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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Gabel Stone Company
Back-pay award affirmed
Gabel Stone discharged loader operator John Noakes, and the Secretary brought a discrimination case on his behalf. The Administrative Law Judge awarded Noakes $9,157.60 in back pay, plus interest, and assessed a $5,000 civil penalty after finding the discharge discriminatory. The Commission…
Russell Jensen v. Weeks Marine, Incorporated
Jensen v. Weeks Marine (BRB 01-0532): job evidence requires another review on remand
Russell Jensen injured his leg, foot, and hip while working for Weeks Marine and received a total disability award. The employer sought to modify that award, arguing that Jensen could do other work. After earlier remands, the administrative law judge again rejected modification without separately…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3365 (Union) and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Boxelder Job Corps Center, Nemo, South Dakota (Agency)
AFGE Local 3365 and Boxelder Job Corps Center (FLRA 0-AR-3453): Timely union exceptions denied
AFGE Local 3365 challenged an award by Arbitrator Leonard E. Lindquist involving the Forest Service's Boxelder Job Corps Center. The Authority rejected the agency's timeliness objection because the filing date was the mailing date and the applicable extensions made the exceptions timely. It…
Social Security Administration (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 220 (Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 220 (FLRA 0-AR-3426): Temporary promotions for mentoring work upheld
Arbitrator Laurence M. Evans found that the Social Security Administration failed to temporarily promote employees who performed mentoring duties covered by the parties' agreement. He awarded retroactive temporary promotions after finding a contract violation that reduced pay. The Authority denied…
U.S. Department of Defense, Rhode Island National Guard, Cranston, Rhode Island (Agency) and Association of Civilian Technicians, Rhode Island Chapter (Union)
Rhode Island National Guard and ACT (FLRA 0-AR-3406): Union may use national bargaining representative
The Rhode Island National Guard objected to a national union representative serving on the local union's bargaining team, citing an agreement limiting the team to unit members. Arbitrator George F. McInerny found that bargaining history and other agreement provisions permitted national…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1156 and Laborers' International Union, Local 1170 (Unions) and United States Department of the Navy, Naval Inventory Control Point and Defense Logistics Agency, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (Agencies)
AFGE Local 1156 and Laborers Local 1170 with Navy and DLA (FLRA 0-AR-3294): Asbestos differential back-pay period clarified
Arbitrator Irwin Kaplan had awarded environmental differential pay for asbestos exposure beginning six years before the unions filed their grievances. When the agencies treated the filing date as the end of recovery, he clarified that payment continued through the date of the initial award. The…
J. Masterson Construction Corporation
Willful trench violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Two J. Masterson employees worked in a trench whose near-vertical wall was more than six feet high and consisted of Type B and Type C soil. The superintendent stood at the trench edge and watched while no shoring, sloping, or trench box protected the employees. The judge rejected the company's…
Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc.
Late review petition accepted for amendment
Original Sixteen to One Mine sought review of an Administrative Law Judge's civil-penalty decision, but filed its petition eight days after the 30-day deadline. The Commission majority found good cause based on the operator's lack of familiarity with Commission procedure and related circumstances…
Rag Cumberland Resources, LP
Bleeder methane citations split, imminent-danger order vacated
Rag Cumberland Resources operated the Cumberland Mine, where elevated methane readings were recorded in the bleeder system during longwall mining. Judge Jerold Feldman affirmed two methane-related violations, modified one citation's negligence finding to moderate, and vacated the imminent-danger…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Walter Jackson v. Mountain Top Trucking Company, Inc., et al.
Back-pay award affirmed in result
Walter Jackson petitioned for review of the amount of back pay awarded after the Commission had found that Mountain Top Trucking and related operators discharged him in violation of the Mine Act. The Administrative Law Judge reduced the award to $16,515.40 plus interest after finding that Jackson…
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc.
In re Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 01-24 through 01-29): permit review denied
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. sought to expand the Keahole Generating Station in Kona, Hawaii, with new combustion turbines, a steam turbine, and an emergency diesel fire pump. Six petitioners challenged the revised PSD permit's ambient air-quality data, a confirmatory monitoring study, the…
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
Internal Revenue Service and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-3351 REC): Reconsideration of commute-time compensation denied
The Internal Revenue Service sought reconsideration of a decision sustaining compensation for employees whose commute increased during a temporary assignment. The arbitrator had found that the agreement authorized payment under the Portal-to-Portal Act. The agency argued that the Authority wrongly…
Northwest Aggregates
Mine citations affirmed for operator, vacated for individual
Northwest Aggregates operated a sand and gravel pit where a loader operator was partially engulfed by sloughing material from a high wall. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found that Northwest violated standards governing stable mining methods and ground-condition examinations, but he rejected…
Carroll County Stone, Inc.
Default order vacated and remanded
Carroll County Stone failed to answer the Secretary's civil-penalty petition and an ALJ's show-cause order, so the ALJ entered a default order and assessed the proposed $122 penalty. The company's president asked the Commission to vacate the default, explaining that he believed a Department of…
Flora Sistrunk v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Sistrunk v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 01-298): denial of survivor benefits affirmed
B.J. Sistrunk worked as a welder and burner at Ingalls Shipbuilding, where asbestos products were present, and later died of lung cancer. His widow sought survivor benefits under the Longshore Act. The Board agreed that the evidence initially triggered a presumption connecting the death to work…
Concrete Materials of Montana, LLC
Default order vacated and remanded over mailing-address dispute
Concrete Materials failed to answer a civil-penalty petition and an ALJ's show-cause order after correspondence was allegedly sent to the wrong mine address. The ALJ entered a default order and assessed civil penalties of $5,369, while the Secretary's petition listed penalties totaling $5,377. The…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Alaska Health Care System, Anchorage, Alaska (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3028 (Union)
VA Alaska Health Care System and AFGE Local 3028 (FLRA 0-AR-3418): Retroactive promotion and backpay upheld
A VA employee in Anchorage sought promotion after additional duties caused his position to be reclassified from GS-6 to GS-7. The arbitrator found that the agreement required promotion when the position was reclassified and awarded a retroactive promotion and backpay. The agency argued that the…
MJP Construction Co., Inc.
High-rise fall violations affirmed and willful penalties increased
MJP was the formwork subcontractor on a high-rise concrete project where employees repeatedly worked at open floor edges and hoist areas without guardrails or personal fall-arrest systems. The Commission affirmed the violations, finding that videotape and testimony showed exposure and that MJP did…
Janusz Szydlowski d/b/a J Home Improvement, Inc.
Contest filed nearly a year late dismissed
J Home Improvement received an OSHA citation by certified mail on April 26, 2000, making May 17 the deadline to contest. Its first response was a letter to the Commission received almost a year later. The owner argued that he had not received or understood information about the 15-working-day…
R.B. Thomas Electric, Inc.
Aerial-lift and safety-program violations affirmed
An OSHA compliance officer saw a Thomas Electric apprentice working 15 to 20 feet above concrete in an aerial lift without a safety harness. The judge found that the company was still performing construction work and had not arranged regular competent-person inspections or systematically trained…
Westar Mechanical, Inc.
Serious trench violations and $31,950 penalties affirmed
Westar and a subcontractor installed a sewer line in unprotected excavations on two consecutive days. On the second day, a trench wall collapsed, a water main broke, and two trapped workers drowned as the trench filled with water. The Commission held that separate cave-in and competent-person…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2274, (Union) and United States Department of Veterans, Affairs, Aleda E. Lutz Medical Center, Saginaw, Michigan (Agency)
AFGE Local 2274 and VA Saginaw Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3408): Noncompetitive reassignment award upheld
The VA reassigned an employee with medical restrictions to a position it had advertised competitively, although she had not applied by the deadline. The arbitrator found that the agreement allowed a noncompetitive reassignment at the same grade with no known promotion potential. He found the…
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Boulder City, Nevada (Activity) and Fraternal Order of Police, First Federal Lodge 1-F (Petitioner/Union)
Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Fraternal Order of Police (FLRA SF-RP-00052): Separate ranger bargaining unit rejected
The Fraternal Order of Police sought an election for a separate unit of 21 permanent law enforcement park rangers at Lake Mead. The Regional Director dismissed the petition, finding the proposed unit inappropriate. The Authority found that the rangers’ specialized law enforcement duties did not…
Solutia Inc.
In re Solutia Inc. (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 00-1): reimbursement petition granted
Solutia Inc. sought reimbursement for more than $432,000 in costs incurred while complying with an EPA Region II order to remove and destroy drums of off-specification adhesives at a Buffalo, New York warehouse. The Board found that Monsanto's 1986 sale of the adhesives to Morgan Materials was a…
Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and its successors
Fall-protection violations affirmed with reduced penalty
OSHA observed Hensel Phelps employees working more than 25 feet above a lower level with deficient fall protection. The cited conditions included work before guardrails were properly installed, a guardrail that deflected below the required height, unflagged wire-rope rails, and floor-hole exposure…
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (Agency) and National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (Union)
FAA and National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (FLRA 0-AR-3398): Removal-remedy exceptions dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
An arbitrator had ordered an FAA employee reinstated and made whole after finding his removal discriminatory under the Rehabilitation Act. After a settlement and further disagreement over remedies, she issued a supplemental award specifying damages, backpay, front pay, costs, continued employment…
Omaha Paper Stock Company
Eight permit-space violations affirmed
Omaha Paper Stock used a large baler whose chamber employees entered to clear jams. An employee became trapped under five to six feet of paper and required a 48-minute rescue. The Commission held that the chamber was a permit-required confined space because entrants faced recognized serious hazards…
Asarco, Inc.
Penalty reopening requests remanded, duplicate docket dismissed
Asarco asked the Commission to reopen penalty assessments that had become final after the company mistakenly paid penalties it intended to contest. The company identified 23 citations, but the record suggested that penalties for 26 citations may have been paid, so the Commission remanded for a…
Beco Construction Company, Inc.
Crusher safety citations split, $824 penalty assessed
Beco Construction operated portable crushers in Idaho, and MSHA cited guarding, access, electrical, housekeeping, and equipment conditions. Judge Richard W. Manning held that some conditions violated the cited standards, while others were too speculative or lacked fair notice on the record. He…
Perry County Coal Corporation
Three penalty reopenings denied, one remanded
Perry County Coal asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company failed to timely contest it, asserting mistake or inadvertence. The Commission denied relief for the penalties associated with three citations because no corresponding contests had been…
City of Marshall, Minnesota
In re City of Marshall, Minnesota (EAB CWA Appeal No. 00-9): penalty remanded for reconsideration
The City of Marshall operated a wastewater treatment plant and applied sewage sludge to agricultural land. EPA alleged violations of the federal sewage-sludge rules and challenged an initial decision that assessed a $6,000 penalty instead of the $52,000 penalty EPA proposed. The Environmental…
Hart Metals, Inc.
Electrical item affirmed and forklift item vacated
Hart processed magnesium ingots and particulate in two chipper areas at its Pennsylvania plant. OSHA alleged that a propane forklift needed an explosion-rated designation in the open chipper area and that ordinary electrical equipment was improper in the enclosed chipper area. The judge vacated the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 446 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Asheville, North Carolina (Agency)
AFGE Local 446 and VA Medical Center, Asheville (FLRA 0-AR-3450): Challenges to arbitration award denied
AFGE Local 446 challenged an award by Arbitrator Robert W. Kilroy involving the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville, North Carolina. The agency filed no opposition. The Authority found no defect under the statutory standards for reviewing arbitration awards. It cited precedent on whether…
Eagle Energy, Inc.
Roof-examination violations affirmed, unwarrantability and penalties remanded
Eagle Energy’s mine was investigated after a foreman was fatally injured in a roof-rib event. The Commission affirmed the ALJ’s finding that Eagle violated the regulations requiring preshift and on-shift examinations, but held that the ALJ’s analysis of unwarrantable failure and penalties relied…
Eighty Four Mining Company
Two penalty assessments reopened
Eighty Four Mining intended to contest penalties tied to four citations but paid the other fifteen penalties from a $4,867 assessment. MSHA later said it had not received the contest form for the four citations, and the operator resolved two of them while seeking to continue contesting two. The…
South Essex Sewerage District
In re South Essex Sewerage District (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-13): petition dismissed as moot
South Essex Sewerage District sought review of an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region I. The petition challenged flow and residual chlorine limits, infiltration and inflow requirements, and an ambient water quality monitoring program. During the appeal, the Region withdrew the contested permit…
CBI Services, Inc.
Willful crane-load riding violation affirmed
At a Massachusetts worksite, a CBI employee stood on a hollow steel ring while a crawler crane lifted, swung, and suspended the load into position. The Commission rejected CBI's challenge to the OSHA crane standard, holding that the incorporated 1968 ANSI safety code had been validly incorporated…
Modern Continental Construction Company, Inc.
Rigging-training and suspended-load violations affirmed
At Boston's Big Dig, employees removed shoring through a small ceiling access hole. A vertically rigged bundle of seven-foot cross braces slipped and fell through the opening, impaling an employee in the head. The judge found that Modern had not adequately trained the crew for vertical lifts…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Respondent/Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Council 220 (Charging Party/Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 220 (FLRA WA-CA-01-0167): Settlement requires information for an arbitration grievance
The Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 220 settled a dispute about information needed for a grievance scheduled for arbitration. The Authority approved the settlement because it furthered amicable resolution and no party claimed it conflicted with Authority policy. SSA must provide…
In re Javier SOTELO-Sotelo, Respondent
Cancellation denied after criminal conduct
The Board considered a lawful permanent resident's application for cancellation of removal after federal convictions involving fraudulent resident cards, immigration-related conduct, and employment of migrant workers. It clarified that an applicant does not need to satisfy a separate threshold…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Respondent/Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 220 (Charging Party/Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 220 (FLRA WA-CA-00728, WA-CA-00729): Settlement protects union participation in formal discussions
The Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 220 settled two cases concerning formal discussions with bargaining unit employees. The Authority approved the agreement because it promoted amicable resolution and no party asserted a conflict with Authority policy. SSA must stop conducting…
Read Sand & Gravel
Penalty assessment reopening request remanded
Read Sand & Gravel failed to timely request a hearing on a proposed civil penalty assessment that became a final Commission order. The operator asserted that it did not own, control, or manage the property, that some violations were outside Mine Act jurisdiction or the mine area, and that MSHA had…
J. Davidson & Sons Construction Company, Inc.
Interlocutory review denied
J. Davidson & Sons Construction Company asked the Commission to review an Administrative Law Judge's denial of its request for a show cause order. The company sought interlocutory review of the judge's later refusal to certify that earlier ruling for immediate Commission review. The Commission…
46 Sand & Stone
Three penalty assessments reopened and remanded
46 Sand & Stone failed to timely request a hearing on three proposed penalties after the filing was misfiled and the company's safety director left employment. The operator submitted an affidavit from its president explaining the internal processing error, and the Secretary did not oppose relief…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 446 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Integrated Service (Agency)
AFGE Local 446 and VA Veterans Integrated Service (FLRA 0-AR-3440): Arbitrator did not exceed his authority
AFGE Local 446 challenged an award by Arbitrator John B. Dorsey involving the Department of Veterans Affairs. The union said the arbitrator failed to consider alleged violations of time limits in the master agreement. The Authority treated that argument as a claim that the arbitrator exceeded his…
Original Sixteen to One Mine Incorporated
Citations split and $1,030 penalty assessed
Original Sixteen to One Mine operated an underground gold mine in California, and MSHA alleged 26 violations across three dockets. Ten citations were litigated after the Secretary vacated eight citations and the operator withdrew contests to eight others. Judge Michael E. Zielinski vacated one…
In re Juana M. MORAGA, Beneficiary of visa petition filed by Adalberto MORAGA, Petitioner
Salvadoran paternity established legitimation
The Board reviewed a visa petition filed by a naturalized United States citizen for his daughter, who was born out of wedlock in El Salvador in 1966. It held that El Salvador's 1983 legal changes eliminated distinctions between children born in and out of wedlock, and that the daughter was under 18…
In re G-Y-R-, Respondent
Defective notice barred in absentia removal
The Board reviewed the Service's appeal from an Immigration Judge's termination of removal proceedings against a Salvadoran national who did not appear for a scheduled hearing. The Notice to Appear was sent by certified mail to an address provided years earlier, was returned by the Postal Service…
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Agency) and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 28 (Union)
NASA Glenn Research Center and IFPTE Local 28 (FLRA CH-RP-00034): Two confidential secretarial positions excluded from bargaining unit
NASA challenged a regional director's decision including two secretarial positions at its Glenn Research Center in a bargaining unit. The Authority found that the regional director made a clear and prejudicial factual error about the employees' attendance at management meetings. The record showed…
Pro Set Erectors, and its successors
Fall-protection violation affirmed and penalty reduced
At a construction site in Idaho, a Pro Set foreman unhooked his lanyard and climbed over the rail of an aerial-lift basket onto a stairway about 30 feet above the ground. The judge held that the lift basket was not an adequate catch platform because it did not reliably protect an employee climbing…
Georges Colliers, Incorporated
Settlement approved and $742.60 penalty assessed
Georges Colliers, Incorporated returned to the Administrative Law Judge on remand for assessment of a civil penalty. After supplemental hearings about the company's updated financial information, the parties negotiated a settlement. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement acceptable under the Mine…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 15 (Union) and United States Department of Defense, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Illinois (Agency)
AFGE Local 15 and Defense Finance and Accounting Service (FLRA 0-AR-3430): Challenges to arbitration award denied
AFGE Local 15 challenged an award by Arbitrator Jeanne M. Vonhof involving the Defense Finance and Accounting Service at Rock Island Arsenal. The agency opposed the exceptions. The Authority found that the union had not established a defect under the statutory arbitration-review standards. It cited…
Alan Lee Good, an individual doing business as Good Construction
Remand issues dismissed after citations vacated
The Commission remanded these civil penalty proceedings for the Judge to determine whether the operator had adequate notice of the Secretary's interpretation of a guarding standard. The Secretary later vacated the five citations at issue. Judge Gary Melick held that the proceedings had therefore…
In re Robin Juraine Crammond, Respondent
Departure withdrew motion to reopen and defeated Board jurisdiction
The Board reconsidered an earlier decision granting the respondent's motion to reopen. The record showed that the respondent departed the United States while the motion was pending, and the governing regulation treated that departure as a withdrawal of the motion. The Board therefore granted…
In re Cresencio Heriberto Martinez-Recinos, Respondent
Perjury conviction was an aggravated felony
The Board reviewed the removal of a lawful permanent resident based on a California perjury conviction. It held that the conviction was an aggravated felony under section 101(a)(43)(S) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Because the respondent had previously been admitted as a lawful permanent…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Discrimination relief ordered and $8,500 penalty assessed
Eastern Associated Coal Corp. agreed with Gary Dean Munson on the relief to follow an earlier finding that the company discriminated against him under the Mine Act. Judge Michael E. Zielinski ordered the company to reinstate Munson under a Last Chance Agreement, restore his benefits, provide job…
Island Creek Coal Company
Motion to compel granted in part and denied in part
Island Creek Coal Company asked the Secretary to produce an MSHA discrimination investigation report and related exhibits in a case brought on behalf of Donnie Lee Lowe. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held that the investigative report, chronology, and most witness statements were protected work product…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-75 (Union) and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, North Carolina (Agency)
NAGE Local R4-75 and National Park Service (FLRA 0-AR-3395): Conditional job selection did not establish a protected property interest
A temporary National Park Service employee was not selected for a permanent job after his pre-employment urine sample was found invalid. An arbitrator denied the union's grievance, finding that testing procedures were proper and the sample was adulterated. The Authority found that the arbitrator…
Eagle Energy Incorporated
Unwarrantable-failure finding affirmed on remand and $2,850 total penalty assessed
Eagle Energy operated a wet underground mine where water accumulated in an escapeway after the mine's pumping arrangement was changed during longwall preparation. On remand, Judge Jerold Feldman held that the violation of the escapeway standard was attributable to Eagle Energy's unwarrantable…
Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Distribution Depot, San Joaquin, California (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Petitioner/Labor Organization) and Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 1276, AFL-CIO (Intervenor/Labor Organization)
Defense Distribution Depot, San Joaquin (FLRA WA-RP-00062-Rec): Election reconsideration denied
Laborers' International Union Local 1276 sought reconsideration of an Authority decision denying review of its objections to a representation election at the Defense Distribution Depot in San Joaquin. The union challenged the handling of its claims about a pre-election hearing and the refusal to…
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.