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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BHP Copper Company, Inc.
Witness-information citation vacated
After a fatal ground fall at BHP's San Manuel Mine killed one miner and injured another, MSHA sought the injured miner's address and telephone number during its investigation. BHP declined to provide the information without the miner's consent, and the judge found that this did not unlawfully…
Zeigler Coal Company
Roof-support order modified and $400 penalty assessed
Zeigler Coal operated the Zeigler No. 5 underground coal mine. The judge found that a continuous-miner operator had traveled 3.5 feet beyond permanent roof support in violation of the mine's roof-control requirements, and that the violation was significant and substantial. The judge found moderate…
S. E. Johnson Companies
Bridge-demolition protective-equipment and monitoring citations vacated
S. E. Johnson Companies cut painted steel beams during an Ohio Turnpike bridge-demolition project. OSHA alleged that disposable suits were unsafe for torch cutting, that helpers had not received representative lead monitoring, and that the company had not made the required cadmium determination…
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
FAA and NATCA (FLRA 0-AR-2833): Final reinstatement award must be followed
An arbitrator found that an air traffic controller had resigned involuntarily and ordered reinstatement subject to four random drug tests during the first year. After reinstating her, the FAA proposed removal based on a positive test disclosed at that arbitration and offered to hold the action…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Hunter Holmes McGuire Medical Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2145
Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center and AFGE Local 2145 (FLRA WA-RP-70069): Therapy participants excluded from bargaining unit
AFGE Local 2145 sought to represent veterans working in a Compensated Work Therapy program at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. A regional director dismissed the petition because the program participants were not federal employees under the labor relations statute. The Authority granted…
U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office and Patent Office Professional Association
Patent and Trademark Office and POPA (FLRA WA-CA-40743): effects bargaining ordered for term appointments
The Patent and Trademark Office filled patent examiner positions through two-year term appointments without first bargaining with the union over the change's effects. In an earlier partial decision, the Authority found a violation for failing to bargain over impact and implementation but left open…
Social Security Administration, Santa Rosa District Office, Santa Rosa, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 147, AFL-CIO
SSA Santa Rosa and AFGE Council 147 (FLRA SF-CA-50155): Employee move bargaining complaint dismissed
At an employee's request, the Social Security Administration moved him between two units in its Santa Rosa office. AFGE Council 147 asked to bargain over the decision, arguing that Executive Order 12871 required bargaining over the staffing subjects in 5 U.S.C. § 7106(b)(1). The office declined to…
Coal Miners Incorporated
Settlement rejected and supporting information ordered
Coal Miners Incorporated sought approval of a settlement reducing proposed penalties for four significant-and-substantial violations at the Eagle Valley Mine from $21,000 to $12,600. The violations involved coal and float-coal-dust accumulations, inadequate electrical examinations, and inadequate…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky and National Association of Government Employees
VA Medical Center Lexington and NAGE (FLRA CH-CA-50399): Dental duty bargaining complaint dismissed
The Lexington VA Medical Center assigned dental assistant duties to bargaining unit lab technicians after declining to bargain over the union's proposals. Earlier Authority decisions had found those proposals negotiable only at the agency's election under 5 U.S.C. § 7106(b)(1). The Authority held…
Henry A. Farrell v. Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corporation
Farrell v. Norfolk Shipbuilding (BRB 97-1317): Special Fund claim returned for vocational evidence
Henry Farrell injured his back while working as a burner for Norfolk Shipbuilding, and the employer sought to shift part of its compensation liability to the Longshore Act Special Fund. The Board upheld denial of relief based on an earlier back condition because the employer had not shown how much…
Department of the Air Force, 647th Air Base Group, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts and National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-8
Hanscom Air Force Base and NAGE Local R1-8 (FLRA BN-CA-41011): Vacancy bargaining complaint dismissed
NAGE Local R1-8 asked Hanscom Air Force Base to bargain over how it would fill vacant positions. The base refused, and the General Counsel alleged that Executive Order 12871 had elected bargaining over subjects listed in 5 U.S.C. § 7106(b)(1) for federal agencies. The Authority held that the order…
Appalachian Mining, Inc.
Explosives-work communication citation affirmed
Appalachian Mining used a contractor to prepare a blast at its Alloy No. 1 Mine. The worker was alone in the blasting area, could not see or hear other mine employees, and was using an explosives truck without two-way communications. The judge found that handling explosives and carrying 50-pound…
Delores Brooks on behalf of Lovie Brooks v. General Dynamics Corporation
Brooks v. General Dynamics (BRB 96-0666): child's death benefits upheld through parental role
Charles Gray died of work-related lung cancer, and Delores Brooks claimed death benefits for her daughter Lovie. The Board agreed that Gray had acted as Lovie's parent for years by providing support, supervision, and care. Lovie therefore qualified as his child under the Longshore Act's rule for a…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-32, Bedford, Massachusetts and Lawrence Bouchard
NAGE Local R1-32 and Lawrence Bouchard (FLRA BN-CO-70244): Union officer suspension violated the Statute
NAGE Local R1-32 suspended its first vice president, Lawrence Bouchard, after he filed unfair labor practice charges against the local and its president. The union did not answer the resulting complaint or respond by the administrative law judge's deadline to show why summary judgment should not be…
New England Masonry Co.
Most roofing-site citations affirmed, safety-monitor and ladder-inspection items vacated
New England Masonry Co. was replacing the flat roof on a convalescent home in Glastonbury, Connecticut, when OSHA inspected and issued a five-item serious citation. The judge affirmed most of it: a ground worker in the hoist area without a hard hat, a discharged and an overcharged fire extinguisher…
Jesus Hernandez v. National Steel & Shipbuilding Company
Hernandez v. National Steel & Shipbuilding (BRB 97-1291): job evidence returned for review
Jesus Hernandez was injured while working as a rigger for National Steel & Shipbuilding and received a recovery in a third-party lawsuit. The Board upheld an offset for the entire net recovery, including proceeds used to pay earlier judgment creditors, because Section 33(f) measures the net…
Hubb Corporation
Multiple citations resolved, penalty assessed
MSHA alleged that Hubb Corporation violated mine-safety standards involving shuttle-car controls, ventilation, roof support, air movement, combustible accumulations, cable protection, and fire suppression at Hubb No. 5 Mine. Judge Avram Weisberger dismissed several citations, found that two section…
Jason D. Redmond v. Sea Ray Boats
Redmond v. Sea Ray Boats (BRB 97-1117 reconsideration): vessel work requires findings
Jason Redmond was injured while building recreational boats for Sea Ray. On reconsideration, the Board found that its earlier ruling had established Sea Ray built a boat longer than 65 feet, but had not resolved whether Redmond himself worked on a boat of that size. It returned that factual issue…
Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc.
Commission approves no-penalty electrical settlement
Wayne J. Griffin Electric and the Secretary settled two electrical citation items after Commission review was directed. The Secretary amended the first item, under the wiring-methods standard, from serious to other-than-serious with no penalty, consistent with the administrative law judge's earlier…
Yates Grading & Heavy Equipment, Inc.
Trench safety violations yield $4,050
Yates Grading & Heavy Equipment installed sewer pipe in an excavation at a Georgia subdivision. OSHA cited the company for an inadequate safety program, insufficient excavation training, lack of cave-in protection, and a spoil pile placed at the trench edge. The judge found that general reminders…
Mineral Technology Corporation
Electrical citations modified and $250 penalty assessed
Mineral Technology Corporation operated a small Dakota quartz plant that processed quartz ore and quartz glass or cullet. Judge Richard W. Manning found that the plant was subject to Mine Act jurisdiction and that three electrical citations were established. He found one violation significant and…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Navy Public Works Center, Norfolk, Virginia and Tidewater Virginia Federal Employees Metal Trades Council
Navy Public Works Center Norfolk and Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-2906): Storm pay award partly set aside and remanded
After a severe February 1996 storm, an arbitrator awarded environmental differential pay to employees who traveled to work or worked at the Navy Public Works Center in Norfolk. The Authority held that the pay regulation did not cover ordinary travel between home and work and that employees working…
Big Sky Coal Company
Worn dump-truck tire citation vacated
MSHA cited Big Sky Coal Company after finding that a worn tire on a 150-ton bottom-dump truck was unsafe under 30 C.F.R. § 77.404(a). Judge David Barbour found that the Secretary did not prove a reasonably prudent person would have expected the tire to blow out or that the tire was likely to be…
Jarrell Dean Cochran v. Westmoreland Coal Company
Cochran v. Westmoreland Coal (BRB 98-0309): Early appeal allowed on operator dismissal
A judge dismissed Westmoreland Coal as a potentially responsible operator while Jarrell Cochran's black lung claim was still pending. The Director appealed immediately, concerned that the dismissal would prevent later review of who should pay if benefits were awarded. Westmoreland asked the Board…
Louis E. Serio v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Serio v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 97-1269): late Special Fund request rejected
Louis Serio, a retired shipyard electrician, sought compensation for asbestos-related lung disease. Newport News initially sought Special Fund relief, which would shift part of its payment responsibility, but withdrew that request after the first hearing. It tried to revive the request through a…
Arch of Illinois
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Gary D. Morgan alleged that Arch of Illinois discriminated against him after he reported dust-sampling concerns and was not recalled for an inby position at the Conant Mine. Judge Avram Weisberger found that Morgan engaged in protected activity and that Arch took adverse action by not recalling…
Kerry Ridley v. Surface Technologies Corporation
Ridley v. Surface Technologies (BRB 97-1362): unclear withdrawal returned to judge
Kerry Ridley told the judge he was no longer pursuing his Longshore Act claim and asked to return it to the district director. The judge treated that letter as a withdrawal and closed the case, despite the employer's objection and request for a hearing on coverage. The Board held that the letter…
Condor Construction Company
Willful/repeat trenching citation and hard-hat citation affirmed for $23,000
Condor Construction was building a church and day-care facility in New Rochelle, New York. OSHA had already cited and settled with the company twice at the same site for leaving employees in an unprotected excavation. On a third inspection in June 1996, the compliance officer found employees again…
Elwood Rice v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Rice v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 97-1239): Special Fund award upheld
Elwood Rice, a retired shipyard worker, sought benefits for work-related asbestosis. Newport News requested Special Fund relief after Rice first raised permanent impairment and before the district director's informal conference. The Board held that the request was timely, even though the original…
John Atkins v. Braswell Services
Atkins v. Braswell Services (BRB 97-1211): psychological injury and disability returned for review
John Atkins injured his knee while working for Braswell Services and later sought to change his benefits, citing continuing knee limitations and a psychological condition. The Board held that the work-relatedness presumption applied to the psychological condition and that the employer offered no…
Phoenix Area Indian Health Service, Owyhee Service Unit and Native American Health Care Local 1386, LIUNA
Owyhee Indian Health Service and LIUNA Local 1386 (FLRA DE-CU-60002): Reconsideration denied
The Authority had dismissed one petition to clarify a bargaining unit at the Owyhee Service Unit and directed action on two petitions to amend a union certification. The activity sought reconsideration, repeating objections about employee details, tribal operation of the hospital, bargaining…
Phoenix Area Indian Health Service, Sacaton Service Unit, Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital and Southwest Native American Health Care Employees, Local 1386, LIUNA
Hu Hu Kam Hospital and LIUNA Local 1386 (FLRA DE-CU-50069): Unit reconsideration denied
The Phoenix Area Indian Health Service sought to reconsider an Authority decision that kept federal employees assigned under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act to Hu Hu Kam Memorial Hospital in their bargaining unit. The Authority found no extraordinary circumstances under 5 C.F.R. § 2429.17. It…
Headquarters, National Guard Bureau, Nevada Air National Guard, and Nevada Army National Guard and Association of Civilian Technicians, Silver Barons and Silver Sage Chapters
Nevada National Guard and ACT chapters (FLRA DE-CA-60314, DE-CA-60347): Advisory arbitration ordered
The Federal Service Impasses Panel ordered Nevada Air and Army National Guard units to add advisory arbitration and official time for union lobbying to their collective bargaining agreements. The Authority found that refusing the lawful advisory arbitration provision violated 5 U.S.C. § 7116(a)(1)…
Department of Health and Human Services, Navajo Area Indian Health Service, Shiprock, New Mexico and National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-146
Navajo Area Indian Health Service and NAGE Local R14-146 (FLRA DA-RP-70048): Affiliation change review denied
Members of NAGE Local R14-146 at the Navajo Area Indian Health Service voted to affiliate with the Laborers' International Union of North America. The Regional Director amended the local's certification accordingly. National NAGE sought review, arguing that the membership vote failed the required…
Department of Defense Dependents Schools and Overseas Federation of Teachers
Defense Dependents Schools and Overseas Federation of Teachers (FLRA CH-CA-50593, CH-CA-50694): Lajes settlement remedy expanded
Defense Dependents Schools agreed to prioritize transfers from Lajes to create openings for teachers involuntarily moved away from the island. An administrative law judge found that the agency repudiated this settlement; neither party challenged that violation finding. The Authority upheld the…
Knock's Building Supplies
Multiple citations mixed, $3,139 penalty assessed
Knock's Building Supplies operated a small limestone, sand, and gravel mine in Iowa. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon vacated three citations, affirmed twelve others, and assessed a total civil penalty of $3,139. The affirmed citations addressed haul-road berms, inspection access, backup alarms, equipment…
Office of the Adjutant General, New Hampshire National Guard, Concord, New Hampshire and Granite State Chapter, Association of Civilian Technicians
New Hampshire National Guard and ACT Granite State Chapter (FLRA BN-CA-60514): Lobbying time complaint dismissed
The union proposed up to two days of official time each year for its officials to contact elected representatives about legislation affecting bargaining unit employees. The New Hampshire National Guard refused to bargain. The Authority held that the proposal was substantially identical to one it…
National Association of Government Employees, Locals R4-45 and R14-23 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency
NAGE locals and Defense Commissary Agency (FLRA 0-NG-2357, 0-NG-2405): Pre-RIF swaps negotiable
Two NAGE locals proposed moving employees between Defense Commissary Agency locations before notices of a reduction in force. Employees with lower retention standing would move to affected sites, while employees with higher standing would move to unaffected sites. The Authority construed the…
Alabama Association of Civilian Technicians and U.S. Department of Defense, Alabama State Military Department, Alabama National Guard
Alabama civilian technicians and National Guard (FLRA 0-AR-3008): Attorney fee question remanded
An arbitrator awarded backpay to a National Guard technician but later denied the union's attorney fee request in a single sentence. The Authority held that the denial lacked the specific findings needed to assess the fee requirements under the Back Pay Act and 5 U.S.C. § 7701(g)(1). It remanded…
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration and National Association of Air Traffic Specialists
FAA and air traffic specialists (FLRA 0-AR-2973): Removal award exceptions dismissed
An arbitrator sustained an air traffic specialist's grievance over his removal and ordered reinstatement. The FAA excepted, raising objections about the arbitrator's jurisdiction, management rights, backpay law, and the arbitrator's authority. The Authority held that the FAA's separate personnel…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Ithaca, New York
Air traffic controllers and FAA Ithaca (FLRA 0-AR-2971): Removal award exceptions dismissed
An arbitrator reduced an Ithaca air traffic controller's removal for misconduct to a three day suspension, but reinstated the employee without backpay. The union excepted to the backpay ruling. The Authority held that the award concerned a removal similar to one covered by 5 U.S.C. § 7512 under the…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 50 and U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Carolina District, Charlotte, North Carolina
NTEU Chapter 50 and IRS Carolina District (FLRA 0-AR-2940): Attorney fee denial upheld
An IRS employee won a temporary promotion and backpay after an arbitrator found she had performed higher graded duties. The union then sought attorney fees, arguing that the agency should have known it would lose the grievance. The arbitrator denied fees. The Authority upheld that denial because…
Leeco, Inc.
Discrimination settlement approved with $25,000 penalty
The Secretary alleged that Leeco, Inc. suspended and discharged Jerry Caudill after he became a miner's representative and carried out related duties. Judge David F. Barbour approved a settlement requiring Leeco to pay a $25,000 civil penalty and provide management training on miners' and…
In re Kwun Yu MA, Beneficiary of visa petition filed by Philip Yuk Yu Ma, Petitioner
In re Kwun Yu MA (BIA ID 3351): adopted child cannot confer benefits on a natural sibling
The Board reviewed the revocation of a visa petition filed by a naturalized United States citizen for his biological brother. The petitioner had been adopted as a child, and the Board considered whether that adoption prevented him from conferring immigration benefits on his natural sibling…
Walter R. Bailey v. U.S. Steel Mining Company
Bailey v. U.S. Steel Mining (BRB 97-1447): Benefit award returned after x-ray review
Walter Bailey had received a black lung benefit award, while litigation continued over its start date. U.S. Steel Mining asked the Board to reconsider earlier rulings upholding the benefit findings. The Board majority held that the judge had not adequately explained how he treated the most recent…
National Air Traffic Controllers Association and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Western Pacific Region
NATCA and FAA Western Pacific Region (FLRA 0-AR-3053): Arbitration exceptions denied
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association challenged an arbitrator's award involving the FAA Western Pacific Region. The Authority stated that it had considered the record and found no basis to set aside the award under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a). It denied the union's exceptions. This short release…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina and National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and NATCA (FLRA 0-AR-2915): Meal period award upheld
Controllers attended daily 15 minute briefings before their shifts. An arbitrator found that their meal periods during a specified period were also only 15 minutes and were not bona fide meal breaks capable of offsetting the briefing time. The Marine Corps challenged the dates of that period. The…
James H. Griffin, Jr. v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Griffin v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 97-1266): separate parking lot outside coverage
James Griffin injured his back while avoiding a rolling car in a Newport News Shipbuilding employee parking lot. The lot was owned by the shipyard but separated from its fenced facility by a public road. Applying the controlling Fourth Circuit rule, the Board treated the lot as a separate parcel…
Nan Parks, widow of Herman W. Parks v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Parks v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 97-1192): death benefits upheld, costs returned
Herman Parks worked as a shipyard joiner and was exposed to asbestos before dying of lung cancer. The Board upheld death benefits for his widow after finding that the judge reasonably credited medical opinions linking his asbestosis to the fatal cancer. It reduced an attorney fee award by $7,344 to…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Brecksville Unit, Cleveland, Ohio and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 31
VA Brecksville Unit and AFGE Local 31 (FLRA 0-AR-3047): Arbitration exceptions denied
The VA Medical Center's Brecksville Unit challenged an arbitrator's award involving AFGE Local 31. The Authority stated that it had considered the record and found no deficiency under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a). It denied the agency's exceptions. This short release does not describe the underlying…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-52 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Distribution Depot Red River
NAGE Local R14-52 and Red River Depot (FLRA 0-AR-3026): Arbitration exceptions denied
NAGE Local R14-52 challenged an arbitration award involving the Defense Logistics Agency's Red River depot. The Authority said it had considered the record and found no deficiency under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a). It denied the union's exceptions. This short release does not identify the grievance…
Wye Electric, Inc.
Four excavation citations affirmed after employee-misconduct defense fails, $4,350
Wye Electric installs underground power and communication systems. On a construction project in Jackson, Mississippi, its crew dug a roughly 7-foot pit in unstable Type C soil at a former gas station site to set a precast manhole. OSHA cited four excavation violations: no fall barriers at the pit…
Royal Gorge Publishing d/b/a Daily Record
Forklift citation vacated where a maintenance expert outweighed the inspector
Royal Gorge Publishing, which runs the Daily Record newspaper in Canon City, Colorado, was cited after an OSHA compliance officer inspected a forklift used to move pallets of newspaper inserts. The officer found damaged insulation on electrical and hydraulic cables, exposed copper wire, cuts…
Dominic Lombardi v. Universal Maritime Service Corporation
Lombardi v. Universal Maritime (BRB 97-1169): total disability award upheld
Dominic Lombardi injured his elbow while working as a longshore holdman for Universal Maritime. The Board upheld the judge's finding that the injury prevented him from returning to his usual job and that the employer had presented no evidence of suitable alternative work at the initial hearing. The…
Wanda J. Diggles v. Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Diggles v. Bethlehem Steel (BRB 97-1168): approved settlement bars benefit change
Wanda Diggles settled a disputed Longshore Act disability claim with Bethlehem Steel in 1989. Years later, after receiving a Social Security disability determination, she asked to change the award to permanent total disability. The Board held that the signed agreement and the judge's approval were…
Victory Memorial Hospital & Skilled Nursing Center
Ethylene-oxide safety violations yield $12,150
Victory Memorial Hospital used ethylene oxide to sterilize instruments in its central sterile supply area. OSHA cited the hospital after finding that the area monitor was not operating, the written emergency plan was incomplete, and several recordkeeping and employee-notification duties were not…
City of San Diego Urban Area Pretreatment Program
In re City of San Diego Urban Area Pretreatment Program (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 98-2): appeal dismissed as premature
Vermatek Company, Inc. challenged EPA Region IX's approval of a pretreatment program associated with the City of San Diego's 1995 NPDES permit. Vermatek had also requested an evidentiary hearing, but filed its appeal before the Region ruled on that request. The Board held that the matter was not…
Arizona Municipal Storm Water NPDES Permits
In re Arizona Municipal Storm Water NPDES Permits (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 97-3): review partly dismissed and denied
The Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club challenged five municipal storm sewer permits issued by EPA Region IX for Tucson, Pima County, Phoenix, Mesa, and Tempe. They argued that the permits lacked adequate numeric limits and toxicity testing, that the storm water management programs did not…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Central Region and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3529
Defense Contract Audit Agency and AFGE Local 3529 (FLRA 0-AR-3011): Arbitration exceptions denied
The Defense Contract Audit Agency's Central Region challenged an arbitrator's award involving AFGE Local 3529. The Authority found no deficiency under 5 U.S.C. § 7122(a) and denied the exceptions. In a footnote, it rejected the agency's reliance on a prior case about grievance routes for bargaining…
Northwest Aggregates
Mixed findings and $1,120 penalty assessed
Northwest Aggregates operated the Mats Mats Quarry in Washington, where material was drilled, blasted, crushed, and shipped by barge. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated several citations involving a grease pit, locked-out equipment, a barge ramp, and a portable crusher, while affirming other…
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.