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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Pasco Gravel Company
Reopening request remanded to judge
Pasco Gravel Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not timely contest it. The operator said it had not received notice of the assessment and had asked an MSHA supervisor by phone for a hearing. The Commission majority found that the…
Southdown, Incorporated
Secretary of Labor v. Southdown, Incorporated (FMSHRC PENN 2002-22-M): Commission remand on penalty reopening
Southdown failed to timely contest a proposed penalty assessment after MSHA sent it to the wrong company official. 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 or other…
Williams Brothers Coal Co., Inc.
Seven citations affirmed, three vacated, and $501 penalty assessed
MSHA charged Williams Brothers Coal Company with ten violations at its underground No. 3 Mine involving fire-fighting equipment, roof control, ventilation, electrical equipment, and other safety conditions. Judge Jerold Feldman affirmed seven citations, vacated three, and ordered the company to pay…
Pea Ridge Iron Ore Company
Reopening request remanded to judge
Pea Ridge Iron Ore Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not timely contest it. The company said personnel layoffs caused the missed filing and also stated that it had stopped mining, laid off many employees, and could not pay its…
Higman Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Most citations vacated and $190 penalty assessed
Higman Sand & Gravel operates a gravel pit and processing plant, and MSHA cited conditions involving guarding, fuel storage, equipment alarms, berming, and workplace examinations. Judge Richard W. Manning found that the Mine Act imposes liability for violations even when an injury is unlikely, but…
Robert Burley v. Tidewater Temps, Incorporated
Burley v. Tidewater Temps (BRB 01-0405): disability award vacated for review of job evidence
Robert Burley hurt his left wrist while doing heavy work for Tidewater Temps at a shipyard. The administrative law judge awarded continuing temporary total disability benefits and excluded a late labor market survey offered by the employer. The Board upheld the finding that Burley's work aggravated…
City of Salisbury, Maryland
In re City of Salisbury, Maryland (EAB CWA Appeal No. 00-01): sewage-sludge violations and $16,000 penalty affirmed
The City of Salisbury operated a publicly owned treatment works and applied sewage sludge to farm fields in 1996 and 1997. EPA alleged that the sludge contained arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and molybdenum above the regulatory ceiling concentrations, and also alleged monitoring and reporting…
In re Carlos VASQUEZ-MUNIZ, Respondent
Felon firearm possession was an aggravated felony
The Board reconsidered its earlier decision involving a lawful permanent resident convicted in California of possessing a firearm after a felony conviction. It held that a state offense may qualify as an aggravated felony when it is an offense described in an enumerated federal statute, even if the…
Pronghorn Drilling Company
EAJA entitlement granted and amount deferred
Pronghorn Drilling Company sought attorney fees and expenses after it prevailed in an underlying Mine Act penalty case involving the Smith Ranch Project. Judge Gary Melick found that the Secretary's position was not substantially justified and that an award would not be unjust. The judge approved…
Industrial Chemicals Corp.
In re Industrial Chemicals Corp. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 00-7): SPCC violations and penalty modified
Industrial Chemicals Corp. operated a chemical manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico that was subject to federal oil-spill-prevention rules. EPA alleged that the facility did not properly prepare, implement, and amend its Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Plan, including requirements for…
Lampson International, Ltd.
Commission approves Miller Park crane settlement
Lampson supplied and operated the Big Blue heavy-lift crane at the Miller Park stadium project, where the crane collapsed during a roof-section lift. After Commission review was directed, the parties settled all remaining issues. The Secretary withdrew one crane-rating item, amended the…
United States Customs Service, Miami, Florida (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
Customs Service Miami and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-3474): Agency arbitration exceptions denied
The Customs Service in Miami challenged an award by Arbitrator Mollie H. Bowers. The union opposed the exceptions. The Authority rejected the agency's legal and contract-interpretation challenges. It explained that the cited Merit Systems Protection Board precedent did not establish a legal defect…
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Detention Center, Miami, Florida (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 501 (Union)
Federal Detention Center Miami and AFGE Local 501 (FLRA 0-AR-3389): Reinstatement remedy for suspension set aside
Arbitrator William D. Ferguson found that a Miami detention-center employee's fourteen-day suspension was retaliatory and lacked contractual just cause. He ordered rescission and pay for the suspension, and also reinstatement after a later removal that had not been grieved. The Authority held that…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union) and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Center For Medicare and Medicaid Services (Agency)
AFGE Local 1923 and Medicare and Medicaid Services (FLRA 0-AR-3470): Negotiation-process award upheld
AFGE Local 1923 challenged an award by Arbitrator Jerome H. Ross involving the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Authority denied the union's exceptions concerning the arbitrator's formulation of the issue, implementation of the award, and contract interpretation. It noted that the…
Kevin Dallas Roofing
Default judgment after the employer stopped participating, all citations affirmed
Kevin Dallas Roofing, a sole proprietor in Ohio, was inspected by OSHA and issued a serious citation and an other-than-serious citation totaling $1,650 in proposed penalties. The employer contested the inspection by letter, but then did not participate in the scheduled pre-hearing conference call…
Mingo Logan Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Nathan B. Harvey alleged that Mingo Logan Coal Company discharged him because of safety-related activity at its Mountaineer Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Harvey had not shown he engaged in protected activity or that the discharge was caused by such activity. The judge credited the…
U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Coatesville, Pennsylvania (Respondent) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-35, SEIU, AFL-CIO (Charging Party/Union)
VA Coatesville and NAGE Local R3-35 (FLRA BN-CA-90497): Award-policy bargaining violations upheld
The VA medical center in Coatesville changed employee recognition and awards practices without giving the union notice and an opportunity to bargain. It also failed to respond to a bargaining request or tell the union that a proposed local policy had been abandoned. The Authority upheld the…
Dow Chemical Co.
In re Dow Chemical Co. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-26): petition withdrawn after permit correction
Dow Chemical Company appealed conditions in an NPDES permit issued for Permit No. LA 0003301. Dow told the Environmental Appeals Board that EPA Region VI had corrected administrative errors in the final permit and that it no longer objected to the permit conditions. Dow also stated that Region VI…
Simp-A-Lex
Default entered and $50,113 penalty assessed
Simp-A-Lex failed to respond to a prehearing order and an order to show cause in a civil penalty proceeding. The company had indicated that it was no longer in business and that no one was available to pursue the case, but it did not formally withdraw its contest or respond to the default motion…
Kerr Enterprises, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Kerr Enterprises, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2002-24-M): Reopening request sent to judge
Kerr Enterprises failed to timely contest a proposed penalty assessment after the employee who signed for the mailing left the company. The Commission recognized that it may reopen an uncontested assessment that became final under section 105(a) of the Mine Act when adequate cause is shown. Because…
Tilden Mining Company L.C.
29 conveyor guarding citations dismissed
Tilden Mining processes iron ore into pellets at its Tilden Mine. MSHA issued 29 citations concerning guards around conveyor pulleys in the plant's balling area under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14107(a). Judge Avram Weisberger found that the Secretary did not establish a reasonable possibility of contact with…
Georges Colliers Incorporated
Penalty reduced to $250
Georges Colliers and the Secretary stipulated that the remaining issue was how the penalty would affect the company's ability to continue in business. Judge David F. Barbour found the violation very serious and the company's negligence high, but also found that the proposed penalty would harm the…
Alvin W. Sowers, Jr. v. Metro Machine Corporation
Sowers v. Metro Machine (BRB 00-1141): Longshore coverage denial upheld on reconsideration
Alvin Sowers injured his knee while working at Metro Machine's Mid-Atlantic facility beside the Elizabeth River. The facility made and repaired components for ships at a separate shipyard, and about five percent of the components traveled between the sites by barge. The Board's majority held that…
Allen Howe & Son, Inc.
Repeat trench violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Two Allen Howe & Son employees worked in a roughly seven-foot-deep sewer trench whose Type B soil walls were steeper than the permitted 45-degree slope. OSHA cited the default sloping option, but the judge found that both parties tried the case under the Type B soil requirements and amended the…
M.P. Dory Co.
Settlement approved, training citation affirmed and two others vacated
M.P. Dory Co., a stucco construction employer in Columbus, Ohio, was inspected by OSHA and issued a citation for three serious violations of construction safety standards. The company contested all of them, but before the hearing concluded the parties reached a settlement, which they placed on the…
Douglas R. Rushford Trucking
Remand penalty set at $4,000
Douglas R. Rushford Trucking operated the Seymour Road Pit in New York, where an employee died after a truck wheel rim exploded during tire inflation without a stand-off device. Judge Gary Melick considered the Commission's remand instructions and the statutory penalty factors for the violation of…
C C Coal Company
Discovery motion partly granted and partly denied
C C Coal Company asked the Administrative Law Judge to compel the Secretary to provide records about the proposed civil penalty and documents gathered during the investigation of an alleged mine safety violation. Judge Irwin Schroeder held that the Secretary's deliberative process privilege…
Georges Colliers, Inc.
Consolidated violations and penalties assessed
Georges Colliers, Inc. operated underground coal mines and was charged, along with several supervisory agents, with violations of mandatory mine safety standards. Chief Administrative Law Judge David F. Barbour considered whether the company violated the standards, whether individual agents…
BF Goodrich Hilton Davis, Inc.
One PPE citation affirmed after a boilout burn injury, remaining items vacated
BF Goodrich Hilton Davis makes color pigments and dyes at a Cincinnati plant, where large dryers are periodically cleaned with a hot, corrosive soap-and-water "boilout." A third-shift operator was burned over 47 percent of his body when boilout contents at about 116 degrees Celsius splashed on him…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1346 (Union) and Social Security Administration (Agency)
AFGE Local 1346 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-AR-3460): Challenges to two awards denied
AFGE Local 1346 challenged two awards by Arbitrator Robert D. Steinberg involving the Social Security Administration. The agency filed no opposition. The Authority concluded that neither award was deficient under the statutory arbitration-review standards. It cited precedent governing legal…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1658 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Army, Army Tank-Automotive Command and Armaments Command, Warren, Michigan (Agency)
AFGE Local 1658 and Army Warren (FLRA 0-AR-3404): Promotion-selection challenge rejected
An Army employee was not selected for one of six quality-assurance specialist vacancies after ranking ninth among the interviewed candidates. Arbitrator Donald F. Sugerman found no improper preselection or defect in the selection process and dismissed the grievance under the contract's exclusion…
American Wrecking Corporation and IDM Environmental Corporation
Commission-indexed release contains ALJ remand ruling affirming willful violations
The OSHRC index identifies this as a Commission decision dated December 20, 2001, but the official PDF currently serves the later Administrative Law Judge decision issued after the Commission's remand. The served text states that the Commission had remanded for credibility findings and a ruling on…
Star Brite Construction Co., Inc.
Willful roof-edge violations and cylinder items affirmed
Star Brite replaced large low-pitched roofs at a New Jersey bus complex where employees worked near 25-foot-high unprotected edges and handled roofing materials at the roof edge. The Commission affirmed violations of the general built-up-roofing and roof-edge material-handling fall-protection…
C.J. Hughes Construction, Inc.
EAJA award reduced to $19,443.20
C.J. Hughes prevailed in the underlying trench case and received an Equal Access to Justice Act award for fees and expenses incurred contesting six citation items. On review, the Commissioners remained divided over whether the Secretary was substantially justified in litigating the trench-egress…
Fort Bragg Association of Educators (Union) and United States Department of Defense, Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fort Bragg Dependent Schools, Fort Bragg, North Carolina (Agency)
Fort Bragg Association of Educators and Defense Schools (FLRA 0-AR-3449): Union contract challenge denied
The Fort Bragg Association of Educators challenged an award by Arbitrator Mark I. Lurie involving the Fort Bragg dependent schools. The agency opposed the exceptions. The Authority concluded that the award was not deficient under the statutory arbitration-review standards. It cited the deferential…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC.
Unsupported-roof citation vacated
Canyon Fuel operated the Skyline Mine No. 3 in Utah. The Secretary alleged that longwall foreman Kenneth DeMille walked under unsupported roof after an unintentional roof fall. Judge August F. Cetti found that DeMille used a narrow passageway supported by the mine's roof-control plan and that the…
Ormet Primary Aluminum Corporation, Burnside Alumina Division
Citations mixed and $315 penalty
Ormet operated an alumina mill in Louisiana, where MSHA alleged seven violations of mandatory safety and health standards. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found that two violations were proven, while three citations were vacated and two were withdrawn by the Secretary. The two affirmed violations were…
United States Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Engineer Research Development Center, Vicksburg, Mississippi (Agency/Petitioner) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3310, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Federal District 1, Iamaw, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor) and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 4, Chapter 1, AFL-CIO, Clc (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor) and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 1017, AFL-CIO, Clc (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor)
Army Engineer Research Development Center and unions (FLRA AT-RP-00038, WA-RP-00080): Review granted after mail quarantine
NFFE sought review of a regional director's decision involving the Army Engineer Research Development Center and several unions. Its timely mailed application reached the Authority weeks later because mail was quarantined at the Postal Service's Brentwood facility. The Authority obtained the…
T.C. Erectors, Inc.
Fall-protection citation affirmed after a 28-foot roof fall on an untiered building
T.C. Erectors is a small steel erection contractor that was a subcontractor building a grocery store in Columbus, Ohio. An employee dragging roof decking fell 28 feet to the interior of the building and suffered fractures in both wrists and a foot plus a head injury; he was wearing a safety belt…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 4055 (Union) and United States Department of the Army, Headquarters, Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
AFGE Local 4055 and Army Corps headquarters (FLRA 0-AR-3464): Arbitration challenges denied or untimely
AFGE Local 4055 challenged an award by Arbitrator Philip F. Dorman involving Army Corps of Engineers headquarters. The Authority denied the exceptions under precedent governing unspecified legal claims, contract interpretation, and factual error. The union also challenged an earlier award by the…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Houston, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1633 (Union)
VA Houston and AFGE Local 1633 (FLRA 0-AR-3439): Computer-specialist promotion awards upheld
Two employees at the VA medical center in Houston alleged that preselection and favoritism denied them promotion opportunities. Arbitrator Samuel J. Nicholas, Jr. allowed the grievance to proceed despite procedural errors by both parties and ordered the employees promoted to GS-12 computer…
Kinder Morgan Operating L.P. "C"
Split Commission leaves Mine Act jurisdiction standing
Kinder Morgan operated a Kentucky marine terminal that received, stored, blended, and loaded coal for utility customers. The company challenged MSHA's jurisdiction and the three citations alleging coal and coal-dust accumulations. The Commission was evenly divided, so the ALJ's ruling that the…
Oxford Mining, Inc.
Commission vacates PPE and hazard-training citations, finding OSHA preempted by MSHA
Oxford Mining did reclamation work at an abandoned bauxite mine site in Arkansas, where employees handled Alroc, an alkaline treated pot-liner material used to surface haul roads and fill the pit. OSHA cited Oxford for two serious violations: not providing personal protective equipment and not…
JTM Industries, Inc.
OSHA citations vacated because MSHA had authority
JTM performed reclamation work at a former open-pit bauxite mine and handled alkaline Alroc material on haul roads and in the excavated pit. OSHA cited the company for inadequate protective equipment and hazard-communication training. The Commission held that the reclamation site remained a mine…
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Settlement order remanded to consider union's letter
The judge approved a settlement between the Secretary and Northwest Airlines. The union responded to his request for reports by letter dated August 30, and its counsel responded by letter dated October 19. The judge's order mentioned only the October letter and said the union had not submitted a…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1494 (Union) and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Prison Camp, Alderson, West Virginia\ (Agency)
AFGE Local 1494 and Alderson Federal Prison Camp (FLRA 0-AR-3424): Asbestos-work classification upheld
Employees at Alderson Federal Prison Camp removed sewage-contaminated soil from a crawl space containing asbestos debris from deteriorating pipe insulation. The union challenged Arbitrator Sue Ollinger Shaw's denial of medical-surveillance relief, arguing that the work was Class I asbestos removal…
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3911 (Union)
EPA and AFGE Local 3911 (FLRA 0-AR-3402): Broad posting remedy exceeded individual grievance
An EPA employee in San Juan challenged a delayed performance rating and a performance-assistance plan issued after the appraisal year ended. Arbitrator Robert B. Hoffman found contract violations but treated most personal remedies as moot after the employee received a successful rating. He ordered…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 41 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Southwest District (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 41 and IRS Southwest (FLRA 0-AR-3399): Travel credit-hours grievance denied
An IRS tax auditor and union steward sought credit hours for travel outside his fixed daily tour under a local alternative-work-schedule agreement. Arbitrator Luella E. Nelson denied the grievance after finding the travel-credit provision unlawful under OPM's interpretation of the statute. The…
Eagle Energy, Inc.
Unwarrantable-failure findings affirmed and $12,000 penalty reinstated
Eagle Energy's foremen repeatedly failed to record nine hazardous kettle bottoms during preshift and onshift examinations at Mine No. 1. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the painted kettle-bottom cluster had been identified for additional roof support and that the repeated failures to record the…
Ford Motor Company
Electrical-safety settlement approved
The Commission approved a settlement resolving the remaining electrical-safety items from an OSHA inspection of Ford. The parties allowed the judge's vacatur of two deenergization items and the affirmed serious findings on three electrical-work and protective-equipment items to become final, while…
Ohio County Coal Company
Belt and coal-dust citations affirmed with $455 penalty
Ohio County Coal operated the Freedom Mine, where MSHA cited belts rubbing against framing and timbers and coal and float coal dust accumulating near belt equipment. Judge Gary Melick found all three violations proven, including two significant and substantial violations involving fire and smoke…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3529 (Petitioner/Union) and United States Department of Defense, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Central Region, Irving, Texas (Petitioner/Activity)
AFGE Local 3529 and Defense Contract Audit Agency (FLRA DA-RP-00035, DA-RP-00040): Twenty-one employees remain in bargaining unit
The Defense Contract Audit Agency sought review of a decision including twenty-one employees in five positions in an existing bargaining unit. The Authority denied review and held that a post-certification agreement excluding positions did not bind the regional director. It found no need to…
Revoli Construction Co., Inc.
Willful trench violation and $63,000 penalty affirmed
A Revoli employee worked in a 7.5-foot-deep, unshored and unsloped trench while the foreman watched from a backhoe. The Commission found actual knowledge through the foreman and constructive knowledge because Revoli lacked an effective enforcement or disciplinary system despite knowing the employee…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1698 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Agency)
AFGE Local 1698 and Navy Philadelphia (FLRA 0-AR-3431): Transfer-of-function and reduction-in-force award upheld
A Navy transfer of base operating support functions moved some employees to a new competitive area, followed by a reduction in force among those remaining. Arbitrator Peter R. Myers rejected claims that the agency improperly identified employees for transfer or harmed employees through the transfer…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2172 (Union) and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Zone 2, Millington, Tennessee (Agency)
AFGE Local 2172 and Defense Commissary Agency (FLRA 0-AR-3421): Final procedural dismissal upheld after bench ruling
A commissary employee challenged a fourteen-day suspension, but the union initiated arbitrator selection two days after the contractual deadline. Arbitrator Robert G. Bowling initially allowed the case to proceed, then dismissed the grievance in his written award. The Authority held that the oral…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-32 (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, 913th Airlift Wing, Willow Grove Air Reserve Station, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania (Agency)
NAGE Local R3-32 and Air Force Willow Grove (FLRA 0-AR-3448): Fair-hearing exceptions denied
NAGE Local R3-32 challenged an award by Arbitrator Douglas F. Coleman involving the Air Force's 913th Airlift Wing at Willow Grove. The Authority declined to consider the agency's opposition because it was late and lacked the required copies, and the agency did not respond to an order to correct…
The Doe Run Company
Fall-protection citation affirmed with negligence reduced to none
The Doe Run Company operated the West Fork underground lead and zinc mine in Missouri. A shaft maintenance worker died after his lanyard snagged a bolt while he was inspecting a moving production skip without properly tying off. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck found that fall protection was required…
United Mine Workers of America
Review dismissed after citations vacated
MSHA issued two citations to Arch of West Virginia for equipment defects affecting the safety of fuel trucks, and the United Mine Workers of America intervened in support of the Secretary. An Administrative Law Judge had vacated the citations, and the union sought Commission review. After the…
United States Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, United States Army Engineer District, Vicksburg, Mississippi (Agency/Petitioner) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3310, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor) and National Federation of Federal, Employees, Federal District 1, Iamaw, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor) and International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees, Local 1472, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor) and International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees, Local 1017, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization/Incumbent Intervenor)
Army Vicksburg contracting offices and unions (FLRA AT-RP-00037): Dispersed employees accreted into existing unit
An Army Corps reorganization transferred about twenty contracting employees in three geographically dispersed offices to the Vicksburg Consolidated Contracting Office. The regional director found that they had become part of the existing AFGE bargaining unit. IFPTE sought review, arguing that…
Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Fort Worth, Texas (Respondent) and National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Local 171 (Charging Party/Union)
FAA Fort Worth and NATCA Local 171 (FLRA DA-CA-90788): Withholding late-acquired hearing documents violated disclosure duties
The FAA received Navy records bearing on air traffic controllers' hazard-pay grievance shortly before arbitration but withheld them until the hearing. The Authority upheld findings that this delay violated the duty to furnish information and separately constituted bad-faith bargaining. The union's…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.