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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U.S. Department of the Air Force, Air Force Logistics Command, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916 (Union)
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916 (FLRA 0-AR-2548): Performance appraisal award stands
A civilian employee at Tinker Air Force Base received a lower annual performance rating after moving from painting work to sheet metal work. An arbitrator denied the grievance because the record supported the supervisor's explanation for the rating. The union argued that the award violated…
Tri-State Mint, Inc., and Von Hoff International, Inc., et al.
In re Tri-State Mint, Inc., and Von Hoff International, Inc., et al. (EAB EPCRA Appeal No. 92-3; CERCLA Appeal No. 92-1): sodium cyanide reporting case remanded
EPA Region VIII brought an enforcement case after two early-1989 releases of a sodium cyanide solution at a metal recovery facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Environmental Appeals Board held that a solution containing dissociated sodium cyanide counts as a release of sodium cyanide for…
Gallo Wine Distributors, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Gallo Wine Distributors a repeat citation and proposed penalty on June 29, 1993. An employee signed for the citation the next day, making July 22 the deadline for a notice of contest, but Gallo did not send its contest until September. Gallo said it had not received the citation…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 2369 (Union)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 2369 (FLRA 0-AR-2545): Appraisal grievance denial upheld
A Social Security Administration employee challenged two ratings in a 1992 performance appraisal. An arbitrator found that the supervisor had rated the employee fairly and denied the grievance. The union argued that the arbitrator misunderstood which ratings the employee sought and that the award…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California (Agency) and Federal Employees Metal Trades Council (Union)
Mare Island Naval Shipyard and Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-2538): Partial attorney fee award upheld
Three Mare Island Naval Shipyard employees won an arbitration grievance over their separations in a reduction in force. The union requested $5,000 in attorney fees under the Back Pay Act. The arbitrator awarded $1,666, finding that the agency should have resolved one employee's case without a…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-109 (Union) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Newington, Connecticut (Agency)
Newington VA Medical Center and NAGE Local R1-109 (FLRA 0-AR-2531): Fee denial set aside for inadequate findings
A VA medical center employee won a compliance grievance that resulted in two days of holiday pay. The union then sought attorney fees for that grievance. The arbitrator denied the request, finding that the employee had recovered only part of the holiday pay sought and that fees were not warranted…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California (Agency) and Federal Employees Metal Trades Council (Union)
Mare Island Naval Shipyard and Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-2496): Forced leave during shutdown reversed
Mare Island Naval Shipyard required nonessential employees to use leave during a temporary shutdown of operations. An arbitrator found that the collective bargaining agreement and applicable personnel rules did not authorize forced leave in these circumstances. He ordered the shipyard to restore…
Patricia Ann Clemon and Bruce Mack v. ADDSCO Industries, Incorporated
Clemon and Mack v. ADDSCO (BRB 91-1801): hearing loss settlement payable to worker's estate
David Mack developed hearing loss after workplace noise exposure and died before his compensation claim was decided. His estate's representatives and ADDSCO Industries agreed to settle the claim for $8,500. The Labor Department's Director argued that the money belonged to the Special Fund rather…
Essex County (N.J.) Resource Recovery Facility
In re Essex County (N.J.) Resource Recovery Facility (EAB PSD Appeal No. 93-10): NOx source-separation challenge denied
The Ironbound Committee Against Toxic Waste challenged a modified Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for American Ref-Fuel's resource-recovery facility in Essex County, New Jersey. The permit required selective non-catalytic reduction and source separation of bulk yard waste to meet a…
Fort Defiance Construction & Supply, Inc.
All three trenching items vacated
Fort Defiance Construction & Supply was installing utilities in a trench at a Dayton, Ohio, road project. OSHA alleged that employees lacked a safe exit, that the onsite foreman was not a competent person, and that the trench lacked adequate cave-in protection. The judge found that employees could…
W.E. Darin Construction Enterprises, Inc.
Connector ladder item vacated
W.E. Darin Construction Enterprises was erecting structural steel at a New York jobsite when a connector fell while climbing a column and later died from his injuries. OSHA alleged that Darin violated the stairway-and-ladder standard by not providing a ladder for access to the connection point. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3369 (Union) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Patchogue, New York (Agency)
AFGE Local 3369 and Social Security Administration (FLRA 0-NG-2183): Annual leave caps outside duty to bargain
The union proposed higher daily limits on advance annual leave for three groups of Social Security Administration employees and a process to reopen those limits if staffing grew. The Authority read the proposals as requiring the agency to approve leave requests up to each limit, even when it needed…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1827 (Respondent/Union) and Catherine Bratton (Charging Party/Individual)
NFFE Local 1827 and Catherine Bratton (FLRA 7-CO-10029): Union must include nonmembers in binding seniority poll
The Defense Mapping Agency's agreement let NFFE Local 1827 choose how seniority would be calculated for benefits in a St. Louis work group. The union polled only its members and then directed the agency to use time worked in that group, affecting days off, overtime, training, and other benefits for…
Defense Distribution Region Central, formerly Defense Depot Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2501 (Charging Party)
Defense Depot Memphis and AFGE Local 2501 (FLRA 4-CA-10781): Detail selection change required bargaining
Defense Depot Memphis changed how it selected employees who volunteered for temporary details, replacing a seniority-based practice without first notifying AFGE Local 2501 or giving it a chance to bargain. An administrative law judge found that this violated the agency's bargaining duty. The…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1214 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Army, Headquarters, U.S. Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, Fort Jackson, South Carolina (Agency)
NFFE Local 1214 and Fort Jackson (FLRA 0-NG-2186): Gate inspection proposals outside duty to bargain
Fort Jackson proposed unannounced inspections of employees and their vehicles at installation gates. NFFE Local 1214 offered three proposals that would limit nonconsensual searches, generally by requiring probable cause or military necessity. The Army argued that the limits would prevent random…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3937 (Union) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Region X, Auburn Teleservice Center, Auburn, Washington (Agency)
AFGE Local 3937 and Auburn Teleservice Center (FLRA 0-AR-2519): Shorts ban upheld under existing dress policy
Five Social Security Administration employees at the Auburn Teleservice Center were told not to wear shorts at work; four were sent home on paid leave to change. An arbitrator found that the agency had consistently barred shorts and that the employees had not been disciplined. He denied their…
U.S. Department of the Army, Headquarters Fort Dix, Fort Dix, New Jersey (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1930 (Union)
Fort Dix and AFGE Local 1930 (FLRA 0-AR-2502): Higher grade detail did not support backpay
A Fort Dix warehouse worker performed the duties of an acting supply supervisor while receiving her regular pay. An arbitrator awarded her the difference between her pay and the higher grade's pay for part of the detail, plus interest, although he found that she lacked the experience required for…
City of Haverhill, Wastewater Division
In re City of Haverhill, Wastewater Division (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 92-29): compliance-schedule request denied
The City of Haverhill, Massachusetts, operated a publicly owned treatment works with combined sewer overflows during wet weather. It asked EPA Region I to add a schedule of compliance that would give the City time to study and correct any water-quality violations caused by those overflows. The…
Benjamin Crum v. Wolf Creek Collieries
Crum v. Wolf Creek Collieries (BRB 93-2309): Denial and sanctions request resolved
Benjamin Crum appealed the denial of his black lung claim, pointing to his coal mine work, dust exposure, and testimony about symptoms. He did not identify a specific legal or factual error in the judge's findings that he had not proved pneumoconiosis or disability caused by it. The Board therefore…
Halocarbon Products Corporation
Commission approves $5,500 chemical-safety settlement
Halocarbon Products manufactured specialty chemicals at a New Jersey plant where OSHA investigated after a reported chemical exposure hospitalized two employees, one of whom later died. OSHA alleged general-duty, respirator-program, and hazard-communication violations and initially proposed $37,000…
Hardin County, Ohio
In re Hardin County, Ohio (EAB RCRA (3008) Appeal No. 93-1): mixture-rule enforcement dismissed
EPA Region V sought to amend its complaint against Hardin County, Ohio, over wastewater-treatment sludges that allegedly contained hazardous waste and had been disposed of without a RCRA permit or interim status. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the federal mixture rule had been invalid…
Volmar Construction, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Volmar Construction a repeat citation and proposed penalties on February 3, 1993. Volmar received the citation on February 8, making March 2 the contest deadline, and its representative attended an informal conference before that deadline. OSHA told the representative that any contest…
Blankenship & Lee Pipeline Co., Inc.
Trenching and hazard-communication violations affirmed
Blankenship & Lee Pipeline was reconstructing sewer lines for a pumping station in Pelham, Georgia. An employee worked in a vertical trench that measured between 5 feet 4 inches and 6 feet deep without a ladder, adequate cave-in protection, or a hard hat; loose spoil was stored only inches from the…
E.R. Del Moral, Inc.
Scaffold and fall-hazard violations affirmed
E.R. Del Moral was performing construction work in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The judge found that employees worked on elevated scaffolds and platforms with missing end guardrails and inadequate intermediate rails, and that safety belts did not substitute for the guardrails required by the cited…
Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi (Respondent) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 589 (Charging Party/Union)
Jackson VA Medical Center and NFFE Local 589 (FLRA 4-CA-10814, 4-CA-10816): Reconsideration denied
The dispute concerned whether union representatives could participate in peer reviews of two probationary nurses at the Jackson VA Medical Center. The Authority initially found an unfair labor practice, but later reconsidered that ruling after a federal appeals court decision and dismissed the…
U.S. Department of Defense, Antilles Consolidated School System, Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico (Agency) and Antilles Consolidated Education Association (Union)
Antilles Consolidated School System and Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-2520): Six teaching assignments upheld
Teachers at the Antilles Consolidated School System in Puerto Rico challenged a schedule of six teaching assignments a day, while comparable District of Columbia teachers had a five-assignment maximum. The union argued that federal law and a later memorandum required matching the District's…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Region X, Office of Hearings and Appeals (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3937 (Union)
SSA Region X and AFGE Local 3937 (FLRA 0-AR-2523): Fourteen-day suspension upheld
The Social Security Administration suspended an employee for 14 days after finding that she falsified an overtime roster. An arbitrator upheld the suspension and also rejected a grievance over the agency's proposed use of a note-taker at her oral reply. The arbitrator found that the agency had…
Tackett Tank, Inc.
Settlement approved over employee representative's objections
The Secretary and Tackett Tank submitted a settlement agreement in a case arising from an accident that caused an employee's death. The employee's father, acting as an authorized employee representative, submitted documents objecting to the settlement. The judge explained that Commission precedent…
Laurel Bay Teachers Association, OEA/NEA (Union) and U.S. Department of Defense, Stateside Dependents Schools, Laurel Bay Schools, Laurel Bay, South Carolina (Agency)
Laurel Bay Teachers Association and DOD schools (FLRA 0-NG-2155): Two proposals negotiable, return right rejected
The Laurel Bay Teachers Association asked the Department of Defense schools to bargain over three proposals on union meetings, involuntary reassignments, and vacancies. The Authority found a monthly meeting proposal negotiable because management could choose whether to permit the meeting during…
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Chemawa Indian Boarding School, Salem, Oregon (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 241 (Union)
Chemawa Indian Boarding School and NFFE Local 241 (FLRA 0-AR-2513): Furlough remedy upheld
Chemawa Indian Boarding School furloughed employees during the summer of 1989, citing a shortage of funds. An arbitrator found that the school had sent furlough notices before giving NFFE Local 241 the financial plans and a meaningful chance to discuss the action. He set aside the furloughs and…
Danella Construction Corporation of Florida, Inc.
Inspection and power-line-clearance items vacated
Danella Construction was installing telephone lines in Lake Worth, Florida, and used a boom truck to place an eight-foot trench shield. OSHA alleged that the company failed to have competent-person inspections and operated the boom within 10 feet of energized overhead lines. The judge found that…
Kiewit Western Company
Vehicle-lighting citations vacated for earthmoving equipment
Kiewit Western used large tractors and trailers to haul earth at the Denver airport construction site, including at night and in poor visibility. OSHA cited the equipment because the trailers lacked taillights and brake lights and two tractors lacked working brake lights. The Commission held that a…
U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Schools (Agency) and Overseas Education Association (Union)
DOD Dependents Schools and Overseas Education Association (FLRA 0-AR-2514): Conference pay award narrowed
An overseas teacher attended a school training conference that began with registration and a dinner on Columbus Day. An arbitrator awarded her both one day of regular pay and one day of holiday premium pay for that day. The Department of Defense challenged both payments. The Authority left the…
Wayne A. Arabie v. C.P.S. Staff Leasing and Total Marine Services, Incorporated
Arabie v. C.P.S. Staff Leasing and Total Marine (BRB 93-1390): borrowing employer liable
C.P.S. Staff Leasing supplied welder Wayne Arabie to Total Marine, where he hurt his neck while working under Total Marine's control. C.P.S. and its insurer paid benefits, then sought reimbursement from Total Marine. An administrative law judge dismissed Total Marine because C.P.S. had secured…
U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Schools, Mediterranean Region (Agency) and Overseas Federation of Teachers (Union)
DOD Dependents Schools and Overseas Federation of Teachers (FLRA 0-AR-2516): Appointment grievance excluded
A teacher at the Department of Defense school in Rota, Spain, was hired as a substitute while the school checked whether she met a course requirement for full-time work. After she proved that she had completed the course, the school offered her a full-time appointment. The union sought to make that…
Alma S. Konno, widow of Roy T. Konno, v. Young Brothers, Ltd.
Konno v. Young Brothers (BRB 93-0934): widow's death benefits affirmed
Roy Konno worked at a marine terminal for Young Brothers and died by suicide amid work pressures and an investigation into missing cargo. An administrative law judge awarded death benefits to his widow, Alma, finding that work related depression led to an irresistible suicidal impulse. The Board…
Donald Eckhoff, Sr. v. Dog River Marina and Boat Works, Incorporated
Eckhoff v. Dog River Marina (BRB 92-1164): boat pier counted as covered site
Donald Eckhoff worked as a marine carpenter for Dog River Marina and reported chest and arm pain while building a boat pier at the company president's Dauphin Island property. He was later diagnosed with a heart attack and sought Longshore Act benefits. An administrative law judge denied the claim…
Martha W. Williams v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Williams v. Newport News Shipbuilding (BRB 92-2246): office clerk award reversed
Martha Williams was injured while working as a reproduction clerk in an office at Newport News Shipbuilding. An administrative law judge awarded Longshore Act benefits because her copying of ship drawings and other documents supported ship construction and repair. The Board reversed, holding that…
West Texas Warehouse Company
Hazardous-waste-response items vacated
West Texas Warehouse leased part of a Lubbock warehouse to another company that stored hazardous-waste-labeled batteries. After some batteries caught fire, fire and state environmental officials asked West Texas to help move them because the tenant would not act. West Texas employees used gloves…
L.G. Defelice, Inc.
Overhead-line violations affirmed as serious
L.G. Defelice was rehabilitating a section of Interstate 70 near Washington, Pennsylvania, where heavy equipment regularly passed beneath overhead electrical lines. Two machines contacted the lines in separate incidents, and the judge found that Defelice had not trained employees on the specific…
Akbar Electric Service Company
Commission approves $200 settlement
An ALJ dismissed Akbar Electric Service Company's notice of contest after the company failed to answer the Secretary's complaint or respond to an order to show cause. The ALJ's default order had affirmed the citations and proposed penalties in full. After Commission review was directed, the parties…
Complete General Construction Co.
Commission approves bridge-safety settlement
Complete General Construction was performing construction work on a bridge over the Black Fork of the Mohican River near Lucas, Ohio. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide life jackets, ring buoys, a lifesaving skiff, edge guardrails, and protection from protruding reinforcing steel. The…
Bielmeier Builders, Inc.
Commission approves a settlement, dropping the electrical item and cutting the guardrail item to other-than-serious
Bielmeier Builders was a custom home builder putting up a two-story house in Clarence, New York. After an April 1991 inspection, OSHA cited the company for two serious violations: running a saw off an extension cord in a damp garage area with no ground-fault protection, and leaving an open-sided…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1482 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California (Agency)
AFGE Local 1482 and Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow (FLRA 0-AR-2526): No overtime for putting on safety shoes
A worker at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow was required to wear safety shoes when his shift began. He sought overtime for putting them on before the shift at work. An arbitrator denied his grievance because the labor agreement allowed employees to put on the shoes at home and wear them…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport, New York (Agency) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 387 (Union)
Northport VA Medical Center and NFFE Local 387 (FLRA 0-AR-2506): Outdoor smoking shelter remedy upheld
The Northport VA Medical Center adopted a smoke-free indoor policy and provided outdoor smoking shelters. An arbitrator found that the shelters did not meet the labor agreement's requirements for access and protection from local weather, and that smoking cessation programs were unavailable on some…
Department of the Air Force and Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and American Federation of Government Employees
Air Force safety reports (FLRA CH-CA-20193 and CH-CA-20459): information complaints remanded
AFGE requested two Air Force Logistics Command inspector general reports about safety programs at Air Logistics Centers. The command declined to release them, and an administrative law judge recommended dismissing the union's information complaints. The Authority found that the union's first…
Harvlea Cadle v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Cadle v. Director, OWCP (BRB 91-1416): Overpayment recalculated
Harvlea Cadle received federal survivor benefits and later a state workers' compensation award based on the miner's pneumoconiosis. The administrative law judge calculated the federal overpayment as $14,419.09 after subtracting attorney fees, medical expenses, and a $5,000 repayment. The Board held…
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Allenwood Federal Prison Camp, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Bureau of Prisons and HUD crediting plans (FLRA 2-CA-00107, 3-CA-10066, and 3-CA-10256): complaints returned for further review
Unions representing employees at Allenwood Federal Prison Camp and HUD requested crediting plans used to rate promotion candidates. The Authority had earlier found that the agencies unlawfully refused to provide the plans. A federal appeals court returned those rulings because the Authority had…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-109 (Union) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Newington, Connecticut (Agency)
NAGE Local R1-109 and Newington VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-NG-1964): Promotion procedure proposals dismissed on remand
NAGE Local R1-109 proposed twelve procedures for professional standards boards reviewing promotions of VA employees appointed under title 38 who retain some title 5 rights. The Authority had earlier found the proposals negotiable, but a federal appeals court rejected its reading of the governing…
Violet M. O'Brockta v. Eastern Associated Coal Company; Benjamin Stinner v. Underkoffler Coal Service and Rockwood Insurance Company
O'Brockta and Stinner (BRB 88-2144 and 88-2643): Pennsylvania awards offset federal benefits
Violet O'Brockta and Benjamin Stinner received benefits under Pennsylvania's Occupational Disease Act as well as federal black lung benefits. Their employers sought to offset the federal payments by the state awards. The Director argued that the state awards did not qualify because they came from…
St. Thomas Gas Company
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued St. Thomas Gas Company two citations on November 26, 1993, which the company received on December 1. The 15-working-day contest period expired on December 22, but the company's contest letter was dated December 29 and OSHA received it on January 3, 1994. St. Thomas Gas did not respond…
Metalworking Lubricants Company
In re Metalworking Lubricants Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 93-4): corrective-action permit terms upheld
Metalworking Lubricants Company operated an oil recycling facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, and challenged corrective-action terms in the federal portion of its RCRA permit. The company argued that a previous owner caused the contamination and that cleanup should proceed through a pending Indiana…
City of Hollywood, Florida
In re City of Hollywood, Florida (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 92-21): permit remanded in part
The City of Hollywood challenged conditions in its NPDES permit for the Southern Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, which discharges treated municipal wastewater to the Atlantic Ocean. The Environmental Appeals Board denied review of several effluent limits and testing objections because they…
Pittsburg and Midway Coal, Mining Company-York Cnyn Complex
Backup alarm citation affirmed with $200 penalty
Pittsburg and Midway Coal operated the York Canyon Underground Mine, where MSHA cited an explosives truck with a nonfunctioning backup alarm. Judge John J. Morris found that the truck's rear view was obstructed by explosive boxes, so the pickup-truck exception in 30 C.F.R. § 77.410(a) did not…
Stanley R. Siler v. Dillingham Ship Repair
Siler v. Dillingham Ship Repair (BRB 90-0694): medical claim survives late compensation filing
Stanley Siler filed a compensation claim years after an alleged work-related injury at Dillingham Ship Repair. The Board had upheld dismissal of his compensation request as late, but returned the case for a decision on medical benefits. Dillingham asked the full Board to reconsider, arguing that a…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of SSA Field Assessment Locals, and Social Security Administration, Regional Office of Program and Integrity Reviews, Atlanta, Georgia
AFGE and SSA Atlanta (FLRA 0-NG-2184): special pay proposal negotiable, career ladder proposal dismissed
AFGE proposed that local SSA managers seek a career ladder and higher grades for data review technicians, and recommend special pay for them. The Authority found the career ladder proposal nonnegotiable because it required recommendations about grade structure, a matter within the agency's right to…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2198, and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Beckley, West Virginia
Beckley VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-2530): police schedule award upheld
The Beckley VA Medical Center temporarily changed police officers' rotating schedules while one officer was on leave. An arbitrator found that the change violated a published agency scheduling policy but rejected the union's request for overtime pay, instead cautioning management to follow its…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Richmond, Virginia, and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3380
HUD Richmond (FLRA 0-AR-2525): work assignment grievance award upheld
A Black HUD employee in Richmond alleged that assigning a departing higher graded employee's project portfolio to a white coworker denied her work that could help her qualify for promotion. An arbitrator found insufficient evidence that the assignment was arbitrary or discriminatory and denied the…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 1
Norfolk Naval Shipyard (FLRA 0-AR-2478): reduction in force award upheld
Norfolk Naval Shipyard carried out a reduction in force, and ten employees challenged actions taken against them. An arbitrator sustained seven grievances, but the union challenged the denial of relief to three employees and part of another employee's remedy. The Authority held that the union had…
Wilhilmina Wood, administratrix of John D. White's estate, v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated
Wood v. Ingalls Shipbuilding (BRB 92-2532): accrued hearing loss benefits belong to estate
John White developed hearing loss while working for Ingalls Shipbuilding and died before his claim was decided. An administrative law judge measured the loss as a whole person impairment and ordered payment to the Special Fund because no survivor remained at the time of the award. The Board changed…
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.