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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Tiger Shipyard, Inc., Tiger Marine Site
In re Tiger Shipyard, Inc., Tiger Marine Site (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 96-3): petition settled
Tiger Shipyard, Inc. sought reimbursement for costs it claimed from complying with an EPA Region VI unilateral administrative order at the Tiger Marine Site. After the Board issued a preliminary decision concluding that the petition should be granted, the parties reached a settlement. EPA paid…
Max B. Steevens v. Umpqua River Navigation
Steevens v. Umpqua River Navigation (BRB 00-1027): hearing loss award upheld and fee remanded
Max Steevens operated a noisy barge crane for Umpqua River Navigation before retiring in 1975. The Board upheld the judge's use of two 1998 audiograms to measure a 52.81 percent work-related binaural hearing loss because earlier tests lacked required measurements and other reliability information…
Union Tank Car Company
Recordkeeping items withdrawn, exposure-record violation left in place
Union Tank Car employees cleaning railcars that had carried electrode binder developed skin and respiratory symptoms, and company monitoring found exposure above OSHA's permissible limit. The judge found that Union Tank Car willfully withheld employee exposure-monitoring records despite repeated…
City of Irving, Texas, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System
In re City of Irving, Texas, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-18): review denied
The City of Irving operated a municipal separate storm sewer system in Texas under an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region VI. Irving argued that several permit conditions violated federalism principles and its First Amendment rights, and it challenged other requirements concerning stormwater…
City of Abilene Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System
In re City of Abilene Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-16): review denied
The City of Abilene challenged conditions in its NPDES permit for a medium municipal separate storm sewer system that discharges primarily into a lake serving as the city's main drinking-water source. The City argued that the permit violated constitutional principles and that EPA Region VI had…
Midwest Generation, LLC, and its successors
Sling and hoist violations affirmed, other items vacated
Midwest employees helped a contractor hoist 25-foot wooden I-joists inside a power plant using a pneumatic winch and nylon sling. A joist slipped from the sling, fell down the hoist bay, and struck and killed the employee signaling the winch operator. The judge affirmed three sling violations…
Hard Rock Mining Company, of Olympia, Inc.
Order to show cause issued
Hard Rock Mining Company was involved in six stayed civil penalty proceedings. The Secretary reported that attempts to contact the company had failed, mail was returned unclaimed, and the company's former counsel had said that the company and its president had filed for bankruptcy. Judge T. Todd…
Excel Mining LLC
Partial summary decision denied
Excel Mining LLC operated a preparation plant where an employee suffered fatal injuries after falling approximately 55 feet while guiding a suspended chemical barrel. MSHA alleged that the company violated requirements for taglines on suspended loads and daily examinations of active working areas…
Jerry Kate Bazor v. Boomtown Belle Casino
Bazor v. Boomtown Belle Casino (BRB 00-0928B): disability and death benefits upheld
Ben Bazor supervised work on a casino vessel while it was being completed and helped maintain its dock and boarding area. He suffered a stroke during this employment and died several years later. The Board held that his shipbuilding duties qualified him for Longshore Act coverage despite the…
Dynatec Mining Corporation
EAJA fee application dismissed
Dynatec Mining applied for attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after earlier Mine Act litigation reduced the proposed penalty from $700,000 to $60,000. The Secretary moved to dismiss, arguing that Dynatec was not an eligible party because the net worth and employees of…
Town of Milford, Massachusetts Board of Sewer Commissioners
In re Town of Milford, Massachusetts Board of Sewer Commissioners (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-30): permit review denied
The Town of Milford operates a publicly owned treatment works that discharges to the Charles River. Milford challenged copper and phosphorus limits in its reissued NPDES permit, arguing that the limits lacked support and could not be met without costly treatment upgrades. The Environmental Appeals…
Table Rock Asphalt Construction, Co., Inc.
Citations vacated and modified
Table Rock operated two small underground limestone quarries in Missouri. The Secretary sought $2,055 in penalties for eleven alleged violations involving berms, fire extinguishers, grounding, and conveyor guarding, while several citations were resolved by settlement or vacatur during the hearing…
North Atlantic Fish Company, Inc.
Broad fish-plant safety violations affirmed
OSHA's safety and health inspections of North Atlantic's Massachusetts fish-processing plant identified extensive fire, machine, electrical, chemical, respiratory, noise, storage, and powered-industrial-truck hazards. The judge affirmed most of the serious items, including general duty violations…
Department of the Air Force, March Air Reserve Base, California (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3854, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
March Air Reserve Base and AFGE Local 3854 (FLRA SF-CA-00037): Bargaining required over discrimination-settlement effects
March Air Reserve Base implemented a court-approved discrimination settlement that transferred an employee, restored leave, and provided training. The parties stipulated that implementation adversely affected other unit employees and that the Union received neither prior notice nor an opportunity…
In re Juan Olivares-Martinez, Respondent
Fifth Circuit felony DWI rule ended removability
The Board applied recent Fifth Circuit decisions concerning Texas felony driving while intoxicated convictions. Those decisions held that the conviction was not a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 16(b), so it could not support the aggravated-felony removability charge in this case. The Board…
William E. Hawker v. Zeigler Coal Company
Hawker v. Zeigler Coal (BRB 99-0434): Benefit award upheld on reconsideration
William Hawker won black lung benefits after the judge found complicated pneumoconiosis, and the Board had affirmed that award. Zeigler Coal asked the Board to reconsider the x-ray findings and the attorney fee award. The Board held that the judge could give greater weight to readings by physicians…
Coastal Petroleum Services, Inc.
Remote-site first-aid violation affirmed
A Coastal well-servicing rig overturned at a remote Mississippi oil well, killing one crew member and seriously injuring another. The judge vacated a general duty allegation concerning the mast's guylines and anchors because OSHA did not produce the manufacturer's specifications for the particular…
Reflections Tower Service, Inc.
Three violations affirmed and two vacated after a tower-dismantling inspection
Reflections Tower Service dismantled a communications tower in Ohio, where an employee lost two fingers after his glove was caught in hoist equipment. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause and several construction standards. The judge vacated the general duty clause item because OSHA…
Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #1F (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island (Agency)
FOP Lodge 1F and VA Providence Medical Center (FLRA 0-NG-2465): Police bargaining proposals receive mixed negotiability ruling
The Fraternal Order of Police challenged the negotiability of fourteen proposals for police employees at the VA Providence Medical Center. The Authority ordered bargaining upon request over a Monday-through-Friday schedule during court leave, reasonable delay of disciplinary questioning to obtain a…
Excel Mining, LLC
Respirable-dust citations vacated
MSHA cited Excel Mining after averaging respirable-dust samples from several occupations during single shifts at a mechanized mining unit. The Commission held that the Secretary's 1971 Finding barred single-shift sampling for enforcement because it found that such measurement would not accurately…
United States Department of Treasury, United States Customs Service, Customs Management Center, Arizona and United States Department of Treasury, United States Customs Service, Office of Internal Affairs, Tucson, Arizona (Respondents) and National Treasury Employees Union, National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 116 (Charging Party/Union)
Customs Service and NTEU Chapter 116 (FLRA DE-CA-80776, DE-CA-80829): Limited investigation and exclusion of union representative upheld
Customs investigators excluded a union vice president from representing an employee because she allegedly had told him to lie in an official response. They also asked the employee and another union representative limited questions about that allegation. The Authority dismissed both…
United States Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (Respondent) and Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 268 (Charging Party)
Department of Energy Oak Ridge and OPEIU Local 268 (FLRA CH-CA-90297): Full back pay ordered for union official's suspension
The Department of Energy suspended a union shop chairman for five days after a dispute over a computer disk containing a union brief. The dispute included heated exchanges and an incident report that accused a manager of threatening behavior. The Authority upheld the finding that the suspension…
Brian J. Schilhab v. Intercontinental Terminals, Incorporated
Schilhab v. Intercontinental Terminals (BRB 00-0999): railcar hose work qualifies as maritime employment
Brian Schilhab injured his neck and back while connecting a hose at Intercontinental Terminals' facility beside the Houston Ship Channel. The company argued that his railcar supervisor job did not meet the Longshore Act's maritime employment requirement. The Board found that connecting railcar and…
Rosemary Liuzza v. Cooper/T. Smith Stevedoring Company, Incorporated
Liuzza v. Cooper/T. Smith Stevedoring (BRB 00-0981): disability overpayment cannot reduce widow's benefits
Jake Liuzza worked as a longshoreman and later developed lung cancer that the judge found connected to his work. The employer initially paid disability benefits based on a 100 percent impairment, but the award was reduced on remand when the judge found a 51 percent impairment during specified…
Bernard B. Hapney v. Peabody Coal Company
Hapney v. Peabody Coal (BRB 00-0336): Black lung award returned for combined evidence review
Bernard Hapney sought black lung benefits after a prior claim was denied, and the judge awarded benefits on remand. A Board majority held that biopsy findings of anthracosis with related disease and a medical opinion could support a finding of pneumoconiosis. It nevertheless required the judge to…
Mississippi Army National Guard, Jackson, Mississippi (Activity) and Association of Civilian Technicians (Petitioner/Union)
Mississippi Army National Guard and ACT (FLRA AT-RP-00044): Review of technician-unit election direction denied
The Association of Civilian Technicians sought to represent a statewide unit of Mississippi Army National Guard technicians. The Regional Director found the unit appropriate and directed an election, and the Activity sought review on jurisdictional and unit-appropriateness grounds. The Authority…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 4052, Council of Prison Locals (Union)
Bureau of Prisons Guaynabo and AFGE Local 4052 (FLRA 0-AR-3332): Correctional-post vacancy restriction upheld
An Arbitrator found that the Guaynabo detention center violated its safety agreement by leaving correctional posts vacant after reassigning on-duty officers. The award required the Agency to stop leaving those posts vacant except in emergencies. The Authority denied the Agency's exceptions, finding…
Consolidation Coal Company
Accumulation order restored; preshift issue remanded
Consolidation Coal operated the Loveridge No. 22 underground coal mine while constructing a new section. MSHA cited coal accumulations and an inadequate preshift examination. The Commission reversed the judge's finding that the accumulation violation was not an unwarrantable failure, restored that…
Greg Pollock v. Kennecott Utah Copper Corp.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Greg Pollock, a union president at Kennecott's large open-pit copper mine, contacted MSHA after an accident and later received a written warning for disruptive conduct at an earlier union meeting. Pollock claimed the warning was retaliation for his protected safety activity. Judge Richard W…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, 436th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Dover, Delaware (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1709 (Charging Party)
Dover Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1709 (FLRA WA-CA-00262): Union entitled to attend formal EEO mediation
Dover Air Force Base mediated an employee's formal discrimination complaint without notifying the union or offering it an opportunity to attend. The Authority held that the six-hour mediation was a formal discussion about a grievance under the federal labor statute. The agency lawyer represented…
Bilbrough Marble Division, Texas Architectural Aggregate
Citation and imminent-danger order vacated
Bilbrough operated the Roper Quarry, a surface limestone and dolomite mine in Texas. During an inspection, the general manager briefly lifted a belt idler while explaining how it would be installed, and MSHA issued a citation and imminent-danger order alleging that he was not wearing hard-toed…
Vincent J. Riggio v. Maher Terminals, Incorporated
Riggio v. Maher Terminals (BRB 00-960): clerk who also checks cargo is covered
Vincent Riggio injured his shoulder while working as an office delivery clerk at Maher Terminals. He also regularly received assignments as a cargo checker in the lanes and field. The administrative law judge denied Longshore coverage because Riggio was doing clerical work when injured and had not…
Bigge Crane and Rigging Company, and its successors
Roof-edge fall protection violation affirmed
Bigge Crane and Rigging performed construction work at Travis Air Force Base in California. An OSHA compliance officer observed a Bigge foreman standing near the unprotected edge of a 25-foot-high commissary roof without fall protection. The judge credited the compliance officer's account over the…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Motion to enforce temporary reinstatement denied without prejudice
The Secretary of Labor asked Judge Michael E. Zielinski to enforce an earlier order requiring Eastern Associated Coal Corp. to reinstate Gary Dean Munson. Munson had instead accepted economic reinstatement, receiving pay and benefits without returning to work, and later asked to return after…
SRW, Inc.
In re SRW, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal Nos. 01-02, 01-03, 01-04, 01-05, and 01-06): petitions dismissed as moot
EPA Region V issued SRW, Inc. an underground injection control permit for an injection well. The Environmental Appeals Board received five petitions for review of that permit determination. EPA Region V moved to dismiss the petitions after stating that the permit had expired and SRW would not…
BR&D Enterprises, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement amended to allow economic reinstatement
The Secretary of Labor and BR&D Enterprises jointly asked to amend an earlier order requiring the company to return Dewayne York to his former job. Instead, the parties had agreed that York would receive the same pay, overtime, health insurance, and other benefits without physically returning to…
In re Finnair Flight AY103
Carrier fine applied despite later visa waiver
The Board reviewed an administrative fine imposed on a carrier for bringing a passenger to the United States without a valid nonimmigrant visa. The passenger later received a waiver of the nonimmigrant documentary requirements, but the Board held that the later waiver did not eliminate the…
LVI Environmental Services, Inc.
In re LVI Environmental Services, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 00-8): Asbestos NESHAP violations affirmed
LVI Environmental Services, an asbestos and lead abatement contractor, renovated a building at Davis Monthan Air Force Base by removing roofing material. EPA alleged that LVI failed to provide the required renovation notification and failed to keep regulated asbestos-containing material adequately…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 96 (Union)
VA Medical Center St. Louis and AFGE Local 96 (FLRA 0-AR-3377): Back pay upheld for required pager duty
A VA employee carried a pager to respond to after-hours emergencies without receiving on-call pay for several years. An Arbitrator found that the agreement barred requiring employees to carry and respond to pagers unless they were in a pay status, and awarded back pay with interest. The Authority…
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local 100 (Union)
Government Printing Office and Sheet Metal Workers Local 100 (FLRA 0-AR-3362): Weekend night overtime differential upheld
The Government Printing Office stopped including a night differential when calculating weekend night overtime for certain weekday day-shift employees. An Arbitrator found that the longstanding payment practice had become part of the agreement and ordered affected employees made whole. The Authority…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Discriminatory discharge found after safety complaints
Gary Dean Munson worked for Eastern Associated Coal Corp. for 28 years and regularly raised safety concerns, including warnings that he would contact MSHA when management did not respond. The company fired him after two absences that it treated as consecutive unexcused workdays, but Judge Michael…
Mountain Cement Company
Expedited hearing granted after withdrawal orders were modified
MSHA issued at least 20 withdrawal orders to Mountain Cement under the Mine Act's unwarrantable-failure provision during a March 2001 inspection. After a conference, most of the orders were modified or vacated, leaving two orders alleging non-significant-and-substantial housekeeping violations…
United Steel Workers of America, Local 4880
Deposition of MSHA penalty assessor quashed
The Secretary of Labor moved to quash Alcoa World Alumina's notice seeking to depose the MSHA personnel who decided the proposed penalty in a discrimination case involving Lee Garrett. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon rejected the claim that the unidentified officials automatically had immunity from…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of Field Labor Locals, Local 2139 (Union) and United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Agency)
OSHA and AFGE Local 2139 (FLRA 0-NG-2580): Proposal to retain prior customer-service standards nonnegotiable
AFGE Local 2139 proposed replacing OSHA's draft customer-service principles with its 1995 standards and excluding the word courteous from the policy. The Authority found that the proposal affected management's rights to direct employees and assign work by preventing changes to employee-performance…
U.S. Department of the Army, Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2142 and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 797 and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Lodge 2049 (Unions)
Corpus Christi Army Depot and three unions (FLRA 0-AR-3309-REC): Reconsideration of attorney-fee allotment ruling denied
Three unions sought reconsideration of a decision limiting deductions from an asbestos environmental-differential back-pay award to pay contractual attorney fees. The earlier decision required the depot to ask the proper agency head to consider authorizing an allotment, followed by individual…
Lodestar Energy, Inc.
Illumination citation vacated
MSHA cited Lodestar Energy for allegedly failing to provide enough illumination where a truck dumped refuse at a slurry pond. The inspector believed a dirty backup light and the unused portable light plant left the driver unable to see safely, but the driver and foreman testified that the truck had…
U.S. Department of Defense, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, Georgia (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 22 (Union)
Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and AFGE Local 22 (FLRA 0-AR-3383): Accurate position-description remedy upheld
Marine Corps employees sought correction of position descriptions that omitted duties they regularly performed. An Arbitrator enforced the agreement by ordering the Agency to implement the proposed description prepared by the employees and their supervisor. The Authority denied the Agency's…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2501 (Union) and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Distribution Center, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania (Agency)
Defense Logistics Agency New Cumberland and AFGE Local 2501 (FLRA 0-AR-3352-REC): Settlement-enforcement reconsideration denied
AFGE Local 2501 sought reconsideration of a decision upholding an Arbitrator's enforcement of a settlement agreement. The agreement exchanged the union's withdrawal of most pending grievances and proceedings for a delay in reductions in force. The Arbitrator found that the union breached that…
United States Department of the Navy, Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division, Indian Head, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union)
Navy Indian Head and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-3214): Technician overtime and liquidated damages upheld
An Arbitrator found that ten of eleven Navy technicians were improperly exempted from overtime protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The award required reclassification, two years of back pay, and liquidated damages; one employee's radiation-safety duties supported an administrative…
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)
DLA San Joaquin and AFGE, LIUNA Local 1276 (FLRA WA-RP-00062): Review of election objections denied
LIUNA Local 1276 sought review of a regional director's rejection of objections to a representation election at the Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin. It challenged the election agreement, the absence of hearings, and the treatment of alleged agency conduct. The Authority found support for the…
Laura Patricia Bianco v. Georgia Pacific Corporation
Bianco v. Georgia Pacific (BRB 00-0953): factory injuries outside Longshore site coverage
Laura Bianco was injured twice while working in Georgia Pacific's wallboard and gypcrete departments. Ships delivered raw gypsum to a nearby dock, and a conveyor carried it to a rock shed for storage before the plant used it to manufacture products. The Board agreed that the conveyor and rock shed…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1815 (Union) and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Fort Rucker Commissary, Fort Rucker, Alabama (Agency)
Fort Rucker Commissary and AFGE Local 1815 (FLRA 0-AR-3403): Union arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1815 challenged an arbitration award involving the Fort Rucker Commissary. The Authority rejected the union's contract-interpretation and fair-hearing objections because it had not shown that the award was deficient. It declined to consider a claim under Article 7, Section 4 that the…
R & J Crane Service, Inc.
Penalty dispute remanded for further proceedings
R & J Crane Service withdrew its notice contesting a serious citation, and the administrative law judge affirmed an $875 proposed penalty. The company later requested relief, asserting that an OSHA attorney had said the citation was being withdrawn after the company withdrew its contest. The…
Formica Corporation
A laminate-plant pit was not a permit-required confined space, so all three citations were vacated
Formica Corporation makes surfacing products like tabletops, flooring, and sheeting at a plant in Evendale, Ohio. After a formal complaint, OSHA inspected the facility and cited Formica for three violations tied to a pit beneath adjustable collating tables, where employees stepped down about twice…
Williams Gas Pipeline/South Central
Case remanded to resolve the respondent's identity
An administrative law judge approved a settlement involving two amended general duty clause items and a $13,950 penalty. The named respondent then asked the Commission to change the case caption from Williams Gas Pipeline/South Central to Texas Gas Transmission Corporation, which it said was the…
Marcella Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Cinnaminson Nursing Center, Geriatric & Medical Services
Bloodborne-pathogen citations vacated
OSHA cited three related New Jersey nursing facilities for using traditional syringes rather than safety syringes, and cited Marcella for the location of containers used to discard disposable razors. The judge found that OSHA's prior guidance did not give the facilities fair notice that safety…
Contractors Sand & Gravel, Incorporated
Ten default assessments remanded for reconsideration
Contractors Sand & Gravel asked the Commission to reopen 11 proposed penalty assessments totaling $2,073 for 24 alleged violations, arguing that it believed a prior settlement covered them. The Commission denied relief as to one assessment because it was issued after the settlement decision and…
Berwick Sewer District
In re Berwick Sewer District (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-12): petition dismissed as moot
Prime Tanning Company petitioned for review of an NPDES permit that EPA Region I issued to Berwick Sewer District. Before the Board decided whether to grant or deny review, the Region withdrew the entire permit under 40 C.F.R. § 124.19(d). The Region said that the Maine Department of Environmental…
United States Information Agency, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1812 (Union)
USIA Broadcasting Board and AFGE Local 1812 (FLRA 0-AR-3318): Broadcaster suspension returned for further review
The Agency suspended a Russian-language broadcaster for five days after she made inappropriate on-air comments about coworkers. An Arbitrator reversed the suspension and awarded back pay because he concluded that the Agency had to use performance procedures under Chapter 43 instead of disciplinary…
Social Security Administration, Boston Region (Region 1), Lowell District Office, Lowell, Massachusetts (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1164 (Union)
Social Security Administration Lowell and AFGE Local 1164 (FLRA 0-AR-3176): Supervisor-reassignment remedy set aside
A Social Security supervisor examined and rearranged an employee's files and overhead storage bins while she was on vacation. An Arbitrator found violations of the agreement's storage, respectful-treatment, and performance-assistance provisions. The Authority upheld the restriction on searching her…
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.