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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Ernest R. McKnight, Jr. v. Carolina Shipping Company
McKnight v. Carolina Shipping (BRB 97-0618): reconsideration leaves benefits remand in place
Ernest McKnight sought reconsideration after the Board had returned his knee injury claim to a judge to determine the date of maximum medical improvement and the proper benefits. He argued that the Board's earlier decision was late and that it used the wrong weekly wage and compensation category…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3599 and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Nashville, Tennessee
AFGE Local 3599 and EEOC Nashville (FLRA 0-AR-3103): union arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 3599 challenged an arbitration award involving the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Nashville. The agency opposed the union's exceptions. The Authority concluded that none of the grounds the union raised made the award deficient under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a), and it denied the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2317 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, Georgia
AFGE Local 2317 and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany (FLRA 0-AR-3096): union arbitration exception denied
AFGE Local 2317 challenged an arbitration award in a matter involving the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia. The Authority said the union had not shown a ground for finding the award deficient under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a), and it denied the exception. The published decision does not…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 and Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland
AFGE Local 1923 and SSA Baltimore (FLRA 0-AR-3085): union arbitration exception denied
AFGE Local 1923 challenged an arbitration award involving the Social Security Administration in Baltimore. The agency did not oppose the exception. The Authority found no ground under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) to set aside the award and denied the union's exception. The published order does not describe…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2258 and Social Security Administration, San Antonio, Texas
AFGE Local 2258 and SSA San Antonio (FLRA 0-AR-3064): suspension award upheld
AFGE Local 2258 challenged an arbitration award involving the Social Security Administration in San Antonio. The Authority denied the union's exception and left the award in place. In a footnote, it said the arbitrator did not have to apply Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when deciding whether…
Brent Roberts
Et al. (FMSHRC KENT 91-896-R, et al.): Dust-sample certification appeals dismissed as moot
The Commission considered consolidated appeals involving proposed revocations of certifications for people who collected or maintained respirable-dust sampling devices. MSHA withdrew the proposed revocations, and the petitioners did not oppose the Secretary's motion to consolidate and dismiss. The…
Honey Creek Contracting Co.
Review vacated after employer failed to brief
Honey Creek Contracting petitioned for Commission review of two administrative law judge decisions concerning excavation work in Homer City, Pennsylvania. After directing the cases for review, the Commission ordered Honey Creek to file a brief or a letter in lieu of a brief within 40 days. Honey…
United House of Prayer
Review vacated after Secretary missed briefing deadline
OSHA cited the United House of Prayer for exit and sprinkler conditions after a fire in a tenant's New York City store caused the deaths of seven store employees. The administrative law judge granted summary judgment to the Church because it had no employees at the renovation site, did not create…
Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc.
Emergency-action and lockout violations yield $12,000
OSHA inspected Akzo Nobel Chemicals' organic peroxide plant and initially proposed $240,000 for serious, willful, repeat, and other-than-serious violations. The Secretary withdrew most items, and Judge Robert A. Yetman vacated several remaining allegations for insufficient proof. Akzo intended…
In re Robert A. Lettman
Aggravated-felony date limit did not apply
The Board reconsidered its earlier dismissal of an appeal involving a Jamaican lawful permanent resident who had been convicted of third-degree murder in Florida in 1987. The issue was whether the aggravated-felony deportation ground could apply when the conviction occurred before the statutory…
Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc.
In re Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal Nos. 98-1 and 98-2): reconsideration motion dismissed as untimely
Sandra Yerman submitted a filing alleging errors in the Board's earlier order denying review of Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc.'s UIC permit matter. The Board treated the filing as a motion for reconsideration. It held that the motion was due by October 28, 1998 under the cited EPA rules, but…
Ellen H. Callnan v. Morale, Welfare & Recreation, Department of the Navy
Callnan v. Navy Morale, Welfare & Recreation (BRB 98-0249): Special Fund relief denied on merits
Ellen Callnan received permanent total disability benefits for a work-related psychiatric condition. Her Navy employer sought Special Fund relief based on an alleged pre-existing condition. The judge found that the employer's application was too incomplete to proceed. The Board disagreed: the…
National Mediation Board and American Federation of Government Employees
National Mediation Board and AFGE (FLRA WA-RP-80049): representation petition remanded
AFGE sought an election to represent professional and nonprofessional National Mediation Board employees. The Authority held that AFGE's indirect affiliation with other unions that represent Railway Labor Act employees bars it from representing board employees who administer that Act. It also found…
United States Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss, Fort Bliss, Texas and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2173 and National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-22
Fort Bliss and NFFE Local 2173 (FLRA DA-RO-60006): review granted on election petition standard
NFFE Local 2173 petitioned for a representation election at Fort Bliss, where NAGE Local R14-22 was the incumbent union. A regional director dismissed the petition after finding that the Army had improperly assisted NFFE and had tainted its showing of employee support. The Authority rejected NFFE's…
White Oak Mining & Construction Company, Inc.
Task-training issue remanded
White Oak operated the White Oak No. 2 underground coal mine, where a miner helper was killed by the tail boom of a continuous miner. The Commission reviewed the judge's finding that Keith Smith's task training as a continuous-miner operator complied with 30 C.F.R. § 48.7(a). The majority held that…
In re M-S-
Reopening for new relief did not require rescission
The Board reviewed an in absentia deportation order against a Ghanaian national who married a United States citizen in December 1995 and did not appear at a deportation hearing the following month. Because the respondent had not received the required oral warning about failing to appear, the Board…
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Isleta Elementary School, Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico and Indian Educators Federation
BIA Isleta Elementary School and Indian Educators Federation (FLRA DE-CA-50006): union access order upheld
The Bureau of Indian Affairs operated Isleta Elementary School on the Pueblo of Isleta reservation, where the Indian Educators Federation represented employees. The Authority found that the school's principal had effectively prompted the Pueblo governor to ban a union field representative from the…
BCB Construction, Inc.
Faxed citation triggered contest deadline
OSHA cited BCB Construction after inspecting a multi-employer construction site where an accident caused one employee's death and another employee's serious injury. Certified-mail delivery to BCB's address of record failed after three attempts, but OSHA faxed the citation to a law firm that said it…
Federal Education Association and Department of Defense Education Activity
Federal Education Association and DoD Education Activity (FLRA 0-NG-2366): three pay proposals rejected
The Federal Education Association sought bargaining over three pay proposals for Department of Defense Education Activity employees. The Authority dismissed a proposal to compensate work outside the regular day without prejudice because the agency raised only a contract-coverage objection, leaving…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 35 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia
IFPTE Local 35 and Norfolk Naval Shipyard (FLRA 0-NG-2312): renovation proposal dismissed as moot
IFPTE Local 35 proposed removing new food services from renovation plans for a Norfolk Naval Shipyard laundry building. The building and its new food facility opened before the union filed its negotiability petition. The Authority read the proposal as limited to the planning stage, found that the…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 35 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia
IFPTE Local 35 and Norfolk Naval Shipyard (FLRA 0-NG-2311): restaurant location proposal is bargainable
IFPTE Local 35 proposed locating a McDonald's restaurant at the Scott Center Annex of Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The Navy placed the restaurant elsewhere and argued that its location did not concern bargaining unit employees because it was intended for military personnel. The Authority found the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2028 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
AFGE Local 2028 and Pittsburgh VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3079): three-day suspension upheld
A food service worker at a Pittsburgh VA medical center received a three-day suspension after a bag of government coffee was taken from supplies under his control. An arbitrator found no proof that he had handed it over or allowed its removal, but upheld the suspension because he had failed to…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-188 and U.S. Department of the Air Force, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina
NAGE Local R5-188 and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-3018): attorney fee denial set aside
A Seymour Johnson Air Force Base employee had a 13-day suspension withdrawn with backpay after an arbitrator found that she had not committed the charged misconduct. The arbitrator nevertheless denied attorney fees, reasoning that her conduct had been close to disciplinary misconduct. The Authority…
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 208
NRC and NTEU Chapter 208 (FLRA 0-AR-2939): split temporary promotion award upheld
Two Nuclear Regulatory Commission reactor inspectors sought temporary promotions and backpay for duties they said belonged to a higher grade. The arbitrator found the first inspector's claim barred as a classification dispute because his specific inspection duties had not previously been…
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): union exceptions denied
NAGE Local R4-45 challenged an arbitration award involving the Defense Commissary Agency at Fort Lee, Virginia. The agency opposed the union's exceptions. The Authority concluded that the union had not shown a ground under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) for finding the award deficient and denied the…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency and National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-45
Defense Commissary Agency and NAGE Local R4-45 (FLRA 0-AR-3092): agency exceptions denied
The Defense Commissary Agency challenged an arbitration award in a case involving NAGE Local R4-45. The union opposed the agency's exceptions. The Authority concluded that none of the grounds the agency raised made the award deficient under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a), and it denied the exceptions. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Martin Marietta Aggregates
Subpoena revoked for investigator training
The Secretary sought civil penalties against Martin Marietta Aggregates, and the operator opposed quashing a subpoena for MSHA special-investigator trainee Mitchell Adams. The operator wanted Adams to testify about accident facts and negligence issues, but the Judge found that firsthand witnesses…
Chrysler Corporation, Stickney Avenue Assembly Plant
In re Chrysler Corporation, Stickney Avenue Assembly Plant (EAB PSD Appeal No. 98-26): petition dismissed with prejudice
Rick B. Van Landingham petitioned for review of a PSD permit for Chrysler Corporation's Stickney Avenue Assembly Plant. He later moved to dismiss the petition with prejudice, and the State of Ohio and Chrysler did not oppose the motion. The Board granted the motion and dismissed the petition with…
Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 215
Social Security Administration and AFGE Council 215 (FLRA 0-AR-2952): remedy for competitive reassignment violation remanded
The Social Security Administration moved employees into paralegal positions under a redeployment plan. An arbitrator found that six reassignments should have used the competitive procedures in the agency's agreement with AFGE Council 215, and ordered six new positions to be filled competitively…
Secretary of Labor v. Unique Electric
Financial information requested for penalty review
The Commission had vacated a $400 penalty assessed against Unique Electric and remanded the case for further proceedings on the penalty. Judge Richard W. Manning ordered the operator's owner, Kim Warnock, to provide income, net-worth, financial-obligation, and related information so the Judge could…
Christie Constructors, Inc.
Barge safety citations produce $2,750 penalty
Christie Constructors performed bridge construction from two connected barges on the Columbia River. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz held that federal OSHA retained jurisdiction over non-maritime construction on vessels in navigable waters despite Washington's state plan. He affirmed serious violations…
The Boeing Company, d/b/a Boeing Commercial Airplane Group--Wichita Division
Cited electrical standards held inapplicable
Two Boeing electricians sustained second-degree burns when switchgear failed as they opened a cabinet at the company's Wichita aircraft plant. OSHA cited general-industry electrical standards addressing recognized equipment hazards and moisture in cabinets. Judge Nancy J. Spies found that Boeing's…
Turnbull Metal Products, Inc.
Press and facility violations produce $9,450 penalty
Turnbull Metal Products manufactured metal furniture and other products at a Mississippi facility using press brakes and mechanical power presses. OSHA cited missing platform and stair midrails, an inadequate lockout program, unguarded machine parts, deficient press inspections, and electrical…
National Envelope Corporation d/b/a New York Envelope Co.
All remaining machine-safety citations vacated
OSHA issued National Envelope Corporation citations after two inspections of its envelope manufacturing plant. One case alleged inadequate training after a machine operator injured a finger while attempting to address a chip-collector problem. Judge Richard DeBenedetto found that the operator had…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
National Air Traffic Controllers Association and FAA (FLRA 0-AR-2996): differential pay exceptions denied
Air traffic controllers disputed when the FAA could stop paying a five percent operational differential during details away from an operational facility. An arbitrator found that the agency could not withdraw the differential before the 90th day of a detail, but rejected the union's claim to…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company, et al.
Fire evacuation violations resolved with mixed results
The Secretary alleged that Consolidation Coal failed to evacuate miners during a fire at the Blacksville No. 2 Mine and that three supervisors knowingly violated the mine's evacuation program. The Judge found a violation involving the company's evacuation procedures, deleted the…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association, MEBA/AFL-CIO and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
National Air Traffic Controllers Association and FAA (FLRA 0-AR-3083): union exceptions denied
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association challenged an arbitration award involving the FAA. The agency did not oppose the union's exceptions. After reviewing the record, the Authority concluded that none of the union's grounds showed the award was deficient under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a), and it…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1164 and Social Security Administration, New Bedford District Office
AFGE Local 1164 and SSA New Bedford (FLRA 0-NG-2258): bargaining ordered on interview rotation proposal
The Social Security Administration's New Bedford office planned to change how claims representatives interviewed applicants and processed claims. AFGE Local 1164 sought bargaining over eleven proposed sections of a memorandum of understanding. The Authority found that Proposal 9, a rotation for…
Secretary of Labor v. Lime Mountain Company
Fall-protection citation affirmed
MSHA cited Lime Mountain Company after a contract truck driver stood on top of a pneumatic bulk trailer about 11 feet above the ground without fall protection while using a compressed-air hose. The Judge found that the trailer surface, lime dust, and hose created a reasonable likelihood of a…
In re N-M-A-
Changed conditions extinguished the past-persecution asylum presumption
The Board reviewed an Afghan applicant's appeal from the denial of asylum and withholding of exclusion and deportation. The majority held that changed country conditions can extinguish the regulatory presumption of a continuing fear from the original persecutors, after which the applicant must show…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1741 and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution Milan
AFGE Local 1741 and Federal Correctional Institution Milan (FLRA 0-AR-3071): union exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1741 challenged an arbitration award involving the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Milan facility. The agency did not oppose the union's exceptions. After reviewing the record, the Authority concluded that none of the union's grounds showed the award was deficient under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a)…
Panama Canal Commission and International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Panama Canal Pilots Branch
Panama Canal Commission and Canal Pilots Branch (FLRA 0-AR-2988): negotiated pay award upheld
Panama Canal pilots grieved reductions to a negotiated 15 percent tropical pay differential when their basic pay reached an agency regulation's cap. An arbitrator found that the parties' pay agreement superseded the conflicting agency regulation and awarded backpay with interest. The Authority…
Borough of Naugatuck
In re Borough of Naugatuck (EAB CWA Appeal No. 98-9): interlocutory review denied
The Borough of Naugatuck sought immediate Board review of an Administrative Law Judge's ruling about notice of an instantaneous total residual chlorine limit in the Borough's 1991 NPDES permit. The Presiding Officer had denied certification for interlocutory appeal after finding that the Borough…
Peach Auto Painting and Collision of Montgomery, Inc.
Repeated eye-protection violation affirmed
Peach Auto's painter regularly spray painted vehicles without eye protection despite chemical-vapor hazards identified in product safety data sheets and the company's job-hazard assessment. The company had bought welding-style goggles after an earlier OSHA citation, but the painter found them hot…
Crown Pacific
Rim-wheel training and trajectory violations affirmed
A Crown Pacific employee was killed when a repaired multi-piece wheel exploded while employees unloaded it from a pickup truck at the company's lumber-processing facility. A mechanic regularly transported, handled, and inflated multi-piece wheels but had not been trained in the required procedures…
Secretary of Labor v. Unique Electric
Penalty vacated for reassessment
Unique Electric was cited after an electrical grounding failure contributed to a fatal accident at the Washington Mine, where a mine manager received an electrical shock and later drowned. The ALJ found a significant and substantial violation of 30 C.F.R. § 57.12025 and assessed a $400 penalty…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-23 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency
NAGE Local R14-23 and Defense Commissary Agency (FLRA 0-NG-2370): commissary staffing petition dismissed
NAGE Local R14-23 proposed keeping specified numbers of accounting technician positions at three commissaries and holding their job titles and grades steady for six months after a reorganization. The Authority found that the staffing proposal concerned the number of positions assigned to…
Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc.
In re Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal Nos. 98-1 and 98-2): permit review denied
Environmental Disposal Systems sought permits for two Class I hazardous-waste injection wells in Romulus, Michigan. Sandra K. Yerman and Michigan State Representative Raymond E. Basham challenged permit signatures, library access, monitoring, well surveys, minor modifications, state oversight, and…
Wilma Trimble v. Army and Air Force Exchange Service
Trimble v. Army and Air Force Exchange Service (BRB 98-0198): employer-controlled walkway covered
Wilma Trimble slipped on an icy sidewalk by the employee entrance to an Army and Air Force Exchange Service facility. The judge denied benefits under the rule that generally excludes injuries while traveling to work. The Board found that the Exchange directed employees to use a designated parking…
Brent Schaubert v. Omega Services Industries and Elf Aquitaine Operating Incorporated
Schaubert v. Omega Services Industries (BRB 98-0153): contract barred insurer reimbursement
Omega Services supplied Brent Schaubert to work on Elf Aquitaine's offshore platform, where he was injured. Omega's insurer, Insurance Company of North America, paid his disability and medical benefits and later sought repayment from Elf as the borrowing employer. The Board held that reimbursement…
West Winds Construction, Inc.
Scaffold planking and fall-protection violations affirmed
West Winds Construction employees repaired plaster from partially dismantled scaffold platforms that were not fully planked and had no guardrails. The workers faced falls of about 18 to 20 feet, and the site foreman directed and observed the work. Chief Judge Irving Sommer imputed the foreman's…
Secretary of Labor v. Cannelton Industries, Inc., et al.
Penalties set after remand
The Judge had previously found that Cannelton Industries unwarrantably failed to comply with 30 C.F.R. § 75.400 and that foremen Charles Patterson and George Richardson knowingly authorized the violation. After receiving financial information, the Judge denied motions to reconsider, reopen the…
Secretary of Labor v. Western Construction, Inc.
Feeder access citation affirmed
MSHA cited Western Construction after a dozer operator walked along an elevated feeder toward a jaw crusher to inspect an oversized rock. The Judge found that the feeder did not provide safe access and that the uneven surface and proximity to the crusher created a reasonably likely serious injury…
High End Systems, Inc.
Consultant's missed deadline did not excuse late contest
High End Systems hired a safety consultant to represent it during an OSHA inspection. The consultant received the citation, advised High End to contest it, knew the June 3 deadline, and prepared a notice of contest, but neither party sent the notice. Judge James H. Barkley found that the consultant…
Pamela Bridge Pero v. Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp.
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Pamela Bridge Pero worked in the human-resources department at Cyprus Plateau Mining Corporation's Star Point No. 2 underground coal mine. She alleged that the company fired her after she raised concerns about workers' compensation reporting and the handling of injury reports. Judge August F. Cetti…
Pro-Tec Coating Company
In re Pro-Tec Coating Company (EAB PSD Appeal No. 98-25): appeal dismissed after settlement
The Sierra Club petitioned for review of permit provisions involving Pro-Tec Coating Company's facility. The Sierra Club and Pro-Tec entered a settlement agreement, under which Pro-Tec agreed to seek modification of specified permit provisions and operate the facility in accordance with the…
Cyprus Emerald Resources, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
Cyprus Emerald Resources contested an order issued at the Emerald No. 1 mine. After an earlier Commission decision remanded the case, the Secretary and Cyprus Emerald proposed a settlement. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved changing the order from a section 104(d)(1) order to a section 104(a)…
James M. Ray, employed by Leo Journagan Construction Co., Inc.
EAJA fees claim partly revived
James M. Ray sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing in an underlying Mine Act proceeding involving two citations at a limestone operation. The Commission held that the Secretary's position was not substantially justified as to the citation involving…
305th Air Mobility Wing, McGuire Air Force Base and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1778
305th Air Mobility Wing and AFGE Local 1778 (FLRA BN-CA-60070): classification complaint dismissed
A union vice president at McGuire Air Force Base moved to a day shift under the parties' agreement and was later downgraded after his boiler plant operator position was reclassified. AFGE Local 1778 alleged that the downgrade retaliated against him for exercising his contractual right. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council 220 and Social Security Administration, Region VI, Dallas
AFGE Council 220 and SSA Region VI (FLRA 0-AR-2966): one hardship transfer remedy set aside
Social Security Administration employees grieved denials of hardship reassignment requests to offices in Texas. The arbitrator granted relief to one grievant, including reinstatement and a transfer opportunity, but denied relief to others. The Authority set aside the first grievant's relief because…
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.