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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James J. Gross v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Gross v. Dominion Coal (BRB 03-0118 BLA): timely modification and black lung award affirmed
James Gross sought black lung benefits after working in coal mines, including as a roof bolter. Dominion Coal argued that his request to reopen a previous denial came too late and that the medical evidence did not link his total respiratory disability to pneumoconiosis. The Board held that Gross…
Washington Plate Printers Union, Local 2, IPPDSPMEU and Graphic Communications, International Union, Local 4B, AFL-CIO (Unions) and United States, Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing (Agency)
Washington Plate Printers Unions and Bureau of Engraving and Printing (FLRA 0-AR-3618): Paid lunch remedy set aside
Unions representing Bureau of Engraving and Printing employees challenged the agency's plan to end a paid 30-minute lunch period. The arbitrator concluded that the agency could end the practice but ordered it to restore earlier break periods or otherwise preserve the balance of work time and wages…
Bricks, Inc.
In re Bricks, Inc. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 02-09): wetlands jurisdiction not proved and penalty vacated
Bricks, Inc. placed fill material in wetlands at a planned commercial development in Illinois without first obtaining a Clean Water Act section 404 permit. The Environmental Appeals Board considered whether the wetlands were navigable waters subject to the Act because they were allegedly adjacent…
Drummond Company, Inc.
Methane-recording citation dismissed
Drummond Company operated the underground Shoal Creek coal mine. During a night shift, miners detected methane readings above five percent in the North Mains section, and a certified examiner recorded excessive methane above two percent, along with the corrective actions taken. Judge Avram…
Phillips Getschow Co.
Hoist training and overload violations affirmed
Phillips Getschow was removing a 4,860-pound coal-crusher cage at an Illinois power plant with an overhead hoist rated for 4,000 pounds. The cage fell from the support and pinned a millwright against a wall, causing fatal injuries. The judge found that the company had not adequately trained every…
Rockhouse Energy Mining Company
Fatality citation affirmed with negligence reduced and $7,000 penalty
Rockhouse Energy operated an underground coal mine where a section foreman was fatally injured after being caught between a continuous mining machine’s boom and a coal rib. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the company violated its approved roof control plan by allowing the machine to be trammed…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council 220 (Union) and Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency)
AFGE Council 220 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-AR-3667): Agency may assign grievance decisions to designees
AFGE Council 220 objected to the Social Security Administration's use of designees to hear and decide union grievances at local offices. An arbitrator rejected the grievance after concluding that the parties' agreement could not require particular managers to perform that work. The Authority denied…
Carbon River Coal Corporation
Seatbelt citation affirmed with negligence reduced and $5,000 penalty
Carbon River operated a surface coal mine where a bulldozer overturned and its operator was fatally injured after he was thrown from the seat and pinned beneath the rollover protection device. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found that the operator violated the seatbelt requirement and that the…
Ray & Jeanette Veldhuis
In re Ray & Jeanette Veldhuis (EAB CWA Appeal No. 02-08): deep ripping of protected wetlands and $87,930 penalty affirmed
Ray Veldhuis deep-ripped three California farm fields to prepare them for almond trees, destroying more than 20 acres of vernal pool wetlands and tributary wetlands. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the work was not protected by the Clean Water Act's normal farming exemption because it…
B & L Plating, Inc.
In re B & L Plating, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 02-08): appeal dismissed as untimely
B & L Plating operated a decorative chromium electroplating facility in Michigan. An EPA Administrative Law Judge entered a default order finding Clean Air Act violations and assessing a $42,600 civil penalty after B & L failed to comply with a prehearing order. B & L later sought reconsideration…
Lorraine Morganti (widow of Rocco Morganti) v. Lockheed Martin Corporation and ACE American Insurance Company
Morganti v. Lockheed Martin (BRB 03-0149): engineer's lake work covered by Longshore Act
Rocco Morganti was an engineer who tested Navy sonar devices on a barge in Cayuga Lake and drowned while preparing to travel back to shore. A judge found that he worked on navigable water but denied Longshore Act death benefits because he did not meet the maritime employment test and supposedly…
John A. Capozzi d/b/a Capozzi Custom Cabinets
In re John A. Capozzi d/b/a Capozzi Custom Cabinets (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 02-01): reconsideration denied
EPA Region V asked the Environmental Appeals Board to reconsider its earlier decision in a hazardous-waste enforcement case against John A. Capozzi d/b/a Capozzi Custom Cabinets. The motion argued that the Board had failed to require consideration of environmental harm and the duration of the…
Bret Tarver v. Bo-Mac Contractors, Incorporated and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Tarver v. Bo-Mac Contractors (BRB 03-0131): unfinished barge slip was outside covered site
Bret Tarver was injured while building barge slips for Bo-Mac Contractors beside a navigable waterway. The project was excavated from previously undeveloped land and would later be used to load and unload barges. A judge awarded Longshore Act benefits because the finished slip would serve a…
United States, Department of Agriculture, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, Federal Grain Inspection Service, New Orleans, Louisiana (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3157 (Union)
Federal Grain Inspection Service and AFGE Local 3157 (FLRA 0-AR-3655): Backpay for supervisory details set aside
Federal Grain Inspection Service employees at grade GS-9 were temporarily assigned some supervisory duties normally associated with grade GS-11. An arbitrator found that the agency violated its agreement by using details to avoid filling higher grade positions and awarded the employees GS-11…
Drummond Company, Inc.
Imminent-danger order dismissed after methane conditions changed
Drummond’s underground Shoal Creek Mine experienced high methane readings in the North Mains section, followed by ventilation work, power removal, and lower readings before an MSHA inspector issued a section 107(a) withdrawal order. Judge Avram Weisberger held that the Secretary did not prove that…
Edward Neal Marks v. Trinity Marine Group, Reliance National Indemnity Company, and Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association
Marks v. Trinity Marine Group (BRB 03-0209): attorney fee liability returned for review
Edward Marks's attorney obtained reinstatement of Longshore Act benefits after Trinity Marine Group stopped paying them. The employer entered bankruptcy, its insurer became insolvent, and a Louisiana insurance guaranty association took the insurer's place for compensation benefits. A district…
United States, Department of Defense, Defense Contract Management Agency (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2128 (Union)
Defense Contract Management Agency and AFGE Local 2128 (FLRA O-AR-3564): Incentive awards remedy narrowed
AFGE Local 2128 challenged how the Defense Contract Management Agency administered incentive awards for employees it represented in Texas. An arbitrator found that the agency had not administered the program fairly and had excluded the union from awards committees. The Authority left those findings…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council Local 2128 (Union) and United States, Department of Defense, Defense Contract Management Agency District West (Agency)
AFGE Council Local 2128 and Defense Contract Management Agency District West (FLRA 0-AR-3608): Third shift award upheld
The Defense Contract Management Agency added a third shift at its Kelly field office when it began operating around the clock to meet mission demands. AFGE Council Local 2128 challenged the change, but the arbitrator found that the parties' agreement allowed the agency to establish the shift. The…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Joseph M. Ondreako v. Kennecott Utah Copper Corp.
Temporary reinstatement ordered
Joseph M. Ondreako alleged that Kennecott Utah Copper demoted him and later laid him off because he raised safety concerns with mine management and MSHA. Judge Richard W. Manning found that the complaint was not frivolously brought, while recognizing that Kennecott might present a convincing…
United States, Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Los Angeles, California (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 505, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
Los Angeles Immigration and Naturalization Service and AFGE Local 505 (FLRA SF-CA-02-0506): Four-day schedule restored
The Los Angeles Immigration and Naturalization Service ended a schedule that let employees in its Alien Criminal Apprehension Program work four ten-hour days each week. The Authority upheld a finding that the agency violated its bargaining duty after the union made a timely request to negotiate the…
United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and Professional Staff Nurses Association Local 1998, Service Employees International Union (Union)
Maryland VA Health Care System and Professional Staff Nurses Association (FLRA 0-AR-3692): Nurse reassignment award set aside
The Maryland VA Health Care System reassigned nurses while negotiations with their union remained unfinished. An arbitrator found that the agency had violated their agreement and ordered the parties to negotiate a remedy for two nurses. The Authority set aside the award because the VA Under…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals 33 (Union) and United States, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
AFGE Council of Prison Locals 33 and Bureau of Prisons (FLRA 0-AR-3686): Uniform allowance grievance denied
The Bureau of Prisons sometimes assigned employees outside correctional services to posts normally staffed by correctional officers. The agency did not require those employees to wear uniforms and did not pay them a uniform allowance. An arbitrator denied the union's grievance, and the Authority…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Wyman Owens, Gary Watson, and Henry Johnson v. Drummond Company, Inc.
Discrimination complaints dismissed
The Secretary alleged that Drummond discharged three Shoal Creek Mine employees because they engaged in protected Mine Act activities. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the evidence established initial discrimination cases, including evidence of protected activity, management knowledge, timing, and…
R S & W Coal Company
Transportation safeguards vacated
R S & W Coal transported miners and coal into its anthracite mine using a battery locomotive that pushed cars through an underground travelway. MSHA issued safeguards requiring the mine to pull the cars rather than push them, citing limited visibility, track curves, and possible derailment hazards…
American Steel Erectors
Lifeline abrasion item affirmed, training item vacated
American Steel Erectors was installing roof decking at the Omaha Convention Center when an employee fell through an opening and his retractable lifeline abraded against an unprotected steel beam and broke. The employee fell 47 feet to the ground. The judge affirmed the lifeline-protection item…
E.J. Sciaba Construction Co., Inc.
Case dismissed for lack of a notice of contest
OSHA cited E.J. Sciaba Construction after a Massachusetts worksite inspection and proposed $9,000 in penalties. Sciaba then signed an informal settlement reducing the penalties but did not make the agreed payment. More than two months after receiving the citations, the company sent a letter asking…
Secretary of Labor v. Ricky Bryson, Clifford Massie, and Gary Lilly, employed by Elk Run Coal Company
Expert-witness exclusion denied
The Secretary asked the judge to exclude Gary Hartsog’s testimony as a sanction for alleged discovery failures involving the respondents’ expert witness. Judge Irwin Schroeder found that the parties had exchanged answers only 30 days before the hearing and that the expert’s proposed opinions and…
Association of Civilian Technicians, Show-Me Army Chapter (Union) and United States, Department of the Army, Missouri National Guard, Jefferson City, Missouri (Agency)
Show-Me Army Chapter and Missouri National Guard (FLRA 0-AR-3524): Promotion dispute dismissed as moot
The Show-Me Army Chapter challenged the Missouri National Guard's placement of an employee in a GS-9 position after a prior promotion had been undone. An arbitrator rejected the grievance on remand, and the union filed exceptions. Before the Authority ruled, the employee had left the disputed GS-9…
United States, Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 511, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Petitioner)
Immigration and Naturalization Service and AFGE Local 511 (FLRA WA-RP-00085): Agency personnel attorneys excluded from unit
AFGE Local 511 sought to add agency attorneys to its bargaining unit. Those attorneys represented Immigration and Naturalization Service management in employment proceedings involving workers in other agency bargaining units. The Authority affirmed the regional director's decision to exclude them…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Washington, D.C. (Respondent) and National Treasury Employees Union (Charging Party)
IRS and NTEU (FLRA SF-CA-02-0320): Untimely charge over commuting award dismissed
The National Treasury Employees Union alleged that the IRS failed to comply with an arbitration award concerning employees' increased commuting time to temporary duty. The Authority held that the six-month period for a charge alleging failure to comply began when the award became final and binding…
United States, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, Arizona (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2313 (Union)
Safford Federal Correctional Institution and AFGE Local 2313 (FLRA DE-CA-01-0349): Coercive meeting violated labor law
A union steward at the Safford federal correctional institution emailed members criticizing the warden's treatment of staff. The warden then called the steward and the chief steward to a meeting with several managers. The Authority upheld a finding that the warden's remarks during the meeting would…
United States Department of the Army, North Central Civilian Personnel Operation Center, Rock Island, Illinois (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 15, AFL-CIO (Union)
Army personnel center and AFGE Local 15 (FLRA CH-RP-01-0033): Personnel positions excluded from unit
AFGE Local 15 sought a representation election for employees at the Army's Rock Island personnel center. The regional director included several staffing and classification positions in the proposed unit because their work did not affect employees in that same unit. The Authority held that employees…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1647 (Union) and United States, Department of the Army, Tobyhanna Army Depot, Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania (Agency)
AFGE Local 1647 and Tobyhanna Army Depot (FLRA 0-NG-2697): Leave cancellation reimbursement proposal rejected
AFGE Local 1647 proposed that Tobyhanna Army Depot reimburse employees for documented travel or hotel losses when the agency canceled approved leave. The union specified that payment would come from the depot's working capital fund, which it viewed as money other than appropriated funds. The…
Patent Office Professional Association (Union) and United States, Department of Commerce, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Arlington, Virginia (Agency)
Patent Office Professional Association and USPTO (FLRA 0-NG-2613): One ethics agreement provision cleared
The Patent Office Professional Association challenged the disapproval of twelve provisions in a locally negotiated ethics agreement with the Patent and Trademark Office. The Authority rejected the union's argument that the acting director lacked authority to disapprove the provisions. It found…
United States, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Federal Satellite Low, La Tuna, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 83, Council of Prison Locals 33 (Union)
La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution and AFGE Local 83 (FLRA 0-AR-3674): Post staffing award set aside
At the La Tuna federal correctional facility, the agency sometimes left correctional officer posts vacant when an assigned officer was absent. An arbitrator found that this practice violated scheduling and safety provisions in the parties' agreement and barred the agency from vacating posts except…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2206 (Union) and Social Security Administration, Southeastern Program Service Center, Birmingham, Alabama (Agency)
AFGE Local 2206 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-AR-3672): Exceptions to probationary employee award denied
The union challenged how a Social Security Administration service center evaluated and assisted probationary employees. The arbitrator found that the agency had improperly left critical elements out of their position descriptions, but declined to order reinstatement. He rejected the union's…
Defense Security Assistance Development Center (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2004 (Union)
Defense Security Assistance Development Center and AFGE Local 2004 (FLRA 0-AR-3609): Promotion remedy returned for reconsideration
Three employees at the Defense Security Assistance Development Center won an arbitration finding that the agency had improperly handled their promotion opportunities. The arbitrator ordered retroactive promotions and backpay but said he could not determine whether the employees would have been…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Oakdale, Louisiana (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, Local 3957 (Union)
Oakdale federal prison and AFGE Local 3957 (FLRA 0-AR-3563): Reassignment backpay set aside
Oakdale prison temporarily moved an inmate systems officer to correctional work and changed his schedule from four ten-hour days to five eight-hour days. An arbitrator found violations of the parties' work schedule agreement and master agreement and ordered 20 hours of pay. The Authority left the…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFGE/SSA General Committee (Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE/SSA General Committee (FLRA 0-AR-3525): Performance awards order set aside
The Social Security Administration limited performance awards to employees rated Outstanding, ending its practice of giving awards to all employees rated Excellent and some rated Fully Successful. An arbitrator found that the change violated the parties' agreement and ordered awards for affected…
United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local 100 (Union)
Government Printing Office and Sheet Metal Workers Local 100 (FLRA 0-AR-3362): Late reconsideration motion dismissed
An earlier Authority decision upheld an arbitration award about overtime pay for Government Printing Office employees working weekend nights. The agency sought reconsideration nearly two years later after a Comptroller General decision questioned part of the Authority's reasoning. The Authority…
National Association of Air Traffic Specialists, Macon AFSS, Macon, Georgia (Respondent) and Jennifer R. Lewis, an Individual (Charging Party)
Macon air traffic specialists union and Jennifer Lewis (FLRA AT-CO-02-0251): Watch schedule poll order upheld
An air traffic specialists union at the Macon flight service station polled employees about a yearly watch schedule without including every bargaining unit employee. The Authority adopted an administrative law judge's ruling that the union violated its duty to represent unit employees without…
Eric K. Ho, Ho Ho Ho Express, Inc.; Houston Fruitland, Inc.
Corporations dismissed and $658,000 assessed against Ho
Eric K. Ho hired workers to renovate a former hospital where asbestos-containing material was removed without required controls, respiratory protection, or training. OSHA also cited unsafe sanitation and emergency conditions, failure to report an accident, and a recognized hazard involving an…
Social Security Administration (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 220 (Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 220 (FLRA 0-AR-3557): Written warning remedy set aside
The Social Security Administration suspended an employee for two days after unauthorized access to a computer record. An arbitrator found that discipline was warranted but the suspension was too severe, so he ordered a written disciplinary warning and restoration of lost pay. The Authority set…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Cleveland Regional Office, Cleveland, Ohio (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2823 (Union)
Cleveland VA regional office and AFGE Local 2823 (FLRA 0-AR-3499): Retroactive promotion remedy set aside
Four rating specialists at the Cleveland VA regional office expected to advance from GS-9 to GS-11, but the agency inserted a GS-10 grade. An arbitrator found that the agency violated its labor agreement by failing to notify and bargain with the union about the change and by failing to provide…
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3294 (Union)
HUD and AFGE Local 3294 (FLRA 0-AR-3518): Career ladder backpay returned for employee findings
Four HUD Community Builders sought career ladder promotions after their one-year anniversary dates. An arbitrator found enough higher grade work for one GS-14 employee to advance and for two of three GS-13 employees to advance, but awarded backpay to all three GS-13 employees without deciding which…
In re Miguel GADDA, Attorney
Attorney expelled after disbarment
The Board reviewed discipline proceedings against an immigration attorney who had been disbarred by the California Supreme Court and removed from the roll of attorneys authorized to practice before a federal district court. The record described repeated professional misconduct, including client…
United States, Department of Defense, Defense Contract Management Agency, Defense Contract Management Agency, East Indianapolis, Indiana (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2121, AFL-CIO (Charging Party/Union)
DCMA East Indianapolis (FLRA CH-CA-01-0652): Union was entitled to notice of EEO mediation
A Defense Contract Management Agency field office held a mediation session over an employee's formal equal employment opportunity complaint without telling the employee's union. The Authority adopted the administrative law judge's finding that the mediation was a formal discussion concerning a…
United States Department of Defense, Defense Contract Management Agency, Orlando, Florida (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3953 (Charging Party/Union)
Defense Contract Management Agency and AFGE Local 3953 (FLRA AT-CA-00310): Steward suspension ordered rescinded
The Defense Contract Management Agency suspended a union chief steward for two days after an angry exchange in a meeting called by management about his representational activity. An administrative law judge found his conduct unprotected and dismissed the unfair labor practice complaint. The…
Hackensack Steel Corp.
Four steel-erection violations affirmed
Hackensack Steel was erecting structural steel at a medical-center project when two connectors worked as high as 43 feet without exterior or interior fall protection and without hardhats. Unprotected reinforcing steel also created an impalement hazard below them. The Commission rejected…
National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and United States Customs Service, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
NTEU and Customs Service (FLRA 0-NG-2637): Midterm bargaining proposals require agency election
The National Treasury Employees Union proposed contract terms requiring midterm bargaining on matters the agreement or an existing memorandum did not specifically address. The Authority found that the proposals would limit the Customs Service's ability to assert that a subject was already covered…
Gulf Transport, L.L.C.
Temporary reinstatement ordered after late hearing request
Gulf Transport, L.L.C. employed Robert C. Gould as a truck driver at the Newmont Gold Quarry operation. After an MSHA investigation of an accident involving a vehicle Gould operated, Gulf terminated his employment, and the Secretary sought his temporary reinstatement under section 105(c) of the…
United States, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Florence, Colorado (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1300, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
FCI Florence (FLRA DE-CA-00043): Prison unlawfully restricted union flyer and proposed discipline
A union representative at a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, posted and handed out a flyer advising employees to seek union representation when speaking with an employee assistance counselor. Prison officials stopped distribution, investigated the representative, and proposed a one-day…
Social Security Administration, Regional Office of Quality Assurance, Boston, Massachusetts (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3760, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
SSA Boston quality office (FLRA BN-CA-00464 and BN-CA-01-0433): Union survey retaliation found, later award claim dismissed
The Boston quality office of the Social Security Administration faced two complaints about employee awards and union activity. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that a supervisor unlawfully discouraged employees from taking part in a union survey during the 2000 awards process. It also…
CWJ Contracting, Inc.
Repeat residential fall-protection violation affirmed
CWJ Contracting framed apartment buildings, and its superintendent stood on narrow joists of an undecked second-floor balcony about 10 feet above a concrete patio without fall protection. The judge held that CWJ's controlled-access-zone plan did not apply because the superintendent was discussing…
Triton Coal Company
Secretary ordered to produce investigation statements for in camera review
Hazel Olson alleged that Triton Coal Company did not hire her because of safety activities at another mine. After MSHA declined to bring a discrimination complaint for her, Olson filed her own case and sought statements from two witnesses interviewed during the MSHA investigation. The Secretary…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Motion to dismiss penalty cases denied
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. asked the Judge to dismiss 195 citations and orders from inspections at its No. 5 Mine because the Secretary allegedly notified it of proposed penalties too late. The Secretary issued one comprehensive penalty assessment on April 24, 2003, covering citations and orders…
Stillhouse Mining, LLC
Ventilation citation modified and penalty reduced
Stillhouse Mining, LLC operates an underground coal mine where an inspector found missing deflector curtains in two entries during a regular inspection. The company conceded that its ventilation plan was not followed, but disputed the violation's significant-and-substantial designation, negligence…
United States, Department of Energy, Rocky Flat Field Office, Golden, Colorado (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1103 (Union)
DOE Rocky Flat Field Office (FLRA 0-AR-3651): Agency could not collect approved pilot training costs
Employees at the Department of Energy's Rocky Flats site received approval for pilot training as the site prepared to close. The agency later decided the training lacked legal authority and sought repayment of costs it had reimbursed. An arbitrator ruled that the agency could end future training…
United States, Department of the Army, Army Missile Command, Army Communications Command Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 (Union)
Redstone Arsenal (FLRA 0-AR-3644): Temporary promotion award set aside
An Army employee challenged her nonselection for a one-year GS-13 position at Redstone Arsenal. An arbitrator found signs of favoritism and preselection and ordered the Army to put her in the position for one year. The Authority set aside the award because a required selection affects management's…
B & L Drywall & Acoustical, Inc.
Fall-arrest and training items affirmed
B & L Drywall was installing exterior studs and drywall when a newspaper photographed an employee standing on a scissor-lift basket rail about 24 feet above the ground. The employee wore a harness, but his six-foot lanyard was attached below shoulder level and could have allowed a free fall longer…
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.