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.
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, St. Albans Sub-office and American Federation of Government Employees, National INS Council, Local 2076
St. Albans office smoking policy (FLRA 1-CA-90192): Bargaining required
The Immigration and Naturalization Service changed its St. Albans office smoking policy to permit smoking only in the building's basement lobby. It did so without notifying the employees' union or offering to bargain. The Authority upheld a judge's finding that the change violated the federal labor…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-89 and U.S. Department of the Army, Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss negotiability petition (FLRA 0-NG-1936): Filing dismissed
The Authority twice ordered the Fort Bliss union to correct deficiencies in its negotiability petition. It required a statement about a possible concurrent unfair labor practice charge and service of the union's response on the agency representative. The second order set a July 26, 1991 deadline…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees
Social Security appraisal (FLRA 0-AR-2135): Union exception denied
A Social Security Administration data review technician received lower ratings on two performance elements than she had received the previous year. Her union challenged the appraisal, but an arbitrator found that the union had not proved a violation of the labor agreement or unfair treatment. The…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Depot Memphis and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2501
Defense Depot Memphis (FLRA 0-AR-2086): Holiday work pay award narrowed
Defense Depot Memphis assigned employees to work on Columbus Day without using the holiday selection procedures in its labor agreement. An arbitrator found a contract violation and awarded pay at two and one-half times the regular rate to employees who worked and to employees who would have been…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1765
Veterans Affairs appraisals (FLRA 0-AR-2059): Retroactive standards violated agreement
Three Veterans Affairs employees disputed fully successful ratings and sought exceptional ratings on parts of their annual evaluations. An arbitrator found that the agency violated its labor agreement by setting and applying an exceptional rating threshold after the appraisal period. The arbitrator…
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, National Aviation Support Facility, Atlantic City Airport and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1340
FAA grievance transcript (FLRA 2-CA-00024): Union entitled to requested record
A union representing Federal Aviation Administration employees requested the transcript of an employee's discrimination hearing to pursue her merit promotion grievance. The FAA declined to supply it, saying the transcript was held elsewhere in the Transportation Department and disclosure was barred…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and American Federation of Government Employees
Veterans Affairs asbestos differential (FLRA 0-AR-2109): Pay formula corrected
Employees at Veterans Affairs medical facilities sought environmental differential pay for work involving asbestos exposure. An arbitrator awarded retroactive pay for October 1986 through June 1987, using percentages tied to job classifications and time actually worked. The union sought a longer…
Wyoming Fuel Company
Settlement approved and contests dismissed
Wyoming Fuel Company contested four citations involving alleged deliberate tampering with dust filter media at its Golden Eagle Mine. The company denied deliberately altering the media but agreed to pay $5,200 in civil penalties, without admitting the allegations for purposes outside civil matters…
Lambert Coal Company
Settlement approved with $8,250 penalty
The Secretary alleged that Lambert Coal Company altered the weight of respirable dust samples submitted as part of its sampling requirements at five mines. The five dockets covered ten alleged violations of 30 C.F.R. § 70.209(b), and the operator denied deliberately tampering with or altering the…
Koch Carbon, Inc. - Koch Raven Division
Settlement approved with $960 penalty
Koch Carbon's Raven No. 1 Mine was involved in a civil penalty proceeding concerning an alleged violation of 30 C.F.R. § 71.209(b). The Secretary alleged that the operator altered the weight of a respirable dust sample, while the operator denied deliberately tampering with the dust filter media…
Thomas Lindstrom Company
Offsite safety data sheets were not readily accessible
Thomas Lindstrom Company was a structural steel erector whose foreman used oxygen and acetylene at a construction site. When OSHA requested the material safety data sheets for those chemicals, the foreman could not produce them because the sheets were kept at the company's central office, between…
Peavey Grain Company
Grain facility needed an effective alarm
Peavey Grain operated a grain-handling facility where a temporary employee suffocated after becoming buried in grain inside a storage building. OSHA cited Peavey's emergency action plan because it lacked provisions for rescue and medical duties and did not provide an employee alarm system. The…
CF & I Steel Corporation
Willfulness and penalty remanded
CF & I Steel was found to have violated the coke-oven-emissions respiratory protection standard after appellate courts upheld the Secretary of Labor's interpretation of the rule. The Tenth Circuit returned the case to the Commission because the remaining questions were whether the violation was…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Field Operations Region II and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2608
Social Security appraisals (FLRA 2-CA-90212): Union entitled to existing records
A union asked Social Security Administration Field Operations Region II for employee appraisals to investigate whether ratings for interviewing work had fallen after a new appointment system began. The agency refused to provide unsanitized copies, citing employee privacy. The Authority agreed with…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2776 and U.S. Department of Defense, Armed Forces Radio and Television Service Broadcast Center
Armed Forces broadcast agreement (FLRA 0-NG-1952): Reconsideration denied
An agency head disapproved parts of a labor agreement with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service Broadcast Center and sent the disapproval to the union by fax. The Authority had dismissed the union's negotiability petition because the disapproval had not been served by certified mail or in…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Pacific Missile Test Center, Point Mugu and National Association of Government Employees, Local R12-33
Pacific Missile Test Center contracting (FLRA 0-AR-2032): Procurement reconstruction upheld
The Navy's Pacific Missile Test Center contracted out radar plots work without a cost comparison, saying the function involved nine positions. A union grievance argued that the branch had eleven full-time equivalent employees, so federal contracting rules required a comparison. An arbitrator agreed…
U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Mapping Agency, Aerospace Center, St. Louis, Missouri and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1827
Defense Mapping Agency overtime (FLRA 0-AR-1880): Award returned for clarification
After the Defense Mapping Agency changed its payroll system, employees who earned overtime at a higher rate under the Fair Labor Standards Act received the extra amount in a later paycheck. The union grieved the delay, but an arbitrator denied the grievance based on management rights in the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Citations affirmed and modified with $867 penalty
Consolidation Coal Company contested citations issued at its Arkwright No. 1 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that an unguarded trolley wire violation was significant and substantial, and that coal dust accumulations created a significant and substantial hazard. He found that a separate violation…
Matter of B-
Aggravated battery barred asylum and withholding
The Board reviewed a Cuban applicant's appeal from an immigration judge's denial of asylum and withholding of exclusion and deportation. The applicant had filed an earlier asylum application with the Service in 1980, but the Board held that filing an application with the immigration judge in 1991…
Dover Elevator Company
Unsecured oxygen cylinder did not meet the carrying exception
Dover Elevator left an oxygen cylinder unsecured for 15 to 30 minutes near an elevator shaft while employees tried to repair a hoist. The Commission rejected OSHA's view that a cylinder must be secured whenever it is not physically moving, recognizing that brief, necessary pauses during carrying…
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D.C. and American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of EEOC Locals, Local 216
EEOC investigator appraisal (FLRA 0-AR-2101): Rating correction upheld
An EEOC investigator challenged a Marginal performance rating. An arbitrator found that the agency's rating for one critical element was not fair, accurate, and objective under the collective bargaining agreement. He ordered that element and the overall rating raised to Fully Successful. The…
El Dorado Chemical Company
Settlement approval denied for truck steering citation
El Dorado Chemical Company faced a civil penalty proceeding over a truck used to haul explosives. MSHA alleged that the truck's steering section was loose, creating a risk that the bolts could break and the driver could lose steering control. The Secretary proposed reducing the alleged…
Mendisco Mining
Default entered and $800 in penalties assessed
MSHA sought civil penalties against Mendisco Mining for four citations. The operator received notice of the hearing but did not appear, did not communicate its intentions, and repeatedly ignored orders and contact efforts. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. entered the operator's default and assessed the…
Asarco, Incorporated
Two citations modified and four affirmed with $270 penalty
The Secretary sought penalties against Asarco for four violations at the Black Cloud Mine, Leadville Unit. The parties reached a settlement during the hearing. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. modified two citations by changing the gravity designation from fatal to lost workdays or restricted duty…
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company
Citations modified and affirmed with $397.25 penalty
Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company contested two citations at its York Canyon Surface Mine. The parties agreed to remove the significant-and-substantial designation from both citations and reduce the penalties to $80 and $317.25. Judge August F. Cetti found the proposed settlement reasonable…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement approved and citation modified
Consolidation Coal Company had a contest proceeding and a related civil penalty proceeding involving Arkwright No. 1 Mine. The parties settled three citations for the full proposed penalty of $667. They also agreed to modify Citation No. 3315925 from significant and substantial to non-S&S, find low…
Department of Health and Human Services, Regions II, III, IV, V, VII and IX, and Social Security Administration; National Treasury Employees Union and American Federation of Government Employees
HHS regional unit dispute (FLRA 32-CU-00005): Review granted on employee representation
After HHS reorganized Social Security program service centers, a regional director placed about 328 transferred support employees in a unit represented by the National Treasury Employees Union instead of the American Federation of Government Employees. AFGE asked the Authority to review that…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1662 and U.S. Department of the Army, Fort Huachuca, Arizona
Fort Huachuca contracting (FLRA 0-AR-2074): Union exception denied
The Army contracted out service and maintenance work at Fort Huachuca. The union grieved, claiming that the procurement violated federal contracting guidance, an Army regulation, and the Davis-Bacon Act. An arbitrator found no violation and denied the grievance. The union challenged his acceptance…
U.S. Department of the Army, Army Medical Activity, Fort Knox, Kentucky and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2302
Fort Knox ambulance shifts (FLRA 0-AR-1842): Pay remedies removed
The Army changed emergency medical technicians at Fort Knox to 24-hour shifts. An arbitrator found that the agency had not followed its collective bargaining agreement's requirements for implementing the schedule and ordered a return to the prior schedule, bargaining over pay, and backpay. The…
U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Aviation Depot, Norfolk, Virginia and National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-83
Norfolk Navy Depot fees (FLRA 0-AR-2129): Fee request stays closed
An arbitrator had awarded attorney fees after finding that the Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot improperly charged an employee two hours of annual leave. The Authority previously removed the fee award because it lacked the findings required by the Back Pay Act. The union then asked the arbitrator to…
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3347
EPA compressed schedule (FLRA 0-AR-2085): Bargaining order upheld
EPA ended an employee's compressed work schedule when it permanently assigned her to an imprest funds cashier position. An arbitrator found that the agency had not bargained as required by its agreement and ordered it to restore the schedule while the parties negotiated. The Authority rejected…
Drummond Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding made after remand
The Commission remanded Drummond Company's consolidated contest proceedings for reconsideration of whether an accumulation violation resulted from unwarrantable failure. The Commission directed the Judge to consider Drummond's reason to know about the accumulations, its mitigation efforts, and…
Keith Sturgill v. South East Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after withdrawal
Keith Sturgill asked to withdraw his discrimination complaint against South East Coal Company. Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw the complaint under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11. The case was dismissed.
James N. Boyd v. Trojan Mining Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after withdrawal
James N. Boyd asked to withdraw his discrimination complaint against Trojan Mining Company. Judge Gary Melick granted permission to withdraw the complaint under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.1. The case was dismissed, and the hearings scheduled for November 8, 1991, were cancelled.
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 284 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Air Engineering Center, Lakehurst, New Jersey
Lakehurst travel advances (FLRA 0-NG-1960): Proposal outside bargaining duty
A Navy union proposed letting traveling employees choose between a government credit card billed to the agency and an 80 percent travel advance. The Authority found the advance option would cover employees who declined a contractor issued charge card, although federal travel regulations barred…
General Services Administration, Region 3 and American Federation of Government Employees, National Council of GSA Locals, Council 236
GSA Region 3 arbitration (FLRA 0-AR-2170): Late exceptions dismissed
The union filed exceptions to a GSA arbitration award. The arbitrator mailed the award on August 1, 1991, making September 4 the last day for timely filing under the Authority's rules. The union's exceptions were postmarked September 6. The Authority held that it could not extend or waive the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Citation outcomes split across roof support and ladder cases
Consolidation Coal was cited at the Humphrey No. 7 and Osage No. 3 mines for roof support, ladder access, and other conditions. Judge Avram Weisberger found that missing cribs violated the roof control plan but was not significant and substantial because the area would have been cribbed before…
Bally's Park Place Hotel & Casino
Work-product protection covered consultant test records
Bally's commissioned an outside consultant to test iodine emissions from a casino glass-washing machine after OSHA raised employee exposure concerns. The company's general counsel requested the testing in anticipation of litigation, and Bally's refused to give the resulting records to OSHA or an…
Mt. Adams Furniture Co.
Tribal enterprise remained subject to OSHA
Mt. Adams Furniture was an enterprise of the Yakima Indian tribe located on the Yakima reservation. An administrative law judge dismissed OSHA's citations because he concluded that applying the Occupational Safety and Health Act would interfere with treaty rights allowing the tribe to exclude…
Helen Mining Company
Temporary reinstatement ordered
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Joseph A. Smith after Helen Mining Company discharged him. Smith had filed Mine Act safety complaints and several discrimination complaints, and the company said he was discharged for refusing a fireboss assignment. Judge Roy J. Maurer did not decide…
Kocher Coal Company
Amended settlement approved for $685.50
Kocher Coal Company faced three civil penalty proceedings. The ALJ had previously denied the parties' initial settlement motions, but the parties later filed amended motions with supporting evidence. Judge Gary Melick approved a $20 penalty for an allegation that the company failed to notify the…
Matter of K-
Aggravated felony barred withholding of deportation
The Board reviewed the Service's interlocutory appeal in the deportation case of a Liberian respondent convicted of two Maryland cocaine offenses that qualified as aggravated felonies. The Board held that the 1990 statutory amendment made every aggravated felony a particularly serious crime for…
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Butler, Pennsylvania and National Association of Government Employees, Local R3-74
Butler VA employee information (FLRA 2-CA-10120): Disclosure order affirmed
A union asked the Butler VA Medical Center for bargaining unit employees' names and home addresses. The medical center refused, and an administrative law judge found that refusal violated the federal labor statute. The Authority adopted the judge's findings and ordered the center to provide the…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1452 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Training Center, Orlando, Florida
Orlando Navy charity duties (FLRA 0-NG-1943): Assignment ban rejected
A Navy union proposed barring the agency from requiring employees to take part in charity drives. The Authority considered the disputed portion as a ban on assigning duties during work hours for government sponsored drives, including the Combined Federal Campaign. It distinguished an employee's…
Southern Ohio Coal Co.
Section 103(k) roof-fall order affirmed
Southern Ohio Coal challenged a section 103(k) order issued after a roof fall at the Martinka No. 1 Mine. The order stopped work in the affected longwall area while MSHA investigated whether the fall was above the roof-bolt anchorage and impeded passage. Judge George A. Koutras found that the…
Joseph Culp v. Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Discrimination settlement approved and paid
Joseph Culp brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint after Mid-Continent Resources terminated him following his refusal to work underground during a methane fire. He sought back pay for the period before his temporary reinstatement, but he later found other employment and no longer sought…
Ceco Corporation
General-duty citation withdrawn in settlement
Ceco Corporation was a concrete formwork contractor cited after OSHA inspected a parking-garage construction project. The item before the Commission alleged a serious general-duty-clause violation because employees rode forklift tines to reach an 11-foot scaffold. The parties entered a full…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-144, Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Underwater Systems Center, Newport, Rhode Island
Navy performance awards (FLRA 0-NG-1650): Award ranges rejected on remand
After an earlier Authority ruling, a court returned two Navy union proposals on performance awards for reconsideration under a new federal regulation. The proposals set percentage ranges for awards tied to appraisal ratings. The Authority found that the regulation required a higher level agency…
United States Immigration and Naturalization Service and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1917
INS New York employee parking (FLRA 2-CA-90260): Bargaining order affirmed
Employees at an INS processing center in New York had been allowed to park in reserved spaces on West Houston Street. INS ended that practice without first notifying the union or bargaining. The Authority agreed with an administrative law judge that the parking practice was a condition of…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-82 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Navy Exchange, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville Navy Exchange contract (FLRA 0-NG-1893): Mixed negotiability ruling
The Navy disapproved six provisions of a negotiated agreement at its Jacksonville Navy Exchange. The Authority upheld parts of that disapproval, including limits on sick leave verification, a preference for internal promotions, and a rule against multiple charges for one act of misconduct. It found…
Utah Power & Light Company
Imminent-danger withdrawal order vacated
Utah Power & Light operated large diesel scoops in the haulageways of its Cottonwood Mine. MSHA issued a section 107(a) withdrawal order after tests showed that scoop operators had serious blind spots, but the mine had also adopted lighting, vehicle, traffic, and operating procedures to reduce the…
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2924
Davis-Monthan pay statements (FLRA 8-CA-00485): Distribution change reversed
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base changed how it delivered employees' leave and earnings statements before finishing bargaining with their union. An administrative law judge found that the unilateral change violated the federal labor statute. The Authority adopted that ruling and ordered the base to…
National Association of Government Employees, Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers, Local R1-144 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Underwater Systems Center, Newport, Rhode Island
Navy union president appraisal (FLRA 0-NG-1932): Four proposals rejected
A Navy union proposed changes to its president's position description, appraisal standards, performance awards, and career ladder. The president spent all duty time on union work. The Authority held that agency performance standards could not be based on those union duties, so the linked…
National Labor Relations Board Union and National Labor Relations Board
NLRB appraisal review (FLRA 0-NG-1858): Some appraisal proposals negotiable
A union proposed changes to the National Labor Relations Board's employee appraisal process. The Authority rejected a rule barring a regional director from serving as reviewing official because it intruded on management's right to assign work. It allowed a requirement for an independent appraisal…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals, Local 919 and U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth prison security (FLRA 0-NG-1851): Two provisions rejected
A prison union sought contract rules requiring an employee or representative to witness searches of the employee's property and requiring necessary precautions when staff or their families faced a serious physical threat. The Bureau of Prisons disapproved both provisions. The Authority found that…
American Federation of Government Employees, National Veterans Administration Council and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C.
VA personal email proposal (FLRA 0-NG-1850): Petition dismissed for ambiguity
A VA union proposed allowing employees to receive a reasonable number of personal messages through the agency's electronic mail system. The Authority found the proposal and record too unclear to decide whether it was negotiable. In particular, it could not tell how the proposed use related to…
American Federation of Government Employees, Department of Education Council of AFGE Locals and Department of Education
Education Department contracting notices (FLRA 0-NG-1587): Notice proposal negotiable
An Education Department union appealed the agency's objections to three contract proposals. The Authority rejected a proposal that would send disputes over agency disapproval of local agreements to arbitration when they concerned negotiability. It found negotiable a proposal requiring notice to the…
National Treasury Employees Union and U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Public Debt
Public Debt contracting rule (FLRA 0-NG-1516): Compliance clause negotiable
A union contract provision required the Bureau of Public Debt to follow OMB Circular A-76 and other applicable laws and regulations when contracting out work. After a court returned the case, the Authority reconsidered whether the clause interfered with management's contracting right. It held that…
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital, Bedford, Massachusetts and National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-32
Bedford VA arbitration (FLRA 0-AR-2168): Reconsideration denied
The Authority dismissed a union's exceptions to a Bedford VA arbitration award after the union failed to correct filing deficiencies by a set deadline. The union sought reconsideration, saying its attorney did not know about the correction order. A certified mail receipt showed delivery to the…
U.S. Department of the Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916
Tinker Air Force Base promotion (FLRA 0-AR-2088): Retroactive promotion upheld
A Tinker Air Force Base employee completed vocational technical training and performed work associated with a WG-9 position, but the agency did not promote him to that grade. An arbitrator found that the employee should have received the promotion and ordered it retroactive to September 1, 1985…
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.