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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Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Contractor fall citation affirmed with no operator negligence
An employee of contractor O & O Services fell 25 feet onto a concrete platform while working over an opening without fall protection at Jim Walter Resources' No. 4 Mine. The judge held that O & O violated the fall-protection standard and that JWR was strictly liable as the mine operator, even…
Matter of Alla Adel ALYAZJI
The five-year removal period follows the admission supporting current presence
The Board reconsidered when the five-year period for a crime involving moral turpitude is measured for removability. It overruled part of Matter of Shanu and held that the relevant admission is the one by virtue of which the person was present in the United States when the crime was committed, not…
W.B. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
W.B. (ECAB 10-1599): Compensation reduction upheld for failure to cooperate with rehabilitation
W.B., a former Navy shipyard employee, was referred for vocational rehabilitation after medical reports found he could work with restrictions. OWCP reduced his monetary compensation to zero after finding that he stopped cooperating without good cause. He challenged the suitability of the proposed…
I.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Yuba City, CA
I.G. (ECAB 10-1366): Right knee occupational disease claim lacked supporting evidence
I.G., a postal employee, alleged that work activities caused a right knee condition. OWCP asked for a detailed account of the work factors and a medical report explaining a diagnosis and causal link. She did not provide the needed factual or medical evidence. The Board held that she had not…
S.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Tallahassee, FL
S.W. (ECAB 10-1361): Later disability not linked to accepted luggage injury
S.W., a Transportation Security Administration screener, had an accepted injury after pulling a heavy suitcase from a scanner in 2004. She sought compensation for disability beginning in September 2009. The Board found that her medical evidence described current symptoms without explaining a link…
S.J. and Department of the Treasury, U.S. Mint, Philadelphia, PA
S.J. (ECAB 10-1318): Repeated surgery arguments did not reopen claim
S.J., a U.S. Mint employee, requested reconsideration of a denied back surgery claim. He raised concerns about which supervisor OWCP interviewed and his reassignment, but the question was whether surgery related to accepted work conditions. He also resubmitted medical reports already in the record…
L.G. and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Marlton, NJ
L.G. (ECAB 10-1297): Emotional injury claim lacked reasoned medical causation proof
L.G., an OSHA industrial hygienist, attributed post-traumatic stress disorder to workplace events. OWCP accepted two telephone incidents as compensable work factors. Her psychiatrist diagnosed the condition and generally linked it to work but did not adequately explain how the accepted incidents…
E.V. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Patrol, Laredo, TX
E.V. (ECAB 10-1284): Overpayment and denial of waiver upheld
E.V., a Homeland Security employee, received total disability compensation while also earning wages from April 15 through May 9, 2009. The Board found a $1,662.54 overpayment, upheld OWCP’s refusal to waive recovery, and upheld the denial of an untimely prerecoupment hearing request. It affirmed…
J.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Artesia, NM
J.W. (ECAB 10-1271): Overpayment remains, fault reversed, waiver sent back
J.W., a Customs and Border Protection employee, received a direct deposit for total disability after returning to work. The Board held that an overpayment occurred but that the record did not establish its final amount. It also found that she was without fault because the single incorrect direct…
J.G. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Atlanta, GA
J.G. (ECAB 10-1214): Vehicle accident injury claim and reconsideration denied
J.G., a Forest Service employee, was involved in a work motor vehicle accident and claimed a back injury. The Board accepted the accident but found no physician’s evidence diagnosing a condition caused by it. His later reconsideration request did not supply the qualifying new evidence or argument…
J.A. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, San Diego, CA
J.A. (ECAB 10-1210): Hand injury claim and late written-review request denied
J.A., a Customs and Border Protection employee, claimed a left hand contusion after an August 2009 work incident. The Board found the record did not establish that the claimed condition was caused by the accepted incident. His request for review of the written record was also late, and OWCP…
C.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Southern Arizona Healthcare System, Tucson, AZ
C.W. (ECAB 10-1191): Late reconsideration lacked clear evidence of error
C.W., a Veterans Affairs nurse, asked OWCP to reconsider a denied right finger injury claim more than a year after the last merits decision. He submitted staffing and patient-safety documents, but the disputed issue was medical causation of his finger condition. The Board found that those documents…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Montgomery Regional Office, Montgomery, Alabama (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 552 (Union)
VA Montgomery Regional Office and AFGE Local 552 (FLRA 0-AR-4566): Prior production standard restored
The VA's Montgomery Regional Office raised the daily production standard for Rating Veterans Service Representatives from 3.5 to 4.0 completed products. An arbitrator found that the office had not met its bargaining obligations under the labor agreement before making the change. He ordered it to…
United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, Kansas City, Missouri (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 264 (Union)
Farm Service Agency and NTEU Chapter 264 (FLRA 0-AR-4239): Two-tier appraisal system restored
The Farm Service Agency replaced the two-tier performance appraisal system in its labor agreement with a five-tier system. An arbitrator found that the unilateral change violated the agreement and the statute's ban on enforcing a conflicting agency rule. She ordered the agency to restore the…
City & County of Honolulu
In re City & County of Honolulu (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 09-01): petition dismissed with prejudice
The City and County of Honolulu sought review of NPDES permits for the Honouliuli and Sand Island wastewater treatment plants. Honolulu filed a notice withdrawing its petition for review while proceedings before the Environmental Appeals Board were temporarily stayed by the Ninth Circuit. After the…
United States General Services Administration, et al.
In re United States General Services Administration, et al. (EAB CAA Docket No. CAA-HQ-2011-0001): consent agreement approved
The United States General Services Administration, Goody Clancy and Associates, Inc., ATC Associates Inc., Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., and Fleet Industrial Services, LLC were respondents in a Clean Air Act penalty proceeding. The parties entered into a Consent Agreement. The Environmental…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mobile, AL
J.F. (ECAB 10-1578): Cervical disease claim lacked medical causation explanation
J.F., a postal distribution clerk, linked a cervical disc condition to repetitive movements and pushing mail. His doctor diagnosed neck conditions and called the disc condition work related but did not give a complete work or medical history or explain the causal mechanism. The Board held that the…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Carol Stream, IL
C.C. (ECAB 10-1576): Higher bilateral arm impairment award not established
C.C., a postal distribution supervisor, had accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and sought a schedule award above eight percent impairment for each arm. The Board found the agency medical adviser’s rating persuasive under the applicable guide. Eight percent of the 312-week arm schedule…
Lee Builders, Inc.
The judge decided the case under a standard the Secretary never cited, so the Commission remands
The inspection. OSHA inspected a Lee Builders jobsite at 600 McDonald Avenue in Albertville, Alabama, beginning April 22, 2010. An employee was working on a scaffold platform 13 feet 2 inches above the ground, drilling plywood onto the platform. He had no personal fall arrest system and there were…
D.C. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Material Command, Richmond, KY
D.C. (ECAB 10-1496): Leg impairment award denied after impartial examination
D.C., an Army employee, sought a schedule award for permanent leg impairment after an accepted 2002 work injury. OWCP obtained an impartial orthopedic opinion to resolve conflicting medical reports. The Board found that specialist’s examination thorough and reasoned, and that it showed no permanent…
A.F. and Department of State, National Passport Center, Portsmouth, NH
A.F. (ECAB 10-1422): Overpayment waiver and repayment deductions upheld
A.F., a State Department passport specialist, asked OWCP to waive recovery of a $4,852.06 compensation overpayment and challenged a $150 deduction from continuing benefits every four weeks. The Board found that her reported assets and monthly surplus did not establish financial hardship under the…
M.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Spokane, WA
M.L. (ECAB 10-1396): Termination of asthma compensation upheld
M.L., a Veterans Affairs claims clerk, had an accepted temporary aggravation of preexisting asthma. OWCP sought an updated opinion from his treating doctor, then obtained a second opinion when the doctor did not respond. The Board found that the second opinion examiner’s pulmonary assessment was…
L.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
L.F. (ECAB 10-1234): Ankle injury benefits termination upheld
L.F., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted left ankle sprain after running from a dog while delivering mail. OWCP ended wage-loss and medical benefits based on a referee physician’s opinion. The Board found that opinion well supported and sufficient to show the accepted condition no longer…
L.M. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
L.M. (ECAB 10-1172): Right leg schedule award denied for lack of permanent impairment
L.M., an Internal Revenue Service contact representative, sought a schedule award for permanent right leg impairment after an accepted injury and surgery. An examining physician found normal knee findings and no ratable impairment, and the agency medical adviser agreed. The Board found that opinion…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
D.L. (ECAB 10-1153): Right knee surgery authorization denied
D.L., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted right knee sprain from a 1999 work incident. She later requested authorization for arthroscopic surgery. The Board found that her medical evidence did not adequately explain how the proposed surgery was related to the accepted sprain or establish the…
Lehigh Southwest Cement Co.
Six violations upheld, six vacated
MSHA issued ten citations and two orders at Lehigh's Tehachapi limestone quarry and cement plant and proposed $43,356 in penalties. The judge vacated six matters involving break-room lighting, a parking-lot drop-off, machine guarding, hydraulic-fluid cleanup, and an uncovered opening because the…
Sikes Pipe Company
Unclaimed assessment reopened
Sikes Pipe asked the Commission to reopen a final assessment that it said it never received. Its records keeper discovered the penalties in MSHA's data system and learned that FedEx had returned the assessment as unclaimed, possibly after attempting delivery while she was traveling. The Secretary…
City of Caldwell
In re City of Caldwell (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 09-11): permit review denied
The City of Caldwell operated a small municipal separate storm sewer system in Idaho under an NPDES permit. Pioneer Irrigation District asked the EAB to review the permit, arguing that it should include a condition barring discharges into irrigation waterways owned or maintained by irrigation…
Allgeier Martin & Associates
Surveyors needed comprehensive underground-miner training
Allgeier Martin & Associates provided underground surveying services at the Carthage Crushed Limestone mine. MSHA cited the contractor because three surveyors had received hazard training but not the comprehensive new-miner training required by 30 C.F.R. § 48.5(a). The judge found that the workers…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Three reopening requests denied without prejudice
Pattison Sand asked to reopen three final assessments, saying two had slipped through the cracks and a third was delayed after an assessment was misplaced and counsel missed an email while on vacation. The Secretary opposed reopening two assessments and did not oppose the third. The Commission…
M.E. and Department of Justice, Federal Prison Systems, Beaumont, TX
M.E. (ECAB 10-1482): Benefits termination claim not reopened
M.E., a Justice Department employee, sought reconsideration after OWCP ended her medical and wage-loss benefits. She repeated that work restrictions prevented her from performing her former job and asked for benefits while attending college. The Board found no qualifying new evidence or legal…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Seattle, WA
A.S. (ECAB 10-1357): Stroke claim lacked a medical link to mail route events
A.S., a postal letter carrier, reported a stroke after delivering mail and an argument with a coworker in December 2009. The Board considered the accepted events but found that his doctors did not explain how they caused or aggravated the diagnosed stroke. One report attributed the condition to…
M.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Savannah, GA
M.C. (ECAB 10-1300): New witness statement requires merit review
M.C., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of a ruling involving the availability of a suitable modified clerk job. A new statement from a coworker said the witness heard conversations about that job. OWCP had not considered that statement and had treated a different earlier statement as if it…
D.R. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, Regional Census Center -- Denver, Dallas, TX
D.R. (ECAB 10-1280): Back injury denied; treatment expense issue returned
D.R., a Census Bureau employee, claimed a back injury after an August 2009 work event. The Board found that he had not established a compensable back condition and had not supplied a basis to reopen the denial. It separately directed OWCP to consider whether medical expenses for treatment on the…
J.F. and Department of the Army, Civilian Personnel Advisory Center, Fort Richardson, AK
J.F. (ECAB 10-1185): Two Social Security offset overpayments upheld
J.F., an Army employee, received workers’ compensation payments that were not offset by Social Security benefits during two periods. The Board upheld overpayments of $12,754.70 and $1,720.71, denied waiver for both, and upheld deductions of $150 and $20 from continuing compensation for the…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, CFS-NTX, Coppell, TX
J.H. (ECAB 10-1165): Additional wage loss after mail cart injury not established
J.H., a postal clerk, reported back, neck, and shoulder symptoms after trying to stop mail buckets from falling. She sought additional wage loss from May through October 2009. The Board found that the medical record, including chiropractor reports, did not establish total disability for the…
L.F. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Goleta, CA
L.F. (ECAB 10-1119): Vocational rehabilitation compensation penalty reversed
L.F., a Transportation Security Administration employee, was directed to attend vocational training while receiving compensation. He submitted medical evidence that chronic pain interfered with his ability to attend. The Board held that OWCP had not developed or clarified that evidence before…
E.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
E.W. (ECAB 10-968): Reduced work hours not shown to be recurrence of accepted injury
E.W., a postal employee, claimed two hours of partial disability daily after her doctor limited her to six hours of work. The doctor discussed pain, disc disease, and missed breaks but did not explain why the accepted 2002 injury caused the reduction in hours. Some diagnosed conditions had not been…
A.T. and Department of the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, UT
A.T. (ECAB 10-837): Arm impairment awards returned for proper carpal tunnel rating
A.T., an Air Force electrical equipment repairer, received schedule awards for two percent impairment of each arm after bilateral wrist conditions. The physicians had based the ratings on loss of motion, a method the Board found improper for carpal tunnel syndrome under the applicable impairment…
Frasure Creek Mining, LLC
Final penalty assessment reopened over dissent
Frasure Creek Mining asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final when the company did not contest it within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission majority granted the request and remanded the matter to the Chief Administrative Law Judge…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12 and United States Department of Labor, Washington, D.C.
AFGE Local 12 and Department of Labor (FLRA 0-AR-4721): Union's arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 12 challenged an arbitration award in a dispute with the Department of Labor. The Authority considered the union's exceptions under the rule allowing an award to be set aside when it conflicts with law, rule, or regulation, or is deficient on comparable grounds recognized in labor…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Augusta, Georgia and National Nurses United
Augusta VA Medical Center and National Nurses United (FLRA 0-AR-4719): Agency's arbitration exception denied
The Augusta VA Medical Center challenged an arbitration award in a dispute with National Nurses United. The Authority reviewed the agency's exception under the rule for awards alleged to conflict with law, rule, or regulation. It concluded that the exception did not establish a defect in the award…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3854 and United States Department of the Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, March Air Reserve Base, California
AFGE Local 3854 and March Air Reserve Base (FLRA 0-AR-4717): Administrative leave award upheld
AFGE Local 3854 challenged an arbitration award concerning administrative leave at March Air Reserve Base. The arbitrator had relied on two independent reasons: an agency regulation did not authorize the employee's supervisor to grant the leave, and Comptroller General decisions governed…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3723 and United States Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Community Services, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California
AFGE Local 3723 and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (FLRA 0-AR-4706): Union's arbitration exception denied
AFGE Local 3723 challenged an arbitration award in a dispute with Marine Corps Community Services at Air Station Miramar. The Authority considered whether the award could be set aside under the federal arbitration review standard. It concluded that the union's exception did not show that the award…
Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 2001 and United States Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Office, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
OPEIU Local 2001 and DOE Oak Ridge (FLRA 0-AR-4689): Supplemental selection award upheld
After an earlier arbitration required the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge office to rerun a contract specialist selection, the original grievant applied again and was not selected. The arbitrator found no proof that discrimination explained the new selection. The union challenged the supplemental…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2006 and Social Security Administration, Region III
AFGE Local 2006 and Social Security Region III (FLRA 0-AR-4675): Overtime grievance denial upheld
Employees at a Social Security processing center challenged minimum overtime shifts and the agency's refusal to pay for additional minutes outside approved overtime periods. An arbitrator denied the grievance, finding that the extra minutes had not been ordered or approved and that the minimum…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-66 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Memphis, Tennessee
NAGE Local R5-66 and Memphis VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-4658): Reduced attorney fee award upheld
An arbitrator reduced a Memphis VA employee's fourteen-day suspension to a written reprimand and ordered backpay. The union requested $9,980 in attorney fees; the arbitrator awarded $4,490 because the employee won a reduced penalty but the disciplinary charges remained upheld. The Authority denied…
Social Security Administration, Office of Disability Adjudication and Review and Association of Administrative Law Judges, Judicial Council One, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
Social Security disability adjudication office and ALJ union (FLRA 0-AR-4572): Travel-order remedy set aside, official-time remedy upheld
The Social Security Administration denied union representatives no-cost travel orders for representational trips and denied one representative official time for union-sponsored training. An arbitrator ordered the agency to issue the travel orders and restore three days of annual leave used for the…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 720, Council of Prison Locals, Council 33
Terre Haute federal prison and AFGE Local 720 (FLRA 0-AR-4502): Shift change and overtime remedy upheld
Two settlement agreements required prison employees' shifts to begin and end at a control center and provided overtime for staff at 120 posts until pre-shift and post-shift work was eliminated. The prison changed the shift starting point and stopped the daily fifteen-minute overtime payments. An…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, Texas and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 72
IRS Austin and NTEU Chapter 72 (FLRA 0-AR-4178): Overtime equity award upheld
For two weeks, the IRS office in Austin allowed overtime only on Saturdays and days off under an alternative work schedule. An arbitrator found that this gave employees on alternative schedules twice as many chances to work overtime as employees on five-day schedules, violating the collective…
National Cement Company of Alabama, Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
National Cement Company of Alabama asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the request and response, the Commission reopened the matter and remanded it to the Chief…
Cemex Construction Materials, Florida, LLC
One-day-late contest reopened
Cemex asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after its contest form was filed one day late. The form showed that the company intended to contest 27 penalties, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission granted the request and remanded the matter to the Chief…
Mainline Rock & Ballast, Inc.
Unguarded roller and late MSHA notice bring $66,000 penalty
A miner at Mainline's Torrance Quarry was pulled into an unguarded conveyor return roller and sustained serious injuries that required helicopter evacuation. The judge rejected MSHA's account of exactly how the accident occurred but found that the roller was readily accessible, required a guard…
United States Department of the Army, Fort Huachuca, Arizona and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1662
Fort Huachuca firefighters and AFGE Local 1662 (FLRA 0-AR-4343): Rescission of suspensions upheld
Three Fort Huachuca firefighters refused to initial that they had reviewed new operating guidelines and each received a one-day suspension after the Army reduced an initial three-day penalty. An arbitrator found they had failed to follow instructions but concluded that the suspensions did not…
United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Nashua, New Hampshire and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, New England Engineers and Architects
FAA Nashua and NATCA (FLRA 0-AR-4233): Interest on corrected pay award set aside
The FAA corrected an engineer's pay after discovering it had placed him at the wrong step when promoting him, but it paid no interest on the correction. An arbitrator awarded interest under the FAA's personnel system and the Back Pay Act. The Authority set aside that award because neither source…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3310 and United States Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi
AFGE Local 3310 and Army Corps Vicksburg (FLRA 0-AR-4259): Employee suspension upheld
The Army Corps of Engineers suspended an electrician for fourteen days over alleged unauthorized possession of government wire while a criminal charge was pending. An arbitrator found just cause for the suspension under the collective bargaining agreement. The Authority rejected the union's…
Mirant Kendall, LLC, Kendall Cogeneration Station
In re Mirant Kendall, LLC, Kendall Cogeneration Station (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 06-12, 06-13, and 09-04): petitions dismissed with prejudice
EPA Region 1 issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit regulating discharges from the Kendall Cogeneration Station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The permit included thermal discharge limits under Clean Water Act section 316(a) and cooling water intake structure requirements…
W.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Providence, RI
W.F. (ECAB 10-838): Reconsideration denials set aside for review of new medical evidence
W.F., a postal mechanic, sought reconsideration of denials related to a claimed recurrence of knee disability and termination of benefits. His physician submitted a new report discussing whether his continuing condition was connected to the accepted work injury. The Board found the report relevant…
Edward M. Bogden v. Consolidation Coal Company
Bogden v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 10-0682): fee for preparing petition awarded
Edward Bogden's lawyer sought a fee after Bogden obtained scheduled benefits for work-related hearing loss alongside partial disability benefits for a back injury. A judge approved most of the fee request but excluded 1.1 hours spent preparing the fee petition. The Board, sitting en banc, held that…
FedEx Express, Inc.
Late recordkeeping violation reduced to de minimis
A FedEx employee cut his forehead while exiting a vehicle and received sutures and prescription medication. A supervisor entered the injury into FedEx's electronic system but did not mark that medical treatment was received, so the case did not appear on the 2007 OSHA 300 Log within seven days…
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.