenance mechanic, had an accepted left knee strain and sought to add other knee conditions to his claim. OWCP denied the expansion and later ended his wage-loss and medical benefits. The Board found that his physicians had not adequately explained how the additional…
J.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Chicago Bulk Mail Center, Chicago, IL
J.J. (ECAB 10-869): Overpayment recovery decision affirmed
J.J., a Postal Service mail handler, received wage-loss compensation after returning to work at wages equal to her earlier job. OWCP found a $1,640.89 overpayment and that she was not at fault, but denied waiver based on her reported finances and directed deductions from continuing compensation…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Belton, MO
A.S. (ECAB 10-514): On-route vehicle injury recognized and claim returned
A.S., a Postal Service rural carrier, was injured when her delivery vehicle struck a parked truck during her route. OWCP denied her claim, asserting that medication intoxication caused the crash. The Board found that OWCP had not established either intoxication at the time of the crash or that it…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Las Vegas, NV
L.M. (ECAB 10-1896): Denial of requests to reopen emotional condition claim affirmed
L.M., a Postal Service supervisor and acting manager, claimed that workplace treatment caused an emotional condition. OWCP denied the claim, and she repeatedly sought reconsideration, including the two requests decided here. The Board held that her requests did not identify a legal error, offer a…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albany, NY
C.C. (ECAB 10-1843): Arm condition claim denied for lack of medical explanation
C.C., a Postal Service postmaster, attributed left arm, shoulder, and elbow symptoms to increased mail lifting and sorting. OWCP accepted that she performed those duties but denied her occupational disease claim. The Board found that her physicians diagnosed conditions and set work restrictions…
R.D. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Lemoore, CA
R.D. (ECAB 10-1821): Shoulder and neck claim returned for medical development
R.D., a Defense Commissary Agency store associate, attributed neck and shoulder problems to lifting, stocking, scanning, and other work. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim because it found the medical evidence inadequate to establish a causal link. The Board agreed that her physicians'…
V.M., claiming as widow of M.M., and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Milton, FL
V.M. (ECAB 10-1732): Widow's posthumous schedule award claim denied
M.M., a civilian Navy employee, had an accepted right arm and cervical condition and died in 2009. His widow, V.M., then sought a schedule award based on medical evidence from 1993. The Board held that a beneficiary can receive unpaid schedule award compensation only if the employee or someone…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Northwood Post Office, Northwood, WA
C.B. (ECAB 10-1623): Termination of injury benefits and medical coverage affirmed
C.B., a Postal Service window clerk, injured her ribs, chest, and brachial plexus in a fall at work. She later fractured her right wrist in a fall at home, complicating evaluation of her arm symptoms. OWCP ended her wage compensation and medical coverage after her attending physician reported that…
D.S. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
D.S. (ECAB 10-1602): Wage capacity adjustment and recurrence denial upheld
D.S., a former Navy shipyard worker, had an accepted 1988 back injury and later returned to private employment. OWCP adjusted his compensation in 1995 based on his actual earnings as a fabric worker. He sought to change that determination and claimed a new period of disability beginning in…
J.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Colorado Springs, CO
J.L. (ECAB 10-1328): Makeshift postal assignment could not support wage capacity ruling
J.L., a Postal Service letter carrier, worked a four-hour modified assignment after treatment for an accepted neck and shoulder condition. OWCP used her earnings from that assignment to reduce her wage-loss compensation in 1999. Years later, the Postal Service withdrew her limited-duty work, and…
O.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Stamford, CT
O.Y. (ECAB 10-1275): Foot condition claim returned for complete medical review
O.Y., a Postal Service clerk, had an accepted right foot contusion from a 2000 workplace incident. She later sought benefits for a right toe condition she attributed to that injury. OWCP denied the claim after obtaining a second opinion from a physician who had not received the medical reports from…
D.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
D.J. (ECAB 10-910): Shoulder surgery denial and benefit termination affirmed
D.J., a Veterans Affairs patient services assistant, injured his left shoulder in a 2001 workplace fall. His shoulder later developed an infection after a preexisting replacement procedure, and OWCP approved removal of the infected implant. When he requested another reconstruction, OWCP denied…
Long Branch Energy
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Long Branch Energy asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings before the…
Wyo-Ben, Inc.
Two assessments reopened and remanded
Wyo-Ben asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that became final when they were not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the requests. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened both assessments and remanded them for further proceedings. The…
Mark Cunningham, employed by Tri-Star USA, Inc.
Individual penalty assessment reopened
Mark Cunningham asked the Commission to reopen an individual penalty assessment under section 110(c) that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for…
Mountain Spring Coal Company
Same-day contests held timely after misdelivery
Mountain Spring Coal notified MSHA that ownership of the mine was changing and directed future correspondence, including assessments, to its West Virginia address. MSHA nevertheless sent two assessments by Federal Express to the former Ohio mine address, where other persons signed for them…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Nebraska/Western Iowa VA Health Care System, Omaha, Nebraska (Agency/Petitioner) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Incumbent Labor Organization/Petitioner)
Nebraska/Western Iowa VA and AFGE (FLRA DE-RP-10-0017 and related cases): Unit certifications remanded
After the VA reorganized facilities in Nebraska and western Iowa, AFGE sought two broad bargaining units covering professional and nonprofessional employees. A regional director included professional Omaha employees who had been specifically excluded from an earlier unit and employees hired at…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sister Bay, WI
J.S. (ECAB 10-1829): Continuing disability claim denied after benefit termination
J.S., a Postal Service employee, sought to establish that an accepted 2005 injury continued to disable her after OWCP terminated compensation in October 2007. The Board had previously upheld that termination. On this appeal, it found that her later medical submissions did not explain why the…
T.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Diego, CA
T.R. (ECAB 10-1781): Twenty-eight percent leg impairment award affirmed
T.R., a Veterans Affairs nurse, fractured her left ankle at work and received a schedule award for 24 percent leg impairment. After a medical opinion conflict, a referee physician used the sixth edition of the impairment guides and rated her impairment at 28 percent. OWCP awarded the additional…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh, PA
R.M. (ECAB 10-1693): Refusal to reopen back condition claim affirmed
R.M., a Postal Service letter carrier, claimed that work duties caused or aggravated a back condition. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim because he had not established the claimed work exposure as a factual matter. He sought reconsideration with a medical report and employment records. The…
T.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Coatesville Medical Center, Coatesville, PA
T.C. (ECAB 10-1639): Emotional condition claim denied over accommodation allegations
T.C., a Veterans Affairs therapist, attributed anxiety and depression to how his employer provided accommodations for his learning disabilities and hearing loss. He said his scribe also had other duties, was unavailable on some days, and recorded workplace policies in a form he found difficult to…
R.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Alliance, OH
R.G. (ECAB 10-1622): Schedule award case returned to consider timely evidence
R.G., a Postal Service employee, appealed a decision that left his left leg schedule award at one percent impairment. At a hearing, the representative kept the record open for additional medical evidence. OWCP received that evidence two days before issuing its decision, but the decision stated that…
P.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jefferson, OH
P.G. (ECAB 10-1327): Benefit termination reversed over unresolved medical conflict
P.G., a Postal Service rural carrier, received benefits for accepted right ankle and knee tendinitis. OWCP ended those benefits after a second opinion physician said the work conditions had resolved. Her treating physician reported continuing ankle symptoms and disability. The Board found that the…
R.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Dublin Post Office, Dublin, OH
R.L. (ECAB 10-1309): Schedule award and ten-day recurrence claims denied
R.L., a Postal Service employee, had an accepted work-related aggravation of a lower back condition and later took a modified job. He sought a schedule award and claimed a recurrence of disability for a ten-day period in 2009. The Board found no medical opinion showing permanent impairment of a…
F.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Air Mail Facility, Jamaica, NY
F.G. (ECAB 10-1253): Late reconsideration request failed clear-error standard
F.G., a Postal Service mail processor, had compensation benefits terminated in 1996 after an accepted workplace injury. In 2009 he asked OWCP to reconsider, arguing that his treating physician's opinion conflicted with the second opinion used to end benefits. The Board held that the request was…
H.E. and Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA
H.E. (ECAB 10-1124): Shipboard meals and quarters to be valued in pay calculation
H.E., an engineer on a NOAA vessel, received meals and quarters while working at sea. OWCP calculated his wage-loss compensation for an accepted respiratory condition without adding the value of those benefits, saying the file lacked a dollar figure. The Board held that FECA requires the value of…
S.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Oakland, CA
S.B. (ECAB 10-1018): Wage capacity decision kept after shoulder symptoms worsened
S.B., a Transportation Security Administration screener, injured his right shoulder at work and later took a private investigator job. OWCP used his actual earnings from that job to find no wage loss in 2006. He sought to change that determination after reporting worse shoulder pain in 2009 and…
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.