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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Bobbie G. Gillus v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Gillus v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 02-0637): nominal award for a worsening knee condition
Bobbie Gillus injured her knee while working for Newport News Shipbuilding and later requested a nominal disability award because her condition was worsening. The employer argued that her request came too early and that a leg injury could not support this kind of award. The Board held that the…
Brian Hanley Logging
Yarder guyline hazard affirmed as repeat
Brian Hanley Logging anchored three guylines from a skyline logging yarder to standing trees. The judge found that the trees could fall toward employees when stressed by the yarding operation, that both the logging industry and the employer recognized the hazard, and that using notched stumps or…
Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923
Social Security priority consideration (FLRA 0-AR-3401): Contract remedy upheld after remand
After an earlier FLRA remand, an arbitrator clarified why a Social Security job applicant deserved priority consideration for a building management position. He found no discrimination, but concluded that the agency violated its labor agreement by taking no action to address known…
In re Christopher PICKERING, Respondent
Rehabilitative vacatur did not erase conviction
The Board reviewed whether a Canadian court's order quashing the respondent's controlled-substance conviction removed that conviction for immigration purposes. The respondent had been convicted of possessing LSD and later obtained the Canadian order after learning that the conviction could prevent…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-188 and United States Department of the Air Force, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson appraisal factors (FLRA 0-AR-3602): Evaluation standards upheld
A union challenged the appraisal factors used in a second evaluation of an employee at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The factors measured work behaviors used for competitive placement, and an arbitrator found them sufficiently clear and objective. The Authority rejected the union's claim that the…
General Services Administration, Region 2 and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 236
GSA probationary separation (FLRA 0-AR-3649): Arbitrability award set aside
A GSA probationary employee resigned after being offered the choice of resignation or termination for unsatisfactory performance. The union grieved her separation, alleging that the agency had not followed contract requirements for probationary employees. An arbitrator found the grievance…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1592 and United States Department of the Air Force, Ogden Air Logistics Center
Hill Air Force Base medical disclosure (FLRA 0-AR-3560): Privacy Act exception denied
After conflicting fitness assessments, an Air Force physician wrote to an employee's personal physician about the employee's medical condition. The union claimed the disclosure violated the Privacy Act because the employee had not given prior written consent. An arbitrator rejected the grievance…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 720
Terre Haute prison arbitration (FLRA 0-AR-3487): Reconsideration denied
The union sought reconsideration of an earlier Authority decision involving an arbitration at the Terre Haute federal prison. It argued that the Authority had made legal and remedial errors. The Authority found no extraordinary circumstances: the union cited no law requiring a merits ruling on…
Michigan CAFO General Permit
In re Michigan CAFO General Permit (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 02-11): reconsideration denied
Sandra K. Yerman challenged Michigan's NPDES general permit for concentrated animal feeding operations. The EAB had dismissed the original petition because the permit was state-issued and the Board also lacked jurisdiction over EPA-issued NPDES general permits. The Board waived the reconsideration…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council 236 and United States General Services Administration
GSA property division bargaining (FLRA 0-AR-3617): Good-faith finding upheld
GSA reorganized part of its property management program to reduce costs. The union grieved, arguing that GSA's bargaining team lacked authority and that the agency used an adversarial approach during talks over the change. An arbitrator found that GSA had negotiated in good faith and denied the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 507 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach VA weekend schedules (FLRA 0-AR-3646): Schedule-change award upheld
After no electrical department employees volunteered for weekend work at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, a supervisor temporarily changed three schedules to include weekend hours within a forty-hour week. An arbitrator found no violation of the labor agreement, law, or regulations. The…
U.S. Army, Fort Wainwright Central Heating and Power Plant
In re U.S. Army, Fort Wainwright Central Heating and Power Plant (EAB CAA Appeal No. 02-04): federal penalty factors upheld, penalty issues remanded
The U.S. Army's Fort Wainwright central heating and power plant in Alaska was already found liable for Clean Air Act violations. In this interlocutory appeal, the Army argued that EPA could not consider the facility's size or any economic benefit from delayed compliance when setting a civil penalty…
CDT Landfill Corporation
In re CDT Landfill Corporation (EAB CAA Appeal No. 02-02): performance-test liability restored, no penalty assessed
CDT Landfill Corporation operated a municipal solid waste landfill in Joliet, Illinois. EPA alleged that CDT failed to submit required landfill reports and design documents, obtain a CAA permit, and timely test its gas collection and emission control system. The Environmental Appeals Board reversed…
Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 734 and United States Department of the Navy, Navy Public Works Center, Norfolk
Norfolk Navy military leave (FLRA 0-AR-3637): Weekend overtime claim denied
A Navy public works employee sought military leave pay for voluntary weekend overtime he missed while attending reserve training. An arbitrator found the overtime shifts were outside his regularly scheduled Monday through Friday workweek and denied the grievance. The Authority explained that…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1757 and United States Department of the Air Force, 311th Human Systems Wing, Brooks Air Force Base
Brooks Air Force Base temporary promotion (FLRA 0-AR-3579): Grievance remanded
A GS-6 employee at Brooks Air Force Base claimed she had temporarily performed duties of an established GS-9 position and sought a temporary promotion under the labor agreement. An arbitrator treated the claim as a position classification dispute and found it excluded from grievance arbitration…
South Shore Power, L.L.C.
In re South Shore Power, L.L.C. (EAB PSD Appeal No. 03-02): review denied for proposed power facility permit
South Shore Power, L.L.C. received a federal prevention of significant deterioration permit to build an electric generating facility in Bridgman, Michigan. Four nearby residents challenged the permit on several grounds, including air-dispersion modeling, multiple-source pollution, humidity, ammonia…
Rawson Contractors, Inc.
Undermined-pavement violation affirmed
Rawson Contractors allowed employees to work on and below pavement that had been undermined by a sewer excavation, with part of an excavator resting near the unsupported area. The judge held that the cited standard presumes a hazard when pavement is undermined without support or other protection…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic Detachment Cutler and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2635
Cutler Navy guard overtime (FLRA 0-AR-3603): Overtime award set aside
At the Navy's Cutler station, a military guard already on duty covered two vacant guard shifts. An arbitrator found that an oral labor agreement required the Navy to give half of each shift to civilian guards on overtime and awarded two guards four hours of pay each. The Authority held that the…
Lacerte Builders, Inc.
Controlling employer liable for subcontractor fall hazards
An OSHA compliance officer observed subcontractor employees using elevated aerial lifts and working on open third-floor balconies without proper fall protection. The judge found that Lacerte controlled the exterior work, supervised the subcontractors, could correct hazards, and had actual knowledge…
CDK Contracting Company
Motion to compel granted in part
CDK Contracting contested citations and orders issued at its Portland Plant and Quarry, along with related civil penalty proceedings. It sought Special Assessment Review Forms and a Special Investigation file. Judge Richard W. Manning held that MSHA's special assessment process was irrelevant to…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of John G. Muehlenbeck v. Concrete Aggregates, LLC
Discrimination complaint dismissed after termination for walk-off
John G. Muehlenbeck was superintendent at Concrete Aggregates' small sand and gravel quarry. He objected to an employee acknowledgment form containing a broad arbitration clause because he reasonably believed signing it could waive protections under the Mine Act, and the judge found that objection…
Secretary of Labor v. Big Buck Asphalt
Settlement approved with reduced penalty
MSHA sought civil penalties against Big Buck Asphalt in six related dockets. The parties proposed reducing the penalty from $48,262 to $12,065 and allowing payment in 20 monthly installments based on the operator's claimed financial condition. Judge Jerold Feldman noted that the financial statement…
FABI Construction Company, Inc.
Construction violations affirmed after fatal slab collapse
A FABI employee was killed when a 10,000-pound concrete knockout slab collapsed during demolition at an Atlantic City construction project. After reviewing the full record, the Commission affirmed the judge's findings that FABI committed multiple serious construction violations, including failures…
Rosario Giacalone v. Matson Terminals, Incorporated, et al.
Giacalone v. Matson Terminals (BRB 02-0608): separate hearing loss claims against successive employers
Longshoreman Rosario Giacalone filed hearing loss claims after working in noise at Matson Terminals and later Marine Terminals. Two accepted hearing tests showed 36.6 percent binaural hearing loss in 1995 and 40.6 percent in 1998. The administrative law judge treated the claims as one and assigned…
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, New England District Office and National Treasury Employees Union
FDA consumer safety promotion (FLRA 0-AR-3596): Back pay award set aside
An FDA consumer safety inspector sought a temporary promotion and back pay after performing duties of a higher-grade consumer safety officer position. An arbitrator awarded both, finding she had been constructively detailed to that work. The Authority accepted that the claim was about a temporary…
Lafarge Building Chemical Corporation
Contest dismissed after citation vacated
MSHA issued Lafarge Building Chemical Corporation a citation concerning procedures for taking dust samples from a rotating rotary kiln at the Tulsa Plant. The citation alleged a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.14105, which generally requires machinery to be stopped and blocked before repair or…
Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council and United States Department of the Navy, Navy Public Works Center, Norfolk
Norfolk hazardous waste positions (FLRA 0-NG-2686): Upgrade clauses dismissed
The union proposed upgrading hazardous waste disposers from WG-6 to WG-7 if they held or earned a Class C commercial driver's license, and retaining employees who did not earn one at WG-6. The Authority treated the upgrade clauses together and found them outside the duty to bargain because they…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2142 and United States Department of the Army, Corpus Christi Army Depot
Corpus Christi mechanic selections (FLRA 0-AR-3606): Nonselection grievances denied
Two employees at Corpus Christi Army Depot challenged their nonselection for aircraft engine mechanic jobs. The union argued that the selected employees had submitted Air Force appraisals instead of Army appraisals and that favoritism affected the choices. An arbitrator found no proven improper…
United States Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command and Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association
Military Sealift Command tanker pay (FLRA 0-AR-3599): Differential award set aside
Licensed engineers on a Military Sealift Command tanker sought the special pay differential given to engineers performing underway replenishment work. An arbitrator ruled that the vessel's classification entitled them to that differential at all times. The Authority found that the governing pay…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2006 and Social Security Administration, Region III
Social Security claims authorizer selection (FLRA 0-AR-3541): Grievance denial upheld
A Social Security Administration benefit authorizer challenged his nonselection for a claims authorizer position. An arbitrator found that the selecting officials used a rational and objective process under the parties' agreement and denied the grievance. The union argued that the award conflicted…
In re Y-T-L-, Respondent
Forced sterilization supported asylum grant
The Board considered whether the passage of time after the respondent's wife's forced sterilization, together with the absence of further persecution, rebutted the presumption that the respondent had a well-founded fear of persecution. The respondent was a Chinese national whose wife was…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 4052
Guaynabo detention center uniform allowances (FLRA 0-AR-3620): Allowance award set aside
A federal detention center temporarily assigned employees from non-correctional jobs to correctional posts without requiring them to wear uniforms. An arbitrator awarded those employees uniform allowances and retroactive payments. The Authority found that the parties' agreement made a uniform…
Tallmadge Generating Station
In re Tallmadge Generating Station (EAB PSD Appeal No. 02-12): permit remanded in part
A petitioner challenged a PSD permit for the Tallmadge Generating Station. The Environmental Appeals Board remanded because MDEQ's response to comments was inadequate in the administrative record and because the permit contained unsupported startup and shutdown emission conditions. The Board denied…
Anderson Masonry, Inc.
Scaffold access and locking-pin violations affirmed
Employees erecting Anderson Masonry's scaffold climbed cross bracing because no ladder or other safe access had been provided, and scaffold frames lacked locking pins despite repeated forklift deliveries that could cause uplift. Those serious violations were affirmed with penalties totaling $3,000…
Damon E. Cunningham, Jr. v. Bath Iron Works Corporation
Cunningham v. Bath Iron Works (BRB 02-0577): inland pipe shop outside covered maritime area
Damon Cunningham injured his back while working as a pipefitter at Bath Iron Works' East Brunswick Manufacturing Facility. The facility made pipe sections for ships built at the company's waterfront shipyard several miles away. The Board held that the nearby Thompson Brook was not navigable and…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Regional Office, St. Petersburg, Florida and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1594
St. Petersburg VA flexiplace program (FLRA 0-AR-3582): Suspension award upheld
A VA regional office suspended its flexiplace program without consulting the union as its agreement required. An arbitrator ordered the office to restore the program, process applications, and consider employee claims for losses caused by the suspension. The VA argued that a growing workload…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin Service Center and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 72
IRS Austin accommodation grievance (FLRA 0-AR-3486): Arbitration award set aside
An IRS tax examiner requested changes to her keyboarding work because of carpal tunnel syndrome. An arbitrator found that the IRS had failed to provide a reasonable accommodation and ordered it to restore leave, reimburse any pay loss, and explore other work. The Authority found that the IRS had…
United States Department of the Air Force, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1547, AFL-CIO
Luke Air Force Base EEO meetings (FLRA DE-CA-00309): Union notice order upheld
Luke Air Force Base held three meetings with a bargaining unit employee about her formal employment discrimination complaint without notifying the union. The Authority agreed with the ALJ that the meetings were formal discussions about a grievance under the federal labor relations statute. It…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Charles Scott Howard v. Panther Mining, LLC, Cave Spur Mining, LLC, and Black Mountain Resources, LLC
Economic temporary reinstatement approved
Charles Scott Howard had obtained other employment after leaving Cave Spur Mining, but at a lower rate of pay. The parties negotiated a settlement providing for temporary economic reinstatement, with the respondents paying the difference between Howard's average weekly pay at Cave Spur and his…
Robert Castro v. General Construction Company and Liberty Northwest Insurance Company
Castro v. General Construction (BRB 02-0783): total disability benefits during vocational training
Pile driver Robert Castro injured his knee at work and could not return to his former job. His employer identified other jobs he could physically perform, but Castro enrolled in a Labor Department vocational program in hotel tourism. The Board upheld total disability benefits during training…
James Womack v. Graymont Western US Inc.
Termination claim granted, earlier discipline claims denied
James Womack worked as a kiln operator at Graymont's Tacoma quick-lime plant and had previously received accommodations for a back condition. After he complained to MSHA about protective clothing following burn injuries, he received reprimands, a suspension, unpaid leave, and later termination…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1122 and Social Security Administration, Western Program Service Center, Richmond, California
Social Security downgrade grievance (FLRA 0-AR-3574): Untimely grievance dismissal upheld
A Social Security Administration employee challenged his reassignment to a lower grade during his probationary period. An arbitrator dismissed the grievance because it was filed after the collective bargaining agreement's 15-day deadline. The union argued that the grievance was timely and raised…
UniSea, Inc.
In re UniSea, Inc. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 03-04): petition dismissed as moot
UniSea, Inc. challenged an EPA Region X permit determination for its facility. UniSea later withdrew its petition after the Region issued a revised permit determination incorporating the requested changes. The Environmental Appeals Board found the petition moot and dismissed it with prejudice. The…
In re Jose Abraham DEANDA-ROMO, Respondent
Petty offense did not stop residence accrual
The Board reviewed whether the respondent's first misdemeanor crime involving moral turpitude ended the seven-year continuous-residence period needed to seek cancellation of removal. The respondent had two misdemeanor assault convictions, but the first qualified for the statutory petty-offense…
In re Fidel GARCIA-HERNANDEZ, Respondent
Petty offense preserved cancellation eligibility
The Board reviewed whether a misdemeanor conviction for corporal injury to a spouse made the respondent ineligible for cancellation of removal. The conviction qualified for the statutory petty-offense exception because it was charged as a misdemeanor and the respondent received a sentence of less…
GFW Construction
Contest dismissed for ignoring discovery order
GFW Construction failed to answer the Secretary's interrogatories even after the judge ordered a full response within five days and warned that noncompliance would lead to sanctions. GFW also did not respond to the Secretary's sanctions motion. Finding that the refusal to comply was conscious…
Coast Wood Preserving, Inc.
In re Coast Wood Preserving, Inc. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 02-01): reporting liability and $23,375 penalty vacated
Coast Wood Preserving, Inc. and related company Cal Coast Lumber operated on adjacent property in Ukiah, California, under common control. EPA treated the companies as one EPCRA facility and alleged that Coast Wood failed to submit Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Forms for chromium, arsenic, and…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2128 and United States Department of Defense, Defense Contract Management Agency, District West, Hurst, Texas
Defense Contract Management holiday pay (FLRA 0-AR-3610): Compressed schedule award upheld
Employees on compressed work schedules received only eight hours of holiday pay even when they would otherwise have worked nine or ten hours. An arbitrator found that the agency had allowed compressed schedules as a past practice and awarded back pay with interest for qualifying holiday periods…
Creative Gold, Inc.
Late contest dismissed after FedEx delivery
After certified-mail attempts were returned, OSHA sent two citations by FedEx to Creative Gold's new Brooklyn address, where someone at the shared entrance signed for them. The judge held that service was reasonably calculated to provide notice and that receipt occurred on the delivery date…
United States Department of the Air Force, 913th Air Wing, Willow Grove Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania and National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-32
Air Force union president's official time (FLRA 0-AR-3576): Arbitration award upheld
The president of a union representing employees at an Air Force reserve station used 8.75 hours of annual leave to attend hearings in two grievances the agency had filed against the union. An arbitrator found that attending the hearings was a representational function under the parties' agreement…
United States Department of the Army, United States Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, Fort Gordon, Georgia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2017
Fort Gordon fire truck staffing (FLRA 0-AR-3508): Arbitration award set aside
Fort Gordon sent two firefighters in a fire truck and two in an emergency vehicle when responding to fires. The union grieved that practice, citing a Defense Department instruction requiring four firefighters on a structural or aerial fire truck. An arbitrator ordered the Army to dispatch no such…
Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Steel Mining Company, Inc.
Enclosed conveyor citation affirmed
MSHA found a half-inch hole in an enclosed flight conveyor in U.S. Steel's granular coal injection system at the Concord preparation plant. The opening allowed outside air into a system designed to maintain an inert atmosphere around coal dust and methane, creating a potential fire or explosion…
Charity E. Clark (widow of Benjamin J. Clark) v. Barnwell Coal Company
Clark v. Barnwell Coal (BRB 01-0876): Trust Fund must pay survivor's benefits
Charity Clark won survivor's black lung benefits after the death of her husband, Benjamin, and that award was not challenged on appeal. Barnwell Coal disputed the ruling that it had employed him long enough to be responsible for payment. The Board found that the judge's three methods of estimating…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-109 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Connecticut Healthcare System
VA Connecticut operator suspension (FLRA 0-AR-3622): Five-day discipline upheld
A VA Connecticut boiler operator missed a scheduled shift after police arrested him while he was driving toward work. He later requested sick leave for another shift and told his supervisor that he had been incarcerated. The agency imposed a five-day suspension, and an arbitrator found just cause…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1757 and United States Department of the Air Force, 311th Human Systems Wing, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas
Brooks Air Force Base performance appraisal (FLRA 0-AR-3542): Award upheld
A procurement technician at Brooks Air Force Base challenged a performance appraisal that was below the superior rating she expected. An arbitrator found that the agency failed to annotate a performance form as the agreement required, but that the employee knew the standards for a higher rating and…
United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, New York State Office, Malone, New York and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2831
Farm Service Agency step increase (FLRA 0-AR-3537): Arbitration award set aside
A Farm Service Agency employee moved from a county position to a federal position while continuing essentially the same work at the same office. An arbitrator awarded her a retroactive within-grade step increase, treating her county service as continuous federal service for that purpose. The agency…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, Indian Head, Maryland and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923
Indian Head higher-grade duties (FLRA 0-AR-3517): Temporary promotion award upheld
A Navy personnel certification assistant at Indian Head performed duties associated with a higher-grade program analyst position. An arbitrator awarded a retroactive temporary promotion, back pay, and interest after finding that she performed the higher-grade duties for at least a quarter of her…
Kendall New Century Development
In re Kendall New Century Development (EAB PSD Appeal No. 03-01): PSD permit review denied
Kendall New Century Development, LLC sought a PSD permit for an eight-turbine, natural-gas-fired electric generating facility in Kendall County, Illinois. Verena Owen challenged the permit's carbon monoxide best available control technology limit, the exclusion of a catalyst from the BACT analysis…
Secretary of Labor v. Branham and Baker Coal Company, Inc.
Respirable-dust petitions dismissed for lack of fair notice
Branham and Baker operated Kentucky surface mines subject to MSHA respirable-dust monitoring rules. The dispute concerned whether a designated work position continued when the mining equipment tied to that position left the mine, requiring the operator to take samples from substitute equipment…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Mark Gray v. North Star Mining, Inc., Mike Caudill, and Jim Brummett
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Mark Gray was a roof bolter at North Star Mining who was subpoenaed for a federal grand jury investigating mine safety issues, but the prosecutor did not call him after another miner testified. Gray claimed that threats, workplace conduct, and a shift transfer forced him to quit in retaliation for…
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.