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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George Harms Construction Co., Inc.
Late-contest case remanded for a merits hearing
George Harms Construction filed its notice contesting OSHA citations after the statutory deadline. The Third Circuit found excusable neglect, vacated the Commission order dismissing the contest, and reaffirmed that the Commission may grant relief from a late filing under Federal Rule of Civil…
Secretary of Labor v. RAG Cumberland Resources LP
Methane-control violations affirmed, penalty remanded
RAG Cumberland Resources operated an underground coal mine with a bleeder system intended to dilute and move methane away from active workings. The Commission affirmed violations involving a bleeder system that was not functioning as required and a hazardous methane condition that was not corrected…
Secretary of Labor v. Southwest Concrete & Paving, Inc.
Penalty-payment dismissal remanded for mistake determination
Southwest Concrete & Paving contested a proposed penalty for a citation at its Mimbres Pit but paid the penalty because of what it called a bookkeeping inadvertence. The Chief Administrative Law Judge dismissed the contest after learning that the penalty had been paid. The Commission remanded the…
Secretary of Labor v. Southwest Concrete & Paving, Inc.
Final penalty orders remanded for good-cause review
Southwest Concrete did not contest proposed penalties for two citations but later paid them because of what it called a bookkeeping inadvertence. The company asked the Commission to reopen the final penalty orders and consolidate the matter with another Southwest Concrete case. The Commission…
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Integrated Service Network 7, Network Business Office, Duluth, Georgia (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 217 (Union)
VA Network Business Office and AFGE Local 217 (FLRA 0AR-3825): Attorney fee award set aside
An arbitrator found that a Department of Veterans Affairs office violated its labor agreement by granting performance awards without the required panel. He ordered the agency to establish a panel and pay the union's attorney fees. The agency challenged only the fee award. The Authority held that a…
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 2830 (Union) and United States, Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
AFSCME Local 2830 and DOJ Office of Justice Programs (FLRA 0-NG-2746): Monitoring proposal outside bargaining duty
AFSCME Local 2830 proposed limits on when the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs could monitor employees' personal telephone calls and computer use. The Authority found the proposal outside the agency's duty to bargain. The proposal would restrict monitoring that the agency could…
United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
HHS Health Resources Services Administration and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-3796): Employee appraisal must be redone
An arbitrator found that the Health Resources Services Administration failed to give an employee her performance standards during the appraisal period and failed to provide required reviews. He cancelled her fully successful rating and restored her excellent rating from the previous year. The…
Becon Construction, Inc.
Supplemental motion to compel denied
Becon Construction and related parties sought additional statements and investigative documents from the Secretary in consolidated mine proceedings. Judge Jerold Feldman denied the supplemental motion to compel because the requested miner statements were protected by Commission privileges, and…
Becon Construction, Inc.
Supplemental motion to compel denied
Becon Construction and related parties sought additional statements and investigative documents from the Secretary in consolidated mine proceedings. Judge Jerold Feldman denied the supplemental motion to compel because the requested miner statements were protected by Commission privileges, and…
Rochester Public Utilities
In re Rochester Public Utilities (EAB PSD Appeal No. 03-03): permit review denied
Rochester Public Utilities proposed an underground high-pressure steam line from its coal-fired Silver Lake Plant to the Mayo Clinic's Prospect Utility Plant. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy argued that the project physically modified an emissions unit and therefore required best…
24/7 Service & Supply, Inc.
Decision amended under Commission Rule 69(c)
Judge Gary Melick amended the July 30, 2004 decision in the discrimination proceeding involving Raymond George and 24/7 Service and Supply. Under Commission Rule 69(c), the amendment substitutes a corrected paragraph three on page eight of the earlier decision. The replacement paragraph recounts…
MasTec North America, Inc., successor of Weeks Construction, Inc.
Energized-line citation vacated and general-duty claim remanded
A MasTec employee was fatally electrocuted while removing slack from an energized 7,200-volt utility line after the cut ends swung into his body. OSHA alleged that the employee worked inside the minimum approach distance without adequate insulation, even though he wore voltage-rated gloves and…
Bridges Grading & Hauling, Inc.
Two trench violations affirmed and inspection item vacated
Bridges was laying storm pipe at a residential development while an employee worked in a trench more than eight feet deep. The judge found that the company provided no safe means of egress and allowed the spoil pile to rise directly from the trench edge without an adequate retaining device. She…
24/7 Service and Supply, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Raymond George alleged that 24/7 Service and Supply laid him off after he raised questions about air supply and oxygen levels in confined areas at the Lee Ranch Coal Mine. Judge Gary Melick found the conversation ambiguous and innocuous and concluded that it was not a protected safety complaint…
United States, Department of the Air Force, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987 (Union)
Air Force Warner Robins and AFGE Local 987 (FLRA 0-AR-3799): Compensatory time award limited
An arbitrator found that an Air Force logistics center's agreement allowed employees to choose compensatory time for Sunday overtime, even when the overtime was scheduled in advance. The Authority held that federal law generally permits compensatory time in place of overtime pay only for irregular…
Washington Aqueduct Water Supply System
In re Washington Aqueduct Water Supply System (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 03-06): permit remanded in part
The Washington Aqueduct Water Supply System discharges treated sediment and supernatant from drinking-water treatment basins into the Potomac River. The National Wilderness Institute challenged the NPDES permit, arguing that EPA Region III relied on unrepresentative samples when evaluating whether…
Secretary of Labor v. Joliet Sand & Gravel Company
Penalty reopening request remanded for good-cause review
A fatality occurred at Joliet Sand & Gravel's Underground Mine No. 1, after which MSHA issued citations and proposed penalties. Joliet timely contested the citations but did not separately challenge the penalty proposals because it mistakenly believed the pending contests were sufficient. The…
Rockhouse Energy Mining Co.
Five roof-control matters split, $65,000 penalty assessed
Rockhouse Energy Mining operated an underground coal mine in Kentucky where a miner was killed by a roof fall while workers tried to recover a continuous mining machine. MSHA alleged that the mine violated a closure order, roof-support rules, its roof-control plan, sound and vibration testing…
Koch Nitrogen Company
In re Koch Nitrogen Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 03-01): petition dismissed after settlement
Koch Nitrogen Company sought review of conditions in a RCRA permit jointly issued by EPA Region VII and the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment. Koch later moved to withdraw its petition, stating that the parties had reached a settlement and met the settlement conditions. The…
Dacotah Cement
Settlement approved after Commission remand
Dacotah Cement’s civil penalty case returned to Judge Irwin Schroeder after a June 9, 2004 Commission decision affirmed part of an earlier ruling and vacated another part. The parties reevaluated the record and proposed a settlement that reduced the violation’s gravity, changed the classification…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3911, AFL-CIO (Union) and United States, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 (Agency)
AFGE Local 3911 and EPA Region 2 (FLRA 0-AR-3782): Teleworker's snow day leave charge upheld
An EPA employee had scheduled annual leave on a day when a snow emergency closed her New York office. That day was also one of her scheduled workdays at an alternative site at home. An arbitrator held that the office closure did not entitle her to an excused absence because the weather did not…
Tri-County Builders Supply
In re Tri-County Builders Supply (EAB CWA Appeal No. 03-04): reconsideration denied as untimely
Tri-County Builders Supply asked the Environmental Appeals Board to reconsider its earlier dismissal of a Clean Water Act penalty appeal. The Board held that the motion was filed one day late under the applicable filing rules, and it found no special circumstances that excused the delay. The Board…
USGen New England, Inc. Brayton Point Station
In re USGen New England, Inc. Brayton Point Station (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 03-12): evidentiary hearing motion denied
USGen New England, Inc. appealed an NPDES permit for its Brayton Point power plant in Massachusetts and requested an evidentiary hearing on permit conditions involving cooling-water intakes and thermal discharges. The Board denied the motion because the request effectively challenged EPA's amended…
Julie's Limousine & Coachworks, Inc.
In re Julie's Limousine & Coachworks, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 03-06): remand for further proceedings
EPA Region IV brought a Clean Air Act enforcement case against Julie's Limousine & Coachworks, Inc., a limousine service in Florida, alleging violations involving the servicing and repair of motor vehicle air conditioners. The ALJ dismissed the complaint after finding that EPA had not shown a valid…
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy, Dallas, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2437 (Union)
VA Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy and AFGE Local 2437 (FLRA 0-AR-3762): Local agreement binds pharmacy
An arbitrator directed a VA mail outpatient pharmacy to follow a local labor agreement provision on union representatives' official time. The pharmacy argued that it was not bound because its own officials had neither negotiated nor signed the agreement. The Authority rejected that argument. The…
Blue Diamond Coal Company
Fatal electrocution case affirmed as modified, $90,500 penalty assessed
Blue Diamond Coal Company operated an underground coal mine in Kentucky where electrician Gary Caudill was electrocuted while working on a belt starter box. MSHA charged six violations involving deenergizing electrical equipment, electrical grounding and labeling, weekly examinations, and…
DCM Erectors, Inc.
Fall, training, and eye-protection violations affirmed
DCM performed steel erection on a high-rise project where an employee died after slipping on a snow-covered deck and falling through a large unguarded opening. The judge found a repeated violation because safety cabling had been removed from one side of the opening and not replaced, even though DCM…
Aggregate Industries
Reopening request remanded for good-cause determination
Aggregate Industries asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final because the operator did not timely request a hearing. The company’s safety manager treated the date on a second penalty assessment as controlling for both cases, so the request was timely for one case…
Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Boston Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts (Respondent/Agency) and Social Security Administration, Boston, Massachusetts (Respondent/Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1164, AFL-CIO (Charging Party/Union)
SSA Boston and AFGE Local 1164 (FLRA BN-CA-02-0266 and BN-CA-02-0434): Remedial notice corrected
The Authority had found that the Social Security Administration failed to notify a union before formal discussions with two employees in its Somerville office. Its earlier remedial order named the wrong SSA organization and the wrong official to sign the notice. On the General Counsel's motion, the…
United States, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Detention Center, Houston, Texas (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1030, Council of Prison Locals, AFL-CIO (Charging Party/Union)
Houston Federal Detention Center and AFGE Local 1030 (FLRA DA-CA-02-0242): Union information request upheld
AFGE Local 1030 requested part of a prison investigation manual and investigation files while considering grievances over discipline imposed on two correctional officers. The Houston Federal Detention Center refused. The Authority upheld an administrative law judge's finding that the union…
Richard Carpenter v. California United Terminals and Stevedoring Services of America
Carpenter v. California United Terminals (BRB 03-0213): separate disability awards could run together
Richard Carpenter received separate disability awards for injuries while working for Stevedoring Services of America and California United Terminals. In an earlier decision, the Board treated the statutory maximum as a cap on the combined payments and left open a possible credit for California…
S. A. Storer and Sons Co.
Repeat scaffold violation narrowed on remand
After court and Commission review, the judge was directed to narrow a repeat scaffold fall-protection citation. He vacated the allegation concerning a window-opening area but affirmed the violation at a materials-staging area. One employee there was exposed to a fall of about 19 to 20 feet, and the…
United States, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, Local 4052 (Union)
Bureau of Prisons Guaynabo and AFGE Local 4052 (FLRA 0-AR-3701): Reconsideration of harassment remedy denied
An arbitrator ordered protections for a correctional officer after finding that a supervisor had sexually harassed her. The Authority had upheld restrictions on the supervisor's contact with the employee, finding that Title VII permitted the remedy despite the agency's objection based on its right…
United States, Department of Defense, Education Activity, Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools, Antilles Consolidated School System (Agency) and Antilles Consolidated Education Association (Union)
Antilles school system and Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-3745): Counselors' backpay award upheld
Two guidance counselors in the Antilles school system also performed case study committee chairperson duties for years. An arbitrator found that the school system's assignment extended their workday under the labor agreement and awarded them backpay of $164,238.62 and $145,485.41, plus attorney…
United States, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3504 (Union)
EEOC and AFGE Local 3504 (FLRA 0-AR-3806): Backpay for delayed accommodation upheld
An EEOC investigator asked to split her workday between home and the office while recovering from a medical condition. The agency took months to act on her requests. An arbitrator found that the delay violated EEOC's own accommodation procedures and awarded the pay and benefits she would have…
Prime Roofing Corp.
Late notice of contest dismissed
Prime Roofing filed its notice contesting an OSHA citation after the 15-working-day deadline. The company explained that the departure of a key employee had severely disrupted its small business and required its president to focus on rebuilding sales. The judge found that the president knew of the…
Construction 2000, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
Construction 2000 filed its notice contesting an OSHA citation after the 15-working-day deadline. Its president explained that he was out of state caring for a sick relative when the citation arrived and that his small business had no clerical staff or procedure for handling important mail during…
Larry G. Carroll v. M. Cutter Company, Incorporated and Liberty Northwest Insurance Company
Carroll v. M. Cutter Company (BRB 03-0189): divided Board left paid care ruling in place
Larry Carroll needed 24-hour supervision after a workplace fall, and an earlier Board panel held that his employer must pay for all required hours, including care by family members. The employer sought en banc reconsideration, arguing that family members could supervise Carroll without pay during…
Jesse F. Hitt v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Hitt v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 03-0711): timely dispute notice avoided added assessment
Jesse Hitt injured his knee while working for Newport News Shipbuilding, and a judge awarded benefits for a 24 percent leg impairment. The judge also imposed an additional 10 percent assessment because he thought the employer's notice disputing the claim was only a pretext. The Board held that the…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Summary decision denied in mine emergency case
Jim Walter Resources sought summary decision on an order alleging that the company violated the Mine Act and its approved fire-fighting and evacuation plan during events involving roof conditions, methane, and a mine emergency at No. 5 Mine in Alabama. Judge David F. Barbour held that the cited…
ARCON, Inc.
Six asbestos violations affirmed and three vacated
ARCON removed asbestos-containing wallboard from crew spaces aboard a ship, where panels broke apart, air samples exceeded exposure limits, and containment sheeting had holes and gaps. The Commission held that the required sampling method supported the asbestos exposure findings and affirmed the…
United States, Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
Labor Department and AFGE Local 12 (FLRA WA-CA-02-0816): Child care subsidy complaint dismissed
The Labor Department implemented a pilot child care subsidy program after negotiations with AFGE Local 12 reached impasse, then continued it when Congress authorized a permanent program. The union did not seek help from the Federal Service Impasses Panel or request to reopen negotiations within the…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Float coal dust and belt equipment orders affirmed
Jim Walter Resources contested two withdrawal orders issued at its No. 7 Mine after an inspection found extensive float coal dust accumulations and unsafe belt equipment. The first order involved coal dust along portions of the Main North belt line, including dust near hot or rubbing brackets…
Social Security Administration (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Petitioner)
SSA and AFGE (FLRA BN-RP-03-0030): Philadelphia network staff may vote on representation
AFGE sought an election to add Philadelphia Social Security Administration network employees to its bargaining unit. SSA argued that the technical staff performed national security work and that the lead technical controller was a supervisor. The regional director rejected both exclusions and…
Social Security Administration, Office of Labor Management Relations (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3239 (Union)
SSA and AFGE Local 3239 (FLRA 0-AR-3786): Suspension reinstated after records access
A Social Security Administration employee accessed a person's confidential records twice and disclosed information to a former coworker who was not yet authorized to receive it. SSA imposed a two-day suspension. An arbitrator found that the conduct fit a category carrying a minimum fourteen-day…
Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union)
SSA and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-3761): Promotion award set aside as classification dispute
After a GS-10 Social Security Administration employee retired, her duties were assigned to a GS-9 inquiry specialist. An arbitrator ordered a retroactive temporary promotion, backpay, continuing higher pay, and attorney fees. The Authority found that the dispute concerned duties permanently added…
William O. Dempsey v. Sewell Coal Company
Dempsey v. Sewell Coal (BRB 03-0615 BLA and 03-0615 BLA-A): black lung award sent back for evidence review
William Dempsey received black lung benefits after a judge found pneumoconiosis and total disability due to the disease. Sewell Coal challenged the award and several rulings limiting its medical evidence. The Board upheld the rule that limits specified kinds of evidence, but held that the judge had…
R. Williams Construction Company
Five trench-safety violations affirmed
Two employees entered a waterlogged, unshored sewer trench to clean pumps, and the trench collapsed, killing one employee and severely injuring the other. The judge found that R. Williams provided almost no trench-safety training, lacked a safe egress route, and used supervisors who were not…
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina (Agency) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-136 (Union)
Charleston VA Medical Center and NAGE Local R5-136 (FLRA 0-AR-3746): Shift schedule award remanded
The Charleston VA Medical Center changed hospital duty officer schedules after one of five positions became vacant. An arbitrator found that regularly assigning three different shifts in one week or split days off violated the labor agreements and ordered a compliant schedule. The agency argued…
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina (Agency) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-136 (Union)
Charleston VA Medical Center and NAGE Local R5-136 (FLRA 0-AR-3593): Temporary promotion backpay limited to 120 days
A computer assistant at the Charleston VA Medical Center performed higher grade computer specialist duties before her permanent promotion. An arbitrator found that the labor agreement entitled her to a retroactive temporary promotion from August 1999 through February 2002, with backpay. The agency…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 476 (Union) and United States, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
HUD and AFGE Local 476 (FLRA 0-AR-3798): Priority consideration remedy upheld
HUD used applicant lists from announced vacancies to fill other positions without giving employees and the union notice of those openings. Four employees grieved the staffing process. An arbitrator found a notice violation and awarded the employees priority consideration for future vacancies, but…
In re K-A-, Respondent
Immigration Judge retained section 209 jurisdiction
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of adjustment of status and a waiver of inadmissibility to an asylee. The Board held that, once the asylee was placed in removal proceedings, the Immigration Judge and the Board had original and…
North Dallas Acrylic & Stucco, Inc.
Scaffold case remanded for new evidence findings
A judge had affirmed two scaffold citation items and assessed a $250 penalty for each. The Fifth Circuit vacated those items because the judge had not applied the proper legal standard when evaluating the evidence and emphasized that weighing the evidence was the judge's responsibility. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Eastern Associated Coal Corporation
Penalty reopening request remanded
Eastern Associated Coal asked the Commission to reopen penalty assessments that had become final after it said proposed penalties were mistakenly paid because of a clerical error. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission held that it may reopen uncontested assessments in appropriate…
National Association of Government Employees (Union) and United States, Department of the Navy, Navy Region Southwest, Regional Force Protection, San Diego, California (Agency)
Navy Region Southwest and NAGE (FLRA 0-AR-3791): Police officer's suspension upheld
A Navy base police officer confiscated a prohibited knife during an arrest and put it in a trash container without making a written record. The Navy reduced his suspension from five days to two during the grievance process, and an arbitrator upheld the remaining suspension. The union argued that…
Maple Creek Mining, Inc.
Escapeway water violation affirmed with individual penalties
Maple Creek Mining operated an underground coal mine where muddy water filled about 420 feet of the primary escapeway, reaching depths of up to 17 inches and making safe passage difficult. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck found that the condition violated the requirement to maintain an escapeway for…
United States, Department of Defense, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Central Region, Irving, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3529 (Union)
Defense Contract Audit Agency and AFGE Local 3529 (FLRA 0-AR-3774): Bargaining award returned for clarification
Five Defense Contract Audit Agency positions became part of an AFGE bargaining unit after an earlier Authority ruling. An arbitrator found that the agency had to bargain over resulting issues under a clause allowing the parties to reopen their agreement after certain third-party decisions. The…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 220 (Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 220 (FLRA 0-AR-3736): Official time award upheld
The Social Security Administration refused to recognize an AFGE council representative in Baltimore and denied her requests for official time to work in the council office. An arbitrator found violations of the labor agreement and an unfair labor practice, ordered recognition and a notice posting…
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, New York Regional Office, New York, New York (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1151 (Union)
VA New York Regional Office and AFGE Local 1151 (FLRA 0-AR-3784): Reprimand ruling upheld, settlement ruling set aside
A VA employee was reprimanded after a coworker reported that he was not wearing a tie in his work area. An arbitrator found that the agency had not proved just cause for the reprimand. He also held that an earlier dress code settlement between the employee and the agency was invalid because the…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-27 (Union) and United States, Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Fort Lee, Virginia (Agency)
Defense Commissary Agency and NAGE Local R4-27 (FLRA 0-AR-3780): Medical inquiry grievance denied
A Defense Commissary Agency employee sought advance sick leave and later submitted a medically proposed return-to-work schedule. The agency tried to call the social worker who sent the schedule to ask about its flexibility, but the social worker did not respond. An arbitrator denied the employee's…
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.