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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Reading Anthracite Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Leonard Bernardyn drove haulage trucks for Reading Anthracite at the Wadesville Pit. He said he drove slowly because misty weather made the road slippery, and the Secretary alleged that Reading discharged him in retaliation for that protected safety activity. Judge Avram Weisberger found that…
Blonnie K. Mitchem v. Bailey Energy, Inc. and United Pocahontas Coal Company
Mitchem v. Bailey Energy (BRB 97-1757): Black lung benefits remain payable by the Trust Fund
The parties agreed that Blonnie Mitchem qualified for black lung benefits but disputed who had to pay them. A judge dismissed United Pocahontas and its carrier and assigned payment to the Trust Fund. The Board majority upheld that result because the Director pursued only United Pocahontas at the…
Cyrus A. Collins v. J & L Steel (LTV Steel)
Collins v. J & L Steel (BRB 97-1356): Black lung award returned for medical opinion review
Cyrus Collins won black lung benefits through a modification request after an earlier denial. The Director challenged the judge's medical findings, the benefit start date, and the assignment of payment to the Trust Fund. The Board held that it was too late to bring a previously dismissed coal…
Leeco, Incorporated
Temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Rodney Smith, a miner and miners' representative at Leeco's Maces Creek Mine. The application alleged that Leeco suspended Smith, interfered with his representative duties, and constructively discharged him after he raised safety concerns and refused…
Chelle Energy, Inc., and Clyde Boyd
Discrimination case dismissed after hearing absence
Brian K. Moore brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Chelle Energy and Clyde Boyd. After the hearing was rescheduled several times, Moore did not appear at the scheduled hearing and contacted the Commission only the afternoon before it, saying he could not get time off work and lacked…
In re A-N- & R-M-N-, Applicants
Changed conditions support reopening without reasonable cause
The Board considered a motion by two Afghan applicants to reopen exclusion proceedings that had been conducted in their absence. They sought an opportunity to apply for asylum or withholding of deportation based on materially changed conditions in Afghanistan since the prior hearing. The Board held…
The Doe Run Company
Ground-control citations modified after fatal fall
The Doe Run Company operated the underground Casteel-Buick lead mine. Senior surveyor Jeffrey Sadler was fatally injured when a slab of rock fell while he was setting up a surveying instrument in an underground stope. Judge Gary Melick found that the operator should have tested the ground and taken…
Department of the Army, U.S. Army Aviation Missile Command (AMCOM), Redstone Arsenal, Alabama and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858, AFL-CIO and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 405
Army Aviation Missile Command (FLRA): representation review granted, election stay denied
An Army reorganization combined employees represented by AFGE and NFFE in a new command. AFGE argued that its larger represented group made an election unnecessary. The Authority granted review because it lacked precedent for determining whether one union could be certified without an election in…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-82 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Exchange Service Center, Jacksonville, Florida
Naval Exchange Service Center, Jacksonville (FLRA): union arbitration exceptions denied
The union at the Naval Exchange Service Center in Jacksonville challenged an arbitration award. The Authority held that disagreement with the arbitrator’s evaluation of evidence did not show a deficiency. A legal objection without a specified law and the contractual interpretation challenge also…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 and U.S. Department of the Army, Multiple Launch Rocket System Project Office, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
Redstone Arsenal rocket-system project office (FLRA): union exceptions denied
The union at the Army’s Multiple Launch Rocket System Project Office challenged an arbitration award. The Authority rejected the claims that the award conflicted with law or regulation and was based on a nonfact. The short decision does not describe the underlying dispute or remedy. The union’s…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1816 and U.S. Department of the Air Force, 17th Training Wing, Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas
Goodfellow Air Force Base (FLRA): union arbitration exceptions denied
The union at Goodfellow Air Force Base challenged an arbitration award. The Authority rejected its procedural-arbitrability, legal, factual, and contract-interpretation objections. The short decision does not identify the underlying grievance or remedy. The union’s exceptions were denied.
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 701 and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin, Illinois
Pekin federal prison (FLRA): lunch-period overtime claim remanded for findings
Pekin prison employees sought overtime for a 30-minute unpaid lunch period within an eight-and-a-half-hour tour. The Authority upheld the arbitrator’s contract interpretation and the findings that employees could leave, were duty free, and were not ordered to work during lunch. It rejected a…
Cusic Trucking, Inc.
Relief from final penalty order denied
Cusic Trucking received a $90 civil penalty after it failed to answer the Secretary's petition for assessment of penalty and a judge's show-cause order. The company later sent the Commission a letter disputing the penalty but did not explain why it missed the response deadline. The Commission…
Clarksburg Casket Company
In re Clarksburg Casket Company (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 98-8): six reporting violations and $96,900 penalty affirmed
Clarksburg Casket Company used toluene and xylene in finishing wooden caskets but failed to file required toxic chemical release forms for 1991, 1992, and 1993. The company challenged the calculation of the chemicals' weight and the use of EPA's EPCRA penalty policy. The Environmental Appeals Board…
Highway 195 Crushed Stone, Inc.
One citation vacated and two affirmed
Highway 195 Crushed Stone operated a crushed stone facility in Texas. MSHA cited the company for an unguarded tail pulley, a partially guarded tail pulley above a travelway, and an unbermed elevated roadway, proposing $191 in penalties. Judge Gary Melick vacated the first citation because the…
Nancy Donchak v. Bear Ridge Shops, Incorporated
Donchak v. Bear Ridge Shops (BRB 98-1270): Black lung survivor award vacated for carrier notice
Nancy Donchak filed a second survivor claim after an earlier claim had been denied. A judge awarded benefits by default when Bear Ridge Shops did not appear at the hearing. The Board held that the employer's absence did not remove Donchak's burden to establish entitlement, especially because the…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Central Texas Veterans Health Care Systems, Waco Integrated Clinical Facility and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1822
Waco VA facility (FLRA): restoration of forfeited annual leave upheld
A Waco VA employee lost 48 hours of annual leave after rescheduling approved leave to handle a heavy workload. The arbitrator found that the patient load could not have been covered and that the agency improperly denied restoration. The Authority upheld the award under the statutory public-business…
Good Construction
Penalty case reopened after certified-mail problem
Good Construction asked to reopen a civil penalty case after it did not claim the certified mail containing the proposed assessment. The operator said its rural office was eight miles from the nearest post office and that a heavy snowstorm delayed its trip to collect the package. Judge Paul Merlin…
In re Ali Hussein AJAMI, Respondent
Aggravated stalking is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed Ali Hussein Ajami's appeal from a removal order based on a Michigan conviction for aggravated stalking. The conviction involved a willful course of conduct, repeated harassment, and one or more credible threats against a victim or the victim's household. The Board treated the…
Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), and its successors
Duplicate federal citation dismissed
Federal OSHA cited a personnel basket on a shore-based crane because its access doors were not positively secured while the basket was lowered into a vessel. CalOSHA had already cited Stevedoring Services of America for the same condition under California's approved state plan. Judge Benjamin R…
U.S. Borax Incorporated
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Louis W. Dykhoff, Jr. worked as a shipping operator at U.S. Borax's borax mine and processing facility in California. He claimed that a corrective notice for excessive absenteeism was motivated by his safety-related union activity and by his refusal to work while taking prescribed pain medication…
SchoolCraft Construction, Inc.
In re SchoolCraft Construction, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 98-3): five asbestos violations and $20,000 penalty affirmed
SchoolCraft Construction supervised an asbestos-removal project at an elementary school. The Environmental Appeals Board considered whether SchoolCraft was responsible for required notices, keeping regulated asbestos-containing material wet, and maintaining proof of the on-site representative's…
Owyhee Calcium Products, Incorporated
Citations affirmed, modified, and vacated
Owyhee Calcium Products operated a one-person agricultural limestone quarry in Idaho. MSHA alleged 14 mandatory-standard violations and sought $6,580 in penalties. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed most of the citations, vacated the citation for an unused electrical box and the duplicate…
Midwest Minerals, Inc.
Citations affirmed with $20,750 in penalties
Midwest Minerals operated Portable Plant No. 2 and was cited after superintendent William F. Feathers suffered fatal injuries while starting a bulldozer. The judge considered two citations, one involving the failure to immediately report the accident and one involving the bulldozer violation. The…
Isbrandtsen Oil and Gas Company, Inc.
In re Isbrandtsen Oil and Gas Company, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal No. 99-1): interlocutory appeal dismissed
Isbrandtsen Oil and Gas Company appealed a ruling that addressed liability in an underground injection control proceeding. The Board treated the appeal as interlocutory and ordered briefing on whether an administrative appeal was available and whether it could be taken at that stage. Isbrandtsen…
Disciplinary Proceeding
Prosecutor appointment requested
The Secretary of Labor referred Connie Prater for possible disciplinary proceedings, then withdrew from participating in the matter. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the withdrawal left no one to represent the Commission's interests in enforcing ethical standards for practitioners. He therefore…
Chicopee Coal Company, Incorporated
Temporary reinstatement and economic relief ordered
Chicopee Coal operated the Lilly Branch Surface Mine in West Virginia, where it used highwall mining machines and also ran a coal preparation plant. Lewis Frank Bates and Earl Charles Albu were discharged after Bates lost supervisory responsibilities and Albu raised concerns about an unmaintained…
Social Security Administration, Region VII, Kansas City, Missouri and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1336
SSA Kansas City (FLRA DE-CA-70818): agency must bargain over support for shared cafeteria smoking ban
SSA supported banning smoking in a shared federal-building cafeteria and refused the union’s request to bargain. The Authority upheld the unfair-labor-practice finding and ordered bargaining on request and a 60-day notice. The national agreement’s smoking ban for SSA facilities did not encompass…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Rocky Mountain Area, Denver, Colorado and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3972
HUD Denver (FLRA DE-CA-50202): national agreement controls union president’s attendance procedures
HUD’s Denver office required its union president to resume signing in and out sequentially with other employees after local supervisors had allowed different procedures. The Authority dismissed the unfair-labor-practice complaint because the national agreement required those procedures and Article…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association, MEBA/AFL-CIO and Robert S. Ruckman, and Andreas Liebrecht and Kevin T. Serratt and Scott W. Winneker and Federal Aviation Administration
Air traffic controllers union (FLRA): delegate seniority vote lawful, coercive letter unlawful
The air traffic controllers union set a national seniority policy through delegates at its convention. The Authority held that the duty of fair representation did not require nonmembers to vote as delegates because the delegates exercised independent judgment as representatives of the entire…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 948 and U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Office of Workers Compensation Programs, Boston, Massachusetts
Boston workers’ compensation office (FLRA): work-rotation and written-definition proposals negotiable
The union proposed changes after an arbitrator found that Boston GS-11 claims examiners performed the same work as GS-12 examiners. The Authority required bargaining over rotating off-site work among qualified employees and having management define complex cases in writing. It rejected a proposal…
Association of Civilian Technicians, Volunteer Chapter 103 and U.S. Department of Defense, Tennessee National Guard, Nashville, Tennessee
Tennessee National Guard (FLRA 0-NG-2404): promotion procedures preserve selection discretion
The Tennessee National Guard disapproved a negotiated promotion provision requiring first consideration of existing technicians and written reasons for rejecting candidates. The Authority ordered the agency to rescind its disapproval. It read the provision as allowing the agency to reconsider…
Association of Civilian Technicians, Evergreen Chapter and U.S. Department of Defense National Guard Bureau, Military Department, State of Washington, Camp Murray, Washington
Washington National Guard (FLRA): aircraft-inspector qualification proposals rejected
The Washington National Guard changed how production inspectors demonstrated qualifications to certify aircraft repairs. The union proposed restoring the earlier system or using a question-and-answer book for the annual assessment. The Authority held that the proposals affected management’s…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-184 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-NG-2343): nurse staffing proposals are electively negotiable
The Lexington VA Medical Center planned to replace licensed practical nurses with registered nurses in several clinics and to reassign practical nurses elsewhere. The union proposed retaining specified practical-nurse positions until attrition or retirement created vacancies. The Authority found…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987 and U.S. Department of the Air Force, Warner Robins Air Force Base
Warner Robins Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-3181): union’s arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 987 challenged an arbitration award involving Warner Robins Air Force Base. The Authority denied the union’s exceptions after reviewing the record. It cited the rule that a procedural-arbitrability determination cannot be challenged directly and the requirement to establish that an award…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head, Maryland and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923
Navy Indian Head (FLRA): denied-overtime compensation upheld
An explosives operator at the Navy’s Indian Head facility challenged unequal overtime assignments in 1996 and 1997. The arbitrator found a contract violation for 1996 but not 1997 and ordered compensation for the overtime improperly denied. The Authority upheld the award, finding that the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1203 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Long Beach, California
AFGE Local 1203 and VA Long Beach (FLRA 0-AR-3098): nurse staffing-adjustment grievance denial stands
The union challenged nurse layoffs and staffing adjustments at the Long Beach VA medical center, including the treatment of spinal-cord-injury nurses as a specialty group. The arbitrator denied the grievance, finding that the adjustments reflected operational needs and that negotiations had…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2010 and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rogue River National Forest
NFFE Local 2010 and Rogue River National Forest (FLRA 0-AR-3097): temporary employee may grieve nonselection for permanent work
A Forest Service employee who had worked under temporary appointments for 12 years challenged his nonselection for a permanent position. The arbitrator dismissed the grievance under a contract exclusion for appointments. The Authority held that the statutory exclusion concerns initial entry into…
U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Customs Service, El Paso, Texas and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 143
Customs El Paso (FLRA 0-AR-3074): lost overtime award for unaccompanied Guard inspections upheld
Customs used National Guard personnel at two El Paso cargo exit gates without the Customs employees required by its regional and national agreements. An arbitrator awarded affected employees lost overtime pay with interest, and the Authority denied the agency’s exceptions. The agreements preserved…
Energy West Mining Company
Discrimination settlement approved
Energy West Mining Company faced discrimination complaints from miners who said the company restricted their ability to leave welding or cutting fumes and later transferred Michael Podolak from a longwall setup crew to a rotating shift labor pool. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved a settlement…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, Texas and National Association of Government Employees, Local R-14-52
Red River Army Depot and NAGE Local R-14-52 (FLRA 0-AR-3102): overtime rotation backpay upheld
Three depot employees challenged the assignment of overtime to another employee instead of following the contract’s rotation roster. The arbitrator found that the agency had already treated the grievants as qualified for the work and violated the rotation provision. She awarded backpay for missed…
Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Safety-refusal discrimination found
Eastern Associated Coal operated the underground Federal No. 2 Mine in West Virginia, where a mine elevator began making a loud, unexplained noise while miners were preparing to travel underground. John E. Palmer and James W. Taylor refused to allow miners to use the elevator until its condition…
Knife River Corporation
Arthur R. Olmstead v. Knife River Corporation (FMSHRC WEST 99-106-D): Discrimination complaint dismissed
Arthur R. Olmstead worked as a loader operator at Knife River's Savage Mine in Montana. After earlier Mine Act proceedings had resulted in his reinstatement, the company suspended him for four days and demoted him after he backed a loader into a pickup truck and had prior equipment-safety…
Eastern Ridge Lime Company, L.P.
Ground-support violations affirmed on remand
Eastern Ridge Lime operated a mine where a roof fall caused a fatality and serious injuries. On remand, Judge Avram Weisberger reconsidered the record and held that failures to provide adequate ground support contributed to roof-fall hazards, even though he did not find that the cited violations…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-45 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Fort Lee, Virginia
NAGE Local R4-45 and Defense Commissary Agency (FLRA 0-AR-3101): reconsideration of untimely-grievance ruling denied
The union sought reconsideration of an Authority decision upholding an arbitrator’s dismissal of a grievance and arbitration request as untimely. It argued that the agency had raised arbitrability too late and that the result created an improper rule about issuing grievance decisions. The Authority…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Commander, Naval Base, Norfolk, Virginia and National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-1, SEIU, AFL-CIO
Naval Base Norfolk and NAGE Local R4-1 (FLRA WA-RP-80061): review granted on reorganization’s effect on a bargaining unit
The Navy divided the former Weapons Station Yorktown’s functions among three entities while most employees kept their duties, supervisors, and work locations. A regional director dismissed the union’s petition to preserve an installation-wide unit through successorship. The Authority granted review…
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc., Elmo Mayes; William David Riley; Anthony Curtis Mayes; and Mayes Trucking Company, Inc.
Mountain Top Trucking Co., Inc. and related parties (FMSHRC KENT 95-605-D and related dockets): Back-pay information order
The Commission had remanded Walter Jackson's back-pay calculation after earlier Mine Act discrimination proceedings involving Mountain Top Trucking and related respondents. Judge Jerold Feldman questioned whether Jackson was available for the full period for which he sought lost wages because he…
Russell Jensen v. Weeks Marine, Incorporated
Jensen v. Weeks Marine (BRB 98-1275): new job evidence required review of disability award
Dock builder Russell Jensen received total disability benefits after injuries to his right knee and other body parts. The Board upheld the original award because the employer’s first job survey lacked enough detail to show that suitable work was available. On modification, the employer offered a…
Baker Drywall Company, Inc.
Aerial-lift and edge fall violations affirmed
Baker Drywall employees relocated metal studs on simulated smokestacks at a movie theater construction site. One worked from an aerial-lift basket without tying off and at one point straddled its top rail, while another stood on a structural ring about 16 feet above a steel roof without fall…
Limerock Industries, Incorporated
Late penalty petition dismissed
Limerock Industries contested fourteen citations and the related proposed penalties, but the Secretary did not file the penalty petition for this docket within the required 45-day period. The Secretary filed the petition more than five months late and attributed the delay to a clerical error. Chief…
In re Paul SUSMA, Respondent
Reopening motion denied as untimely after judicial review
The Board considered Paul Susma's motion to reopen after the Board had dismissed his appeal and he had sought judicial review. The Board held that the final administrative decision was its earlier order, not the later federal court ruling, and that the 90-day period for moving to reopen therefore…
Juanita Gupton (widow of Lester Gupton) v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Gupton v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 99-0451): appeal dismissed pending a benefits award
Juanita Gupton sought benefits following Lester Gupton’s death from mesothelioma, and the employer requested relief from continuing liability under the Longshore Act. The administrative law judge denied that relief but sent the case to the district director without entering an underlying award of…
Luther Fagan v. Ceres Gulf, Incorporated
Fagan v. Ceres Gulf (BRB 98-1360): medical benefits supported a reduced attorney fee
Longshore worker Luther Fagan won medical benefits for a work-related head injury, but a federal appeals court later held that his disability compensation claim was filed too late. His employer argued that the administrative law judge lacked authority to award any attorney fee after that ruling…
Heritage Resources, Inc.
Unguarded conveyor roller violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Heritage Resources operated a sand and gravel pit where a conveyor roller was left unguarded near a path and work area. Samuel Oakes, the pit foreman, died after being pulled into the conveyor's pinch point. Judge David F. Barbour found a significant and substantial violation caused by the…
EK Associates, L.P. d/b/a EKCO/GLACO and EK Management Corp.
In re EK Associates, L.P. d/b/a EKCO/GLACO and EK Management Corp. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 98-4): reporting count restored and penalty issues remanded
EK Associates and EK Management operated a Rockdale, Illinois facility that cleaned and reglazed commercial baking pans with organic solvents. EPA alleged violations of the Chicago federal implementation plan for ozone, including a reporting violation and operating violations, and the presiding…
James E. Wooley v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Wooley v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 98-0501): reconsideration restored higher weekly wage
James Wooley was entitled to permanent total disability benefits after a shipyard injury, but the parties disputed his average weekly wage. The Board had lowered it to $551.70 by converting 88 hours of vacation pay into 11 additional workdays. On reconsideration, the Board held that the conversion…
James R. Stiltner v. Wellmore Coal Corporation
Stiltner v. Wellmore Coal (BRB 98-0337): Employer discovery request denied on reconsideration
Wellmore Coal sought to modify James Stiltner's black lung benefit award and asked that he undergo another examination and answer discovery requests. A judge refused those requests but also rejected the employer's modification claim. The Board's earlier decision upheld the refusal to order an…
Unique Mining, Inc.
Penalty assessments reopened after accounting error
Unique Mining asked the Commission to reopen four penalty assessments totaling $200,000 after an accounting firm misfiled the hearing request. The company said it had timely contested the underlying citation and orders, but the green card for the proposed penalties had been attached to an unrelated…
Good Construction
Request to reopen penalty assessment remanded for consideration
Good Construction asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty that had become final after the company allegedly did not receive the penalty assessment for one citation. The company said it had contested five citations, that proceedings involving four had begun, and that it never received the…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
Penalty assessment reopened after mistaken payment
Cyprus Emerald Resources asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after the proposed penalty was accidentally paid. The company said it had intended to contest the citation, but the assessment was issued with other penalties that it did not plan to contest and was mistakenly paid. 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.