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.
National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-109 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Newington
Newington VA weekend Guard drills (FLRA 0-NG-1965): Schedule adjustment proposal negotiable
NAGE Local R1-109 proposed that the Newington VA Medical Center adjust schedules so employees could attend weekend National Guard or Reserve drills during off-duty time. The proposal required advance notice and available qualified employees, while allowing exceptions for emergencies. The VA argued…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Waco and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1822
Waco VA arbitration exceptions (FLRA 0-AR-2208): Filing at regional office was too late
AFGE Local 1822 challenged an arbitration award involving the Waco VA Medical Center. The union mailed its exceptions to the Authority's Dallas regional office, which forwarded them to the Docket Room. The Authority calculated a December 9, 1991 filing deadline from the award's service date, but…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Five safety citations affirmed with civil penalties
Brown Brothers Sand Company operated a small sand mine employing nine to ten people. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed five citations involving an unguarded V-belt drive, a shattered loader windshield, two inoperative parking brakes, and excessive dredge noise. He found the windshield and noise…
Explosives Technologies International, Inc.
Noise violation affirmed, equipment-defect violation vacated
Explosives Technologies International performed drilling and explosives work at a crushed granite surface mine in Oklahoma. An MSHA inspection found that a drill operator's noise exposure exceeded the permissible limit and that the operator was not using feasible engineering or administrative…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Motion to compel denied as untimely
Contestants in a consolidated respirable-dust citation proceeding asked Judge James A. Broderick to compel the Secretary of Labor to answer interrogatories and produce documents. The parties had agreed to a discovery schedule, and later Commission orders extended the deadlines. The motion to compel…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Electrical penalty cut but four serious violations upheld
Trinity Industries manufactured chemical-processing tanks at its Sharonville, Ohio plant. The Commission upheld serious violations for failing to protect an employee walking on top of a tank from a nine-foot fall, leaving a compressed-gas cylinder without a valve cap, and allowing welding arcs to…
U.S. Department of the Army, Lexington-Blue Grass Army Depot and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Lodge 859
Lexington-Blue Grass Army Depot hazard pay (FLRA 0-AR-2046): Arbitrator must examine actual work conditions
The machinists' union sought a 4 percent environmental differential for depot employees who regularly entered an area where munitions were stored and handled. An arbitrator denied the grievance, reasoning that entry into the large restricted area did not meet the federal hazard pay category. The…
American Sterilizer Co.
Employees may designate monitoring observers
American Sterilizer monitored employees for noise and lead exposure at its Erie, Pennsylvania plant. It allowed monitored and other affected employees to observe the work and ask questions, but its policy barred union representatives acting in their official capacity from observing despite a…
Canyon Country Enterprises, D/B/A Curtis Sand & Gravel, a Corporation
Clyde C. Cole v. Canyon Country Enterprises (FMSHRC WEST 91-191-DM): Discrimination complaint dismissed as untimely and meritless
Clyde C. Cole claimed that Canyon Country Enterprises, doing business as Curtis Sand and Gravel, discriminated against him after he refused to operate a front-end loader that he believed was unsafe. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. dismissed the complaint on two independent grounds. He found that…
David L. Stritzel
Stay lifted and discrimination case dismissed
David L. Stritzel brought a Mine Act discrimination proceeding against the Secretary of Labor, MSHA, and two individuals. The case had been stayed while the Court of Appeals considered Wagner v. Secretary of Labor. After that court affirmed the Commission's ruling that MSHA and its employees acting…
Peabody Coal Company
Fire-suppression citation vacated
Peabody Coal Company was cited after the tail valve for a remotely controlled continuous miner's water fire-suppression system became inoperable. The parties agreed that the system was required to operate when the miner made extended cuts under remote control, but the miner had not made an extended…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Settlement approved with citations affirmed, modified, and vacated
Southern Ohio Coal Company and the Secretary of Labor presented a package settlement involving five docketed matters at the Martinka No. 1 Mine and several undocketed items. The settlement required testing of switch-gear and dead-block air gaps and an interim gap between one-half and…
Zeigler Coal Company
Settlement approved and penalty reduced to $100
Zeigler Coal Company faced a civil penalty proceeding involving its Murdock Mine. After a hearing on another matter, the Secretary of Labor moved to approve a settlement and dismiss the case, reducing the proposed penalty from $500 to $100. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate…
Zeigler Coal Company
Deadman-pedal citation affirmed, other matters settled or stayed
At Zeigler Coal Company's Spartan Mine, a continuous miner's deadman pedal was stuck in the tram position. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the condition could allow unexpected movement and exposed the operator or an assistant working beside the miner to injury, so he affirmed Citation No. 3847632…
In re: Contests of Respirable Dust Sample Alteration Citations
Protective-order motion partly granted and partly denied
This master docket involved contests by coal mine operators of thousands of respirable-dust citations issued by the Secretary of Labor. The contestants sought to depose Assistant Secretary William J. Tattersall and former Coal Mine Safety and Health Administrator Jerry L. Spicer, and requested…
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, San Francisco and Lou Ann Bassan
Labor Department employee's contract rights (FLRA 9-CA-90203): Termination violated labor law
The Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration terminated an employee after she submitted sharp criticism of proposed performance standards to her supervisor. An administrative law judge found that she was asserting a right provided by the agency's collective bargaining agreement and…
All Phase Electric & Maintenance, Inc.
Construction citations settled for $865
All Phase Electric & Maintenance performed electrical work at a building construction site where OSHA cited hazard communication, gasoline-container, electrical guarding, and stair-railing conditions. The company president admitted the hazard communication deficiencies and stated that he had been…
Bay State Refining Company
Lead and copper citations affirmed
Bay State manufactured brass and bronze ingots from scrap metal at its Chicopee, Massachusetts foundry. OSHA found employees overexposed to copper dust and lead and cited deficiencies in engineering controls, respirator selection and fit testing, contaminated-clothing practices, medical…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Portsmouth and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 10
Portsmouth Navy employee contact information (FLRA 3-CA-10624): Refusal to provide union data violated statute
IFPTE Local 10 asked the Navy's Portsmouth shipbuilding office for the names and home addresses of employees in its bargaining unit. The Navy refused. Applying its decisions at the time, the Authority held that this information was necessary for the union's representative duties and that other ways…
National Association of Government Employees and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
VA child care bargaining proposal (FLRA 0-NG-1947, 0-NG-1949): Reconsideration and stay denied
The Authority had found negotiable a union proposal for 24-hour child care at VA facilities with fees comparable to nearby Defense Department facilities. The VA sought reconsideration, arguing that federal statutes gave it control over child care operations and that the proposed fee term conflicted…
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1627
NTIS appointment grievance (FLRA 0-AR-2180): Late filing ruling stands
NFFE Local 1627 grieved an appointment at the National Technical Information Service. The arbitrator found that the union challenged two temporary appointments, which it knew about, but filed outside the agreement's 15-day deadline. The union argued that it could only grieve the later permanent…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916 and U.S. Department of the Air Force, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center
Tinker Air Force Base promotion grievance (FLRA 0-AR-2174): Permanent promotion award stands
An arbitrator found that Tinker Air Force Base had improperly denied a WG-8 employee promotion to WG-9 despite his consistent performance of WG-9 work. The arbitrator awarded a promotion and the pay difference from June 15, 1985. The Air Force challenged the award under rules limiting lengthy…
International Association of Firefighters, Local 13 and Panama Canal Commission, General Services Bureau
Panama Canal Commission firefighter overtime (FLRA 0-AR-2081): Leave pay portion removed
Firefighters at the Panama Canal Commission grieved the calculation of overtime pay across a period that included the Commission's creation in 1979. An arbitrator awarded additional overtime to certain employees, including pay attributed to annual and sick leave and compensation for work during…
Minutemen Coal Co., Inc.
Dust-filter settlement approved and contest dismissed
Minutemen Coal Co., Inc. contested a citation alleging deliberate tampering with dust-filter media at its No. 4 Mine. The company denied deliberately tampering with or altering the filters, and the parties disputed the degree and existence of negligence. Judge James A. Broderick approved a…
Old Ben Coal Company and Zeigler Coal Company
Settlement approved and penalties reduced
Old Ben Coal Company and Zeigler Coal Company faced consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving Old Ben's No. 24, No. 25, and No. 26 Mines and Zeigler's Murdock Mine and No. 11 Mine. Judge Avram Weisberger severed the cases from a larger docket so they could be decided separately, then…
New Mexico Potash Corporation
Discrimination complaint withdrawn and case dismissed
Henry Galvan asked to withdraw his discrimination complaint against New Mexico Potash Corporation. Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw the complaint under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11 and dismissed the case. The order also cancelled hearings that had been scheduled to begin on January 21, 1992.
Grefco, Inc.
Settlement approval vacated and remanded
Grefco, Inc. contested a proposed $192 civil penalty in Docket CENT 91-176-M. The Secretary's counsel forwarded the judge a letter withdrawing Grefco's contest in a different docket, CENT 91-190-M, but described it as a withdrawal in this case. Grefco's counsel said that misdirection caused the…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Office
Bureau of Reclamation fitness center committee (FLRA 0-NG-1989): Union selection proposal nonnegotiable
The Bureau of Reclamation established an employee committee to advise on its Denver office fitness center. The union proposed to select the bargaining unit employees serving on that committee. The Authority found the union's appeal timely, but held that its proposal would require management to…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Distribution Region West, Tracy, California and AFGE Local 1681 and Defense Logistics Agency Council of AFGE Locals
Defense Distribution Region West and AFGE (FLRA 9-RO-00007): Review applications rejected before unit election
The Department of Defense transferred supply functions and employees into its Defense Distribution Region West, prompting petitions about how the employees would be represented. A regional director found the existing units no longer appropriate, identified a unit covering the region's…
Hicks v. Cobra Mining, Inc.
Truck-loss damages vacated and remanded
Amos Hicks prevailed on a Mine Act discrimination claim against Cobra Mining, Inc., Jerry K. Lester, and Carter Messer after his discriminatory discharge. The remaining dispute concerned the amount of consequential damages for a pickup truck that was repossessed after the discharge. The Commission…
Secretary of Labor v. Mettiki Coal Corporation
Safeguard validity and collateral estoppel remanded
Mettiki Coal Corporation was cited after an unattended personnel carrier was parked on an inclined track without a stopblock, derail, or chain-type car hold. The administrative law judge vacated the citation and safeguard and held that the Secretary was barred from relitigating the safeguard's…
Secretary of Labor v. Southern Ohio Coal Company
Safeguard validity remanded for mine-specific findings
Southern Ohio Coal Company received an order of withdrawal after an inspector found that a section of the Martinka No. 1 Mine's supply track lacked shelter holes at the intervals required by a mine safeguard. The administrative law judge vacated the order because the Secretary had not shown that…
BethEnergy Mines, Inc.
Safeguard ruling partly affirmed and remanded
BethEnergy Mines contested citations alleging that two belt-conveyor travelways at its underground Mine No. 60 lacked the required 24 inches of clear space. The ALJ had found the safeguard valid because it followed a published safeguard criterion and had affirmed the citations as significant and…
Secretary of Labor v. Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company
Safeguard validity remanded for mine-specific findings
Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company received two citations after miners were observed leaving an elevator with a portable dolly, in alleged violation of a notice to provide safeguard at the Greenwich Collieries No. 2 Mine. The administrative law judge vacated the citations because the safeguard…
Old Ben Coal Company
Civil penalty settlement approved
Old Ben Coal Company was the respondent in a civil penalty proceeding under the Mine Act. The parties proposed reducing a $500 penalty to $250 and dismissing related cases after the case was severed from two other dockets. Judge Avram Weisberger found the settlement appropriate under the statutory…
Old Ben Coal Company
Inspection-access citation and order vacated
Old Ben Coal Company was cited and ordered to abate after it declined to provide an MSHA inspector with underground transportation during a quarterly inspection. The company provided elevator access and the inspector continued inspecting on foot, but MSHA alleged that the refusal impeded the…
Secretary of Labor v. Green River Coal Company, Inc.
Safeguard did not cover a different travelway obstruction
Green River Coal Company received a citation after a roof fall left slippery rock blocking part of a conveyor-belt travelway at its No. 9 Mine. The Secretary argued that a safeguard requiring a 24-inch travelway covered any physical obstruction, but the administrative law judge found that the…
Department of the Army, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, California and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1263
Defense Language Institute and NFFE Local 1263 (FLRA 9-CA-90570): Contracting-out complaint dismissed
The Defense Language Institute decided to contract out instruction in ten languages, and its union challenged whether the institute had followed the required contracting procedures. The institute proceeded with a reduction in force while the union's grievance was in arbitration. The unfair labor…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Headquarters, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916 (FLRA 0-AR-2175): Reconsideration of promotion ruling denied
The Authority had previously set aside an arbitration award granting a Tinker Air Force Base employee a promotion and back pay. It found that the employee's earlier formal equal employment opportunity complaint and later grievance concerned the same failure to promote him, so federal law barred the…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916 (FLRA 0-AR-2146): Promotion grievance denial stands
An equipment cleaner at Tinker Air Force Base claimed he had performed higher grade duties and should have received a promotion and back pay. An arbitrator found his temporary promotion claim untimely and his permanent promotion claim unsupported by evidence that he had performed the higher grade…
U.S. Department of the Army, Headquarters, Army Garrison, Fort Ritchie, Maryland and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 115
Fort Ritchie and NFFE Local 115 (FLRA 0-AR-2131): Higher rating award replaced with reevaluation
A Fort Ritchie employee challenged a fully successful appraisal after receiving higher ratings in previous years. An arbitrator found that the Army had failed to counsel her about declining performance as its regulation required, and ordered the rating raised to highly successful. The Authority…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916 (FLRA 0-AR-2117): Back pay award limited pending OPM approval
A Tinker Air Force Base employee performed WG-9 work while classified and paid at WG-8 before his permanent promotion. An arbitrator ordered the Air Force to pay the wage difference for more than three years. The Authority rejected the agency's argument that the absence of competitive promotion…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council 236 and General Services Administration, Region 9
GSA Region 9 and AFGE Council 236 (FLRA 0-AR-2049): Performance appraisal award stands
A General Services Administration realty clerk received an overall rating of fully successful after receiving a highly successful rating the year before. Her union challenged the lower rating, the appraisal standards, and the agency's failure to provide a required interim performance review. An…
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service and National Border Patrol Council, American Federation of Government Employees
Border Patrol and AFGE Council (FLRA 0-AR-1942): Two suspensions rescinded
A Border Patrol agent serving as a union officer received five-day and ten-day suspensions over reports of time spent on union duties. An arbitrator found no just cause for either suspension, ordered the records removed, and awarded lost wages and benefits. The Authority rejected the agency's…
T & T Fuels Incorporated
Settlement partly approved, S&S reduction denied
T & T Fuels proposed a settlement covering four citations, including a request to reduce one citation from significant and substantial to non-S&S, lower the negligence allegation, and reduce the penalty to $63. Judge William Fauver denied the requested S&S reduction because the motion did not show…
Secretary of Labor v. S & H Mining, Incorporated
Imminent-danger order vacated, citation affirmed
S & H Mining operated an underground coal mine where high-voltage power lines were measured at heights below 15 feet above ground. The judge found that the condition created a substantial possibility of serious injury because the area was accessible to the public and electrical examiners, but the…
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Customs Service, Southeast Region and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Service Southeast Region (FLRA 0-AR-2136): Vessel inspection grievance sent back
The Customs Service changed how its officers verified documents and manifests for vessels calling at more than one U.S. port. The union grieved the change, which reduced seaport officer overtime, alleging violations of law and regulation. An arbitrator ruled that the grievance could not proceed…
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Honolulu District Office and American Federation of Government Employees, National Immigration and Naturalization Service Council
INS Honolulu District Office (FLRA 0-AR-2118): Suspension award sent back for clarification
The Immigration and Naturalization Service suspended a Honolulu special agent for seven days after delays in preparing an affidavit for a vessel seizure. An arbitrator found that discipline did not violate a law, rule, regulation, or the parties' agreement, but also called the suspension excessive…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Respirable-dust citation affirmed
Jim Walter Resources was cited after respirable-dust samples from a longwall mining unit averaged 2.6 milligrams per cubic meter, above the 2.0 milligrams per cubic meter limit in the cited standard. The company did not dispute the sample results but challenged MSHA's direction to change the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916 and U.S. Department of the Air Force, Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma
Tinker Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-2122): Temporary promotion limited to two years
An Air Force employee at Tinker Air Force Base performed WG-6 duties while holding a WG-5 position. An arbitrator found that the agency had violated the labor agreement by failing to give him a temporary promotion and ordered backpay from August 1985 until his assignment to limited duty in January…
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, Oconee Ranger District and National Federation of Federal Employees
Oconee Ranger District (FLRA 4-CU-10011): Supervisory technician excluded from unit
A Forest Service district gave a forestry technician duties that included supervising another employee, approving leave, and preparing performance and training materials. The regional director found that the technician was a supervisor under the federal labor statute and excluded him from the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2614 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Antilles Consolidated School System
Antilles school system (FLRA 0-NG-1963): Bargaining required on exchange access
The union proposed post exchange access for employees at two Navy schools in Puerto Rico. The Navy argued that exchange privileges were a personal benefit unrelated to working conditions. The Authority found a direct connection to the employees' work situation: they had a half-hour lunch period…
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 446 and U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway (FLRA 0-NG-1642): Drug testing proposals divided
The National Park Service and AFGE Local 446 disputed which union proposals about employee drug testing had to be bargained. The Authority required bargaining on several protections, including documenting reasonable suspicion, privacy during specimen collection, confirmation of positive tests, and…
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Chicago District and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 10
IRS Chicago District (FLRA 5-CU-00016): Unit review application filed late
The IRS asked the Authority to review a regional director's unit clarification order. Its application had to be filed by November 25, 1991. The agency's envelope had no postmark, and the Authority received it on December 2. Under the filing rule, the Authority presumed a mailing date of November…
The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co-York CNYN Complex
One citation affirmed, five modified
The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company contested six significant-and-substantial citations issued at the York Canyon Underground Mine. The judge affirmed the citation for a Caterpillar scraper that lacked an adequate automatic backup alarm and assessed the proposed $112 penalty. The parties…
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Brockton and West Roxbury, Massachusetts and Steven J. Giberti
VA medical center (FLRA 1-CA-10230): Reprimand for labor charges removed
A VA medical center issued a written reprimand to an employee because he had filed unfair labor practice charges. An administrative law judge found that the reprimand violated the federal labor statute. The Authority rejected the medical center's exceptions and adopted the judge's findings and…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R12-29 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Contracts Training Center, Port Hueneme
Navy training center (FLRA 0-NG-1930): Bargaining required on taxi fares and work plans
The Navy and a union disputed two proposals at a training center in Port Hueneme. One would provide transportation home for an overtime worker who made a reasonable effort but could not find a ride. The Authority read that proposal as covering taxi fares only in the circumstances allowed by federal…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of Education Locals, Council 252, Local 2607 and U.S. Department of Education
Department of Education (FLRA 0-AR-2120): Classification grievance remains outside arbitration
A Department of Education employee challenged a downgrade from a GS-14 position to a GS-12 position after a classification audit. She retained her grade and pay for two years and sought to correct her position description and reverse the downgrade. An arbitrator found that the issues could not be…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1263 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Language Institute, Monterey
Defense Language Institute (FLRA 0-AR-1922): Contracting remedy requires further review
The Defense Language Institute contracted out instruction in ten languages without making a cost comparison under OMB Circular A-76. Twenty-seven civilian employees lost their jobs in a reduction in force. An arbitrator found a procurement violation and ordered a study, with reinstatement and…
Clifford Meek v. Essroc Corporation
Discrimination found, employment ordered
Clifford Meek alleged that Essroc Corporation refused to employ him at a cement grinding plant because he had raised safety concerns with an MSHA inspector. The judge found that Essroc was a successor to the prior operator and that the prior management officials who recommended against hiring Meek…
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.