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.
Doyal Morgan, Wayne Larkins, and Steven Ramsey, employed by Asarco Incorporated
Doyal Morgan, Wayne Larkins, and Steven Ramsey (FMSHRC SE 98-1-M, SE 97-251-M, SE 97-252-M): Individual penalty cases dismissed
The Secretary of Labor proposed individual civil penalties against Doyal Morgan, Wayne Larkins, and Steven Ramsey, employees of Asarco Incorporated, after an accident at the Young Mine and a citation issued to the operator. Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Merlin found that MSHA took 22 months…
Ormet Primary Aluminum Corporation
Commission vacates withdrawn PPE item
The Secretary notified the Commission that he was withdrawing the only remaining item, an other-than-serious citation alleging a personal-protective-equipment violation. The notice stated that no other issues remained. The Commission treated the notice as a motion and vacated the citation item and…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2030 and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Falls, Idaho
NFFE Local 2030 and BLM Idaho Falls (FLRA 0-AR-2813): ranger reassignment award upheld
A Bureau of Land Management ranger objected to management's handling of law enforcement issues, filed a grievance over a proposed reorganization, and later tendered his resignation. The agency did not accept the resignation but reassigned him to a natural resources position. An arbitrator found…
Sunny Ridge Mining Company, Inc.
Remand penalties and liability resolved
These consolidated cases returned to the judge after a Commission remand. The parties agreed to modify the violation involving 30 C.F.R. § 77.405(b) from a section 104(d) citation with a $3,000 penalty to a section 104(a) significant-and-substantial citation with moderate negligence and a $431…
John McCarty, d/b/a Intertribal Trade
Diving citations vacated for lack of employment relationship
Intertribal Trade was a fish-buying business that helped members of the Makah tribe obtain equipment and training for commercial sea-urchin diving. OSHA investigated after a diver died while working from a vessel owned by John McCarty. Applying common-law agency factors, the judge found that…
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-50193): work reassignment required bargaining
The Air Force reassigned aircraft wash, etch, and alodine preparation work from equipment cleaners to painters at Warner Robins without first notifying AFGE Local 987. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that this changed working conditions and required bargaining over its impact and…
A & K Construction Co., Inc.
Unprotected trench draws an affirmed serious cave-in citation
A & K Construction Co., Inc. was installing a water system in Island Lake, Illinois. On May 27, 1997, an OSHA compliance officer saw an A & K employee working as the bottom man in an open trench about 7.5 feet deep with no sloping, shoring, or trench box. OSHA cited a serious violation of the…
Micron Construction, Inc.
Controlling contractor cleared of a subcontractor's fall violations for lack of knowledge
Micron Construction, Inc. was the construction manager on a Meridian, Idaho project. A January 1997 OSHA inspection caught employees of its steel subcontractor, Hansen & Rice, in three fall-protection lapses: one worker tied his lanyard to another worker's retractable lifeline about 40 feet up, one…
Empire Iron Mining Partnership
Mixed contest and penalty rulings
Empire Iron Mining Partnership contested orders and citations at its Empire Mine, and the Secretary also sought civil penalties. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved settlements for several matters, affirmed some orders and citations, vacated other citations, and modified one order by deleting its…
Omni Source Corp.
Two contested items vacated after a fatal shredder accident, rest resolved by settlement
Omni Source Corp. runs a metals reclamation yard in Toledo, Ohio, where it operates a large Texas Shredder that shreds automobiles. During routine maintenance on March 19, 1996, the roughly 5,600-pound movable section of the machine's safety cage came off its rails and fell into the mill, injuring…
General Motors Corporation, CPC-Pontiac Fiero Plant
In re General Motors Corporation, CPC-Pontiac Fiero Plant (EAB CWA Appeal No. 96-5): liability and $62,500 penalty affirmed
General Motors Corporation operated the Pontiac Fiero plant in Pontiac, Michigan, and held a state-issued NPDES permit for stormwater discharges from an outfall. EPA Region V charged the company with 92 violations between May 1992 and August 1993 because reported discharges exceeded the permit…
Macy's East, Inc.; Abraham & Straus, Inc.; Stern's Department Stores, Inc.
Twenty-nine exit-aisle instances rejected
OSHA cited three department-store companies for 32 instances in which merchandise or display tables allegedly obstructed exit aisles. The judge had previously rejected the Secretary's position that the cited standard required 60-inch or 44-inch aisle clearance. Because OSHA did not calculate…
Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
SSA and AFGE (FLRA WA-CA-40267): overtime back-pay awards required full compliance
Earlier arbitration awards required the Social Security Administration to pay claims representatives and claims authorizers for Fair Labor Standards Act overtime that had not been fully paid. SSA used a payment plan that reduced pre-1987 overtime through a leave deduction, estimated some amounts…
Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, National Zinc Site
In re Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, National Zinc Site (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 96-2): reimbursement petition denied
Cyprus Amax Minerals Company sought reimbursement for about $6.27 million in costs it said it incurred while complying with a CERCLA unilateral administrative order. The order required removal of lead- and cadmium-contaminated soil from about 1,200 residences near the former National Zinc Company…
Donna Buckland v. Department of the Army/NAF/CPO and Army Central Insurance Fund
Buckland v. Department of the Army (BRB 97-0675): medical benefits require separate review
Donna Buckland injured her lower back while working in an Army laundry facility. The judge found that the employer had offered her a necessary, light duty laundry job at the same wages and denied further disability compensation. The Board upheld that finding and rejected a small continuing award…
Charles Foster, III v. Davison Sand & Gravel Company and U.S. Fidelity and Guarantee Company
Foster v. Davison Sand & Gravel (BRB 97-0567): dredge crew member excluded from Longshore coverage
Charles Foster injured his back while welding on Davison Sand & Gravel's dredge, the Allegheny II. The employer voluntarily paid Longshore Act benefits for years, but later disputed whether the Act covered him. The Board held that voluntary payments did not waive that coverage objection. It upheld…
Joseph F. Keating and Bonita King v. City of Titusville
Keating and King v. City of Titusville (BRB 97-0821): city marina workers excluded from Longshore coverage
Joseph Keating and Bonita King were injured while working at the City of Titusville's marina. Separate judges denied their Longshore Act claims, finding that city employees and recreational marina workers who did not build or expand the marina were excluded from coverage. The Board affirmed both…
U.S. Geological Survey, Caribbean District Office, San Juan, Puerto Rico and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1503
Geological Survey Caribbean District and AFGE Local 1503 (FLRA BN-CA-40286): bargaining year renewed
After AFGE Local 1503 was certified at the Geological Survey's Caribbean District Office, the agency delayed bargaining over an initial agreement and refused to negotiate a grievance and arbitration procedure. The Authority found that the agency's conduct denied the union a fair opportunity to…
Action Cleaning Corporation
Unplanked bilge openings on a Navy ship draw an affirmed serious fall citation
Action Cleaning Corporation did shipboard painting-prep work aboard the USS Vandergrift, cleaning the bilge area after deck plates were removed. A February 1997 OSHA inspection found employees walking on the exposed structural grid to reach ladders, with openings between the members and no planking…
U.S. Information Agency, American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1812, and Richard A. La Dieu
USIA, AFGE Local 1812, and Richard A. La Dieu (FLRA WA-DR-60007): decertification petition dismissed
An individual asked the Authority to decertify AFGE and Local 1812 at the U.S. Information Agency, alleging corrupt or undemocratic influences. The regional director dismissed the petition for lack of support from 30 percent of employees. The Authority held that this type of statutory recognition…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 7 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio
IFPTE Local 7 and Defense Supply Center Columbus (FLRA 0-AR-2964): arbitration exceptions denied
IFPTE Local 7 challenged an arbitration award involving the Defense Supply Center Columbus. The agency opposed the union's exceptions. The Authority reviewed the challenge under the statutory grounds for finding an arbitration award deficient and concluded that the union had established none. It…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1945 and U.S. Department of the Army, Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, Alabama
AFGE Local 1945 and Anniston Army Depot (FLRA 0-AR-2910): arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 1945 challenged an arbitration award involving Anniston Army Depot. The Army did not oppose the union's exceptions. The Authority reviewed the award under the statutory grounds for finding an arbitration award deficient and concluded that the union had established none. It denied the…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Northport, New York and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1843
VA Northport and AFGE Local 1843 (FLRA 0-AR-2856): agency exceptions denied
The VA Medical Center in Northport challenged an arbitration award involving AFGE Local 1843. The union opposed the agency's exceptions. The Authority reviewed the award under the statutory grounds for finding it deficient and concluded that the agency had established none. It denied the…
Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Falls Church, Virginia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3615
SSA Office of Hearings and Appeals and AFGE Local 3615 (FLRA 0-AR-2844): agency exceptions denied
The Social Security Administration's Office of Hearings and Appeals challenged an arbitration award involving AFGE Local 3615 in Falls Church. The union opposed the agency's exceptions. The Authority reviewed the case under the statutory grounds for finding an arbitration award deficient and found…
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Area Office and National Federation of Federal Employees, BIA Council
BIA Navajo Area Office and NFFE Council (FLRA 0-AR-2827): school reduction-in-force award set aside
A Bureau of Indian Affairs secretary was separated in a reduction in force at Kinlichee Boarding School. An arbitrator sustained her grievance, finding that BIA had not shown the school was a proper competitive area. The Authority disagreed: the school principal's administrative and personnel…
Laurel Run Mining Company
Roof-control settlement approved
Laurel Run Mining Company and the Secretary of Labor settled contest and civil-penalty proceedings arising from a fatal roof fall at the Holden 20-DB Mine. The settlement reduced negligence findings and penalties for several roof-control citations and changed some enforcement orders to section…
Newmont Gold Company
Civil penalty proceeding dismissed
The Secretary of Labor sought civil penalties for four citations that had already been vacated and dismissed in an earlier consolidated contest proceeding involving Newmont Gold Company. The judge denied the Secretary's motion to stay the penalty case and denied the penalty petition because the…
Williams Natural Gas Company
Mine Act jurisdiction affirmed
Williams Natural Gas operated an interstate pipeline with meter buildings on mine property and supplied natural gas used by two mines. Applying the Tenth and D.C. Circuits' interpretation of the Mine Act to this case within their appellate jurisdiction, the Commission held that Williams was an…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2015 and U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
NFFE Local 2015 and National Park Service (FLRA 0-NG-2308): two reorganization proposals outside the duty to bargain
The National Park Service reorganized its Concessions Division, shifting technical functions to Denver and reducing the positions assigned to its Washington office. NFFE Local 2015 proposed placing two named senior employees in advisor positions and increasing the Washington office's assigned…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2437 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
AFGE Local 2437 and VA Dallas (FLRA 0-AR-3001): reconsideration of dismissed exceptions denied
AFGE Local 2437 asked the Authority to reconsider its dismissal of the union's exceptions to an arbitration award involving the VA Medical Center in Dallas. The earlier dismissal followed the union's failure to show that it had served the VA's representative and then to answer an order requiring…
Montana Refining Company
In re Montana Refining Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 95-8): appeal dismissed with prejudice
Montana Refining Company asked the EAB to dismiss its petition challenging an August 14, 1995 permit. Montana said that EPA and Montana had issued a replacement joint permit effective December 2, 1997, and that the new permit resolved the issues behind the petition. EPA did not object to dismissal…
Joseph Strike, Jr. v. S. J. Groves and Sons and National Union Fire Insurance Company
Strike v. S. J. Groves and Sons (BRB 97-1151): settlement bars later Special Fund relief
Joseph Strike injured his back while working as a pile driver for S. J. Groves and Sons. The employer settled his compensation claim while reserving a right to seek reimbursement from the Longshore Act's Special Fund. A judge later granted the employer that relief, reasoning that the Fund's…
Parsons Company, Inc.
Two guarding violations reduced from willful to serious
Parsons Company, Inc. used a metal shear with a finger guard that could move out of alignment and a press brake with no point-of-operation guard. An employee reached beneath the shear guard after scrap slipped and lost the tips of six fingers when he accidentally activated the machine. The judge…
In re Hasan Ali, Respondent
In re Hasan Ali (BIA ID 3332): illness did not excuse failure to depart
The Board reviewed a respondent’s appeal after he failed to depart by the deadline set in a voluntary-departure order and later sought adjustment of status. He argued that his long-standing minor illness and injuries suffered by family members in an automobile accident were exceptional…
Leeco, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement granted
Jerry Michael Caudill worked for Leeco, Inc. as a maintenance foreman and was designated as a miners' representative. The Secretary alleged that Leeco threatened, harassed, demoted, suspended, and discharged Caudill because of that protected role. Leeco denied the allegations and said Caudill was…
Arrow Crushed Stone, Inc.
Citations split and penalty reduced
Arrow Crushed Stone operated the Blum Quarry, a limestone quarry in Texas. The Secretary sought penalties for eight alleged violations involving electrical controls, drill stability, mobile-equipment safety, seat belts, and protective footwear. The judge affirmed three citations, vacated one, and…
Social Security Administration, Mid-Atlantic Program Service Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923
SSA Mid-Atlantic Program Service Center (FLRA 0-AR-2788): priority consideration award upheld
An SSA employee at the Mid-Atlantic Program Service Center had a contractual right to priority consideration for a vacant position. An arbitrator found that SSA restricted the candidates it would consider, denied the employee a genuine review, and would have selected him but for those actions. The…
Matthew J. Matics
Settlement approved and case dismissed
Matthew J. Matics alleged that Coalfield Services, Inc. unlawfully laid him off and sought reinstatement and back pay under the Mine Act's discrimination provision. At the hearing, the parties agreed that Coalfield Services would pay Matics $4,000 and that he would withdraw the complaint. Judge…
National Education Association, Overseas Education Association, Fort Rucker Education Association and U.S. Department of Defense, Fort Rucker Dependents Schools
Fort Rucker Dependents Schools (FLRA 0-NG-2250): teacher lunch provision survives agency disapproval
The agency head disapproved three provisions of an agreement covering teachers at Fort Rucker Dependents Schools. Two provisions required notice and consideration of an employee's response before discharging a probationary employee. The Authority held that these provisions affected management's…
Social Security Administration, Region VI, San Antonio District Office and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2258
SSA San Antonio District Office (FLRA 0-AR-2928): agency arbitration exceptions denied
SSA's San Antonio District Office challenged an arbitration award issued by Charles N. Carnes. AFGE Local 2258 opposed the agency's exceptions. The Authority reviewed the record under the statutory grounds for setting aside an arbitration award and found that the agency had established none of…
U.S. Department of Defense, Army and Air Force Exchange, Laughlin Air Force Base Exchange and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1749
Laughlin Air Force Base Exchange (FLRA 0-AR-2843): agency arbitration exceptions denied
The Army and Air Force Exchange at Laughlin Air Force Base challenged an arbitration award issued by Samuel J. Nicholas, Jr. The Authority reviewed the agency's exceptions under the statutory grounds for setting aside an award. It concluded that none of the asserted grounds showed that the award…
Basin Resources, Incorporated
Consolidated penalties assessed
Basin Resources contested civil penalties arising from 112 alleged violations at the New Elk Preparation Plant and Golden Eagle Mine. The judge denied the Secretary's motion to add Entech, Inc. and Montana Power Company as respondents, then resolved the consolidated citations and orders under the…
Harlan Cumberland Coal
Remand penalties assessed
Harlan Cumberland Coal was found to have violated Mine Act respirable-dust sampling requirements in five consolidated dockets. The Commission had affirmed the violations and remanded for findings on penalty factors including gravity, negligence, prior violations, size, and good-faith abatement. On…
In re S-A-, Applicant
In re S-A- (BIA ID 3331): traffic did not justify reopening an in absentia hearing
The Board reviewed an applicant’s appeal from the denial of a second motion to reopen exclusion proceedings held in absentia. The applicant said heavy traffic caused him to arrive late, but he supplied no details about when he left, where the traffic occurred, why it was unexpected, or what he did…
Cyprus Cumberland Resources Corporation
Safeguard violation reversed
Cyprus Cumberland Resources operated an underground coal mine with a track haulage system controlled by block signal lights. After an inspector issued a safeguard requiring equipment operators to use and clear the lights and communicate when operating in the same block, a later incident led to an…
Lion Mining Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding affirmed
Lion Mining Company was cited after a continuous miner cut a notch without roadway posts required by its approved roof control plan. The ALJ found the violation significant and substantial and caused by unwarrantable failure, considering the presence of supervisors, the mine's history of…
Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc.
In re Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal Nos. 97-11, 97-12): respondents' appeal dismissed as untimely
Roger Antkiewicz and Pest Elimination Products of America, Inc. filed an appeal from an ALJ initial decision after the deadline set by the EPA's rules. The Board held that the respondents' appeal was due by October 24, 1997, but was not received until November 18, 1997, and dismissed it as…
Johnny Quan v. Marine Power & Equipment Company and Industrial Indemnity Insurance Company
Quan v. Marine Power & Equipment (BRB 97-0875): no Special Fund relief without greater combined disability
Johnny Quan injured his shoulder while working as a ship scaler for Marine Power & Equipment and could not return to that job. The employer sought to shift part of its compensation liability to the Special Fund because Quan also had preexisting Bell's palsy and depression that limited some job…
Pete P. Pilipovich v. CPS Staff Leasing, Incorporated and Avondale Industries, Incorporated
Pilipovich v. CPS Staff Leasing and Avondale (BRB 97-0382): insurer alone pays borrowed worker's award
Pete Pilipovich was employed by temporary staffing company CPS and injured his back while working as a shipfitter at Avondale's shipyard. The judge found that Avondale borrowed and directed his labor and awarded disability benefits, ordering both Avondale and CPS's insurer, Wausau, to pay. The…
St. Mary's Hospital and Medical Center v. Army & Air Force Exchange Service
St. Mary's Hospital v. Army & Air Force Exchange Service (BRB 97-0380): employer owes care for diagnostic test complication
Ana Pozos injured her back while working for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service and later settled her disability claim, leaving medical benefits open. St. Mary's Hospital performed a diagnostic procedure during an approved back evaluation, and Pozos developed an infection related to that…
General Services Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Council 236
GSA and AFGE Council 236 (FLRA 0-AR-2795): notice remedy for excluded union upheld
An earlier Authority decision held that GSA should have notified AFGE Council 236 and allowed union representation at formal settlement discussions with an employee. On remand, the arbitrator ordered GSA to post a notice promising to stop that conduct. He also found that the union's Rehabilitation…
National Association of Government Inspectors and Quality Assurance Personnel, Unit 8 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Aviation Depot, North Island, California
Naval Aviation Depot North Island (FLRA 0-AR-2815): union arbitration exceptions denied
The National Association of Government Inspectors and Quality Assurance Personnel, Unit 8, challenged an arbitration award involving the Navy's North Island depot. The Navy opposed the union's exceptions. The Authority reviewed the record under the statutory grounds for setting aside an award and…
Stillwater Mining Company
Citation affirmed with negligence modified
Stillwater Mining Company was cited for failing to provide MSHA with an accident investigation report concerning the Kenneth Goode fatality in the form required by 30 C.F.R. § 50.11(b). The judge granted summary decision on the violation, finding that documents previously provided during litigation…
National Education Association, Overseas Education Association, Fort Bragg Association of Educators and U.S. Department of Defense, Domestic Dependents Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg teacher career program (FLRA 0-NG-2251): bargaining required on two proposal clauses
The Fort Bragg teachers' union proposed four changes to the schools' Career Development Program. The Authority found that a proposed qualifying course, a requirement to offer that course, specified performance ratings, and automatic Career Status II for certified teachers were outside the duty to…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2419 and James J. Powers
AFGE Local 2419 and James J. Powers (FLRA WA-CO-50021): complaint over union expulsion dismissed
AFGE Local 2419 expelled a member who had publicly supported dissolving or replacing the local at an employee meeting. The unfair labor practice complaint claimed the expulsion punished activity protected by the federal labor statute. The Authority held that it had jurisdiction to decide the…
U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office and Patent Office Professional Association
Patent and Trademark Office and POPA (FLRA WA-CA-40743): term appointment bargaining claim left open
The Patent and Trademark Office advertised computer science patent examiner positions as two-year term appointments after giving the union descriptions of permanent positions. The union asked about the change and requested bargaining, but the agency did not respond before the new examiners started…
Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Washington, D.C. and District of Columbia Nurses' Association
VA Medical Center Washington (FLRA WA-CA-30584): incentive-award complaint dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
After an earlier remand, the remaining complaint alleged that a VA supervisor failed to recommend an employee for an incentive award in violation of the federal labor statute. An administrative law judge concluded that 38 U.S.C. § 7422 excluded the issue from the Authority's jurisdiction. The…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane violations and unwarrantable failure affirmed
Jim Walter Resources operated an underground coal mine where line curtains were used to route methane away from a tailgate methane monitor. The Commission affirmed violations for failing to maintain the monitor in proper operating condition and failing to take required measures after methane…
Ash Grove Cement Company
In re Ash Grove Cement Company (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 96-4 and 96-5): review denied in part and permit issues remanded
Ash Grove Cement Company operated a Portland cement plant in Chanute, Kansas, that used hazardous waste as fuel and received a federal RCRA hazardous-waste-combustion permit. Ash Grove and a coalition of petitioners challenged different parts of the permit, including the Region's indirect-exposure…
United States Customs Service, South Central Region, New Orleans District and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 168
Customs Service New Orleans (FLRA DA-CA-30580): four-year information request did not support complaint
NTEU Chapter 168 asked the Customs Service for nearly four years of records about employee demotions to investigate possible unequal treatment. Customs refused, and an administrative law judge found a violation for failing to provide one year of records, although the union had insisted on its full…
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.