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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S.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Pablo, CA
S.L. (ECAB 09-0709): Existing 24 percent leg impairment award upheld
S.L., a Postal Service mail carrier, had an accepted left knee condition and an existing schedule award for 24 percent permanent impairment of the left leg. He sought an increase after his physician rated the impairment at 26 percent, including seven percent for claimed kneecap instability. The…
D.R. and Department of the Interior, Volcanoes National Park, Volcano, HI
D.R. (ECAB 09-0489): Leg impairment ratings require another review
D.R., a National Park Service maintenance worker, received schedule awards based on 29 percent right leg impairment and 20 percent left leg impairment after accepted ankle and knee injuries. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser had used nerve root tables for ankle pain without evidence of a…
B.H. and Department of the Air Force, Robins Air Force Base, GA
B.H. (ECAB 09-0426): Repeated opinion did not reopen back claim
B.H., an Air Force trainee, sought to reopen a denied claim that her work aggravated an existing back condition. On reconsideration she submitted another report from a physician who had already said her job could have aggravated it. The Board found that the later report repeated the earlier opinion…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Malden, MA
D.B. (ECAB 09-0214): Wage payment after return to work was an overpayment
D.B., a Postal Service letter carrier, received wage loss compensation for April 7 through 19, 2003 after he had returned to work. OWCP calculated a $1,142.14 overpayment for that period. The Board upheld the amount and found him at fault because OWCP had told him to return any compensation…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
R.R. (ECAB 09-1829): Board decision made reconsideration request timely
R.R. sought reconsideration of a claim after the Board had issued a merits decision in January 2009. OWCP treated his March 2009 request as late because it measured the filing period from its own January 2008 decision. The Board held that its January 2009 merits decision restarted the one-year…
F.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
F.W. (ECAB 09-1304): Retirement overpayment finding reversed
F.W., a Postal Service mail handler, elected to receive federal disability retirement benefits in place of workers' compensation. OWCP found an overpayment because it continued to pay wage loss compensation after the requested retirement start date. The Board found no written evidence from the…
G.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK
G.A. (ECAB 09-1208): Back injury claim denied despite established job duties
G.A., a food service worker at a veterans medical center, claimed that bending and pushing and pulling carts caused back pain. OWCP denied his claim, finding insufficient evidence of the work incident. The Board found that his account and his employer's description established those job activities…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fayetteville, NC
J.G. (ECAB 09-1128): Left-arm impairment award increased to nine percent
J.G., a Postal Service letter carrier, injured his left shoulder in a vehicle accident while delivering mail. OWCP granted a schedule award for five percent permanent impairment of his left arm. The Board recalculated the measured loss of shoulder motion under the A.M.A. Guides and found nine…
D.F. and Department of the Air Force, Warner Robins Air Force Base, GA
D.F. (ECAB 09-1080): Hearing loss claim returned for further evidence
D.F., an Air Force inventory management specialist, claimed that workplace noise contributed to his hearing loss. After an earlier Board remand, OWCP denied the claim again based on a second physician's opinion that age, rather than work, caused the loss. The Board found that the physician had not…
R.H. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Black Lung Division, Washington, DC
R.H. (ECAB 09-1079): Left-arm award upheld; right-arm rating returned
R.H., a Labor Department claims examiner, sought larger schedule awards for impairment from bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. OWCP had awarded eight percent for her right arm and four percent for her left. The Board upheld the left-arm rating because the second-opinion physician's sensory finding…
E.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Metro, GA
E.S. (ECAB 09-1035): One percent left-arm impairment award upheld
E.S., a Postal Service carrier, injured her left elbow while lifting a mail tub and later had surgery. OWCP awarded compensation for one percent arm impairment. The Board found that the measured loss of elbow extension supported that rating under the A.M.A. Guides, while later medical reports did…
F.T. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Decatur, AL
F.T. (ECAB 09-919): Denial of orthopedic shoes upheld
F.T. sought approval for orthopedic shoes and inserts after a physician prescribed them. OWCP had accepted injuries from an earlier workplace vehicle accident but denied the purchase. The Board found that the physician had not explained how the shoes and inserts would treat any of F.T.'s accepted…
I.N. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Newark, NJ
I.N. (ECAB 09-823): Wage loss reduction based on identification clerk work upheld
I.N., a Transportation Security Administration passenger screener, sustained a right knee injury and later stopped working when her light duty position ended. OWCP reduced her wage loss compensation based on the wages of an identification clerk, a job she did not hold. The Board found that the…
E.K. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Logan International Airport, East Boston, MA
E.K. (ECAB 09-693): Pay rate based on 24-hour workweek upheld
E.K., a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control specialist, argued that his compensation should use a full-time 40-hour workweek rather than the 24-hour schedule he held when injured. OWCP calculated a weekly pay rate of $1,672.25 using his 24-hour schedule and applicable premium pay…
National Labor Relations Board Union (Union) and National Labor Relations Board, Detroit Regional Office, Detroit, Michigan (Agency)
NLRB Union and NLRB Detroit (FLRA 0-AR-4250): Part-time attorney promotion denial upheld
An NLRB field attorney working a part-time schedule sought promotion from GS-13 to GS-14. The agency denied promotion, saying she lacked 36 months of qualifying experience after her part-time work was prorated. An arbitrator denied the grievance, distinguishing qualifying experience from time in…
N.N. and Department of Energy, Office of Human Capital Management, Washington, DC
N.N. (ECAB 09-1710): $46,325.69 overpayment finding reversed
N.N., a Department of Energy employee, received partial wage loss compensation based on a four-hour work schedule. OWCP alleged she worked more than four hours on some days during that period. OWCP claimed she had been overpaid $46,325.69 and found her at fault. The Board found that OWCP had not…
C.S. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Dallas, TX
C.S. (ECAB 09-1281): Schedule award denied for lack of impairment evidence
C.S., an Internal Revenue Service secretary, had an accepted claim for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical strain. She sought a schedule award but supplied no medical rating of permanent impairment under the A.M.A. Guides. The Board explained that her chiropractor could not provide a…
G.Z. and Department of the Army, Army National Guard, Houston, TX
G.Z. (ECAB 09-1233): Injury claim denied without medical evidence
G.Z., an Army National Guard repairer, reported striking his head on a vehicle component while working. OWCP accepted that the workplace incident occurred but denied his compensation claim because he submitted no medical evidence diagnosing an injury linked to it. The Board agreed that proof of the…
L.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Princess Bay Station, Staten Island, NY
L.B. (ECAB 09-1201): Seven percent right-leg impairment award upheld
L.B., a Postal Service clerk, injured her right knee in a workplace fall and received a seven percent schedule award for leg impairment. She sought an increase after an x-ray measured a three millimeter joint space. The Board found that her representative applied the A.M.A. Guides table to the…
D.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
D.R. (ECAB 09-1160): Foot condition claim denied without medical causation opinion
D.R., a Postal Service letter carrier, attributed plantar fasciitis and heel spurs to years of delivering mail. Her physician documented foot conditions but did not explain whether her work caused them. The Board held that a diagnosis and a description of work duties did not establish the required…
S.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Apple Valley, CA
S.N. (ECAB 09-1143): Disability claim returned for specialist opinion
S.N., a Postal Service distribution clerk, sought wage loss compensation after an accepted lumbar strain from a workplace fall. OWCP denied benefits for disability beginning June 16, 2008, despite her treating surgeon's reports that she could not work during that period. The Board found those…
G.P. and Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship Immigration Services, Miami, FL
G.P. (ECAB 09-1114): Eye injury claim denied without medical diagnosis
G.P., a federal asylum officer, was struck in the right eye by a rubber band that snapped from a bundle of files at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied compensation. The Board found that the submitted medical documents gave no diagnosis or reasoned opinion connecting an eye…
A.C. and General Services Administration, Burlington, NJ
A.C. (ECAB 09-900): Decisions reversed over referee selection explanation
OWCP had terminated A.C.'s wage loss and medical benefits based on a referee physician's opinion. A.C. challenged how that physician had been selected, pointing to records that showed many other physicians marked too busy within a few minutes. OWCP's later decisions stated that the referee was the…
T.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Biloxi, MS
T.K. (ECAB 09-891): Emotional condition claim and late hearing request denied
T.K., a nurse at a Veterans Affairs medical center, claimed stress after a dispute with her supervisor about reporting to the supervisor's office. The Board found no substantiated error, abuse or unreasonable conduct by the supervisor that would make the personnel matter a compensable work factor…
B.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Portland, OR
B.M. (ECAB 09-260): Wage capacity and recurrence denials upheld
B.M., a Veterans Affairs patient services assistant, worked in a modified position after an accepted left shoulder injury. OWCP found that her actual wages in that position fairly represented her earning capacity. The Board upheld that finding because she had worked there for more than 60 days and…
Butch Thompson Enterprises, Inc.
Power-line item vacated, willful trench violation affirmed
A Butch Thompson Enterprises crew operated an excavator beneath overhead power lines and sent two workers into a 13-foot-deep excavation without cave-in protection. The judge found that the equipment-specific power-line-clearance standard applied, but OSHA's officer had only estimated the clearance…
Secretary of Labor v. Banner Blue Coal Company
Date-stamp error sent for fact-finding
Banner Blue filed late contests to two assessments after its parent company's office stamped them with a date one month after actual Federal Express delivery. The operator also said MSHA's earlier switch from certified mail disrupted its processing system, while the Secretary argued that the safety…
Secretary of Labor v. Knox Creek Coal Corporation and Ernest B. Matney
Operator liable, foreman initially dismissed
Knox Creek admitted S&S violations for an inadequate preshift examination and unprotected roof and rib hazards, leaving unwarrantable failure and penalties for decision. Judge Jerold Feldman found longstanding, obvious, and dangerous roof conditions, including sheared bolts, sloughage, and a…
Peabody Western Coal Company, Black Mesa Complex
Permit appeal dismissed after EPA withdrew the permit
EPA Region 9 renewed Peabody Western Coal Company's NPDES permit for its Black Mesa Complex. Several organizations petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board for review and sought a remand based on alleged deficiencies. Before the Board decided whether to grant review, Region 9 withdrew the permit…
Secretary of Labor v. Black Beauty Coal Company
Unsupported 80 percent settlement reduction rejected
The Secretary proposed resolving 12 citations by reducing total penalties from $104,464 to $20,394, changing six citations to non-S&S, reducing gravity on three, vacating two, and leaving one unchanged. Judge Margaret A. Miller found that the motion did not supply enough facts to justify the more…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, East Orange, NY
D.D. (ECAB 09-1174): Neck injury claim denied for lack of medical connection
D.D., a Postal Service rural carrier associate, reported neck pain after moving a tray of mail at work. OWCP ultimately accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not link a diagnosed neck condition to it. The Board found that physician reports gave no…
C.D. and Department of Defense, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, MD
C.D. (ECAB 09-1044): Leg impairment rating returned for impartial examination
C.D. sought a schedule award for impairment after a work-related left kneecap fracture. Her treating surgeon rated the leg at 20 percent, while OWCP's second-opinion surgeon rated it at seven percent. OWCP acknowledged the conflict and told C.D. an impartial examination was needed, but it issued…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Damariscotta, ME
R.C. (ECAB 09-1002): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
R.C., a Postal Service mail carrier, reported back pain after lifting a tub of mail at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but found the medical evidence did not establish an injury caused by it. The Board found that her family practitioner's reports described low back pain without a…
G.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Dallas, TX
G.C. (ECAB 09-971): Shoulder and back injury claim denied for lack of medical causation
G.C., a Veterans Affairs air conditioning mechanic, reported injuries to his shoulder, arm, neck and lower back after moving equipment at work. The Board accepted that the incident occurred on March 24, 2007, although the claim initially gave a different date. His orthopedist diagnosed several…
H.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Shreveport, LA
H.E. (ECAB 09-965): $1,196.76 overpayment and fault findings upheld
H.E., a Veterans Affairs housekeeping supervisor, returned to work four hours a day while OWCP continued paying compensation for total disability. OWCP calculated an overpayment of $1,196.76 for August 29 through September 27, 2008, after accounting for the partial disability compensation due. The…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Arlington, WA
D.D. (ECAB 09-931): Wage loss termination reversed for missing notice
D.D., a Postal Service employee with accepted right hip and knee conditions, was offered a modified job. OWCP first told him the job was suitable, then obtained a referee physician's opinion to support suitability after further medical review. The Board held that OWCP had changed the medical basis…
P.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
P.K. (ECAB 09-790): Compensation forfeiture and overpayment upheld
P.K., a Postal Service employee receiving injury compensation, answered no to questions about work and earnings on a required reporting form. The Board found that he had operated a real estate development business during the reporting period and knowingly failed to disclose its activities and…
Constructural Dynamics Inc.
Pneumatic leak-test citation vacated
Constructural Dynamics, which traded as Silvi Concrete, repaired its concrete mixer trucks at an in-house shop. A welder was killed when a repaired 200-gallon water tank exploded during a pneumatic leak test. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause, alleging that employees were exposed…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Mark Gray v. North Fork Coal Corporation
Temporary reinstatement dissolved after Secretary declined complaint
Mark Gray had received temporary economic reinstatement after the Judge found that the Secretary's discrimination application was not frivolously brought. The Secretary later told Gray that she would not file a discrimination complaint on his behalf. Judge Gary Melick concluded that temporary…
M.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashville, TN
M.E. (ECAB 09-1170): Carpal tunnel claim denied without medical causation opinion
M.E., a Postal Service mail handler, attributed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome to sorting, repairing and handling mail. OWCP accepted those activities as employment factors, and a neurologist diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome. The Board found that no physician explained how the accepted work…
L.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brook Park, OH
L.R. (ECAB 09-1119): Left-arm impairment claim returned for sensory review
L.R., a Postal Service letter carrier, sought a schedule award after accepted carpal tunnel syndrome and left wrist and thumb tenosynovitis. His physician rated left-arm sensory loss but reported six percent after multiplying figures that the Board said equal 9.75 percent, rounded to 10. OWCP's…
S.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
S.C. (ECAB 09-1106): $960.55 overpayment and fault findings upheld
S.C., a Postal Service rural carrier, returned to light duty on December 5, 2008 while OWCP continued paying temporary total disability compensation through December 20. OWCP calculated a $960.55 overpayment for the period after her return to work. The Board upheld the calculation and found S.C. at…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
L.C. (ECAB 09-1033): Emotional condition claim and reconsideration denial upheld
L.C., a Postal Service employee, claimed an emotional condition from alleged threats and abusive conduct by supervisors. The Board found that the alleged conduct was not substantiated by evidence and that no compensable work factor had been established. It did not reach the medical evidence about…
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Armada, MI
P.C. (ECAB 09-1003): Neck condition claim denied without reasoned medical link
P.C., a Postal Service rural carrier, attributed neck problems and headaches to years of driving, leaning out of her vehicle and casing mail. OWCP accepted that she performed the described work but denied her occupational disease claim. One neurologist suspected the work had contributed to her neck…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Independence, MO
T.W. (ECAB 09-812): Arm award upheld; reconsideration denial returned
T.W., a Postal Service mail handler, sought a larger left-arm schedule award after several accepted shoulder and pain conditions. The Board found that the A.M.A. Guides analysis supported the 22 percent total rating, including an additional six percent award after an earlier 16 percent award. It…
S.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Edward Hines, Jr., Veterans Medical Center, Hines, IL
S.E. (ECAB 09-677): Compensation reduction and hearing denial upheld
S.E., a Department of Veterans Affairs employee with an accepted right arm and wrist injury, received disability compensation after she stopped working. OWCP referred her for vocational rehabilitation and warned that failing to cooperate could reduce her compensation. The Board found that she…
T.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Troy, MI
T.R. (ECAB 09-1212): Wage-loss claim denied for hand injury
T.R., a Postal Service letter carrier, injured her right hand after slipping on ice during a delivery. She sought compensation for a period away from work and for time spent attending occupational therapy. The Board found that her doctor's records did not explain why the accepted hand contusion…
R.J. and Department of Defense, Tyndall Air Force Base, FL
R.J. (ECAB 09-1202): Three percent elbow award upheld
R.J., a Defense Department toolmaker, injured his right elbow at work and received a schedule award for three percent impairment of his right arm. He sought a larger award based on his physician's rating. The Board found conflicting figures in that physician's report and said his range-of-motion…
J.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Togus Veterans Administration Medical Center, Augusta, ME
J.M. (ECAB 09-1161): Back injury and reconsideration denials upheld
J.M., a Veterans Affairs nurse, reported back pain after sitting at a computer at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied compensation because the medical evidence did not establish a resulting injury. The Board found that the physicians described pain, offered a speculative…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Addison, TX
E.B. (ECAB 09-1153): Finger award increased and returned to OWCP
E.B., a Postal Service distribution clerk, received a schedule award for 16 percent impairment of her left second finger after treatment for trigger finger. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser overlooked the loss of extension measured at one finger joint. Combining that loss with the other…
D.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Dulles International Airport, Dulles, VA
D.M. (ECAB 09-1047): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical diagnosis
D.M., an airport security supervisor, reported back pain after lifting a heavy bag onto a screening belt. OWCP accepted that the lifting incident happened but denied his injury claim. The Board found that the emergency physician's description of a local back injury did not identify a specific…
D.S. and Department of Health & Human Services, Social Security Administration, Office of Regional Chief Counsel, Chicago, IL
D.S. (ECAB 09-938): Claimed psychiatric condition not linked to work injury
D.S., a Social Security Administration legal assistant, sustained a concussion and an accepted conversion disorder after a fall at work. He also claimed that the injury caused Ganser's syndrome. After earlier Board remands, OWCP obtained a supplemental opinion from an impartial psychiatrist…
A.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Salisbury Veterans Administration Medical Center, Salisbury, NC
A.M. (ECAB 09-924): Leave buyback denied for claimed disability
A.M., a Veterans Affairs medical technician, had accepted neck and back sprains after a workplace fall. She sought compensation to buy back leave used while she was away from work in March 2008. The Board found that her physician's reports did not adequately explain why the accepted injuries caused…
S.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dayton, OH
S.A. (ECAB 09-915): Wage-loss claim denied after job termination
S.A., a Postal Service employee with accepted neck and low-back conditions, sought wage-loss compensation for four hours a day starting November 30, 2007. She had stopped working while on administrative leave and was terminated for cause on that date. The Board found that her loss of wages resulted…
H.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Miami, FL
H.B. (ECAB 09-874): Late reconsideration request denied
H.B., a customs officer, sought reconsideration of OWCP's denial of his claim that cold exposure at work caused a lung condition. The Board found that even his asserted October 24, 2007 mailing date was one day after the one-year deadline from the October 23, 2006 merit decision. His submitted…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 220 (Union)
SSA Baltimore and AFGE Council 220 (FLRA 0-AR-4248): Pre-shift credit-hour remedy upheld
SSA stopped allowing teleservice center employees to earn certain credit hours before their shifts and on Saturdays. An arbitrator found that pre-shift credit hours within flexible schedule bands were lawful and that SSA had failed to bargain over ending that established practice. He upheld SSA's…
Secretary of Labor v. Wingdale Materials, LLC
Six-day-late penalty contest not reopened
Wingdale Materials mailed a contest of penalties associated with seven citations six days after the statutory deadline. Its safety director said travel and work demands delayed his receipt and handling of the assessment. The Commission majority found that explanation too general because he knew…
Secretary of Labor v. Highland Mining Company
Four penalty reopening requests denied
Highland Mining sought to reopen four final penalty assessments after its guard, receptionist, and safety directors failed to route or complete timely contests. The Commission denied the first request with prejudice because Highland lacked reliable delivery procedures and then waited three months…
Social Security Administration (Respondent/Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 215, AFL-CIO (Charging Party/Union)
SSA and AFGE Council 215 (FLRA WA-CA-04-0604): Break schedule information denial unlawful
SSA proposed changing how lunch and break times would be set in its hearing offices. The union sought existing break schedules across the affected offices to evaluate the proposal and prepare counterproposals. SSA initially refused, saying the request lacked a particularized need, though it…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lige Williamson v. CAM Mining, LLC
Economic reinstatement terms amended
After the Commission reversed an earlier denial of temporary reinstatement, Judge Jerold Feldman ordered Lige Williamson reinstated retroactive to September 30, 2009. The parties then agreed on the economic terms. This amendment required CAM Mining to pay $1,320 in gross weekly wages, restore…
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.