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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Maple Coal Company
Late penalty petition accepted
The Secretary filed Maple Coal's penalty petition several months after the 45-day deadline. Maple Coal sought dismissal and claimed prejudice from the delay. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick held that the filing deadline is not jurisdictional and that Commission precedent favors resolving cases on…
B.F. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
B.F. (ECAB 09-2157): Lymphoma claim denial upheld
B.F., a naval shipyard maintenance worker, claimed that workplace chemical and radiation exposures caused his diagnosed anaplastic large cell lymphoma. The Board acknowledged exposure to chemicals and some radiation during his federal employment. It found that his physician's reports discussed…
L.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
L.D. (ECAB 09-1918): Additional injury conditions denied
L.D., a postal letter carrier, slipped while delivering a parcel and had an accepted right leg strain. He sought acceptance of additional calf, knee, and back conditions. The Board found no diagnosed calf condition supported by a reasoned physician opinion. It also found that reports from nurses…
T.R. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Alpine, CA
T.R. (ECAB 09-1854): Recurrence of disability denial upheld
T.R., a Forest Service firefighter, had an accepted left quadriceps strain from a 2002 work injury. He claimed that he could no longer work beginning July 10, 2002 and submitted later medical reports describing hip and back conditions. The Board found that those reports did not adequately connect…
E.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Des Moines, IA
E.D. (ECAB 09-1797): Leave buyback denial upheld
E.D., a postal employee, had an accepted work-related aggravation of two left Achilles tendon conditions. He sought leave buyback for intermittent time away from work between June 2007 and January 2009. The Board found that his doctors' work excuses and treatment reports did not explain whether the…
L.H. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Jacksonville, FL
L.H. (ECAB 09-1779): Wage earning capacity modification denied
L.H., a DOL claims examiner with accepted back and depressive conditions, sought to change a 2004 wage earning capacity determination based on his later health problems. He argued that worsening accepted conditions led to heart disease and total disability. The Board found that his doctors had not…
J.R. and Department of the Navy, Naval Installation Station, Mechanicsburg, PA
J.R. (ECAB 09-1705): Overpayment upheld, fault finding reversed
J.R., a Navy firefighter, received a direct deposit covering six days after he returned to full-time work, creating a $792.61 wage loss overpayment. The Board upheld the amount because he was not entitled to disability compensation for those days. It reversed OWCP's fault finding because the…
E.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Warren, OH
E.W. (ECAB 09-944 and 09-1352): Ankle award and suitable-work termination upheld
E.W., a postal letter carrier, injured his left ankle at work and received a schedule award for nine percent permanent impairment of his left leg. He appealed the award and OWCP's later termination of wage-loss and schedule award benefits after he refused a modified letter carrier job. The Board…
E.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Warren, OH
E.W. (ECAB 09-944 and 09-1352): Ankle award and suitable work penalty upheld
E.W., a postal letter carrier with an accepted left ankle injury, challenged both his schedule award rating and a penalty for declining a modified job. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser properly rated his permanent left leg impairment at nine percent using ankle motion measurements. It…
L.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
L.A. (ECAB 09-411): Five percent left leg award upheld
L.A., a postal mail clerk with accepted left knee conditions, received a schedule award for five percent permanent impairment of her left leg. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser properly applied the impairment guide to her knee findings. She reported having consulted other physicians, but…
ConocoPhillips Bayway Refinery
Asbestos items reduced to other-than-serious
Conoco employees chipped and cut an asbestos-containing coating from an underground pipeline sleeve without following multiple asbestos-work requirements. The judge affirmed nine citation items as serious. The Commission held that the Secretary had not presented case-specific evidence showing that…
Edward M. Bogden v. Consolidation Coal Company
Bogden v. Consolidation Coal (BRB 09-0773): hearing loss benefits resume after total disability ends
Edward Bogden received benefits for a work-related back injury and a separate work-related hearing loss. The administrative law judge allowed six days of hearing loss payments before Bogden's total disability period began, but treated the remaining hearing loss award as permanently lost. The Board…
K.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bronx, NY
K.F. (ECAB 09-2244): Representative fee approvals upheld
K.F., a postal employee with an accepted knee injury, appealed OWCP's approval of two fee applications from his representative. The applications requested $427.50 and $360.00 for work on his compensation claim. The Board found that K.F. had signed statements accepting both amounts and that the…
C.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Regional Office, Decatur, GA
C.D. (ECAB 09-2167): Actual earnings used to set wage capacity
C.D., a VA mail clerk with accepted back injuries, returned to a modified full-time mail clerk job after treatment and surgery. She worked in the position for more than 60 days and earned the same annual pay as the current rate for her job at the time of injury. The Board found that the modified…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
R.B. (ECAB 09-2165): Claimed recurrence of disability denied
R.B., a postal clerk, had accepted bilateral ulnar nerve lesions and aggravated right medial epicondylitis. She claimed that she could not perform her assigned light-duty work from August 2 to 14, 2008. The Board found no adequate evidence that her accepted conditions had worsened or that her work…
J.S. and Department of Homeland Security, San Ysidro, CA
J.S. (ECAB 09-2122): Request to reopen schedule award claim denied
J.S., a customs and border control officer, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied her claim for a schedule award. The earlier medical opinion rated impairment of her spine and whole person, but did not establish impairment of a covered scheduled member. The Board found that the physical therapy…
G.G., executor of the estate of J.G., and Department of the Air Force, McGuire Air Force Base, Wrightstown, NJ
G.G., executor of J.G.'s estate (ECAB 09-1863): Termination of benefits affirmed
J.G., an Air Force security clerk, had an accepted lumbar and left foot sprain after she slipped at work. OWCP later terminated her benefits, and the executor of her estate appealed. Treating physicians and OWCP's second opinion physician disagreed about whether she still had work-related…
H.N. and Department of Energy, Southwestern Power Administration, Springfield, MO
H.N. (ECAB 09-1838): Heart attack claim lacked a reasoned causal opinion
H.N., a maintenance worker foreman, reported chest pain after refrigerant escaped from an air conditioner he was installing at work on July 3, 2007. He later had a heart attack and claimed that the workplace incident caused it. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim…
M.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Las Vegas, NV
M.G. (ECAB 09-1818): Temporary aggravations had resolved
M.G., a postal employee, had accepted right knee injuries and later claimed conditions in several other areas after knee replacement and rehabilitation. OWCP accepted temporary aggravations of degenerative disease in his back, neck, left shoulder, and left lower extremity, but found them resolved…
United American Nurses, District of Columbia Nurses Association and United American Nurses, Local 203 (Unions) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Healthcare, Veterans Integrated Services, Network 5 (Agency)
United American Nurses and VA Network 5 (FLRA 0-NG-2997): nurse scheduling proposal is negotiable
United American Nurses proposed access to bargaining unit nurses' scheduling information as the VA introduced a computer scheduling system. The proposal would give local union presidents read-only system access when the technology could limit that access to bargaining unit employees; until then…
Brody Mining, LLC
Immediate review of late-filing ruling denied
Brody Mining asked Judge William B. Moran to certify immediate review of an earlier order accepting the Secretary's penalty petition 135 days after its deadline. The company argued that the delay prejudiced it by leaving significant-and-substantial allegations unresolved and exposing it to a…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Ricky Lee Campbell v. Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered after equipment complaints
Ricky Lee Campbell repeatedly complained about shuttle-car brake and tram-pedal problems at Marfork Coal's Slip Ridge mine and said supervisors told him to continue using equipment he considered unsafe. He was suspended and terminated within weeks of starting at the mine. Judge L. Zane Gill found…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Columbus, OH
C.B. (ECAB 09-2363): Wrist sprains did not establish later wage loss
C.B., a postal mail handler, injured both wrists while lifting boxes, and OWCP accepted bilateral wrist sprains. He returned to regular work before his employment ended on May 15, 2008, then sought wage-loss compensation beginning May 16. The Board found that his physician's reports did not explain…
O.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
O.B. (ECAB 09-2352): Hip recurrence claim lacked proof of changed restrictions
O.B., a VA housekeeping aide, had an accepted permanent aggravation of hip osteoarthritis and worked in a light-duty position folding linens. He claimed a recurrence beginning April 14, 2006, saying that standing in the position exceeded his restrictions. The Board found no medical evidence of a…
J.F. and Department of the Army, Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, AZ
J.F. (ECAB 09-2342): Shoulder and elbow disease claim lacked medical explanation
J.F., an Army explosives operator, attributed shoulder and elbow conditions to lifting heavy items at work. OWCP accepted that he performed lifting duties, and his surgeon diagnosed shoulder tears and elbow conditions and operated on his left shoulder. The surgeon described some conditions as work…
W.T. and Department of the Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, LA
W.T. (ECAB 09-2312): Benefits termination reversed after incomplete referee history
W.T., an Air Force mechanic, received benefits for an accepted lumbar strain and a later work-related reinjury. OWCP relied on an impartial physician to end his wage-loss and medical benefits. The Board found that the statement of accepted facts given to that physician did not identify the…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
C.S. (ECAB 09-2192): Termination upheld after accepted strains resolved
C.S., a postal employee, had accepted cervical and right shoulder strains from a 1993 injury and had received compensation. OWCP's second opinion physician found no remaining residuals of those accepted conditions. Her treating physician reported pain but did not give a supported opinion connecting…
R.H. and Department of Labor, Turner Job Corps Center, Albany, GA
R.H. (ECAB 09-1981): Overpayment and recovery upheld
R.H. received compensation after a right knee injury. After his release from incarceration, OWCP restored payments at the total disability rate even though a prior decision had reduced his wage-loss rate. The Board upheld the $10,409.57 overpayment and found that he knew or should have known the…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dayton, OH
J.B. (ECAB 09-1595): Leg impairment award reduced after unsupported pain rating
J.B., a retired postal letter carrier, sought a larger schedule award for his right arm and left leg and asked OWCP to reopen the claim. The Board accepted the 33 percent right arm rating but found that the medical evidence supported only 38 percent left leg impairment rather than the 43 percent…
K.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oakland, CA
K.H. (ECAB 09-1554): Life insurance overpayment upheld; health premiums remanded
K.H., a postal employee receiving disability compensation, disputed OWCP's $7,615.23 insurance-premium overpayment finding. The Board upheld $1,309.00 in unpaid life insurance premiums because the record showed no waiver of that coverage. It found the health insurance portion unresolved because the…
Hanson Aggregates Arizona, Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
Hanson Aggregates Arizona asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The published order does not state why the company missed the contest deadline. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened…
Miles Sand & Gravel Company
Final penalty assessment reopened
Miles Sand & Gravel asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The published order does not describe why the company missed the contest deadline. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the…
Rocky Point Rock, Inc.
Disputed assessment receipt sent for factfinding
MSHA's records showed that Rocky Point Rock received a proposed assessment on September 14, 2009. The company said it actually received the form on October 13 inside an envelope with another assessment and returned both forms six days later. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but acknowledged…
Lehigh Cement Company
Misfiled penalty contests reopened
Lehigh Cement intended to contest penalties for four citations and forwarded the proposed assessment to counsel with other materials. A temporary clerical assistant misfiled the assessment, so counsel did not realize it required action before the deadline. Counsel discovered the final order while…
C & P Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
C & P Sand & Gravel asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The published order does not describe the operator's explanation for missing the contest deadline. After reviewing the circumstances, the…
D.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Indian School Station, Phoenix, AZ
D.V. (ECAB 09-2294): Reconsideration refusal upheld without new evidence
D.V., a postal mail processing clerk, sought reconsideration of OWCP's denial of a shoulder and arm occupational disease claim. Her new statement repeated her view that the condition was work related but supplied no medical evidence or new legal ground for review. The Board found her argument about…
W.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Brecksville, OH
W.R. (ECAB 09-2181): Shoulder impairment claim returned for medical adviser review
W.R., a VA nurse with an accepted right shoulder injury, sought a schedule award for permanent arm impairment. Her physician measured loss of motion and rated 10 percent right arm impairment. OWCP denied the award based on a general view that a shoulder strain would not leave permanent impairment…
G.A. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Norfolk, VA
G.A. (ECAB 09-2153): Androgel authorization denial affirmed
G.A., a Defense Logistics Agency quality assurance specialist, sought authorization for Androgel to treat low testosterone. He argued that pain medication used for his accepted injuries caused the condition. OWCP denied authorization because the evidence did not adequately connect the treatment to…
P.A. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, CA
P.A. (ECAB 09-2111): Herniated disc claim denied for lack of causation evidence
P.A., an airport baggage screener, had an accepted lumbar strain after lifting baggage in 2004. A 2008 MRI showed an L3-4 disc herniation, and he sought to have the condition covered as part of his work injury. OWCP denied the claim because the medical evidence did not connect the herniation to the…
C.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
C.D. (ECAB 09-1861): No additional right leg schedule award
C.D., a postal carrier with an accepted right ankle injury, had received a schedule award for 17 percent impairment of her right leg. She sought a larger award. After an earlier impairment evaluation proved inadequate, OWCP obtained another examination, which its medical adviser rated at nine…
S.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Racine, WI
S.J. (ECAB 09-1789): Left leg award and reconsideration refusal affirmed
S.J., a postal letter carrier, injured his back and left leg while delivering mail and later underwent surgery for a herniated disc. OWCP awarded compensation for two percent permanent impairment of his left leg. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser properly rated the sensory loss in his…
R.F. and Department of the Navy, Naval Supply Systems Command, Philadelphia, PA
R.F. (ECAB 09-1605): Recurrence claim returned for updated medical opinion
R.F., a Navy accountant, sought compensation for a claimed return to total disability after working part time following a 1999 fall. OWCP denied the recurrence claim based on an impartial physician's opinion that her May 2005 work stoppage was unrelated to the accepted injuries. OWCP later accepted…
Compass Environmental, Inc.
Power-line training violation reinstated
A Compass employee was fatally electrocuted when an excavator boom approached an overhead power line and electricity traveled through a grease line he was holding. The judge vacated the training citation because he found the employee's exposure unforeseeable. The Commission reversed, finding that a…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1367 (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas (Agency)
AFGE Local 1367 and Lackland Air Force Base (FLRA 0-NG-2916): eight housekeeper workload proposals are negotiable
AFGE Local 1367 challenged the Air Force's increased room-cleaning assignments for housekeepers at Lackland Air Force Base. Its eight proposals addressed reasonable workloads, breaks, discipline for reduced cleaning quality, filling vacancies, overtime or compensatory time, fair distribution of…
Russell City Energy Center, LLC
In re Russell City Energy Center, LLC (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 10-12 and 10-13): late petitions dismissed
Russell City Energy Center, LLC's PSD Permit No. 15487 authorized construction of a natural gas fired combined-cycle power plant in Hayward, California. Earnest A. Pacheco and Raymond Pietrorazio each submitted a petition for review on June 1, 2010. The permit required petitions to be received by…
Matter of Carlos Ovidio MENDEZ-ORELLANA
Antique firearm status is an affirmative defense
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Guatemalan lawful permanent resident who had firearm convictions. The Board held that the antique-firearm exception in the federal firearm definition is an affirmative…
A.F. and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration, Baton Rouge, LA
A.F. (ECAB 09-2333): Late reconsideration request did not show clear error
A.F., a Labor Department industrial hygienist, claimed physical and emotional injuries connected to her efforts to leave Washington after the September 11, 2001 attacks. OWCP had accepted the events as employment factors but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting them to her…
D.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Maryville, MO
D.E. (ECAB 09-2303): Termination of postal worker's benefits upheld
D.E., a postal city carrier, had an accepted workplace injury involving contusions, an elbow abrasion, and a cervical strain. OWCP terminated her wage-loss and medical benefits after a second opinion physician found that the accepted conditions had resolved. Her treating orthopedic surgeon agreed…
O.W. and Department of the Army, Directorate of Engineering & Housing, Fort Sam Houston, TX
O.W. (ECAB 09-2268): Denial of renewed ankle treatment claim upheld
O.W., an Army firefighter, had an accepted right ankle sprain from a 1992 work incident. He sought renewed medical treatment beginning in March 2008 for ankle pain and later diagnosed conditions. The Board found that his physicians diagnosed ankle arthritis and other conditions but did not explain…
T.S. and Department of the Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Washington, DC
T.S. (ECAB 09-2184): Injury claim denial upheld on available record
T.S., a Treasury Department equal employment specialist, filed an injury claim after reporting an assault in Washington, DC, in June 2008. OWCP asked for factual and medical evidence but had received only her claim form when it issued its September 2008 denial. The Board held that this record did…
R.G. and Department of the Army, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX
R.G. (ECAB 09-2059): Refusal to reopen schedule award claim upheld
R.G., an Army occupational health technician, sought a schedule award after an accepted left hip and groin injury. OWCP had denied the award, and he asked it to reconsider. The Board found that his request identified no legal error or new legal argument, while his physician's later reports did not…
C.W. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Darrington, WA
C.W. (ECAB 09-1836): Work-related neck and shoulder claim returned to resolve medical conflict
C.W., a Forest Service writer-editor, claimed that long hours of computer work aggravated her neck and shoulder conditions. Her treating physician linked the symptoms to her work activities, while OWCP's second opinion physician attributed them to age-related changes. The Board found the opinions…
J.A. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
J.A. (ECAB 09-1678): Leg award ratings and overpayment recovery upheld
J.A., an IRS special agent, challenged his schedule award ratings of 12 percent left leg impairment and 8 percent right leg impairment after an accepted back injury. The Board agreed with OWCP's medical adviser that a higher rating had combined methods the A.M.A. Guides did not permit and added…
C.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Management Section Center, Baltimore, MD
C.K. (ECAB 09-1140): Left arm impairment claim returned for more medical review
C.K., a postal mail processor, sought an additional schedule award for left arm impairment after accepted wrist tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Her examiner rated a much larger impairment, but the Board found that he had used unsupported ratings and included conditions not shown to be work…
G.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
G.F. (ECAB 09-2302): Schedule award and later wage-loss claims denied
G.F., a postal distribution clerk, had accepted back conditions after lifting mail boxes at work. He sought a schedule award and wage-loss compensation after he retired in November 2008. The Board found that a medical examination showed no permanent leg impairment caused by the accepted back…
D.M. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, St. Louis, MO
D.M. (ECAB 09-2210): Right hip tear not added to accepted injury claim
D.M., an FBI special agent, reported hip and back pain after repeatedly bending during firearms training. OWCP accepted a right hip strain and an aggravation of a lumbar disc condition, but declined to add a later diagnosed hip labral tear. The Board found that medical reports documented the tear…
D.S. and Department of the Air Force, Langley Air Force Base, VA
D.S. (ECAB 09-2199): Overpayment existed, but amount sent back for review
D.S., an Air Force insulator mechanic, returned to part-time private work while continuing to receive compensation for total disability. The Board agreed that this created an overpayment and that OWCP had given him adequate opportunities to discuss it before issuing its decision. It found that the…
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bigfork, MT
J.P. (ECAB 09-2076): Termination for refusing suitable work reversed
J.P., a postal clerk with an accepted neck condition, was offered limited-duty work and initially objected to it. She then returned and tried the job before stopping because of pain. OWCP terminated her compensation on the ground that she had refused suitable work. The Board held that, once she…
J.L. and Department of Defense, Department of Defense Police, Fort Dix, NJ
J.L. (ECAB 09-1726): Left foot impairment award denial upheld
J.L., a Defense Department materials handler, fractured a left foot bone when a box fell on it at work. He sought a schedule award for permanent leg impairment. The Board found that his supporting physician's rating did not properly follow the A.M.A. Guides and included an unsupported separate pain…
N.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tulsa, OK
N.R. (ECAB 09-1721): Total disability recurrence denial upheld
N.R., a postal carrier, returned to limited-duty work after accepted neck and left shoulder injuries. Years later, she claimed that those injuries caused a new period of total disability. The Board found no evidence that her limited-duty job changed or was withdrawn. Her medical reports did not…
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.