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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In re S-A-, Respondent
Religious persecution established by liberal Muslim beliefs
The Board reviewed a Moroccan respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found her inadmissible and removable and denied asylum and withholding of removal. The Board accepted her credible account of repeated physical and emotional abuse, severe restrictions, and threats from her father because…
The Coteau Properties Co.
Motion to compel conditionally granted in part
The Secretary of Labor, on behalf of Royal Sargent, alleged that The Coteau Properties Co. discriminated against him under section 105(c)(1) of the Mine Act. The company asked for documents and answers to interrogatories that the Secretary withheld based on informant, deliberative-process, and…
Evelyn Cotton v. Army & Air Force Exchange Services
Cotton v. Army & Air Force Exchange Services (BRB 99-1001): ankle impairment award affirmed
Warehouse worker Evelyn Cotton injured her left ankle at work and continued to experience pain. The administrative law judge awarded scheduled compensation for a 10 percent loss of use of her foot, crediting a physician's rating based on weakness caused by the pain. The employer argued that a…
Freeze Technology International, Inc.
Mixed ruling after nitrogen asphyxiation at pipeline freeze site
Freeze Technology used liquid nitrogen to form ice plugs in an underground water pipeline so Enerpipe could perform hydrostatic testing at a remote Oklahoma ranch. Two night-shift workers were found dead inside the freeze excavation after nitrogen gas displaced the oxygen. The judge affirmed…
Hollywood Pool & Spa
Scaffold violations grouped with a $1,500 penalty
Hollywood Pool & Spa maintained swimming pools and was constructing its own building in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. OSHA cited five serious scaffold conditions involving incomplete planking, inadequate support, improper access, lack of a competent-person inspection, and missing fall protection. The…
Hope Mining, Inc.
Coal-dust accumulation citation affirmed with $1,500 penalty
Hiope Mining operated an underground coal mine in West Virginia. MSHA cited the mine after finding coal and float coal dust accumulations from one to fourteen inches deep in active workings, including conditions that had been cited two days earlier. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found the violation…
Steel Dynamics, Inc.
In re Steel Dynamics, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 99-4 and 99-5): permit partly remanded for BACT review
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management issued Steel Dynamics a PSD permit for a new steel mill in Whitley County, Indiana. The petitioners and EPA challenged many permit terms, including best available control technology for lead, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. The Board remanded…
Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and Marine Engineers Beneficial, Association, District No. 1 (Union)
Panama Canal Commission and MEBA District No. 1 (FLRA 0-AR-3223): promotion rerun upheld
Arbitrator Charles R. Greer found that a manager manipulated supervisory appraisals to favor one applicant and harm others seeking chief-engineer positions. He ordered removal of the selectees and a new selection process using appraisals by the applicants’ immediate supervisors, with an exception…
Federal Trade Commission, Headquarters Washington, D.C. (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2211 (Union)
FTC Headquarters and AFGE Local 2211 (FLRA 0-AR-2900-001): suspension cancellation upheld
Arbitrator Louis Aronin canceled a 14-day suspension and ordered back pay after finding that an employee’s statements about violence did not establish just cause for discipline. After an earlier remand, he clarified that the agency should have offered a fitness-for-duty examination. The Authority…
City Transfer of Kent, Incorporated
Request to reopen penalty assessments remanded for Rule 60(b) determination
City Transfer of Kent asked the Commission to reopen four penalty assessments that had become final orders after the operator allegedly sent letters contesting the citations. The operator said it did not receive clear appeal instructions and did not receive a response to its letters. The Commission…
Maple Creek Mining, Inc.
Three coal-mine orders affirmed and $17,000 penalty assessed
Maple Creek Mining operated a large underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. The Secretary alleged that the mine failed to maintain a belt structure, failed to post a danger sign, and allowed combustible coal dust to accumulate. The operator stipulated to the coal-dust violation and challenged its…
Von Bodkin, d/b/a Eclipse Coating Systems
Seven-month-late contest dismissed
OSHA issued Eclipse Coating Systems a serious fall-protection citation after inspecting an Idaho worksite. An agent of the company signed for the citation on July 27, 1999, and the document twice explained that any contest had to be filed within 15 working days. Eclipse did not submit a notice of…
Reintjes of the South, Inc.
Settlement approving $55,131 penalty
Reintjes of the South contested two citations and faced two related civil penalty proceedings involving the Ornet Corporation mine. The parties submitted a settlement under which the operator agreed to pay the full $55,131 penalty. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement acceptable under the…
In the matter of: Connie Prater
Disbarment ordered after disciplinary default
The Commission referred a disciplinary matter involving Connie Prater to an ALJ after allegations concerning fraudulent respirable-dust samples submitted to MSHA. After her counsel withdrew and she asked to withdraw from the case, the judge found that she had not complied with an order to show…
Maersk Stevedoring Co.
Unguarded hatch violation affirmed, penalty cut
Maersk Stevedoring performed longshoring work aboard the Maersk San Antonio in Long Beach, California. An OSHA inspector saw a walking boss without fall protection near the edge of an open hatch where a fall of 16 to 20 feet was possible. The judge rejected Maersk's argument that OSHA had withdrawn…
Association of Civilian Technicians, New York State Council (Union) and U.S. Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Latham, New York (Agency)
ACT New York State Council and New York National Guard (FLRA 0-NG-2373): integrated staffing proposal rejected
The union proposed a supplemental agreement expanding civilian technicians’ access to positions in the Northeast Air Defense Sector. The agency had organized the sector for full-time military personnel while retaining 26 transferred civilian technicians. The Authority treated the proposal as an…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council 214 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (Agency)
AFGE Council 214 and Air Force Materiel Command (FLRA 0-AR-3263): separate time verification upheld
Arbitrator Charles A. Morgan, Jr. sustained the agency’s grievance over full-time union representatives verifying their own time and attendance reports. He interpreted the contract and Defense Department financial regulations to require verification by someone other than the reporting…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Travis Air Force Base, California (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1764 (Union)
Travis Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1764 (FLRA 0-AR-3174): lunch-break overtime remedy remanded
Arbitrator Gerald R. McKay found that replacing paid 20-minute on-the-job lunches with unpaid 30-minute meal periods violated the contract. He ordered restoration of the paid lunch arrangement and overtime compensation. The Authority set aside the overtime remedy because the unpaid meals were bona…
Tri-State Steel Construction Company, Inc.
$23,400 EAJA award granted on remand
Tri-State sought attorney fees and expenses after prevailing on hazard-communication and highway traffic-control citation items from a bridge rehabilitation project. The Sixth Circuit had reversed an earlier ruling that Tri-State was ineligible under the Equal Access to Justice Act merely because…
Dillingham Construction Pacific Basin LTD
Precast collapse citation reduced to serious
Dillingham Construction was the prime contractor for an addition to the Micronesia Mall in Guam. Precast concrete beams that had been placed without completing temporary welds collapsed while employees worked above and below them, fatally injuring an employee of a subcontractor. The judge found…
Brad Valdez and Joshua Valdez v. Crosby & Overton and CIGNA Companies
Valdez v. Crosby & Overton (BRB 99-0960 and 99-0960A): additional student benefits remain payable
Brad and Joshua Valdez disputed the payment of Longshore Act death benefits after their father died in a workplace explosion. The judge ruled that a late filed form approving a related third party settlement barred more benefits, while alternatively finding that Joshua had been underpaid and Brad…
B & B Plumbing, Inc.
Trench violations reduced from willful to serious
B & B Plumbing was installing sanitation plumbing at a school on the White Mountain Apache reservation in Arizona. Employees worked in a trench with vertical sides that reached about eight feet deep and had no protective system or adequate means of egress; an employee died in a cave-in. The judge…
Association of Civilian Technicians, Texas Lone Star Chapter 100 (Texas Association) and U.S. Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, State of Texas, Adjunct General'S Department (Texas National Guard) and Association of Civilian Technicians, ATC, Wisconsin 26 (Wisconsin Association) and U.S. Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, Department of Military Affairs, State of Wisconsin (Wisconsin National Guard)
ACT Texas and Wisconsin and National Guard (FLRA 0-NG-2492, 0-NG-2485): grade-policy reconsideration denied
The unions sought reconsideration of a decision rejecting proposals that would prevent enforcement of the military grade-inversion policy for wage leaders. The Authority denied the motion because the unions did not establish extraordinary circumstances. It reaffirmed that bargaining over military…
In re Jaime Cesar PEREZ, Respondent
Vehicle burglary was not an aggravated felony burglary offense
The Board reviewed a respondent's appeal from an Immigration Judge's finding that a Texas conviction for burglary of a vehicle was an aggravated felony. Applying the generic burglary definition from Taylor v. United States, the Board held that burglary requires unlawful entry into, or remaining in…
Association of Civilian Technicians, Razorback Chapter 117 (Union) and U.S. Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, Arkansas National Guard, Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas (Agency)
ACT Razorback Chapter 117 and Arkansas National Guard (FLRA 0-NG-2498): official time for desired legislation upheld
The agency head disapproved a contract provision allowing union officials official time to contact elected representatives about legislation affecting represented employees’ working conditions. The parties agreed that the provision covered desired legislation not yet introduced in Congress. The…
Plateau Mining Corp.
Preshift-examination citation vacated
Plateau Mining operated the Star Point No. 2 coal mine. MSHA cited the operator after an inspector found loose and fine coal accumulations and roof or rib conditions that were not recorded in the preshift examination book. Judge August F. Cetti found that the conditions arose after the preshift…
Tifa Limited
In re Tifa Limited (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 99-5): liability partly reversed and penalty increased to $90,000
Tifa Limited imported, offered for sale, sold, and distributed rotenone pesticide products after EPA issued a suspension order. The Presiding Officer found Tifa liable for 13 violations and assessed a $65,000 penalty, but dismissed other counts after treating the suspension order's effective date…
Audrey Doucet v. Avondale Industries, Incorporated
Doucet v. Avondale Industries (BRB 99-0929): widow's death benefits and fee affirmed
Durel Doucet died of work related mesothelioma after settling an asbestos claim against a manufacturer. His widow, Audrey Doucet, sought Longshore Act death benefits and funeral expenses. Avondale Industries argued that the settlement barred her claim because it lacked Avondale's approval and that…
General Property Services, Inc. a/k/a GPS Roofing Services
Training items affirmed, fall-protection item vacated
General Property Services contracted to replace deteriorated sections of a warehouse roof in Forest Park, Georgia. The judge found that GPS was the employer of the roofing crew because its officers supervised and inspected the work, it held crew leaders out as GPS officers, and it retained…
The Geon Company
In re The Geon Company (EAB CAA Appeal No. 00-7): Title V petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
The Geon Company manufactured synthetic resins at a facility in Pedricktown, New Jersey. After Geon formed a joint venture with Occidental Chemical Corporation, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection required one Title V operating permit application covering both facilities because…
Douglas Lewis v. Sunnen Crane Service, Incorporated
Lewis v. Sunnen Crane Service (BRB 99-0920 and 99-920A): worker benefits upheld, fund relief vacated
Crane operator Douglas Lewis received Longshore Act benefits after injuring his knee and back while moving machinery at the Port of Tacoma. On remand, the judge awarded partial disability benefits and granted Sunnen Crane Service relief from continuing payments through the Special Fund. The Board…
Martin Marietta Aggregates
Rank-and-file miner's negligence not imputed
A miner died when a locomotive moved forward while he was cleaning scales at Martin Marietta Aggregates' Camak Quarry. The ALJ found a significant-and-substantial violation of the rule requiring mobile equipment controls to be placed in park and the parking brake set, but found that the miner's…
Braxton Allen v. Mead Corporation
Allen v. Mead Corporation (BRB 99-0474): Black lung denial returned for disability review
Braxton Allen filed another black lung claim after earlier denials. The judge found that new evidence did not establish pneumoconiosis and denied benefits without deciding whether the new evidence proved total disability. The Board upheld the pneumoconiosis finding but held that Allen might still…
American Federation of Government, Employees, Local 2052, (Union) and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg, Virginia, (Agency)
AFGE Local 2052 and FCI Petersburg (FLRA 0-AR-3284): union exceptions denied
The union challenged an award by Arbitrator C. Allen Foster. The Authority denied the exceptions under its standards for arbitrator bias, factual error, and failure to draw the award’s essence from the contract. It explained that the union sought to relitigate the case and raise issues or seek…
Earl Begley, employed by Manalapan Mining Co., Inc.
Late petition for discretionary review denied
Earl Begley challenged an ALJ decision finding that he carried smoking materials underground and ordering him to pay a $250 civil penalty. The Commission received his petition for discretionary review six days after the 30-day filing deadline. Because Begley was represented by counsel and offered…
Dayton Hudson Corp.
Roofing and acetone violations affirmed with reduced penalties
Dayton Hudson employees performed roofing work on a flat roof in West Allis, Wisconsin, about 28 feet above the next level. The company admitted that employees did not use available harnesses and that its warning-line system was incomplete, too loose, too close to the roof edge, and missing around…
Black Construction Corp
Trench egress affirmed, loose-soil item vacated
Black Construction employees installed formwork beside sewer lines in a trench at Camp Watkins Road in Guam. An inspector measured the excavation at about six feet deep and saw two employees inside without a ladder or other safe means of egress. The judge credited the inspector's unrebutted…
Douglas R. Rushford
Penalty assessment vacated and remanded
A worker died after a fuel-truck wheel rim exploded during tire inflation at Douglas R. Rushford Trucking's quarry. The ALJ found a significant-and-substantial and unwarrantable violation of the rule requiring a stand-off inflation device, but assessed a $3,000 penalty instead of the Secretary's…
Hubb Corporation
Two penalty assessments vacated and remanded
MSHA cited Hubb Corporation for failing to follow its approved ventilation plan and for failing to adequately control loose rib blocks at a Kentucky coal mine. The ALJ found both violations significant and substantial, modified the orders to citations, and assessed $4,000 for each violation. The…
Eighty-Four Mining Company
Multiple coal-dust orders resolved with $8,415 total penalty
Eighty-Four Mining operated a coal mine where the ALJ found extensive coal and coal-dust accumulations, preshift examination failures, inadequate rock dust, and dust in an area covered by the mine's ventilation plan. The decision found several significant-and-substantial violations and assessed…
American Federation of Government, Employees, Local 1858, (Union) and U.S. Department of the Army, U.S. Army Missile Command, Research Development and Engineering, Center, Propulsion Directorate, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, (Agency)
AFGE Local 1858 and Army Missile Command (FLRA 0-AR-3231): promotion grievance denial upheld
A GS-12 aerospace engineer alleged intimidation, unfair treatment, and entitlement to a retroactive promotion for performing higher-level duties. Arbitrator William S. Hart denied the grievance because the evidence did not establish the asserted mistreatment or an assignment to a higher-level…
American Federation of Government, Employees, Local 446, (Union) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Asheville, North Carolina, (Agency)
AFGE Local 446 and VA Asheville (FLRA 0-AR-3311): union exceptions denied
The union challenged an award by Arbitrator Judith A. La Manna. The Authority denied the exceptions under its standards for a fair arbitration hearing and factual error. It concluded that the union had not established a defect under section 7122(a). The brief decision does not describe the…
Cyprus Emerald Resources
Settlement approved on remand
Cyprus Emerald Resources was ordered to resolve the remaining civil penalty issue after the Commission remanded the case for assessment of a penalty on one citation. The Secretary proposed reducing the penalty from $3,000 to $1,000. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved the settlement under the Mine Act…
T & M Development Company
Pro se discrimination dismissal vacated and remanded
Donald Ribble filed a pro se Mine Act discrimination complaint alleging that T & M Development Company fired him after a back injury and requests for an accident report. A statement included with his complaint also described safety problems he had reported to MSHA inspectors, without saying when he…
Kyber Coal Company
Settlement approved across consolidated contest and penalty proceedings
Judge David F. Barbour approved a settlement covering consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving Kyber Coal Company and A A & W Coals, Inc. The record states that the matters concerned alleged violations of mandatory coal mine safety standards in Parts 48, 75, and 77, including…
In re Miguel Antonio RODRIGUEZ-DIAZ, Respondent
An unrepresented alien did not waive appeal by accepting a decision as final
The Board reviewed an unrepresented respondent's appeal from an order of removal based on firearm and heroin convictions. The Immigration Judge had asked whether the respondent accepted the decision as final, and the written order stated that both parties waived appeal, but the respondent later…
Chempace Corporation
In re Chempace Corporation (EAB FIFRA Appeal Nos. 99-2 and 99-3): liability affirmed and penalty upheld
Chempace Corporation appealed an EPA Region V enforcement action alleging 99 FIFRA violations at its Toledo, Ohio facility. The Board affirmed liability for 98 violations involving sales or distributions of unregistered or misbranded pesticides and upheld the Presiding Officer's consideration of…
Chempace Corporation
In re Chempace Corporation (EAB FIFRA Appeal Nos. 99-2 and 99-3): 98 violations and $92,193 penalty affirmed
Chempace Corporation sold or distributed unregistered and misbranded pesticides and produced pesticides at an unregistered facility in Ohio. The Presiding Officer found 98 FIFRA violations and assessed a civil penalty, and both EPA and Chempace appealed different parts of the Initial Decision. The…
N & N Contractors, Inc.
Fall-protection violation affirmed, training item vacated
N & N Contractors erected precast exterior panels on a twelve-story building in Washington, D.C. An employee crossed beneath a horizontal lifeline without tying off, stumbled near an unprotected edge, and fell more than 115 feet to his death. The Commission held that the fall-protection standard…
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 98-2): reconsideration denied
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company asked the Environmental Appeals Board to reconsider a remand concerning alleged inconsistencies between pesticide label sections and Worker Protection Standard labeling requirements. DuPont argued that the Board lacked authority to remand an issue it viewed as…
Luis Padilla v. San Pedro Boat Works and Signal Mutual Indemnity Association
Padilla v. San Pedro Boat Works (BRB 99-862): back and knee awards upheld
Welder Luis Padilla injured his left knee and back after falling on a gangway at San Pedro Boat Works. The judge awarded separate benefits for his knee impairment and lost earning capacity from his back injury, while rejecting a claimed work-related shoulder injury. The employer challenged the…
National Association of Government, Employees, Local R4-78, (Union) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Martinsburg, West Virginia, (Agency)
NAGE Local R4-78 and VA Martinsburg (FLRA 0-AR-3222): asbestos differential claim denial upheld
The union sought environmental differential pay for employees allegedly exposed to hazardous asbestos levels. Arbitrator Stanley H. Sergent, Jr. denied the grievance after applying the OSHA exposure threshold through the contract and an agency regulation and finding insufficient evidence of…
Department of the Treasury, United States Customs Service, El Paso, Texas, (Respondent) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 143, (Charging Party) and Department of the Treasury, United States Customs Service, New Orleans, Louisiana, (Respondent) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 168, (Charging Party) and
Customs El Paso and New Orleans and NTEU (FLRA DA-CA-60047, DA-CA-60048): videotaping implementation bargaining required
Customs began videotaping employee investigative interviews without giving the union notice and an opportunity to bargain. The Authority disagreed with the ALJ’s finding that the practice was outside management’s internal-security right, concluding that the agency established a reasonable link…
American Federation of Government, Employees, Local 4052, Council of Prison Locals, (Union) and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo, San Juan, Puerto Rico, (Agency)
AFGE Local 4052 and MDC Guaynabo (FLRA 0-AR-3234): hurricane sleep-time pay claim denied
Prison employees were required to remain at the facility during a September 1998 hurricane emergency and received pay for work and standby time, with eight hours designated as unpaid sleep time. Arbitrator Mona Miller denied the union’s claim for compensation for the full confinement period. The…
Centralia Mining Company
One discrimination complaint dismissed, one preserved
The Secretary brought four discrimination complaints on behalf of Levi Bussanich against Centralia Mining Company. Centralia argued that delays in the Secretary's investigation materially prejudiced its ability to defend two of the complaints. Judge Richard W. Manning dismissed the 1997 complaint…
Centralia Mining Company
Partial summary decision denied in discrimination case
The Secretary brought a discrimination proceeding on behalf of Levi Bussanich against Centralia Mining Company under the Mine Act. Centralia argued that an earlier temporary-reinstatement ruling prevented the Secretary from litigating the merits of Bussanich's discharge claim. Judge Richard W…
Branham Sign Company
Fall violations reduced from willful to serious
Branham Sign Company manufactured, serviced, and erected signs. A supervisor worked from an aerial-lift basket and on a sign about 64 feet above the ground without a tied-off safety harness. The Commission affirmed violations of both fall-protection standards but held that the Secretary had not…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Co.
Coal-burst citation vacated
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company's underground C-2 Mine experienced a coal burst during retreat mining that injured six miners, two fatally. MSHA cited the company for failing to control coal ribs under the roof-control standard and proposed a $50,000 penalty. Judge August F. Cetti found that Harlan…
American Federation of Government, Employees, Local 987, (Union) and U.S. Department of the Air Force, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, (Agency)
AFGE Local 987 and Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (FLRA 0-AR-3291): union exceptions denied
The union challenged an award by Arbitrator Martin A. Soll. The Authority denied the exceptions under its standards for a fair arbitration hearing and an award’s consistency with the contract. It concluded that the union had not established a defect under section 7122(a). The brief decision does…
San Benito Aggregates, Incorporated
Reopening request remanded for fact-finding
San Benito Aggregates asked to reopen six penalty assessments that had become final Commission orders after the operator missed the 30-day contest period. The company cited internal management problems and financial hardship, while the Secretary opposed relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure…
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.