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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R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Phoenix, AZ
R.B. (ECAB 10-148): Right ear hearing award and reconsideration denial upheld
R.B., a retired Postal Service employee, had an accepted work related hearing loss claim. OWCP awarded four percent impairment of his right ear and found no ratable impairment of his left ear. The Board agreed with the calculation based on a properly documented hearing test. It also upheld OWCP's…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hillsboro, OH
J.G. (ECAB 10-33): Late reconsideration of fall claim denied
J.G., a Postal Service rural carrier, reported shoulder, arm, and rib injuries after falling on icy steps during a delivery. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical proof connecting it to an injury. His later reconsideration request arrived more than a year…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fife, WA
J.C. (ECAB 10-30): Claimed injury from light duty assignment denied
J.C., a Postal Service employee, claimed several conditions after being placed on light duty in January 2008. The Board found that the assignment occurred as he said. He did not explain in detail how it caused the conditions or submit a medical opinion establishing a causal link. Because proof of…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wilmington, DE
D.S. (ECAB 10-28): Leg impairment rating sent back for clarification
D.S., a Postal Service employee, injured her left knee and received a five percent leg impairment award. Two physicians disagreed about the extent of impairment, prompting OWCP to obtain an impartial examination. The Board found that the impartial examiner had not sufficiently described his…
L.T. and Department of the Air Force, Civil Engineering Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK
L.T. (ECAB 10-21): Degenerative disc disease claim denied
L.T., an Air Force sheet metal mechanic leader, claimed that years of heavy fabrication and related duties caused degenerative disc disease. His supervisor confirmed the physical work. The only causal opinion came from a chiropractor, whose report did not establish the statutory qualification to…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Long Beach, CA
J.C. (ECAB 10-14): Late request for written record review denied
J.C., a Postal Service mail processor, received a schedule award for impairment of both arms. She requested a hearing representative's review of the written record more than 30 days after OWCP issued the award. The Board held that she had no right to that review after the deadline. It also found…
E.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, El Paso, TX
E.G. (ECAB 09-2257): Schedule award denied for lack of leg impairment
E.G., an Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney, injured his right knee and back in a workplace fall. He sought a schedule award, but a referral physician found no permanent impairment of either leg from the accepted conditions. His treating physician described a lasting back condition…
J.H. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Tallahassee, FL
J.H. (ECAB 09-1988): Prison officer's back injury claim sent back for medical development
J.H., a Bureau of Prisons correctional officer, fell from training equipment in 1998 and later sought compensation for a back condition. His medical reports did not fully prove causation, but they consistently described a possible connection to the accepted fall and were not substantially…
D.B. and Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Tulsa, OK
D.B. (ECAB 10-154): Right eye condition claim denied
D.B., a Department of Labor compliance officer, claimed that work stress, reading, and computer use contributed to a serious right eye condition. His physicians described a possible connection, while referral physicians disagreed. An impartial ophthalmologist reviewed the record and concluded that…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Johnstown, PA
S.H. (ECAB 10-106): Part time postal worker's pay rate affirmed
S.H., a Postal Service mail handler, disputed the weekly pay rate used for his schedule award. He argued that it should reflect a 40 hour workweek. The Board found that he had worked a part time schedule in the year before his injury and that the applicable pay calculation used his actual hours…
A.D. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, GA
A.D. (ECAB 10-93): Overtime excluded from compensation pay rate
A.D., a Navy electrician, received wage loss compensation after an accepted injury and disputed the pay rate used to calculate it. OWCP added his Sunday premium earnings but excluded overtime he had worked regularly. The Board found that the overtime varied by pay period and was paid for actual…
L.M. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety & Health Inspection Service, Minneapolis, MN
L.M. (ECAB 10-06): Claimed recurrence of disability denied
L.M., a Department of Agriculture food safety inspector, had accepted chemical allergy and contact dermatitis conditions. He claimed that symptoms forced him to stop limited duty work in September 2008. The Board found that his doctors did not identify a specific change in the accepted conditions…
W.F. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Red River Defense Distribution Depot, Texarkana, TX
W.F. (ECAB 09-2347): Benefits overpayment and waiver denial upheld
W.F., a Defense Logistics Agency employee receiving disability compensation, also received Social Security benefits attributable in part to his federal service. OWCP deducted too little of the required offset, creating a $1,945.23 overpayment. The Board upheld that calculation. Although OWCP found…
O.W. and Department of the Army, Fire Prevention and Protection Division, Fort Sam Houston, TX
O.W. (ECAB 09-2299): Knee condition recurrence claim denied
O.W., a retired Army firefighter, had an accepted right knee strain from 1978. He sought recognition of a recurrence after 2008 imaging showed degenerative changes and other knee findings. The Board found that his physicians described those findings but did not explain how they related to the…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Thousand Oaks, CA
M.F. (ECAB 09-2279): Carpal tunnel claim denied after impartial review
M.F., a Postal Service letter carrier, had accepted shoulder and other injuries and sought to add bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome to her claim. Her physicians and an OWCP referral doctor disagreed about its cause. An impartial hand surgeon reviewed her work history, tests, and examination findings…
D.B. and Department of the Interior, Yosemite National Park, El Portal, CA
D.B. (ECAB 09-2063): Accounting clerk wage capacity reduction upheld
D.B., a Yosemite National Park maintenance mechanic, injured his left knee at work and later received wage-loss compensation. After an earlier reduction based on a bookkeeping job was reversed for insufficient wage-rate evidence, OWCP selected an accounting clerk job. The Board found that the…
P.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Citizen & Immigration Services, Lincoln, NE
P.K. (ECAB 09-1953): Claimed parking lot fall not established
P.K., an immigration services adjudication officer, said she injured her left knee when she fell on ice in an employer parking lot in January 2005. She filed the claim in December 2006 and said she had submitted a form and reported the fall at the time. The Board found no contemporaneous claim form…
Knife River Corporation, Northwest
Truck-scale guardrail citation dismissed
MSHA cited Knife River because the nine-inch rails on two truck scales were below the mid-axle height required for roadways with dangerous drop-offs. Judge Priscilla M. Rae held that the scales were part of the roadway because every loaded truck crossed them on the route from the pit to the…
Matter of Fidel Antonio SANCHEZ-CORNEJO
Simulated cocaine is not an aggravated felony
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge classified his Texas conviction for delivering a simulated controlled substance as an aggravated felony and denied special rule suspension of deportation under NACARA. The Board held that simulated cocaine is not a…
J.T. and Department of the Army, Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, AR
J.T. (ECAB 10-0055): Additional right ankle award denied
J.T., an Army arsenal sheet metal mechanic, fractured his right ankle in a work fall and previously received a schedule award for 14 percent right leg impairment. He sought an additional award after further ankle surgery. His treating surgeon used an outdated edition of the impairment guides and…
G.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Richmond, VA
G.C. (ECAB 10-0037): Refusal to reopen emotional condition claim upheld
G.C., a Veterans Affairs nursing assistant, sought compensation for stress and physical symptoms after seeing her coworker boyfriend kiss a patient at work. OWCP denied the claim after finding no compensable employment factor and later refused to reopen it. On appeal, the Board could review only…
J.H. and Department of the Navy, Pearl Harbor Ship Yard, Pearl Harbor, HI
J.H. (ECAB 09-2357): Hearing loss award and hearing aids denied
J.H., a Navy shipyard tank tester, had an accepted hearing-loss claim after exposure to workplace machinery noise. OWCP denied a schedule award because the physician-certified audiogram produced no ratable loss under the applicable impairment guides. The Board upheld use of that audiogram and the…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pearland, TX
J.M. (ECAB 09-2355): Dispatcher wage capacity finding reversed
J.M., a postal rural carrier, had accepted injuries from a work vehicle accident. OWCP reduced her wage-loss compensation to zero after finding she could earn more as a dispatcher than in her former job. Her treating physician limited reaching to four hours a day, while the selected dispatcher…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
L.C. (ECAB 09-2274): Duplicate schedule award overpayment affirmed
L.C., a postal employee, received a second schedule award for the same upper-extremity impairments and continued receiving payments beyond that award's stated period. OWCP found a $50,745.61 overpayment but found her not at fault. The Board upheld the overpayment because the later award duplicated…
A.A. and Department of Justice, U.S. District Court, Philadelphia, PA
A.A. (ECAB 09-1998): Left knee aggravation claim denied
A.A., a deputy court clerk, was struck by a falling frame at work and later sought coverage for a worsening of her previously injured left knee. Her physicians and an OWCP referral physician disagreed about whether the incident aggravated the knee condition. An impartial orthopedic specialist…
P.S. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Norfolk, VA
P.S. (ECAB 09-1933): Shoulder recurrence claim and late hearing request denied
P.S., a materials expeditor, had an accepted right shoulder condition and later sought compensation for a claimed recurrence. Her medical reports described worsening symptoms but did not explain how the accepted injury caused her current condition. She also described new lifting and pulling duties…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
L.P. (ECAB 09-1924): Additional wage loss for wrist condition denied
L.P., a postal clerk with accepted right forearm strain and wrist tendinitis, sought additional compensation for time away from work in November 2008. Her treating physician described symptoms and work restrictions but did not explain that the accepted conditions prevented work during the claimed…
H.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
H.G. (ECAB 09-1747): Overpayment waiver denial set aside
H.G., a postal employee receiving injury compensation, challenged OWCP's refusal to waive recovery of $23,800 already deducted from his benefit payments. OWCP treated some expenses as undocumented, including his mortgage, and concluded that his monthly income exceeded necessary expenses by $648.62…
Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Mine-tracking citations vacated for rote 200-foot rule
Peabody Midwest Mining operated two underground coal mines with working sections that used continuous mining machines. MSHA cited the company after its emergency response plans did not promise electronic tracking of miners to within 200 feet on those sections. Judge Richard W. Manning held that…
R.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Houston, TX
R.G. (ECAB 10-0157): Late reconsideration request denied
R.G., a Veterans Affairs housekeeping aide, sought wage-loss compensation after an accepted workplace fall. OWCP denied compensation beginning April 12, 2005, and last decided the merits on June 8, 2006. His July 30, 2007 request for reconsideration came more than a year after that decision. The…
M.N. and Department of Agriculture, Potato Research Laboratory, East Grand Forks, MN
M.N. (ECAB 10-0051): Wage-earning capacity challenge sent back to OWCP
M.N., an Agriculture Department employee with an accepted work injury, argued that OWCP's 2002 wage-earning capacity determination relied on an inaccurate job description and did not reflect her physical restrictions. OWCP treated her 2009 letter as a late request to reconsider that determination…
V.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing & Distribution Center, New York, NY
V.E. (ECAB 10-0023): Termination of back injury benefits reversed
V.E., a postal mail handler, received compensation for a thoracic back sprain sustained while moving a parcel. OWCP ended her benefits after its second-opinion physician said she had recovered and could return to full-time work. Her treating physician continued to diagnose the back condition and…
R.N. and Department of the Navy, Camp Lejuene, NC
R.N. (ECAB 10-0010): Late hearing request properly denied
R.N., a Navy water plant operator, requested a hearing about a schedule award for his left leg. He made the request on December 4, 2008, more than 30 days after OWCP's September 15 award decision. The Board held that he had no right to a hearing after that deadline and that OWCP reasonably declined…
S.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Simpsonville, SC
S.G. (ECAB 09-2310): Arm impairment award sent back for a new rating
S.G., a postal carrier injured in a work-related vehicle accident, received a schedule award for four percent impairment of each arm. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser rated a brachial plexus injury without explaining how that fit the accepted cervical spine condition or the nerve root…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
K.B. (ECAB 09-1994): Separate emotional condition claim denied
K.B., a postal clerk with a separate arm injury claim, sought compensation for an emotional condition arising from her work assignment and the Postal Service's treatment of her. The Board found no reliable evidence that the agency discriminated against her, mishandled leave or discipline, or…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Redlands, CA
J.H. (ECAB 09-1982): Wage-loss termination reversed
J.H., a postal clerk, received wage-loss compensation after an accepted ankle, shoulder and back injury at work. OWCP ended her benefits based on an impartial physician's opinion that she had recovered. The Board found that the physician rejected several conditions OWCP had already accepted, so his…
R.B. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Hampton, GA
R.B. (ECAB 09-1938): Termination of stress disorder benefits upheld
R.B., an air traffic controller, received compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder after a loss-of-separation incident between two aircraft. OWCP ended his benefits after an impartial psychiatrist concluded that the accepted condition had resolved. The Board found the psychiatrist's opinion…
M.H. and Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD
M.H. (ECAB 09-1888): Right arm impairment award upheld
M.H., a Social Security benefits authorizer, received a schedule award for 22 percent impairment of her right arm after an accepted work injury and shoulder surgery. She argued that OWCP started paying the award before she reached maximum medical improvement. The Board found that the 2006 medical…
Justin Nagel v. Newmont USA Limited
Second temporary-reinstatement request denied
Justin Nagel and Newmont settled the Secretary's temporary-reinstatement application by providing economic reinstatement until the Secretary decided whether discrimination had occurred. The agreement ended that reinstatement when the Secretary found no discrimination, after which Nagel filed his…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Douglas A. Pilon v. ISP Minerals, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered after safety report
Douglas Pilon reported that he inhaled steam he believed contained aluminum chloride while working at ISP Minerals' Kremlin Plant. ISP suspended him within days and later terminated his employment. Judge Priscilla M. Rae found reasonable cause to believe that Pilon's safety report was protected…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lawrence L. Pendley v. Highland Mining Company, LLC
Temporary reinstatement revived after court remand
Highland Mining had discharged Lawrence L. Pendley, who obtained temporary reinstatement while the Secretary's discrimination complaint was pending. His reinstatement ended after the Commission upheld an administrative law judge's ruling that the discharge was not discriminatory. The Sixth Circuit…
D.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lexington, KY
D.K. (ECAB 10-0174): Emotional condition did not qualify for a schedule award
D.K., a postal mail processor, sought a schedule award for accepted aggravation of depression and anxiety. His psychiatrist rated a 70 percent whole-person impairment. The Board held that a schedule award requires permanent impairment of a body member, organ or function listed in the Act or its…
M.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Ravenswood Station, Chicago, IL
M.O. (ECAB 10-0064): Back injury recurrence claim denied
M.O., a postal letter carrier with an accepted lumbar strain, stopped work and claimed a recurrence of disability. She did not establish that her limited-duty job had changed beyond her restrictions. Her physician described back symptoms but did not explain that the accepted injury caused…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
L.W. (ECAB 10-0052): Reconsideration refusal upheld after duplicate report
L.W., a postal clerk, reported a head injury after a workplace shelf fell on her. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because it found no medically established injury caused by it. In seeking reconsideration, L.W. sent another copy of a physician's report OWCP had already…
G.W. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Fossil Plant, Drakesboro, KY
G.W. (ECAB 10-0001): Lung impairment award claim sent back for medical review
G.W., a Tennessee Valley Authority worker, sought a schedule award for lung impairment from accepted work-related pneumoconiosis. The impartial pulmonologist found the new breathing test unusable but then gave a Class 4 impairment rating without explaining how he reached it. He also questioned…
J.L. and Department of the Army, Installation Management Agency, West Point, NY
J.L. (ECAB 09-2372): Additional jaw, neck and back injury claims denied
J.L., an Army purchasing agent, fractured her left ankle in a fall down stairs at work. Months later she claimed that the fall also caused jaw joint, neck and low back conditions. The Board found that her clinicians' opinions about those additional conditions were speculative or relied on a history…
Z.H. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, Hope, AR
Z.H. (ECAB 09-2121): Termination of carpal tunnel benefits upheld
Z.H., a food inspector, had received compensation for accepted left carpal tunnel syndrome after surgery. OWCP ended her wage-loss and medical benefits after a second-opinion surgeon found the condition resolved and said she could return to her original work. Her treating surgeon agreed with that…
T.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Havre, MT
T.B. (ECAB 09-2112): Insurance premium overpayment recovery upheld
T.B. received too much compensation because OWCP failed to deduct health and life insurance premiums. He agreed with the $4,692.70 amount but sought a waiver, saying he spent the extra funds on his mortgage, roof and appliances. The Board agreed he was without fault, but his documented income…
C.T. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Anchorage, AK
C.T. (ECAB 09-2104): Four days of sinus-related wage loss denied
C.T., an air traffic control specialist with accepted chronic sinusitis, sought wage-loss compensation for days missed in November 2008. Her physician diagnosed acute sinusitis and bronchitis and excused her from work for two of the days. The Board found that the reports did not connect that…
L.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Alexandria, LA
L.E. (ECAB 09-1855): Termination of lumbar strain medical benefits upheld
L.E., a Veterans Affairs nursing assistant, had an accepted lumbar strain from a workplace incident. OWCP ended medical benefits after an impartial orthopedic surgeon found no remaining clinical or objective signs of that strain. The Board gave the surgeon's reasoned opinion special weight and…
Monsanto Company
In re Monsanto Company (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 10-01C): $2.5 million penalty ordered
Monsanto Company entered a Consent Agreement with the EPA in a Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act proceeding. The EAB incorporated the agreement into its Final Order. Monsanto was ordered to comply with the agreement and pay a $2,500,000 civil penalty within 60 calendar days of the…
M.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
M.F. (ECAB 09-1901): No added arm impairment award after new rating
M.F. sought an additional schedule award after surgery for carpal and cubital tunnel conditions in both arms. She had already received awards totaling 12 percent impairment of the right arm and 6 percent of the left. The Board applied the required sixth edition of the impairment guides to her…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Yorkville, OH
J.F. (ECAB 10-0004): Foot injury claim denied despite established fall
J.F., a postal carrier, reported falling into a hole while delivering mail and later sought benefits for a right foot and ankle condition. The Board accepted that the workplace incident occurred. Her podiatrist linked the condition to work but did not explain the delay before treatment or reconcile…
A.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle, WA
A.E. (ECAB 09-2276): Respiratory wage-loss claim and review refusal upheld
A.E., a Veterans Affairs medical technologist, had an accepted reaction to a tuberculosis test without active tuberculosis. She sought compensation for 50 hours missed in January 2009 during an upper respiratory illness. The Board found no medical opinion linking those missed hours to the accepted…
E.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Capitol Heights, MD
E.J. (ECAB 09-1991): Changed reason for claim denial requires explanation
E.J., a postal mail handler, claimed a back and hip condition from lifting mail. OWCP first found her claim timely but denied it because she had not established the claimed injury. When she submitted medical records for reconsideration, OWCP changed course and said the claim was untimely, without…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sayre, PA
R.S. (ECAB 09-1935): Dispatcher wage rate needs further review
R.S., a postal carrier with accepted ankle and knee injuries, received wage-loss compensation after he stopped work. The Board agreed that a dispatcher job fit his medical restrictions and qualifications, so some reduction was warranted. But a later labor market survey estimated entry-level pay of…
M.B. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
M.B. (ECAB 09-1923): Cashier wage-earning capacity left in place
M.B., a Navy shipyard worker with accepted lumbar strains, sought a change to OWCP's determination that he could earn wages as a cashier. His treating physician described additional pain and restrictions, including a later four-hour work limit. The Board found that the physician did not explain how…
R.B. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Quantico, VA
R.B. (ECAB 09-1786): Twelve percent right leg impairment award upheld
R.B., an FBI special agent, sought a larger schedule award after an accepted right knee ligament injury. OWCP had paid nine percent right leg impairment and later added three percent, for a total of 12 percent. He challenged the selection of the impartial examiner and the examiner's measurements…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oak Creek, WI
D.L. (ECAB 09-1702): Compensation termination upheld after job refusal
D.L., a postal clerk receiving compensation for accepted back and neck injuries, declined a four-hour modified mail-processing job. OWCP found the offer fit the restrictions her treating physician had given when it was made and ended her monetary compensation. The Board agreed that the offered…
C.T. and Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, Washington, DC
C.T. (ECAB 09-1340): No added arm award or wage-capacity change
C.T., a Drug Enforcement Agency worker with an accepted left elbow injury, sought a larger arm schedule award and a change to his wage-earning capacity determination. He had already received awards totaling 30 percent left arm impairment. The highest new medical rating in the record was 25 percent…
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.