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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Silas Noble v. Patsy Jane Coal Corporation
Discrimination complaint dismissed after no response
Silas Noble complained that Patsy Jane Coal Corporation laid him off while retaining workers with less seniority. The company moved to dismiss, arguing that his complaint did not state a claim under the Mine Act's discrimination provision. Judge Gary Melick gave Noble a chance to explain why the…
Hard Rock Coal Co., Inc.
Storm withdrawal citation affirmed with $100 penalty
At Hard Rock Coal's surface mine, lightning triggered explosives in loaded drill holes and material from the blast struck a miner operating a loader below, causing his death. MSHA cited the company for failing to withdraw miners when an electrical storm approached while electric detonators were in…
Lonnie Jones v. D&R Contractors
): Complaint dismissed after improper party joinder
Lonnie Jones brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint after his discharge, and a judge later ordered D&R Contractors to pay him back wages, costs, and attorney's fees. D&R had been dismissed as a party before the hearing, then rejoined by the judge two weeks after the hearing ended. The…
Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District and NFFE Local 29
Kansas City Corps and NFFE (FLRA 7-CA-40283): Union entitled to limited employment data
NFFE Local 29 requested an Army Corps listing to assess merit promotion practices, possible grievances, and contract negotiations. The Corps refused, citing employee privacy. The Authority found that the union needed names and minority status for bargaining unit employees and that disclosure of…
NFFE Local 1705 and General Services Administration
GSA and NFFE (FLRA 0-NG-945): RIF competitive area proposal rejected on remand
After a court remand, the Authority reconsidered a GSA union's proposal to define a reduction in force competitive area in the agency's central office. The Authority found that applicable personnel regulations would include nonunit employees inside the proposed geographic and organizational…
NFFE Local 29 and Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District
Kansas City Corps and NFFE (FLRA 0-NG-689): RIF area proposal rejected on remand
After a court remand, the Authority reconsidered a Kansas City Corps of Engineers union proposal defining the competitive area for a reduction in force. It found that personnel regulations would require the proposed area to include employees outside the bargaining unit. The Authority held that a…
National Weather Service Employees Organization and National Weather Service
National Weather Service and NWSEO (FLRA 0-NG-1242): Union grievance procedure negotiable
The National Weather Service Employees Organization proposed a process for union grievances, including written initiation and deadlines for management decisions. The agency objected that the proposal could allow grievances without identifying or obtaining consent from an employee and could permit…
Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers and Navy Naval Underwater Systems Center
Navy Underwater Systems Center and FUSE (FLRA 0-NG-1238): Part-time first RIF proposal not negotiable
A Navy union proposed that part-time employees be subject to a reduction in force before other employees. The Authority found that the proposal would force the agency to eliminate part-time positions even when it would otherwise choose full-time positions. That loss of management discretion was too…
Hawaii Federal Employees Metal Trades Council and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard
Pearl Harbor Shipyard and Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-NG-1196): Removal authority proposal not negotiable
A union proposed changing which managers could sign advance notices and make final removal decisions at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. The Authority found that the proposal would assign those duties to particular personnel outside the bargaining unit. That would interfere with management's right to…
NTEU Chapter 229 and HHS Headquarters
HHS Headquarters and NTEU (FLRA 0-NG-1188): Telephone access proposal not negotiable
During relocation bargaining, NTEU proposed adequate telephone access for employees whose duties required it. HHS argued that the proposal would constrain its decisions about the number, type, and location of telephones used for work. The Authority found that the proposal concerned the technology…
NTEU and Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRC and NTEU (FLRA 0-NG-1095): Competitive area proposal still not negotiable
After a court remand, the Authority reconsidered NTEU's proposal to use a commuting area as the competitive area for a reduction in force at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It found that personnel regulations would make the proposed area apply to employees outside the bargaining unit as well as…
NAGE Local R7-23 and Air Force, Scott Air Force Base
Scott Air Force Base and NAGE (FLRA 0-NG-1033): Competitive area proposal rejected on remand
After a court remand, the Authority reconsidered a union proposal to put all positions in its Scott Air Force Base bargaining unit in one reduction in force competitive area. The union said it intended the proposal to cover only unit employees. The Authority found that personnel regulations would…
AFGE Local 2094 and Veterans Administration Medical Center, New York
New York VA Medical Center and AFGE (FLRA 0-NG-1006): One of nine proposals negotiable
AFGE Local 2094 appealed the VA medical center's objections to nine bargaining proposals. The Authority dismissed review of Proposals 1 through 7 and 9, which involved such matters as selecting counselors and restricting management assignments. Proposal 8 asked the medical center to make every…
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Federal Employees Metal Trades Council
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Metal Trades Council (FLRA 0-AR-1157): Suspension award outside FLRA exceptions review
An arbitrator upheld a 30-day suspension of a Portsmouth Naval Shipyard employee, and the union filed exceptions with the Authority. The Authority held that a suspension longer than 14 days was an adverse action covered by the separate review route in 5 U.S.C. § 7121(f). It therefore lacked…
Kastalon, Inc. and Conap, Inc.
MOCA exposure citations vacated
Kastalon and Conap used MOCA, a chemical shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, to manufacture polyurethane products. OSHA alleged general-duty violations at both companies and personal-protective-equipment and respirator violations at Conap. The Commission held that OSHA had to prove a…
Blytheville Air Force Base, 97th Combat Support Group and AFGE Local 2840
Blytheville Air Force Base and AFGE (FLRA 0-AR-435): Procurement award changed to reconstruction
AFGE challenged Blytheville Air Force Base's decision to contract out aircraft maintenance, alleging failures to follow procurement law and regulations. An arbitrator sustained the grievance and ordered the contract action cancelled. The Authority held that an arbitrator could review compliance…
Cabin Coal Corporation
Cracked windshield citation affirmed with $20 penalty
At Cabin Coal Corporation's Lancer Tipple, an MSHA inspector saw a front end loader operating with windshield cracks in the driver's line of sight. The loader traveled up a ramp to dump coal, and the impaired view could have contributed to a collision. Judge Roy J. Maurer found a violation of the…
Secretary of Labor v. Bob Crumby
Default rescinded after timely answer found
Bob Crumby was ordered in default to pay a proposed $625 mine safety penalty after the Commission believed he had not answered. A later inquiry found that he had mailed an answer to the Department of Labor's Solicitor within the time allowed, though he had not sent it to the Commission. Chief Judge…
John R. Jurgensen Company
Repeated trenching violation affirmed
Jurgensen was installing a drain line beside an older pipeline when part of an unshored trench wall collapsed on an employee. The Commission found the wall unstable because the new trench intersected backfill and gravel from the earlier excavation, and Jurgensen did not prove that the old fill had…
Army Headquarters, Fort Leonard Wood and NAGE Local R14-32
Army Headquarters and NAGE (FLRA 7-CA-40084): Direction to stop arbitration violated statute
An arbitrator issued interim rulings in an employee removal grievance at Fort Leonard Wood. Army Headquarters instructed the installation to stop participating in the arbitration. The Authority found that the headquarters instruction unlawfully interfered with the grievance process and ordered…
Veterans Administration, Fargo Medical and Regional Office Center and AFGE
Fargo VA and AFGE (FLRA 7-CA-40426): Unilateral shift changes require backpay
The Fargo VA center changed nurses' shift start and end times without bargaining with AFGE and refused to bargain over official time to prepare for negotiations. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that these actions violated the federal labor statute. It also approved restoration of the…
Immigration and Naturalization Service and AFGE Local 505
INS and AFGE (FLRA 0-AR-963): Eight-month disciplinary delay defeated suspension
INS suspended an employee for five days after finding firearm, vehicle, and instruction violations. An arbitrator found the misconduct proved but held that the agency's more than eight-month delay in proposing discipline made the suspension unreasonable under the agreement and governing rules. The…
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1923
SSA and AFGE (FLRA 0-AR-1112): Personnel-file violation defeats suspension
SSA suspended an employee for 14 days based on investigative records that had not been placed in the required personnel file under its bargaining agreement. An arbitrator overturned the suspension and ordered make-whole relief. The Authority rejected the agency's argument that the arbitrator needed…
United States Customs Service and NTEU
Customs Service and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-1015): Reduced discipline award upheld
Customs suspended an employee for 14 days after a confrontation with a member of the public. An arbitrator found that the record did not prove physical abuse or clear misconduct under agency policy, and also considered the employee's clean record and the delay in discipline. He reduced the sanction…
J & C Coal Corporation, also known as J C Corporation
J & C Coal Corporation (FMSHRC SE 85-40 and SE 85-46): Penalty total corrected to $3,121
The Secretary asked Judge William Fauver to correct an oversight in a May 1986 decision involving J & C Coal Corporation. The judge granted the motion and added Citation No. 2475963 with a $79 civil penalty to the earlier order. That change raised the total civil penalties from $3,042 to $3,121. He…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Corbin and others v. Sugartree Corporation and others
Immediate reinstatement denied during review
While the Commission reviewed a discrimination case involving James and Robert Corbin, the Secretary requested their immediate reinstatement. Both had been reinstated by Terco after the judge's ruling, but Robert was later discharged and James was laid off. They filed new discrimination complaints…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Corbin and others v. Sugartree Corporation and others
Escrow or bond request denied during review
In a discrimination case involving James Corbin, Robert Corbin, and A. C. Taylor, the Secretary asked the Commission to require money held in escrow or a bond to secure potential payment while review continued. The Commission majority found that the Secretary had not clearly shown this interim…
Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Altus Air Force Base and AFGE Local 2586
Altus Air Force Base Exchange and AFGE (FLRA 6-CA-40232): Reprimand appeal choice violated statute
The Altus exchange told an employee receiving a reprimand that she could challenge it through either an agency grievance process or the negotiated grievance process. The Authority found that the negotiated process was the exclusive route for this covered reprimand and that the statutory exceptions…
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and AFGE Food Inspection Locals
Food Safety and Inspection Service and AFGE (FLRA 3-CA-30722): Agency could not insist on charge delay
During bargaining, the Food Safety and Inspection Service insisted to impasse on a proposal requiring informal settlement efforts before the union could file an unfair labor practice charge. The Authority supported voluntary settlement but found that the proposal would require the union to give up…
AFGE Local 1799 and Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground and AFGE (FLRA 0-NG-988): Appeals and training provisions rejected
An Army agency head disapproved agreement provisions concerning employee appeals and training assignments. The Authority found that the first would let nonappropriated fund employees choose an internal appeal instead of the negotiated grievance procedure, contrary to the statute's exclusivity rule…
AFGE Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management
OPM and AFGE (FLRA 0-NG-985): Personnel-folder letter proposal negotiable
AFGE Local 32 proposed giving employees a letter for their official personnel folders recognizing priority work on specially referred correspondence. OPM argued that federal law and personnel-folder regulations left the folder's contents outside bargaining. The Authority found the letter concerned…
NTEU Chapter 202 and Treasury Bureau of Government Financial Operations
Treasury Financial Operations and NTEU (FLRA 0-NG-680): RIF preferences for union representatives rejected
NTEU proposed preferential treatment for union representatives during a reduction in force. The Authority found that Proposal 1 did not account for other employees' retreat rights when filling vacancies. It found that Proposal 2 could require separating an employee while a lower-retention employee…
NTEU and HHS Region VI, Dallas
HHS Dallas and NTEU (FLRA 0-NG-582): One of three RIF proposals negotiable
NTEU sought bargaining over three reduction in force proposals for HHS employees in Dallas. The Authority rejected Proposal 1 because its competitive area definition conflicted with governmentwide personnel regulations. It held Proposal 2, allowing qualified employees broader displacement within…
AFGE Local 1603 and Naval Hospital Patuxent River
Patuxent River Naval Hospital and AFGE (FLRA 0-NG-1217): Performance standard clause rejected
AFGE Local 1603 negotiated a clause allowing employees to challenge whether performance standards were fair and reasonable when applied to them. The Authority found that the clause also invited arbitrators to decide whether the standards themselves were fair and reasonable. That would substitute an…
Defense Dependents Schools, Pacific Region and Overseas Education Association
Pacific Defense Schools and OEA (FLRA 0-AR-985): Teacher removal outside FLRA exceptions review
An arbitrator upheld the removal of an overseas Defense Department teacher, and the union filed exceptions with the Authority. The Authority examined the statutory personnel system for overseas teachers and found that the removal award fell within the separate category in 5 U.S.C. § 7121(f)…
Grafton Coal Company
Unbermed haul road brings $600 penalty
At Grafton Coal Company's Kincheloe Pit, an MSHA inspector saw two haul trucks using an elevated roadway with no berm or guard along its outer bank. Judge Gary Melick credited the inspector over mine witnesses who described a partial berm and found a serious violation of the roadway protection…
Martin Marietta Aggregates and Yates Construction Co., Inc.
Summary decision denied in quarry cases
Martin Marietta Aggregates and Yates Construction sought summary decisions in consolidated penalty cases concerning unsafe quarry wall conditions and workplace examinations. The wall citations arose after loose material fell and a loader backed into a truck, fatally injuring its driver. Judge James…
Matter of Patel
Frivolous appeal did not preserve voluntary departure
Two Indian nationals were found deportable after overstaying their visitor authorization and were granted six months of voluntary departure. They appealed without challenging deportability, requesting a hearing transcript and saying a brief would follow, but they never filed a brief or showed…
M.M. Sundt Construction Company
Default order assessed $40, then was vacated
M.M. Sundt Construction Company did not respond to a prehearing order or to an order to show cause in a civil-penalty case. Judge John J. Morris entered a default, dismissed Sundt's contest, affirmed two citations, and ordered $40 in penalties. The order did not decide the alleged violations on…
Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and AFGE Council 214
Air Force Logistics Command and AFGE (FLRA 5-CA-30322): Necessary witness subpoenas upheld
The Air Force challenged subpoenas requiring a union official to attend two distant hearing sessions in an unfair labor practice case. The Authority found that the judge had enough evidence to deem him a necessary witness and had not abused discretion in refusing to revoke the subpoenas. It denied…
NFFE Local 29 and Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District
Kansas City Corps and NFFE (FLRA 0-NG-877): Health program provisions split
The Kansas City Corps disapproved two negotiated provisions about employee participation in an occupational health program. The Authority found Provision 1, making participation and questionnaire answers voluntary, consistent with the safety law and regulations on this record. It found Provision 2…
NFFE and Haskell Indian Junior College, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Haskell Indian Junior College and NFFE (FLRA 0-NG-1113): Skills Center proposals partly negotiable
A union appealed objections to eleven proposals about Haskell Indian Junior College's pre-college program, work space, course materials, and schedules. The Authority dismissed review of Proposals 1 through 5 and 9 through 11. It ordered bargaining over Proposal 6, a forum for employees to discuss…
National Labor Relations Board Union and National Labor Relations Board
NLRB and its union (FLRA 0-NG-1112): One travel payment alternative negotiable
The National Labor Relations Board Union offered three alternatives for paying employee representatives' travel and per diem during committees and bargaining activities. The Authority found Alternative 1 inconsistent with travel law and regulations. It found Alternative 2 within agency discretion…
Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and AFGE Council 214
Air Force Logistics Command and AFGE (FLRA 5-CA-30334): Respirator policy bargaining required
The Air Force adopted a facial hair policy for employees required to wear respirators while bargaining with AFGE over its impact and implementation. The Authority found that two union proposals remained negotiable and that the command violated its bargaining duty by implementing the policy before…
AFGE Meat Grading Council and USDA Meat Grading and Certification Branch
USDA Meat Grading and AFGE (FLRA 0-NG-867): Three schedule proposals negotiable
The meat grading union proposed four rules concerning tours of duty, Saturday time off, and temporary assignments. The Authority rejected Proposal 1, which would freeze established schedules despite a governmentwide requirement to adjust workweeks to known work needs. It found Proposals 2 through 4…
National Labor Relations Board Union and NLRB Board and Office of General Counsel
NLRB Board and its union (FLRA 0-NG-1119): One travel payment alternative negotiable
The NLRB union offered three alternative proposals for paying travel and per diem to employee representatives serving on committees, in consultations, and in negotiations. The Authority found the first alternative inconsistent with travel law and regulations. It found the second within agency…
National Weather Service Employees Organization and National Weather Service
National Weather Service and NWSEO (FLRA 0-NG-1116): Travel proposal rejected
The union proposed travel and per diem for employee negotiators whose duty stations were outside the Washington area. The Authority found that travel payment was a condition of employment, but the proposal as presented did not call for the required agency determination that payment was in the…
Green River Terminal Incorporated
Dismissal rescinded while $20 payment checked
A $20 penalty case against Green River Terminal Incorporated had been dismissed after the operator reported paying the amount. The Solicitor later said the payment belonged to a different violation and asked to rescind the dismissal and enter a default. Chief Judge Paul Merlin rescinded the…
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1501
Overtime discrimination complaint dismissed
The General Counsel alleged that a Social Security employee lost overtime because of union activity. The Authority adopted the judge’s finding that the employee’s backlog did not justify overtime compared with other employees. Although the record showed some union animus, the Authority found the…
Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic and AFGE Local 2297
Clinic ordered to honor lunch area agreement
The union and the Veterans Administration clinic agreed to establish a second floor lunch break area for employees. The clinic did not implement the agreement and argued that the parties had reached no binding deal. The Authority adopted the judge’s findings and ordered the clinic to implement the…
Army Adjutant General Publications Center and AFGE Local 2761
Bargaining remedy replaces rescission order
The Army publications center changed union access procedures for its photocopier and internal mail system without prior notice or bargaining. The Authority upheld the finding of an unfair labor practice. Because the changes involved internal security, it rejected the judge’s order to rescind them…
Lowry Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1974
Bargaining required on parts of appraisal system
Lowry Air Force Base implemented a new performance appraisal system after rejecting union proposals. The Authority held that proposals setting rating levels and restricting critical elements interfered with management rights, but several other proposals were negotiable and did not conflict with the…
Health Care Financing Administration and AFGE Local 1923
Agency ordered to participate in grievance arbitration
The union invoked arbitration over a grievance, but the Health Care Financing Administration refused to participate because it considered the grievance outside the negotiated procedure. The Authority held that questions of arbitrability belonged in that procedure and that a party could not avoid it…
AFGE Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management
Competitive area proposal remains outside bargaining duty
On remand from the D.C. Circuit, the Authority reconsidered a union proposal to define the competitive area for a reduction in force. The proposed Washington metropolitan area would include employees outside the bargaining unit and directly determine where they competed for retention. The Authority…
Association of Civilian Technicians and Massachusetts Adjutant General
Combat turn work ban outside bargaining duty
The union proposed that civilian technicians perform no integrated combat turns, involving simultaneous aircraft fueling, weapons loading, and maintenance. It described the proposal as a safety procedure. The Authority found that the proposal would prohibit assignment of that work and thus…
National Association of Agriculture Employees and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Union travel payment proposals dismissed
The union sought agency payment of travel and per diem for representatives conducting union work. The Authority found that the proposal did not preserve the required determination that travel served the government’s primary interest. It therefore found the proposal inconsistent with federal travel…
Veterans Administration Medical Center Roseburg and AFGE Local 1042
Reconsideration of late arbitration exceptions denied
The union asked the Authority to reconsider its dismissal of exceptions to an arbitration award as late. The exceptions reached the Authority’s National Office after the filing deadline because the union sent them to a regional office. The Authority found no extraordinary circumstances to…
AFGE Local 3230 and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Suspension grievance allowed after separate EEO complaint
An employee filed an EEO complaint and later grieved a two day suspension. The agency argued that the earlier complaint barred the grievance under the statutory election rule. The Authority found that the EEO complaint neither expressly challenged the suspension nor requested a remedy for it. It…
Southwestern Power Administration and IBEW Local 1002
Foreman work assignment restriction struck from award
An arbitrator found that a general foreman performed switching duties contrary to the parties’ agreement and ordered the agency to stop assigning bargaining unit work to foremen except in specified situations. The Authority held that management could not relinquish its statutory right to assign…
National Marine Fisheries Service and Marine Engineers Beneficial Association
Backpay removed from fishing inspector award
An arbitrator found that permanent fishery inspectors had not received the deployment preference promised by their agreement and awarded retroactive compensation. The Authority found no specific determination that available permanent inspectors had lost particular assignments and pay because of the…
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.