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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Simkins-Hallin Lumber Company
General duty citation vacated for a forklift-stacking practice the industry did not recognize as hazardous
Simkins-Hallin runs a lumberyard in Bozeman, Montana. After an employee was killed in a forklift stacking operation, OSHA inspected and issued citations, the main one under the general duty clause for letting forklift operators climb onto the machine's fenders to slide spacer boards ("stickers")…
General Motors, Inc.
In re General Motors, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal No. 01-30): permit remanded for BACT analysis
General Motors sought a Clean Air Act prevention of significant deterioration permit for a new vehicle assembly plant in Delta Township, Michigan. The Ecology Center and the Michigan Environmental Council challenged the permit's best available control technology analysis for volatile organic…
In re Mario Eduardo VELARDE-Pacheco, Respondent
Marriage-based reopening allowed
The Board considered a Mexican national's motion to reopen removal proceedings so he could seek adjustment of status based on his marriage to a United States citizen. The majority modified prior precedent and held that a properly filed, timely motion may be granted despite a pending visa petition…
North Dallas Acrylic & Stucco, Inc., and its successors
Scaffold footing citation vacated, ladder-access and fall-protection citations affirmed
North Dallas Acrylic & Stucco was applying stucco from a three-tier scaffold at a WalMart construction site in Keller, Texas, when an OSHA officer inspected and cited three scaffold violations. One item claimed the scaffold legs lacked base plates and mud sills; the judge credited the crew leader's…
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-3407): Two-day flexiplace award upheld
A computer specialist at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requested two days each week at an alternative duty station, but the agency approved only one. Arbitrator Louis B. Aronin found that the employee met the contractual requirements and that a second day would not impair the…
In re Y-L-, In re A-G-, and In re R-S-R-
Drug trafficking convictions barred withholding relief
The Attorney General reviewed three consolidated cases involving foreign nationals convicted of felony drug trafficking offenses in the United States. The Attorney General held that aggravated felonies involving unlawful trafficking in controlled substances presumptively qualify as particularly…
Linda Watkins v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Watkins v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 01-0538): shipbuilding debris removal qualifies as maritime work
Linda Watkins spent part of each shift emptying drums of welding rods, iron strips, and other shipbuilding debris from beside ships at Newport News Shipbuilding. She sought disability benefits after a back injury, but the judge found that her cleaning duties did not qualify as maritime employment…
Reading Anthracite Company
Relief ordered and $5,000 penalty assessed
Reading Anthracite Company was found to have unlawfully discharged Leonard Bernardyn in violation of section 105(c) of the Mine Act after he raised safety concerns about driving in slippery conditions and contacted a safety representative. Judge Avram Weisberger ordered $14,870.32 in back wages…
Pronghorn Drilling Company
$58,395.13 EAJA fee award
Pronghorn Drilling Company sought fees and expenses in an Equal Access to Justice Act proceeding connected to former WEST 2000-537-M and 538-M cases. Judge Gary Melick awarded $58,395.13 after considering the company's requests for fees and expenses through February 21, 2002. The award included an…
Western Industrial, Inc.
Unwarrantable-failure allegation vacated
Western Industrial contested a citation alleging that access from a ladder to a work platform at a cement plant was unsafe. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the narrow, awkward access exposed workers to a risk of falling and that a reasonably prudent mining operator would have recognized the…
Minergy Detroit, LLC
In re Minergy Detroit, LLC (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 02-01 and 02-02): review denied for emission-testing condition
Minergy Detroit, LLC received a PSD permit for a cyclone furnace that would process municipal wastewater solids and other materials. Saulius Simoliunas asked the EAB to require independent laboratory testing and citizen participation in testing under Special Condition 7. The Board held that the…
Pronghorn Drilling Company
EAJA reconsideration denied
Pronghorn Drilling Company had been found eligible for fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing in related civil-penalty cases. The Secretary asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that the earlier decision did not adequately address her evidence and that fees…
Lonnie D. Johnson v. Royal Coal Company and West Virginia Coal-Workers' Pneumoconiosis Fund
Johnson v. Royal Coal (BRB 01-0388): Black lung benefits denial upheld
Lonnie Johnson was found totally disabled by a respiratory condition, but the judge denied benefits because he had not established pneumoconiosis or a link between that disease and his disability. Johnson argued that Royal Coal had effectively admitted those disputed facts by leaving several…
Metric Constructors, Inc.
Scaffold guardrail violations affirmed
Metric was the general contractor for an Army barracks project where its masonry subcontractor used scaffolds with missing or deficient fall protection. The judge held Metric responsible as the controlling employer because it conducted daily inspections, paid for the scaffolding, and could require…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 3 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard Detachment, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Agency)
IFPTE Local 3 and Norfolk Naval Shipyard Philadelphia (FLRA 0-NG-2597): Drug-test nullification proposal nonnegotiable
The union proposed nullifying drug-test results when an arbitrator found reasonable-suspicion testing improper or unlawful. The parties agreed that nullified results could not support any agency action, without excluding security-clearance decisions. The Authority rejected the union's later attempt…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2004 (Union) and United States Department of Defense, Defense Distribution Depot, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania (Agency)
AFGE Local 2004 and Defense Distribution Depot Susquehanna (FLRA 0-AR-3444): Union arbitration challenges rejected
AFGE Local 2004 challenged an award by Arbitrator Edward J. O'Connell involving the Defense Distribution Depot in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. The agency opposed the exceptions. The Authority concluded that the award was not deficient under the statutory arbitration-review standards. It cited…
United States Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 12 (Union)
Department of Labor and AFGE Local 12 (FLRA 0-AR-3423): Contractual impasse procedure enforced for qualification waivers
The Department of Labor implemented a new government-wide qualification standard for contract specialists while a union proposal about waivers remained unresolved. Arbitrator M. David Vaughn found a violation of the parties' mid-term bargaining agreement and ordered negotiations to resume on that…
Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc.
Reconsideration of discretionary-review denial rejected
Original Sixteen to One Mine asked the Commission to reconsider its refusal to accept discretionary review of an ALJ decision involving three civil-penalty dockets. The company repeated arguments that MSHA inspectors were subjective, inconsistently enforced the law, and acted antagonistically. The…
Tony M. Stanley, employed by Mine Management Consultants, Incorporated
Default order vacated and case remanded
The Secretary sought a $600 civil penalty from Tony M. Stanley, alleging that he was liable as an agent for Mine Management Consultants' knowing violation of a roof-control standard. Stanley did not timely answer because he mistakenly believed his case would be consolidated with the company's case…
Morrill Asphalt Paving
Discrimination found and relief reserved
Mike Fletcher complained about unsafe conditions and employees appearing to work while smelling of alcohol, then was laid off by Morrill Asphalt Paving. Judge Richard W. Manning found that Fletcher engaged in protected activity and that his layoff was motivated at least in part by that activity…
Tide Creek Rock Incorporated
Consolidated penalties reduced to $980
Tide Creek Rock operated a small crushed-stone mine in Oregon and challenged MSHA's jurisdiction, 24 alleged violations, the significant-and-substantial findings, and the proposed $2,492 in penalties. Judge David F. Barbour found that the Mine Act applied because Tide Creek's products and equipment…
Government of the District of Columbia Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System
In re Government of the District of Columbia Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 00-14 and 01-09): permit remanded
EPA Region III issued an NPDES permit authorizing stormwater discharges from the District of Columbia's municipal separate storm sewer system. Friends of the Earth and Defenders of Wildlife challenged the permit's best management practices, monitoring provisions, modification procedures, and…
China Mines Company
Electrical citations affirmed with modified negligence
Chino Mines Company operated an open-pit copper mine with a solvent-extraction plant. After a 480-volt circuit breaker exploded, three employees suffered burn injuries and one later died. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed the citation for an improperly installed breaker, affirmed the…
United Metro Materials
Commission review vacated after citations were withdrawn
United Metro Materials contested citations issued after a worker was fatally injured while clearing a conveyor belt roller. The administrative law judge dismissed the proceedings because the Secretary did not propose civil penalties within a reasonable time after the investigation. While the…
D.C. Pagers, Inc., d/b/a Superior Service
$5,224.47 fee award granted
D.C. Pagers prevailed in an earlier case after two electrical-safety items were vacated and a third item citing a nonexistent standard was dismissed. It sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge found that the Secretary was not substantially justified in…
Cougar Coal Company, Inc
. (FMSHRC KENT 2000-133, KENT 2000-277): Citations modified, two citations dismissed, and $106,350 penalty assessed
At a coal mine being dismantled, a worker climbed a utility pole near energized high-voltage equipment, was shocked by 7,200 volts, and fell. Judge Avram Weisberger found electrical-work, energized-line, and fall-protection violations, but found no unwarrantable failure. He dismissed the…
In re Laura Estella SALAZAR-Regino, Respondent
Deferred adjudication counted as a conviction
The Board reviewed the Service's appeal from an Immigration Judge's termination of removal proceedings against a lawful permanent resident of Mexico. The respondent had pleaded guilty to possessing between 5 and 50 pounds of marijuana in Texas, and the state court deferred adjudication while…
Pronghorn Drilling Company
Amendment corrected a passage in the EAJA decision
Judge Gary Melick amended an earlier decision in Pronghorn Drilling Company's Equal Access to Justice Act proceeding. The amendment corrected a passage describing whether Rio Algom's processing of liquid minerals was covered by the Mine Act's definition of a coal or other mine. The amendment states…
Nelson Brothers Quarries
Two S&S findings deleted and $415 in penalties assessed
Nelson Brothers Quarries was cited for seven safety violations at its Jasper Quarry, including unguarded moving parts, exposed electrical conductors, missing breaker-box filler plates, clutter, improper fuses, and a nonfunctional backup alarm. Judge Gary Melick affirmed the violations but deleted…
George W. Ferguson v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Ferguson v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 01-0504): former lawyer's fee request returned for review
George Ferguson's former lawyer sought a fee for work on Ferguson's Longshore Act injury claim. The district director denied the request, citing uncertainty about the representation, any success achieved, and Ferguson's ability to pay. The Board held that counsel had submitted an itemized petition…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, SSA General Committee (Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE SSA General Committee (FLRA 0-AR-3472): Agency factual challenge denied
The Social Security Administration challenged an award by Arbitrator Irwin Kaplan. The union opposed the exception and moved to strike it for asserted filing defects. The Authority found that the filing complied with its regulation and denied the motion. It also rejected the agency's exception…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1741 (Union) and United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, Michigan (Agency)
AFGE Local 1741 and Federal Correctional Institution Milan (FLRA 0-AR-3466): Grievance specificity ruling upheld
Arbitrator Robert L. Nichols, Sr. found a union grievance at the federal prison in Milan, Michigan, nonarbitrable because it lacked specificity. The union challenged the award on several grounds. The Authority denied the exceptions, explaining that the union's factual-error and…
Solutia Inc.
In re Solutia Inc. (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 00-1): reimbursement authorized
Solutia Inc. sought reimbursement for costs incurred while complying with an EPA Region II administrative order requiring cleanup at the Morgan Materials, Inc. Superfund Site in Buffalo, New York. The Board had previously found that Solutia was not liable for response costs under CERCLA section…
San Juan Coal Company
Settlement approved with $23,500 penalty
San Juan Coal Company agreed to resolve five alleged mine-safety violations, including one citation and four orders. The Secretary reduced the proposed special-assessment penalty from $36,000 to $23,500 after the parties agreed that the orders should be modified to citations and that mitigating…
Ralph Esposito v. Sea-Land Service, Incorporated
Esposito v. Sea-Land Service (BRB 01-0461): unapproved third-party settlement forfeited benefits
Ralph Esposito received Longshore Act benefits after a work-related leg injury while employed by Sea-Land Service. He signed a $60,000 settlement with a third party without obtaining Sea-Land's prior written approval. The Board held that the employer's limited involvement in the lawsuit did not…
Westborough and Westborough Treatment Plant Board
In re Westborough and Westborough Treatment Plant Board (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-2): infiltration and inflow provisions remanded
The Town of Westborough and the Westborough Treatment Plant Board challenged conditions in an NPDES permit for their publicly owned treatment works discharging treated wastewater into the Assabet River. They disputed copper and toxicity limits, monitoring and reporting provisions, phosphorus…
William T. Morrissey, III v. Kiewit-Atkinson-Kenny
Morrissey v. Kiewit-Atkinson-Kenny (BRB 01-0465): undersea sewage tunnel was outside Longshore coverage
William Morrissey injured his back and leg while building a sewage outfall tunnel beneath the ocean floor for a Massachusetts water authority project. The Board held that the dry bedrock tunnel was not navigable water or a covered maritime site under the Longshore Act. It also rejected his claim…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2516 (Union) and United States Department of the Army, William Beaumont Army Medical Center (Agency)
AFGE Local 2516 and William Beaumont Army Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3489): Contract-interpretation challenge denied
AFGE Local 2516 challenged an award by Arbitrator Thomas A. Cipolla involving William Beaumont Army Medical Center. The Army opposed the exception. The Authority found that the union had not established a defect under the statutory arbitration-review standards. It applied precedent requiring more…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-3401): Priority consideration remanded, temporary promotion upheld
Arbitrator Irwin Kaplan awarded a Social Security Administration employee priority consideration for a supervisory position and a retroactive temporary promotion with back pay and interest. He found no discrimination in her nonselection but found that she had performed higher-graded duties since…
Consolidation Coal Company
Late penalty petition accepted after 14-day delay
The Secretary filed a penalty petition 14 days late after a case file was transferred by mistake and further delayed in the mail during anthrax contamination of the U.S. Postal Service. Chief Administrative Law Judge David F. Barbour found that the clerical error and postal delay provided adequate…
Curtis Jenkins v. Puerto Rico Marine, Incorporated
Jenkins v. Puerto Rico Marine (BRB 01-0447): settlement approval and fee terms upheld
Curtis Jenkins settled a Longshore Act injury claim while an appeal was pending in federal court. He argued that the proposed settlement became automatically approved 30 days after submission and sought interest and penalties for later payment. The Board held that the district director could not…
Mining Property Specialists, Inc.
Unsupported-roof citation modified and $100 penalty assessed
Mining Property Specialists employees installed a survey station 20 inches beyond the last row of permanent roof supports at a coal mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found a violation of the unsupported-roof standard, but concluded that the company's negligence could not be established through the…
Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination found, relief and penalty reserved
Reading Anthracite Company operated the Wadesville Pit, where Leonard M. Bernardyn drove a 190-ton haulage truck. After Bernardyn complained over the CB radio about being pressured to drive faster in foggy and slippery conditions and used profanity, Reading fired him. On remand from the Commission…
Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Inc.
Interlocutory review denied
Cactus Canyon Quarries asked the Commission to review an administrative law judge's ruling allowing the Secretary to file penalty petitions after the 45-day period in Rule 28(a). Judge Irwin Schroeder denied certification because the issue involved factual discretion rather than a controlling…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Asheville , North Carolina (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 446, AFL-CIO (Charging Party/Union)
VA Asheville and AFGE Local 446 (FLRA WA-CA-00547): Nurse-pay award enforcement dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
An arbitrator ordered the VA medical center in Asheville to provide premium pay to nurses appointed under title 38. After the agency's exceptions were dismissed as untimely, its refusal to comply prompted an unfair-labor-practice complaint. The Authority upheld dismissal of the complaint because…
Associated Construction
ALJ affirms fall-protection citation
The OSHRC index identifies this as a Commission decision dated December 14, 2001, but the official PDF currently serves an Administrative Law Judge decision dated January 31, 2002. In the served decision, two Associated Construction employees erected prefabricated walls within inches of an…
National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2357 (Union) and United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service (Agency)
Food Inspection Locals AFGE Local 2357 and USDA (FLRA 0-AR-3475): Procedural-arbitrability exceptions denied
The National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals, AFGE Local 2357, challenged an award by Arbitrator Frank Evans Specht involving USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service. The agency filed no opposition. The Authority found no defect under the statutory arbitration-review standards. It cited…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of EEOC Locals No. 216 (Union) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Agency)
AFGE EEOC Council 216 and EEOC (FLRA 0-AR-3468): Union arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE's National Council of EEOC Locals No. 216 challenged an award by Arbitrator Benjamin M. Shieber. The Authority allowed the EEOC's late opposition after finding extraordinary circumstances related to mail delays. It then denied the union's exceptions under established standards concerning an…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Logistics Center, Detachment Atlantic, Indian Head, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union)
Navy Indian Head and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-3441): Affirmative-action review remedy set aside
A Navy computer specialist alleged that she was denied a temporary promotion because of her race. Arbitrator Laurence M. Evans found no discrimination or violation of the parties' agreement, but ordered the agency to review its affirmative-action obligations. The Authority set aside that portion of…
Darwin Stratton & Son, Inc.
Hearing continuance denied
Darwin Stratton & Son faced three civil-penalty proceedings involving alleged failures to examine a crushing plant, file a quarterly employment report, and allow an MSHA inspector into the Airport Pit. The company asked to postpone a scheduled hearing so it could review documents and await a…
Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc.
Discretionary review declined
Original Sixteen to One Mine petitioned for discretionary review of an ALJ decision involving three civil-penalty dockets. The Commission first granted the petition only to give the company an opportunity to amend it to meet the Mine Act and Commission rule requirements. After receiving the amended…
Cactus Canyon Quarries, Incorporated
Late filing accepted, reconsideration and appeal denied
Cactus Canyon Quarries faced a civil-penalty proceeding after the Secretary filed the penalty petition 15 days past the 45-day deadline. The Secretary explained that the case file had been misplaced, and Judge David F. Barbour found that explanation, together with the short delay, provided adequate…
Joseph D. Weber, III v. S.C. Loveland Company
Weber v. S.C. Loveland (BRB 00-838): benefit dates corrected and salary credit remanded
Joseph Weber injured his back while working on a barge in Jamaica for S.C. Loveland. On reconsideration, the Board reaffirmed that neither of Loveland's two insurance policies covered Longshore Act benefits for this injury, so the employer remained liable. It clarified that Chubb's separate…
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc.
In re Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 01-24 through 01-29): reconsideration denied
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. sought a permit to expand its Keahole Generating Station in Hawaii with combustion turbines, a steam turbine, and an emergency diesel fire pump. The Keahole Defense Coalition asked the Environmental Appeals Board to reconsider its earlier denial of review…
Grafton Water Pollution Control Facility
In re Grafton Water Pollution Control Facility (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-5): review denied for remaining permit issues
The Town of Grafton Board of Sewer Commissioners challenged conditions in its NPDES permit for a publicly owned treatment works discharging to the Blackstone River. After an earlier order remanded, dismissed, or denied several issues and stayed two others, the parties' related settlement changed…
Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District
In re Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-11): appeal dismissed after settlement
The Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District appealed an NPDES permit for its wastewater treatment facility. EPA Region I later issued a modified permit under a settlement agreement with the District. The District told the Environmental Appeals Board that the modified permit resolved all…
Ricop Construction Company
One-day-late contest dismissed
Ricop received an OSHA citation and was twice told that its 15-working-day contest period ended on May 17, 2001. During settlement discussions, company representatives believed the OSHA area director would call again before the deadline about possible additional amendments. Ricop did not sign the…
U.S. Quarried Slate Products, Incorporated
Reopening request remanded to judge
U.S. Quarried Slate Products asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not timely contest it. The company said it had mailed a hearing request within the deadline and attached a signed green card, but the record did not clearly establish when…
U.S. Quarried Slate Products, Inc.
MSHA jurisdiction upheld, $456 penalty assessed
U.S. Quarried Slate Products operated a surface slate quarry and processing facilities in Vermont. MSHA cited the company for four safety violations involving machine guards and a damaged junction-box cover, and the company argued that OSHA rather than MSHA had jurisdiction over its buildings…
Cascade Sand & Gravel, Incorporated
Secretary of Labor v. Cascade Sand & Gravel, Incorporated (FMSHRC WEST 2002-20-M): Reopening request remanded for a judge's decision
Cascade Sand & Gravel said it missed the deadline to contest a proposed penalty assessment because it misplaced the document. The Commission recognized that it may reopen an uncontested assessment that became final under section 105(a) of the Mine Act, and that relief may be available for mistake…
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.