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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Department of Defense, U.S. Army Reserve Personnel Command, St. Louis, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 900
Army Reserve Personnel Command (FLRA DE-CA-80464): split ruling on removed union bulletin-board messages
The Army Reserve Personnel Command removed union messages from an electronic bulletin board in a dispute over promotions and labor-management partnership issues. The Authority held that an earlier contract grievance did not bar the unfair-labor-practice complaint because the two proceedings relied…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2049 and U.S. Department of the Army, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
NFFE Local 2049 (FLRA 0-AR-3244): White Sands arbitration objections rejected
NFFE Local 2049 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The Authority rejected objections alleging factual error, conflict with law, and failure to follow the collective bargaining agreement. The union did not establish a defect under the…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Distribution Center, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2004
Defense Distribution Center (FLRA 0-AR-3212): implement union’s proposed reduction-in-force competitive areas
The Defense Distribution Center planned a reduction in force after consolidating its eastern and western regional activities. An arbitrator found that the agency violated its agreement to bargain over competitive areas when it rejected the union’s proposal for separate areas for headquarters and…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-6 and U.S. Department of the Army, Army Transportation Center, Fort Eustis, Virginia
NAGE Local R4-6 (FLRA 0-AR-3207): reduced suspension supports prevailing-party status
A child-care program assistant at Fort Eustis challenged discipline arising from her court testimony about confidential center records. The arbitrator rejected two misrepresentation charges, sustained insubordination, and reduced a 14-day suspension to one day. The Authority rejected objections to…
U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 268
Energy Department Oak Ridge (FLRA 0-AR-3203): reduction-in-force placement rights upheld
An information-dissemination specialist at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge office retired after her position was abolished and the agency denied her placement in a lower-graded management-analyst position. An arbitrator found that she could satisfactorily perform the analyst duties within 90 days…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1017 and U.S. Department of the Army, 90th Army Reserves Command, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 353rd Engineer Group, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
AFGE Local 1017 (FLRA 0-AR-3155): Army Reserve arbitration objections rejected
AFGE Local 1017 challenged an arbitration award involving an Army Reserve command in Oklahoma City. The Authority rejected fair-hearing, factual-error, mitigation, and unspecified contrary-to-law objections and left the award intact. It also denied the employee’s motion to intervene because…
Consolidation Coal Company
Drill-dust citation dismissed after ventilation evidence
Consolidation Coal Company operated the Blacksville No. 2 underground coal mine, where MSHA cited a ventilation-control condition involving drill dust around roof bolter operators. The remaining contested citation alleged that the mine violated 30 C.F.R. § 72.630(d), while a prior partial…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Abatement-extension contests dismissed
Nolichuckey Sand Company contested three section 104(b) withdrawal orders issued after it did not install railings or emergency stop devices on conveyor catwalks at the Bird's Bridge Mine. The operator asked MSHA to extend abatement while a related Commission case was pending and argued that the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3369 and Social Security Administration, New York Region 1, Yonkers, New York
AFGE Local 3369 (FLRA 0-AR-3186): reprimand for refusing interpreting assignment upheld
A Spanish-speaking Social Security employee in Yonkers refused an order to interpret a claimant interview when no other bilingual employees or volunteers were available. An arbitrator upheld the reprimand and found that the employee’s non-bilingual position description did not prevent management…
Centralia Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement denied after quit finding
Levi Bussanich sought temporary reinstatement after Centralia Mining Company separated him from his job at the Centralia surface coal mine. The Secretary alleged that the separation was connected to Bussanich's protected safety activity, while Centralia maintained that he had voluntarily quit…
National Association of Agriculture Employees and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine, Houston, Texas
National Association of Agriculture Employees (FLRA 0-AR-3239): plant-protection arbitration objections rejected
The National Association of Agriculture Employees challenged an arbitration award involving the Agriculture Department’s plant-protection and quarantine operation in Houston. The Authority rejected objections concerning the arbitrator’s evaluation of evidence, the fairness of the hearing, and…
Root Neal & Company
Loader-bucket and training violations affirmed
Root Neal & Company was a contractor installing and calibrating loader scales at Elam Sand and Gravel's West Bloomfield surface mine. During the work, an unsecured front-end-loader bucket descended after a hydraulic line was removed, pinning Elam employee Michael Corbin and causing injuries. Judge…
Federal Aviation Administration and National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-10, SEIU, AFL-CIO
FAA (FLRA WA-CA-60581): restore agreed performance awards and pay employees with interest
The Federal Aviation Administration stopped paying performance awards to air traffic assistants represented by NAGE Local R3-10, despite a 1994 agreement linking cash awards to performance ratings. The Authority upheld the finding that this repudiated the agreement and violated the duty to bargain…
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, D.C. and Federal Bureau of Prisons, South Central Region, Dallas, Texas and Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 171, AFL-CIO
Bureau of Prisons (FLRA DA-CA-60626 and DA-CA-60627): furnish nationwide disciplinary comparisons
AFGE Local 171 sought sanitized disciplinary records to evaluate and prepare an arbitration over a one-day suspension for misuse of a two-way radio. The Bureau of Prisons and its South Central Region refused to provide records beyond the local institution. The Authority held that the union…
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
Marion Penitentiary (FLRA CH-RP-70041): retain training specialist and remand legal assistant eligibility
The Marion penitentiary challenged the inclusion of an employee development specialist and a legal assistant in its bargaining unit. The Authority upheld the specialist's inclusion because her supervisor did not formulate labor relations policy and her training duties did not establish…
MEI Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Martin Electronics, Inc.
DOD contract does not preempt OSHA safety rules
MEI manufactured explosives and pyrotechnic devices under a Defense Department contract at its Perry, Florida plant. After a fire in a small wooden production building killed two employees and severely burned another, OSHA cited fire, exit, personal-protective-equipment, training, and…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Atlantic Ordnance Command, Yorktown, Virginia and National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-1
Navy Atlantic Ordnance Command (FLRA 0-AR-3233): arbitration exceptions and stay request denied
The Navy's Atlantic Ordnance Command at Yorktown challenged an arbitration award in a dispute with NAGE Local R4-1. The Authority denied the agency's exceptions after finding no defect under the statutory grounds for reviewing arbitration awards. It relied on an earlier Navy decision that rejected…
Fred Chismar, employed by Cyprus Sierrita Corporation
Knowing violation penalties vacated after lime-burn accident
Fred Chismar supervised operations at the Sierrita copper mine, where employees and a contractor were unloading lime into a tailings pond to neutralize an acidic mixture. An employee walked to the pond without protective clothing, fell into the lime mixture, and suffered serious burns requiring…
Chantilly Crushed Stone, Inc.
Penalty assessments reopened after mail delay
Chantilly Crushed Stone asked the Commission to reopen five penalty assessments that had become final orders after MSHA received its hearing request late. The company said it mailed the request within the 30-day period but that postal delays delayed delivery until after the deadline. The Commission…
L & D Construction
Late contest excused and citation vacated because the owner had no employees
OSHA cited L & D Construction after seeing two people working without fall protection on a pitched roof at a volunteer renovation project in Yonkers, New York. The notice of contest was filed months after the 15-working-day deadline because L & D's owner relied on the building owner, who repeatedly…
Consolidation Coal Company
Mary Johnson v. Consolidation Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 99-81-D): Mine Act discrimination complaint dismissed
Mary Johnson alleged that Consolidation Coal Company delayed accepting a Workers’ Compensation claim for injuries she suffered while passing through a man-door at the Loveridge No. 22 Mine, which delayed her Workers’ Compensation payments. She sought interest on the late benefits under section…
Sproule Construction Co., Inc.
Uncontested penalty assessment reopened
Sproule Construction asked the Commission to reopen an uncontested citation that had become a final order after the company did not file a timely hearing request. Sproule said it had been representing itself and was unfamiliar with Commission procedure, and it sought to consolidate the citation…
Williams Brothers Coal Co., Inc.
Four citations modified and $561 penalty assessed
Williams Brothers Coal Company operated the small No. 3 underground coal mine in Pike County, Kentucky. MSHA cited the mine after an inspection found electrical grounding and de-energization problems, conveyor and belt-line maintenance issues, an outdated mine map that omitted pillared areas and…
Douglas R. Rushford Trucking
Wheel-rim fatality citations split
Douglas R. Rushford Trucking operated the Seymour Road Pit, where mechanic and welder Nile Arnold was fatally injured when a wheel rim exploded during tire inflation. The ALJ found that the mine did not use the required wheel restraint or stand-off inflation device, and that it failed to notify…
In re Gary Fitzroy BECKFORD, Respondent
Untimely motion to reopen denied
The Board considered Gary Fitzroy Beckford's untimely motion to reopen a removal case in which he had been found removable as an aggravated felon based on a Connecticut narcotics conviction. The majority held that, after the 90-day deadline passed, the respondent had to show an exceptional…
Eddie L. Kee v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Kee v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 99-0442): training alone did not establish total disability
Welder Eddie Kee injured his hand and could not return to his former work. He received permanent partial disability benefits and completed a Department of Labor truck driver training program. Kee sought temporary total disability benefits for the period of vocational evaluation, training, and job…
Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Dallas, Texas and National Association of Government Employees and National Federation of Federal Employees
Army and Air Force Exchange Service (FLRA DA-RP-80024): mail-ballot election objections rejected
NFFE challenged a mail-ballot election at the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in which a majority of valid votes favored NAGE. The Authority denied review of the regional director's dismissal of all three objections. The director had discretion to choose mail ballots when the parties could not…
Association of Civilian Technicians, Texas Lone Star Chapter 100 and U.S. Department of Defense , National Guard Bureau, State of Texas, Adjutant General'S Department and Association of Civilian Technicians, ATC, Wisconsin 26 and U.S. Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau, Department of Military Affairs, State of Wisconsin
National Guard wage leaders (FLRA 0-NG-2492 and 0-NG-2485): military rank restrictions outside bargaining
Technician unions in Texas and Wisconsin proposed allowing wage leaders to hold military ranks below those of employees they lead. The Authority consolidated the appeals and dismissed both petitions because the proposals concerned military aspects of civilian technician employment. It clarified…
Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, D.C. and Professional Airways Systems Specialists
FAA (FLRA 0-AR-3142): restore union participation on selection panels
The FAA barred union representatives from employee selection panels without following the notice and bargaining provisions of its agreement with Professional Airways Systems Specialists. An arbitrator ordered the agency to restore its past practice for bargaining-unit positions and follow the…
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Wapato Irrigation Project, Wapato, Washington and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 341 (Kienast, Arbitrator), Case
Wapato Irrigation Project (FLRA 0-AR-3129): premature arbitration exceptions dismissed
An irrigation operator claimed higher pay for performing manager duties before his permanent promotion at the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Wapato Irrigation Project. The arbitrator found a contractual pay violation but directed the parties to negotiate a remedy and retained jurisdiction if they could…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2400, AFL-CIO
VA Nashville (FLRA CH-CA-70255): reverse parking increase and offset employee overpayments
The VA medical center in Nashville increased employee parking charges from $3.46 to $10.96 per pay period without bargaining with AFGE Local 2400 over the effects and implementation. The Authority upheld the unfair labor practice finding and the order to restore the former rates. It modified the…
Valle Construction, LLC
Default order vacated and remanded
Valle Construction failed to answer a penalty petition and a judge’s show-cause order, leading to a default order assessing $1,533 in penalties. The company later wrote to the Commission that it had closed its cinder pit and believed it had been excused from paying the penalties. The Commission…
Ogden Constructors, Inc.
Penalty assessment remanded for reopening review
Ogden Constructors asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after it mistakenly believed that no contest filing was needed while MSHA investigated the citation. The company said it received MSHA’s explanation only after the contest deadline expired. Three commissioners found the record…
Ogden Constructors, Inc.
Jurisdiction mistake leads to remand for reopening review
Ogden Constructors asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after it mistakenly believed that a crushing plant was outside MSHA’s jurisdiction. The company said its Utah office had closed, personnel had relocated, and it could not locate the original assessment by the time it learned the…
Material Service Corp.
Stockpile fatality citation vacated
Material Service Corporation operated the Thornton Quarry, where contract driver Charles E. Street was fatally buried and asphyxiated by limestone that sloughed from a stockpile. MSHA alleged that the stockpile should have been trimmed under 30 C.F.R. § 56.9314. The ALJ found that the Secretary did…
Briggs & Stratton Corp., Peach Metal Industries Site
In re Briggs & Stratton Corp., Peach Metal Industries Site (EAB CERCLA § 106(b) Petition No. 95-3): reimbursement petition withdrawn with prejudice
Briggs & Stratton Corp. had a CERCLA section 106(b) petition seeking reimbursement related to the Peach Metal Industries Site. The company and EPA entered an agreement for recovery of past response costs, and EPA reported that the public-comment period ended without comments requiring changes or…
Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command , Warner Robins Air Logistics Center , Robins Air Force Base, Georgia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987
Warner Robins (FLRA AT-CA-80078): appraisal retaliation complaint dismissed
Two procurement technicians alleged that their April 1997 performance appraisals were lowered because they filed grievances and assisted unfair labor practice investigations. The Authority upheld the judge's dismissal because the record did not establish that those protected activities motivated…
Marie Stilley (widow of Lyman Stilley) v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Stilley v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 99-0456): shipyard owes benefits without Special Fund relief
Lyman Stilley was exposed to asbestos while working as an electrician’s helper at Newport News Shipbuilding. He later developed mesothelioma, and his widow sought disability and death benefits. The Board held that Newport News remained the responsible maritime employer despite alleged later…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Withdrawal order modified after remand
Jim Walter Resources contested a citation and withdrawal order for combustible trash in the No. 7 Mine. The case returned to the ALJ after appellate and Commission review required consideration of non-violative trash near the cited condition when assessing unwarrantable failure. The ALJ found that…
Manalapan Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered after nonfrivolous discrimination claim
Vernon Daniels worked as a mobile bridge carrier operator at Manalapan Mining Company's RB No. 7 Mine. The Secretary alleged that Manalapan laid him off because he made himself available to testify, and later testified, in protected Mine Act proceedings. Manalapan waived a hearing, denied…
In re Minette KANGA, Respondent
Aggravated felony did not trigger the citizenship inadmissibility ground
The Board reviewed Minette Kanga's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision pretermitting her application for a waiver under section 212(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. She was a citizen of Sierra Leone who had been admitted as a student, later married a United States citizen, and…
Alcoa Alumina and Chemical, LLC
Informant-privilege opposition allowed to be supplemented
Diane Krock was the complainant in a Mine Act discrimination proceeding against Alcoa Alumina and Chemical. Alcoa asked the judge to compel the return of company emails that were in Krock's possession, while the Secretary argued that producing them could identify a miner who had provided…
Allied Custom Gypsum, Inc.
Settlement approved with reduced civil penalty
Allied Custom Gypsum, Inc. faced a civil penalty petition alleging eight violations at its Bessie Plant. The parties reached a settlement that removed the significant-and-substantial designations from three citations and reduced their penalties to $55 each, while Allied agreed to pay the proposed…
Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH
In re Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 99-8 through 99-72): certain appeals dismissed
Knauf Fiber Glass, GmbH had a revised PSD permit for a proposed fiberglass manufacturing facility in California. The EAB received 65 petitions after the remand process and reviewed threshold challenges to timeliness and standing. The Board dismissed seven late petitions, two late supplemental…
Panama Area Maritime/Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO and Panama Canal Commission
Panama Canal Commission (FLRA 0-AR-3179): unpreserved apprentice-pay exception dismissed
An interest arbitrator resolved a bargaining impasse over apprentice wages by adopting the Panama Canal Commission's last best offer. The Maritime/Metal Trades Council challenged the award, arguing that the wage schedule violated a regulation requiring progressively increasing apprentice pay. The…
UtiliCorp United, Inc.
In re UtiliCorp United, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal Nos. 99-2 and 99-3): interim relief and review denied
UtiliCorp United operated a coal-fired power plant in Sibley, Missouri, with three units sharing a common stack. Unit 3 was subject to a nitrogen oxide emissions limit, and UtiliCorp proposed using an apportionment method to show that Unit 3 complied. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical and Regional Center, Togus, Maine and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2610
VA Togus (FLRA 0-AR-3090): restore boiler operators' contractual shift rotation
The VA facility at Togus permanently assigned a boiler operator to the day shift to accommodate diabetes and sleep apnea, increasing other operators' evening and night work. An arbitrator sustained the union's grievance and ordered restoration of the longstanding rotation incorporated into the…
National Treasury Employees Union and U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Customs Service, Washington, D.C.
Customs Service (FLRA 0-NG-2356): three contract disapprovals rescinded and three upheld
NTEU challenged agency-head disapproval of six Customs Service contract provisions. The Authority required approval of reasonable efforts to avoid layoffs, up to three hours of fitness-program leave when approved and workload permitted, and a preamble describing interview rights. It upheld…
Morgan v. Arch of Illinois
Discrimination dismissal vacated and remanded
Gary Morgan reported mine dust conditions and alleged improper dust sampling while working at Arch of Illinois's Kathleen Mine. After the mine closed, Arch did not recall him to an available position at the Conant Mine, where he failed hands-on equipment tests. An ALJ dismissed Morgan's…
Joseph T. Flanagan v. McAllister Brothers, Incorporated
Flanagan v. McAllister Brothers (BRB 99-0355): disability benefits restored after settlement defense fails
Former port captain Joseph Flanagan developed a respiratory condition after asbestos exposure at McAllister Brothers’ shipyard. An administrative law judge found work related asbestosis and total disability but denied disability compensation because Flanagan had settled third party claims. The…
Kenamerican Resources, Inc.
Request to reopen penalty assessment remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Kenamerican Resources intended to contest one penalty assessment but its accounting department sent the hearing request with a check paying 10 other assessments. The operator said the filing error resulted from an accounting and computer-processing mistake, and the Secretary did not oppose…
Jimmy W. Dunn v. Lockheed Martin Corporation and Cigna Insurance Company
Dunn v. Lockheed Martin (BRB 99-0343): worker's retaliation claim returns for a hearing
Sheet metal worker Jimmy Dunn claimed a respiratory condition from chemical exposure while working for Lockheed Martin at a U.S. air base in Germany. He also alleged that the employer suspended and laid him off because he pursued a compensation claim. An administrative law judge dismissed that…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1437 and U.S. Department of the Army, U.S. Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey
Picatinny Arsenal (FLRA 0-AR-3193): denial of priority-consideration promotion upheld
A general engineer at Picatinny Arsenal challenged his nonselection for a project-management position despite contractual priority consideration. Two earlier awards corrected the consideration process, but a later arbitrator found that the selecting official reasonably concluded the engineer lacked…
Rostosky Coal Company
Direction for review vacated after amended petition was not filed
Rostosky Coal Company sought review of an ALJ decision that affirmed a citation and order, assessed a $2,000 penalty, and directed dismissal after payment. The Commission accepted the petition despite its one-day lateness and allowed Rostosky 20 days to amend it because the filing did not meet the…
In re Jose Luis LOPEZ-MEZA, Respondent
Aggravated DUI was a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed the Service's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against Jose Luis Lopez-Meza, finding that his two Arizona aggravated DUI convictions were not crimes involving moral turpitude. The Board held that simple DUI is not, without more, a crime involving…
Mary J. Hawkins (widow of Gilbert W. Hawkins) v. Harbert International, Incorporated
Hawkins v. Harbert International (BRB 99-0369): student's school status controls added death benefits
Pipeline supervisor Gilbert Hawkins died while working on a public works project in Egypt, and his widow Mary received Defense Base Act death benefits. The dispute concerned extra benefits for her son after he turned 18. The Board held that his unaccredited private high school did not meet the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1286 and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, Kentucky
Ashland prison (FLRA 0-AR-3241): union arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1286 challenged an arbitration award involving the federal correctional institution at Ashland, Kentucky. The Authority denied the union's exceptions after reviewing the record and statutory grounds for setting aside awards. It found no demonstrated conflict with law, rule, or…
Frederick M. Stallings v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Stallings v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 99-0330): small wage loss supports continuing benefits
Welder Frederick Stallings developed metal fume fever and returned to work with a restriction to outdoor welding. Bad weather sometimes sent him home while indoor welders could keep working. The Board upheld $236.38 for those lost hours and an ongoing $3.78 weekly permanent partial disability…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 701, Council of Prision Locals and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institutions, Pekin, Illinois
Pekin prison (FLRA 0-AR-3238): arbitration challenges rejected
AFGE Local 701 challenged an arbitration award involving the federal correctional institution at Pekin, Illinois. The Authority denied the union's exceptions. It explained that another arbitration award did not bind the arbitrator and found no showing that the arbitrator exceeded his authority. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3615 and Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals
SSA (FLRA 0-AR-3131): exclusion from temporary senior-attorney program upheld
SSA headquarters Medicare Part B attorneys sought access to a program offering temporary GS-13 promotions to hearing-office attorneys handling disability claims. Their union alleged discriminatory exclusion and violations of the agreement. The Authority upheld the arbitrator's denial of the…
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.