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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Reintjes of the South, Inc.
Stay lifted and $55,131 settlement approval reissued
Reintjes of the South, Inc. agreed to pay the full $55,131 penalty in consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving Ormet Corporation's mine. The initial decision approving that settlement had been vacated after the Commission ordered further proceedings. Judge Avram Weisberger…
F&E Erection Company
Constructive discharge claim denied on remand
Bryce Dolan refused to continue lead-abatement work after F&E Erection Company had previously failed to provide protective equipment and air sampling. The Commission directed the ALJ to separate the protected-work-refusal question from whether Dolan faced objectively intolerable conditions when he…
Marjorie C. Williams v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Williams v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 00-908): survivor claim returned for third-party payment findings
Marjorie Williams sought survivor benefits after her husband, a former shipyard carpenter exposed to asbestos at work, died of lung cancer. The judge found the death work related but denied benefits because her lawyers had received payments from two asbestos trusts without the employer's prior…
Miller Electric Company, Inc.
Electrical case remanded after testimony was misunderstood
Miller Electric received three serious electrical citations after a journeyman electrician was electrocuted while connecting a light fixture to an energized circuit. The administrative law judge affirmed two items and rejected the company's employee-misconduct defense. The Commission found that the…
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (Agency) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-120 (Union)
Valley Forge National Historical Park and NAGE Local R3-120 (FLRA 0-AR-3396): Official time for appeal preparation upheld
A union president used annual leave to help a union attorney prepare an employee's MSPB appeal after the Agency denied official time. An Arbitrator found that the assistance was a representational function covered by the agreement and ordered eight hours of annual leave converted to official time…
Sidco Minerals
Discrimination complaint dismissed as untimely
Lue A. Wilson alleged that Sidco Minerals unlawfully terminated him in 1992. He did not file his discrimination complaint with the Secretary until July 1999, well after the Act's 60-day filing limit. After the judge ordered the parties to show cause why the case should not be dismissed, no response…
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Immigration and Naturalization Service Council (Union)
Immigration and Naturalization Service and AFGE Council (FLRA 0-AR-3388): Case-by-case training accommodation review upheld
The Immigration and Naturalization Service terminated or placed immigration inspectors on inactive duty after they failed to complete firearms training. An Arbitrator rejected age discrimination but found that the Agency had not adequately examined certain inspectors' physical conditions and…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 68 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Andover Service Center (Agency)
IRS Andover Service Center and NTEU Chapter 68 (FLRA 0-AR-3380): Shift-change restoration remedy not required
The IRS moved certain employees from the night shift to the day shift without bargaining. An Arbitrator found a contract violation and ordered employees made whole for lost earnings and benefits. NTEU sought a return to the prior conditions, arguing that the make-whole remedy was insufficient. The…
National Guard Bureau (Respondent) and Association of Civilian Technicians (Charging Party)
National Guard Bureau (FLRA WA-CA-80617): consultation required before restricting civilian promotion opportunities
The National Guard Bureau replaced position descriptions that permitted civilian technicians without military membership with descriptions limited to dual-status technicians. It did so without consulting the Association of Civilian Technicians, which held national consultation rights. The Authority…
Consolidation Coal Company
Late penalty petition accepted and motion to dismiss denied
The Secretary filed a civil penalty petition six days after the 45-day deadline in Commission Procedural Rule 28(a). The delay resulted from temporary staffing problems and a processing error in MSHA field offices. Respondent did not claim prejudice from the delay. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found…
Consolidation Coal Company
Late penalty petitions accepted and motions to dismiss denied
The Secretary filed two civil penalty petitions about two and a half months after the 45-day deadline in Commission Procedural Rule 28(a). The delay resulted from temporary staffing problems and a processing error in MSHA field offices. Consolidation Coal Company did not claim prejudice from the…
Asarco Incorporated
Seat-belt citations for underground haul trucks used on the surface affirmed
Asarco challenged five citations alleging that underground Toro 40D haul trucks used on surface roads lacked required seat belts or had seat belts that did not meet SAE J386. The judge found that 30 C.F.R. § 57.14131 applies to haulage trucks used on the surface of an underground mine, even when…
Harriman Coal Corporation
Request to reopen penalty assessment remanded for further review
Harriman Coal Corporation asked to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final Commission order because the company did not timely contest it. Harriman said counsel misunderstood the Commission's rules and believed a petition involving a related order would also suspend collection of this…
Dimitra Logara v. Jackson Engineering Company
Logara v. Jackson Engineering (BRB 00-0887): survivor benefit commutation must include future adjustments
Dimitra Logara received survivor benefits after her husband's death from a work injury, then moved to Greece. The employer requested a lump sum payment equal to half the commuted value of future benefits under a rule for nonresident alien survivors. The Board rejected her treaty, constitutional…
Guerrero Masonry, Inc., and its successors
A notice of contest filed 20 months late was dismissed, so the citations became final
Guerrero Masonry, Inc. was inspected by OSHA and received two citations in November 1998, a serious citation with a proposed penalty of $16,800 and a non-serious citation with a proposed penalty of $300. Employers have 15 working days to contest citations, and the paperwork Guerrero received said…
Esleeck Manufacturing Company, Inc.
In re Esleeck Manufacturing Company, Inc. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-01): petition withdrawn as moot
Esleeck Manufacturing Company, Inc. petitioned for review of an NPDES permit condition that imposed a maximum temperature limit. Esleeck and EPA Region I jointly moved to withdraw the petition after that condition was withdrawn and replaced with a monitoring-only requirement. Because the issue…
Department of the Navy, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area, Master Station-Atlantic, Base Level Communications Department, Regional Operations Division, Norfolk, Virginia, Base Communications Office-Mechanicsburg (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1156, AFL-CIO (Union/Petitioner)
Navy BCO-Mechanicsburg (FLRA BN-RP-80041): separate four-person bargaining unit rejected
AFGE Local 1156 sought to retain representation of four Navy telecommunications employees after their transfer to a different organization. On remand, the Acting Regional Director found that they did not form an appropriate separate bargaining unit and dismissed the petition. The Authority denied…
U.S. Department of the Army, Dugway Proving Ground, Dugway, Utah (Agency) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-9 (Union)
Army Dugway Proving Ground (FLRA 0-AR-3245): promotion upheld with a later backpay date
A secretary at Dugway Proving Ground challenged the failure to promote her and a lowered performance appraisal. The arbitrator found that her supervisor unfairly withheld a promotion request and retaliated in her appraisal after she filed an EEO complaint. The Authority upheld the corrected…
Pen Coal Corporation/Kiah Creek Division
Citation affirmed as modified and $55 penalty assessed
A contractor's truck used to haul coal to Pen Coal's preparation plant lacked a portable fire extinguisher. The truck belonged to a subcontractor that Pen Coal did not know had been hired, and Pen Coal's employees did not cause or directly observe the condition. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck held…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-136 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina (Agency)
VA Charleston Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3368): home computer repairs do not earn a two-hour overtime minimum
Fifteen information technology employees at the VA medical center performed after-hours computer repairs from their homes. The agency paid them for actual work in fifteen-minute increments rather than the two-hour minimum paid when employees returned to the workplace. The arbitrator denied the…
Three Mountain Power, LLC
In re Three Mountain Power, LLC (EAB PSD Appeal No. 01-05): permit review denied
Three Mountain Power, LLC sought a federal prevention of significant deterioration permit for a natural-gas-fired power plant in California. Burney Resources Group challenged the permit's best available control technology limits for nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, the exclusion of one control…
Robert Wallin
In re Robert Wallin (EAB CWA Appeal No. 00-3): dairy discharge penalty increased
Robert Wallin operated a dairy that discharged manure-laden wastewater through a man-made ditch into a wetland without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The Environmental Appeals Board upheld the liability finding and rejected an increase based on alleged economic benefit or…
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and ECDC Environmental L.C./Laidlaw Environmental Services
In re The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and ECDC Environmental L.C./Laidlaw Environmental Services (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 96-5): reimbursement granted in part
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and ECDC Environmental, L.C. and Laidlaw Environmental Services sought reimbursement for more than $4.6 million spent responding to a Coast Guard order after a barge carrying dredged material grounded near Charleston Harbor and spilled material…
J. Davidson & Sons Construction Company, Inc.
Petition for discretionary review denied as premature
J. Davidson & Sons Construction Company sought discretionary review of an ALJ order denying its request for a show cause order about the Secretary's late answer to Davidson's notice of contest. The Commission held that the ALJ order did not finally dispose of the proceedings, so jurisdiction…
South West Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Three citations vacated, six affirmed, and $425 penalty assessed
South West Sand & Gravel, a four-employee sand and gravel operation in Arizona, was cited after an inspection of its mine. The judge found that the company failed to record defects affecting the safety of a water truck that had been taken out of service, and that severely cracked and damaged…
Billy Yee
In re Billy Yee (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 00-2): lead-disclosure penalty affirmed
Billy Yee leased residential property and was assessed a civil penalty under the federal lead-based paint disclosure rules. He argued that the rules were not enforceable when the alleged violations occurred because an editorial note in the Code of Federal Regulations referred to pending approval of…
Potomac Electric Power Company
In re Potomac Electric Power Company (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-34): petition dismissed as moot
Potomac Electric Power Company petitioned for review of conditions in an NPDES permit for its Benning Road Generating Station in the District of Columbia. PEPCO and EPA Region III jointly moved to dismiss the petition, stating that they had reached an agreement resolving their disputes and that the…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Southern Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, North Charleston, South Carolina (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2298, Goose Creek, South Carolina (Petitioner/Incumbent) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2010, Mayport Naval Station, Mayport, Florida (Petitioner/Incumbent) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2326, Great Lakes Naval Base, Great Lakes, Illinois (Intervenor/Incumbent) and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, Local Lodge 192, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida (Intervenor/Incumbent)
Navy ROICC Jacksonville (FLRA AT-RP-00001, AT-RP-90050): successor-employer case returned for unit findings
AFGE sought continued representation of employees transferred from Navy Public Works Center Jacksonville to ROICC Jacksonville. The Authority granted review of the Regional Director’s rejection of successorship for that office. The Director had not decided whether the requested unit met all three…
Dore & Associates Contracting, Inc.
Late notice of contest remanded for evidence on excusable neglect
Dore & Associates filed its notice contesting OSHA citations after the statutory 15-working-day deadline. The judge dismissed the late contest and affirmed $8,400 in proposed penalties because Dore had not established grounds for relief from the final order. In its review petition, the company said…
BSE Industrial Contractors, Inc.
Fall-protection citation vacated for lack of knowledge, but inadequate fall training affirmed
BSE Industrial Contractors is a steel erection contractor. OSHA investigated after an ironworker on a BSE crew fell 40 feet and died while climbing a rain-slicked noise baffle inside a smoke stack at a USX steel plant in Fairfield, Alabama. OSHA issued three items: working on an elevated surface…
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Respondent) and Patent Office Professional Association (Charging Party/Union)
Patent and Trademark Office (FLRA WA-CA-80405, WA-CA-80515): bargaining duties survive absence of a term agreement
The Patent and Trademark Office refused union requests to bargain over performance appraisals and pay-related proposals and implemented recruitment bonuses before bargaining. It argued that no valid term collective bargaining agreement existed and that it need not address proposals unrelated to…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 (Union)
Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-AR-3346): promised priority consideration must be genuine
An employee used priority consideration promised in an EEO settlement but was not selected for a lead inventory position. The arbitrator found that the agency compared him with other applicants rather than giving the promised bona fide consideration. The Authority denied the agency’s exceptions. It…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3529 (Union) and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Central Region, Irving, Texas (Agency)
Defense Contract Audit Agency (FLRA 0-NG-2514): audit software choices are elective bargaining subjects
AFGE Local 3529 challenged the agency’s refusal to bargain over four proposals concerning its electronic audit paperwork system. The Authority held that proposals letting auditors decide whether and how extensively to use the system concerned methods and means of work and were bargainable only at…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Detroit, Michigan (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1804 (Union)
HUD Detroit (FLRA 0-AR-3370): untimely written admonishment remains rescinded
HUD issued a written admonishment 36 days after an employee tore up a supervisor’s memo during a meeting. The arbitrator rescinded the admonishment because it missed the contract’s 30-day limit and did not reach whether discipline was justified. The Authority denied the agency’s exceptions. Under…
Hubert Payne, Eric Charles, Wyoming Pocahontas Land Company, Inc., Paul Stover, P.E.S. Enterprises and Skin Poplar Coal Corp.
Consolidated discrimination settlements approved
These consolidated discrimination cases involved coal haulage truck drivers and an owner who alleged they were punished after refusing to haul coal over allegedly hazardous roads and reporting the road conditions to MSHA. Judge David F. Barbour approved a $15,000 settlement for ten complainants in…
Martin Marietta Aggregates
Inoperative truck alarm citation affirmed with $25 penalty
Martin Marietta Aggregates was cited after an inspector found that a water-haul truck at its Franklin Quarry had a nonfunctional reverse alarm. The company argued that the truck was not available for use because wet roads meant a pre-shift examination had not yet been performed. Judge Avram…
United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Centralized Servicing Center, St. Louis, Missouri (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3354 (Union)
USDA Rural Development (FLRA 0-AR-3322): initial hiring claims excluded from negotiated grievances
The union filed a discrimination grievance concerning the hiring, grades, pay, and promotions of 29 bilingual loan processors at USDA’s centralized servicing center. The arbitrator found the grievance arbitrable but denied it on the merits. The agency challenged only the arbitrability ruling. The…
Town of Maynard, Massachusetts Maynard Water Pollution Control Facility
In re Town of Maynard, Massachusetts Maynard Water Pollution Control Facility (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 01-05): copper-limit review denied
The Town of Maynard operated a municipal wastewater treatment facility under an NPDES permit for discharges to the Assabet River. The Town asked the Environmental Appeals Board to stay or review copper effluent limits because its facility could not consistently meet them and a regional wastewater…
Lakehead Constructors
Discrimination complaints dismissed because trainees were not yet miners
Nineteen workers referred by a plumbers and pipefitters union attended MSHA safety training before beginning short-term construction and maintenance work at a mine site. They claimed Lakehead Constructors discriminated against them by refusing to pay their regular wages for the training. Judge…
In re Victor Leonardo Rojas, Respondent
Mandatory detention applied after release from criminal custody
The Board reviewed a custody appeal by a criminal alien who had been released from state custody. It held that section 236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act applied even though the Service did not immediately take the respondent into custody after release. The Board also held that the…
Nordam Group
Eye-protection violation affirmed after citation amendment
Nordam manufactured and repaired aerospace products at a Tulsa facility where employees ground fiberglass parts. OSHA originally alleged that the company failed to provide side shields or goggles, while the judge found that several employees wore no eye protection at all. The Commission allowed…
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 171, Council of Prison Locals C-33 (Union)
Federal Transfer Center Oklahoma City (FLRA 0-AR-3300): quarterly assignment bidding upheld
The prison transfer center designated some work assignments for six or nine months despite a collective bargaining agreement providing for quarterly rosters and seniority-based preference requests. The arbitrator ordered all assignments opened for quarterly bidding. The Authority denied the…
United States Department of the Air Force, 82ND Training Wing, 361ST Training Squadron, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (Agency) and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 12, AFL-CIO (Union/Petitioner)
Air Force Aberdeen Proving Ground (FLRA WA-RP-00092): small training unit may proceed to an election
A union sought an election among nonprofessional civilian employees at an Air Force training detachment in Aberdeen. The Regional Director found the unit appropriate and excluded an instructional systems specialist as a supervisor. The Authority denied the agency’s application for review. It held…
Virginia Slate Company
Unwarrantable-failure findings partly vacated and penalties remanded
Virginia Slate operated an open-pit slate mine with alleged guarding, access, berm, and preshift-inspection violations. The Commission held that the ALJ had not adequately analyzed unwarrantable failure for several violations, especially where testimony indicated equipment had operated without…
Dynatec Mining Corporation
Secretary’s motion to stay EAJA case denied
Dynatec Mining sought attorney fees and costs in an Equal Access to Justice Act proceeding while it appealed part of the underlying Mine Act case. The Secretary asked the judge to stay the fee proceeding until the appeal ended, arguing that continuing could fragment the fee petitions and waste…
Joseph D. Weber, III v. S.C. Loveland Company
Weber v. S.C. Loveland (BRB 00-838): employer owes Longshore benefits for Jamaica injury
Joseph Weber permanently injured his back while working on S.C. Loveland's barge in the port of Kingston, Jamaica. The Board adhered to its earlier ruling that the Longshore Act covered the injury despite its location in foreign waters. It agreed that Aetna's policy did not cover work outside its…
RAG Shoshone Coal Corp.
Two citations affirmed and $110 penalty assessed
RAG Shoshone Coal Corp. was assessed penalties in a supplemental order after a consolidated proceeding concerning the validity of the 060 code. Judge August F. Cetti relied on the hearing record and the parties’ stipulations and assessed $55 for each of two affirmed citations. The operator…
Mariposa Aggregates
107 citations affirmed by default and $108,067 penalty assessed
Mariposa Aggregates contested proposed penalties for 107 citations and orders issued at its California quarry. The operator filed documents raising jurisdictional and other issues but did not answer the penalty petitions or state a substantive basis for contesting the citations. Judge Richard W…
Willie Gilliam v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Gilliam v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 00-0854): timely modification claim supports short disability award
Willie Gilliam injured his back while working as a shipfitter for Newport News Shipbuilding. He requested modification of an earlier benefits denial and later sought four days of temporary total disability benefits after injury-related pain kept him off work. The Board affirmed the denial of a…
Michael A. Roberts v. Custom Ship Interiors
Roberts v. Custom Ship Interiors (BRB 00-832): cash per diem raises weekly wage calculation
Michael Roberts was injured while remodeling a cruise ship for Custom Ship Interiors. A judge awarded continuing temporary total disability benefits using an average weekly wage of $377.13, excluding a cash per diem because it was not taxable. The Board held that the per diem was part of Roberts's…
Superior Rigging & Erecting Co.
Settlement approved with $68,600 total penalty
Superior Rigging & Erecting and the Secretary settled the remaining issues in a case involving fall protection during elevator-shaft work. The agreement retained an affirmed item, resolved a scaffold-guardrail item under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(a)(4), dismissed an alternative allegation under 29…
Harquahala Generating Project
In re Harquahala Generating Project (EAB PSD Appeal No. 01-04): petition for review denied
Don’t Waste Arizona petitioned for review of a federal Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for the Harquahala Generating Project, a proposed natural-gas-fired electric generating plant in Arizona. The petition challenged the permit’s affirmative-defense language, Best Available Control…
Bertha S. Brinkley v. Department of the Army/NAF
Brinkley v. Department of the Army/NAF (BRB 00-0866): attorney fee reduced after employer appeal
Bertha Brinkley, an Army secretary, won disability and medical benefits for a work-related psychological injury. Her employer appealed the separate award of attorney fees and costs. The Board's majority held that New Mexico gross receipts tax should be covered by counsel's hourly rate, rather than…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Council 215 (Charging Party/Union)
Social Security Administration (FLRA WA-CA-00003): consent order protects union participation in video meetings
The Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 215 settled a dispute about formal discussions and direct dealings with employees concerning a hearing process improvement initiative. The Authority approved the settlement and issued a consent order. The agency must give the union notice and an…
In re Ada Rosa Artigas, Respondent
Arriving alien qualified for Cuban adjustment before the Immigration Judge
The Board reviewed the Service's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of adjustment of status under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act. The respondent was charged as an arriving alien without a valid visa or entry document. The majority held that the governing regulation gave Immigration Judges…
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3475 (Charging Party/Union)
HUD Washington (FLRA DA-CA-90742): dismissed information-request case returns for hearing
AFGE Local 3475 alleged that HUD failed to respond to an information request and supply the requested information. The administrative law judge dismissed the complaint for want of prosecution when counsel did not attend the hearing during a colleague’s medical emergency. The Authority reinstated…
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Louisiana State Office, New Orleans, Louisiana (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3475 (Charging Party/Union)
HUD Louisiana State Office (FLRA DA-CA-00452): information complaint reinstated for a new judge
AFGE Local 3475 alleged that HUD failed to respond to four information requests and provide the requested information. The administrative law judge dismissed the complaint for want of prosecution after counsel did not appear during a colleague’s medical emergency. The Authority reinstated the…
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Louisiana State Office, New Orleans, Louisiana (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3475 (Charging Party)
HUD Louisiana State Office (FLRA DA-CA-00106): medical emergency required a hearing postponement
AFGE Local 3475 alleged that HUD failed to restore an employee’s automatic union-dues deduction. The judge dismissed the complaint when General Counsel attorneys did not attend the hearing after one attorney became ill and her colleague accompanied her to a hospital. The Authority found the…
Gabel Stone Company, Inc.
Reconsideration request denied as untimely
Gabel Stone asked the Commission to reconsider its direction for review of a backpay award and penalty. The Commission denied the motion because it was filed outside the 10-day deadline in 29 C.F.R. § 2700.78 and counsel did not provide a compelling explanation for the delay. The Commission also…
Clarence Nelson v. Stevedoring Services of America
Nelson v. Stevedoring Services of America (BRB 99-1056): Special Fund relief survives approved settlement
Clarence Nelson and Stevedoring Services of America settled parts of his disability and medical claims after work-related injuries. The Board had upheld relief from the Special Fund for continuing permanent partial disability benefits. On reconsideration, the Director argued that the settlement…
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.