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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
U.S. Department of Defense, Departments of the Army and the Air Force, Alabama National Guard, Northport, Alabama and Alabama Association of Civilian Technicians
Alabama National Guard (FLRA 0-AR-2999): promotion remedy sent back
Two Alabama National Guard technicians challenged a WG-9 selection, and an arbitrator found they had not been fairly considered because the selected employee was preselected. The agency challenged only the remedy: retroactive WG-9 promotions and backpay for both technicians, although only one…
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Mapping Applications Center and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1309
USGS Mapping Applications Center (FLRA 0-AR-2961): appraisal review upheld
About 60 employees transferred into a USGS bargaining unit during an appraisal year. Their union sought records and a review of how the agency evaluated their work before the transfer. An arbitrator ordered the agency to provide the requested appraisal information, ask affected employees about…
Henry A. Farrell v. Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corporation
Farrell v. Norfolk Shipbuilding (BRB 97-1317): special fund claim returned for timing finding
Norfolk Shipbuilding sought to shift part of its compensation liability for Henry Farrell to the Longshore Act's Special Fund. It had raised several pre-existing conditions in its initial application but added a mental impairment later. On reconsideration, the Board held that the Director could…
Mallard Bay Drilling, Inc., LLC
OSHA jurisdiction upheld over emergency response on drilling barge
A natural-gas explosion on Mallard Bay Drilling's stationary drilling barge killed and seriously injured employees and destroyed the rig. OSHA cited delayed evacuation, the lack of an emergency response plan, and inadequate emergency-response training. The company argued that Coast Guard authority…
J & C Mining, L.L.C.
Temporary-reinstatement settlement approved
Paul Middleton alleged that J & C Mining discharged him from his day-shift foreman position after he refused to direct work in unsafe conditions and complained about unsafe instructions. The Secretary applied for temporary reinstatement, and J & C requested a hearing. After the hearing, the parties…
United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, Kansas City, Missouri and United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, Kansas City, Missouri and National Treasury Employees Union and National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 264
USDA Inspector General (FLRA DE-CA-60399): late exceptions remain dismissed
An FLRA judge found that USDA’s Office of Inspector General improperly limited a union representative’s participation in an employee interview. The Inspector General’s exceptions to that ruling were due July 14, 1997, but the envelope was postmarked July 15. The Authority previously dismissed the…
Keystone Construction Corp.
Failure to assess deteriorated tank roof affirmed
Keystone Construction repaired and repainted concrete water tanks using a containment system supported on the tank roof. While employees removed deteriorated concrete and erected scaffolding, the Smithtown tank roof collapsed and three employees fell about 35 feet. Judge Covette Rooney found that…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 49 and U.S. Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division, San Francisco, California
Army Corps South Pacific Division (FLRA 0-NG-2420): staffing petitions dismissed
Facing a budget shortfall, the Army Corps of Engineers planned to eliminate positions in several South Pacific Division offices. The union proposed keeping specified numbers of engineers and accountants in four units. The Authority found that the proposals affected management’s right to assign work…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Fort Lee, Virginia and National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-45
Defense Commissary Agency (FLRA 0-AR-3121): agency exceptions denied
The Defense Commissary Agency challenged an arbitration award involving its Fort Lee facility and NAGE Local R4-45. The Authority reviewed the agency’s exceptions under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied them. The published decision does not describe the grievance, the award, or the specific objections…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2502, National Council of Field Labor Locals and U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration, Indiana, Pennsylvania
MSHA Indiana office (FLRA 0-AR-3117): union exception denied
AFGE Local 2502 challenged an arbitration award involving the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Indiana, Pennsylvania office. The Authority reviewed the union’s exception under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied it. The published decision does not describe the grievance, the award, or the union’s…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Little Creek Naval Base Commissary, Virginia Beach, Virginia and National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-45
Little Creek Commissary (FLRA 0-AR-3115): agency exceptions denied
The Defense Commissary Agency challenged an arbitration award involving its Little Creek Naval Base commissary. The Authority reviewed the agency’s exceptions under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied them. The published decision does not describe the grievance, the award, or the agency’s specific…
U. S. Department of the Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 214, AFL-CIO
Air Force Materiel Command (FLRA CH-CA-70217): appraisal change complaint dismissed
Air Force Materiel Command planned to change its annual employee appraisal cycle. AFGE Council 214 alleged that the command implemented the change without bargaining in good faith. The Authority adopted the judge’s finding that the parties agreed to extend the union’s proposal deadline to December…
Planners-Estimators, Progressmen and Schedulers, Local 6 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (FLRA 0-AR-3124): union exceptions denied
Planners-Estimators, Progressmen and Schedulers Local 6 challenged an arbitration award involving Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Authority reviewed the union’s exceptions under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied them. The published decision does not describe the grievance, the award, or the union’s…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-136 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3123): union exceptions denied
NAGE Local R5-136 challenged an arbitration award involving the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston. The Authority reviewed the union’s exceptions under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied them. The published decision does not describe the grievance, the award, or the union’s specific…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1345 and U.S. Department of the Army Fort Carson, Colorado
Fort Carson (FLRA 0-AR-3087): union exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1345 challenged an arbitration award involving the Army at Fort Carson. The Authority reviewed the union’s exceptions under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied them. The published decision does not describe the grievance, the award, or the union’s specific objections. It establishes only that…
Island Creek Coal Company
Conveyor-maintenance contest sustained
Island Creek Coal operated the VP 8 Mine, where a miner was injured after a conveyor belt unexpectedly energized while he was standing on it to help add oil to an adjacent belt's speed reducer. MSHA alleged that Island Creek violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.1725(c), which requires machinery to be powered…
Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System
In re Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 98-5): permit remanded and appeal dismissed without prejudice
The United States Department of the Army appealed a permit for the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System. The Army and EPA Region IX reached a settlement under which the Region would issue a proposed revised final permit decision for public comment. The Army agreed to withdraw the appeal…
Arizona Municipal Storm Water NPDES Permits for City of Tucson, Pima County, City of Phoenix, City of Mesa, and City of Tempe
In re Arizona Municipal Storm Water NPDES Permits (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 98-5): petition dismissed as moot under consent agreement
Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club challenged modifications to five NPDES permits for municipal storm sewer systems in Arizona. The parties reached a consent agreement under which EPA Region IX would evaluate pollution-reduction estimates and address post-construction stormwater controls if…
JHL Constructors, Inc.
Subcontractor fall-protection citation vacated
JHL Constructors was the general contractor for construction of a middle school. OSHA cited JHL after a masonry subcontractor employee worked near an unprotected edge about 14 feet above the ground without fall protection. The Secretary proved that the standard applied, its terms were not met, and…
AFO, Inc.
Settlement approved with $17,000 penalty
AFO contested citations alleging willful and serious violations at a Pennsylvania worksite. The parties reached a written settlement under the Commission's settlement rule. The agreement changed Citation 2 items from willful violations to violations under section 17 of the Act while leaving the…
Arch of Kentucky
Sanding device violation and S&S finding affirmed
Arch of Kentucky operated the No. 37 underground coal mine in Lynch, Kentucky. During a night shift, a mantrip carrying miners slid on wet tracks and collided with a battery locomotive after its sanding devices failed to provide traction. Three miners suffered fractures or spinal injuries. The…
In re Gonzalo Palacios-Pinera
First-degree arson was a crime of violence
The Board reviewed a removal order for a lawful permanent resident who had been convicted in Alaska of first-degree arson and sentenced to seven years in prison, with three years suspended. The issue was whether the conviction qualified as a crime of violence and therefore an aggravated felony…
Gabel Stone Company, Inc.
Request to reopen 19 penalty assessments denied
Gabel Stone asked the Commission to reopen 19 penalty assessments after receiving a collection notice and learning that the assessments had become final orders. Gabel said it was surprised by the collection action and alleged that MSHA inspectors became defensive during disputes over enforcement…
Linda Sharib v. Navy Exchange Service
Sharib v. Navy Exchange Service (BRB 98-0525): fall on employer-created hazard covered
Linda Sharib worked as a program analyst for the Navy Exchange Service. She injured her leg when she fell in a rut on her walk from a designated parking area to her office. The judge denied benefits under the rule that generally excludes injuries during a commute. The Board found that moving trucks…
American Federation of Government Employees, Locals 3807 and 3824 and U.S. Department of Energy, Western Area Power Administration, Golden, Colorado
Western Area Power Administration (FLRA 0-NG-2391): bargain over overtime proposals
A Department of Energy order would end overtime payments when some employees failed to use compensatory time within 26 pay periods. AFGE Locals 3807 and 3824 proposed preserving payment, allowing eligible employees to choose overtime pay, and granting a higher compensatory time rate if future…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2004 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Distribution Region East, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania
Defense Distribution Region East (FLRA 0-AR-3024): asbestos pay claim denied
Employees at a Defense Logistics Agency building sought environmental differential pay because asbestos remained after earlier abatement. Tests showed some asbestos, but agency and OSHA tests found levels within OSHA limits. An arbitrator denied the grievance, finding that the union had not shown…
Flying Lion, Inc. d/b/a Round-Up Crop Dusters
In re Flying Lion, Inc. d/b/a Round-Up Crop Dusters (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 98-1): appeal dismissed as untimely
Flying Lion, Inc. d/b/a Round-Up Crop Dusters appealed an Initial Decision that found two violations involving pesticide use inconsistent with labeling and assessed a $700 civil penalty. The Board held that the appeal was untimely because the Initial Decision was served by certified mail on…
Hall Signs, Inc.
In re Hall Signs, Inc. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 97-6): $18,886 penalty affirmed
Hall Signs, Inc. failed to timely file annual toxic chemical release forms for phosphoric acid and certain glycol ethers used at its Bloomington, Indiana manufacturing facility in 1990 and 1991. The company admitted four violations, leaving the amount of the civil penalty as the only disputed…
Opal Everett (widow of Robert L. Everett) v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Everett v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 98-0492): later claim services needed fee review
Robert Everett filed a hearing loss claim, and Ingalls Shipbuilding paid benefits before formal adjudication. The district director denied all requested attorney fees for services after the payment date because those services produced no additional benefits. The Board held that reasonable work to…
Bellefonte Lime Company, Inc.
Unwarrantable-failure finding made on remand
Bellefonte Lime operated the Gentzel Quarry. On remand from the Commission, Judge Avram Weisberger reconsidered whether falling material in cited quarry areas resulted from the company's unwarrantable failure to comply with 30 C.F.R. § 56.3200. The judge found that the company's policy against…
Plourde Sand & Gravel
Discrimination complaint dismissed
John D. Lehoux was a plant superintendent and safety officer at Plourde Sand & Gravel when a fatal accident occurred at the Hooksett plant. He cooperated with MSHA investigators and raised safety concerns during the investigation, which the judge found was protected activity. Judge Jacqueline R…
U.S. Liquids of Louisiana, Ltd.
In re U.S. Liquids of Louisiana, Ltd. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 98-1): appeal dismissed without prejudice
U.S. Liquids of Louisiana, Ltd. and EPA Region VI agreed to seek remand of the permit decision under review. The parties said a revised permit decision would resolve all issues raised in the petition if it became effective. The Board granted the motion, remanded the matter for issuance of the…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Mixed review of mine-safety citations
Harlan Cumberland operated the C-2 underground coal mine in Kentucky. The Commission reviewed citations involving loose roof rock, a roof-control-plan mining sequence, compressed-gas cylinders, trailing-cable splices, a power cable, and float coal dust. It affirmed the roof-rock violation and its…
In re Lumen Berina Tijam
Fraud could be weighed in waiver discretion
The Board reviewed a Philippine citizen’s appeal from the denial of a waiver of deportability based on fraud or misrepresentation. The Board held that an Immigration Judge should consider the initial fraud or misrepresentation in the overall balance of favorable and unfavorable factors when…
Consolidation Coal Company
Walkaround-right discrimination found
Consolidation Coal operated the Rend Lake Mine, where two portals made it necessary for a miners' representative to travel to join an MSHA inspector. Judge David F. Barbour found that management unlawfully blocked Danny Brown from traveling to join the inspector and later ordered David Gulley to…
Malcolm P. Zeringue v. McDermott, Incorporated
Zeringue v. McDermott (BRB 98-0435): hearing loss award upheld for load-out worker
Malcolm Zeringue operated heavy equipment in McDermott's fabrication yards and regularly helped load offshore oil rig sections onto barges. He later claimed occupational hearing loss. McDermott argued that his work and the yards were outside Longshore Act coverage and that noise exposure at an…
Consolidation Coal Company
Methane-explosion citations modified
Consolidation Coal's Blacksville No. 1 Mine experienced a methane explosion that killed four miners and injured two others during a shaft-capping and dewatering project. Judge Gary Melick vacated a citation alleging inadequate ventilation in inactive workings because the Secretary did not prove the…
City of San Diego Urban Area Pretreatment Program
In re City of San Diego Urban Area Pretreatment Program (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 98-4): permit review denied
Vermatek Company, Inc. sought review of EPA Region IX's denial of its request for an evidentiary hearing concerning a permit modification for the City of San Diego's Point Loma Metropolitan Wastewater Pretreatment Plant. The Board found that Vermatek's concerns about the City's grease-control…
In Re: Contest of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Master docket dismissed
This master docket concerned contests involving respirable dust sample alteration citations. The Commission advised that MSHA had issued notices on November 5, 1998, stating that the citations had been vacated for all operators with cases pending under the master docket. Chief Administrative Law…
In re Pablo Ayala-Arevalo
Lawful-residence requirement barred waiver
The Board reviewed an Ecuadorian citizen’s appeal from a denial of a section 212(h) waiver. He had been admitted as a lawful permanent resident and later convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States through fraudulent employment authorization and asylum applications. The Board held that a…
Stephen D. Mellin v. Marine World-Wide Services
Mellin v. Marine World-Wide Services (BRB 98-0425): highway injury outside Longshore coverage
Marine World-Wide Services sent Stephen Mellin to rig a vessel in Baltimore Harbor. He was injured in a traffic collision on a public highway while traveling from his motel to the harbor. Washington's workers' compensation agency rejected his state claim because it believed the federal Longshore…
Pearl M. Jones v. Badger Coal Company
Jones v. Badger Coal (BRB 97-1393): Survivor benefits and counsel fees affirmed
Pearl Jones sought survivor benefits after the death of her husband, a coal miner. A judge found that medical opinions established a coal dust-related pulmonary disease and that it contributed to his death. Badger Coal challenged those findings and the award of $18,173.38 in attorney fees and…
Air Force Materiel Command, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 987 (FLRA AT-CA-70064): cleanup bargaining order upheld
An Air Force director at Robins Air Force Base ordered a cleanup that included removing half the file cabinets in a directorate. AFGE Local 987 requested bargaining over the change through a known union steward, but the agency did not respond. The Authority upheld the administrative law judge's…
Dover Elevator Company
Access and fall-protection citations vacated
Dover Elevator Company was installing elevators in an addition to a federal courthouse and post office in Victoria, Texas. OSHA cited floor holes, inadequate guardrails, improper elevated access, and portable ladders at the site. Because the citation and complaint alleged violations only on the…
Social Security Administration, Woodlawn, Maryland and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923
SSA Woodlawn and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 0-AR-3072): retroactive promotion and backpay upheld
A Social Security Administration employee in Woodlawn grieved her nonselection for a GS-13 program analyst position. An arbitrator found that the agency had failed to give her the serious consideration required by its agreement with AFGE Local 1923, and found that she would have been selected if it…
General Services Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of GSA Locals, Council 236
GSA and AFGE Council 236 (FLRA 0-AR-3010): contracting out bargaining award set aside
AFGE Council 236 grieved the General Services Administration's refusal to bargain over a proposed contracting out clause. The arbitrator found the grievance arbitrable and held that the refusal violated the parties' agreement. The Authority agreed that an arbitrator could consider the bargaining…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-6 and U.S. Department of the Army, Fort Eustis, Virginia
NAGE Local R4-6 and Army at Fort Eustis (FLRA 0-AR-3000): reduced attorney fees upheld
NAGE Local R4-6 challenged an arbitrator's decision to award only one-fourth of its requested attorney fees after Army employees at Fort Eustis won two hours of administrative leave, rather than the eight hours they sought. The Authority held that the arbitrator could consider the employees'…
CW Mining Company
Roof-control citation vacated after fatality investigation
CW Mining operated the Bear Canyon No. 2 underground coal mine. The case followed a fatal accident involving a miner and a moving shuttle car, after which MSHA alleged that the operator violated its approved roof-control plan while extracting pillars. Judge August F. Cetti found that the operator’s…
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc.
In re Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 97-15 through 97-23): ambient-data remand
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. sought a PSD permit to expand its Keahole Generating Station in Hawaii. Petitioners challenged the permit's NOx emissions netting, the choice of number 2 fuel oil as BACT for SO2, the ambient air quality and source impact analysis, and the lack of consultation…
Jensen Road Company
Crane boom-tip scaffold citation vacated
Jensen Road Company used a scaffold attached to a crawler crane boom to position employees beneath a bridge deck while they removed plywood forms. OSHA alleged that this use violated the crane manufacturer's specifications and limitations. The manufacturer's notices warned that the crane was not…
Mr. Fox Tire Company, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Mr. Fox Tire Company a serious citation after inspecting its business. The company received the citation on December 19, 1997, making January 14, 1998 the deadline for a written notice of contest, but it submitted only an abatement verification form during that period. Its owner later…
Linda D. Gregory v. Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Gregory v. Norfolk Shipbuilding (BRB 98-0497): rehabilitation did not bar available work
Linda Gregory injured her wrist while working as a machinist trainee for Norfolk Shipbuilding. She enrolled in a Department of Labor vocational rehabilitation program and sought temporary total disability benefits until she finished it. The judge found suitable alternate jobs available and limited…
Anthony Damiano v. Global Terminal & Container Service
Damiano v. Global Terminal (BRB 98-0472): noise surveys did not defeat hearing loss claim
Anthony Damiano worked as a longshoreman for Global Terminal & Container Service and later claimed work-related hearing loss. The judge credited his account of loud machinery and awarded benefits for a 25 percent binaural impairment, based on two audiograms. The employer argued that noise surveys…
Daniel Ion v. Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Company
Ion v. Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (BRB 98-0375): job search sustained total disability award
Daniel Ion sustained several work-related injuries while employed by Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway and sought total disability benefits. After an earlier appeal, the judge let the employer respond to Ion's account of an unsuccessful search for suitable jobs. The employer argued that it…
Kenneth W. Hundley v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Hundley v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 98-0340): earnings omission led to benefit forfeiture
Kenneth Hundley injured his back while working as a shipfitter for Newport News Shipbuilding and later worked as a recreation aide and school bus driver. He reported earnings from only the recreation job when the employer requested an earnings statement. The Board upheld the judge's finding that he…
Michael J. Gresh Painting Co., Inc.
Bridge fall-protection violation affirmed
Michael J. Gresh Painting employees secured containment tarps on a bridge superstructure about 25 to 30 feet above the roadway without tying off. Six employees violated the company's fall-protection policy, including the foreman, who was not wearing a safety belt or harness. Judge Richard…
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office of Internal Affairs, Washington, D.C. and Aurora, Colorado, and Federal Correctional Institution Englewood, Littleton, Colorado and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 709
Bureau of Prisons and AFGE Local 709 (FLRA DE-CA-40661): union representative exclusion violated the Statute
A Bureau of Prisons investigator refused to let AFGE Local 709's chosen chief steward represent its president at an investigatory interview because the steward had witnessed the incident being investigated. The steward's own interview had already been completed. The Authority held that an agency…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Underseas Warfare Center, Newport, Rhode Island and National Association of Government Employees, Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers
Naval Underseas Warfare Center and NAGE (FLRA 0-AR-3034): overtime for return travel upheld
A Navy engineer at the Naval Underseas Warfare Center traveled home on Sunday after attending a contractor-scheduled equipment test on Saturday. The Navy denied overtime pay for the return travel, and an arbitrator sustained his grievance. The Authority held that the contractor controlled the test…
White Oak Mining and Construction Co., Inc.
Task-training order vacated on remand
White Oak Mining operated the White Oak No. 2 Mine. After a fatal accident involving a continuous-miner operator and a miner helper, the Commission remanded whether Keith Smith had received adequate task training. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Smith's prior mining experience, supervised…
B&R Oil Company, Inc.
In re B&R Oil Company, Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 97-3): $60,000 UST penalty affirmed
B&R Oil Company, Inc., a petroleum marketing firm in Indiana, owned between 100 and 999 underground storage tanks. EPA Region V alleged that B&R failed to demonstrate federally acceptable financial responsibility for corrective action and third-party injury and property damage by the October 26…
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.