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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National Archives and AFGE Local 2578
National Archives and AFGE (FLRA 3-CA-993): Recruitment and reassignment complaint dismissed
The National Archives contacted employees about competitive service positions and later reassigned some employees. The union alleged that the contacts were formal discussions requiring its presence and that the agency should have bargained over the reassignments. The Authority found that the brief…
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 1923
SSA and AFGE Local 1923 (FLRA 3-CA-40552): Employee questionnaire complaint dismissed
The Social Security Administration distributed an integrity and security questionnaire to employees. AFGE alleged that the agency bypassed the union and should have bargained over how it collected the information. The Authority found no effort to deal directly with employees about their conditions…
Occupational Safety and Health Administration and AFGE Local 644
OSHA and AFGE Local 644 (FLRA 2-CA-30121): Formal discussion complaint dismissed
OSHA held a Pittsburgh office staff meeting about agency objectives. An administrative law judge found that OSHA violated the union's right to be represented at a formal discussion because it had not given advance notice. The Authority disagreed: a union steward and vice president attended and…
NAGE Local R1-100H and Naval Hospital Groton
NAGE and Naval Hospital Groton (FLRA 0-NG-1073): Four week schedule notice provision rejected
A local agreement would have required the naval hospital to post shift schedules four weeks ahead and change them only in emergencies. The Authority found that this could prevent a schedule change required by a government wide workweek regulation. It ruled that the provision was outside the duty to…
Internal Revenue Service Houston District and NTEU Chapter 222
IRS Houston and NTEU (FLRA 6-CA-30311): Dress rule charge dismissed as late
The IRS announced and enforced a rule against jeans in a Houston district branch. NTEU alleged that the agency changed working conditions without bargaining. The Authority found that the rule had been openly announced at meetings to which the union was invited, and the later incident cited by the…
Internal Revenue Service Chicago and NTEU Chapter 10
IRS Chicago and NTEU (FLRA 5-CA-860): Daily log complaint dismissed
An IRS supervisor required two Chicago employees to record the time spent on their assigned cases. NTEU said the agency should have offered bargaining before imposing the logs. The Authority found a slight change affecting only two employees, with no evidence that the requirement would spread or…
Federal Election Commission and National Treasury Employees Union
FEC and NTEU (FLRA 3-CA-30508): Hallway poster complaint dismissed
The Federal Election Commission ordered a union officer to remove a poster from a hallway outside an office. The Authority found no general statutory right to post material there. The record also showed no agreement or past practice granting access to that location. It dismissed the unfair labor…
Bureau of Prisons and AFGE Council of Prison Locals Local 1661
Bureau of Prisons and AFGE (FLRA 1-CA-40335): Agency ordered to follow lunch period award
An arbitration award required payment for prison physician assistants who worked through unpaid lunch periods without relief. The Bureau of Prisons directed its Danbury institution to demand proof of emergency work before paying, a condition not in the award. The Authority found that the bureau…
NTEU Chapter 65 and Internal Revenue Service
NTEU Chapter 65 and IRS (FLRA 0-NG-998): Work schedule proposal split
NTEU proposed limits on how many employees in a work unit could take regularly scheduled days off, with an exception for units already above the proposed limit. The Authority found that the initial maximum of 30 percent was negotiable because managers could still deny schedules that impaired work…
Venblack, Inc.
EAJA fee application denied
Venblack, Inc. applied for attorney fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing in an underlying contest and related penalty proceeding. The company argued that the Secretary's position was not substantially justified. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that the Secretary…
IMCO Services
Settlement approved for $809
IMCO Services and the Secretary jointly moved to settle a civil penalty proceeding involving the Houma Barite Plant. The proposed penalty was $809, and IMCO Services agreed to pay the full amount. Judge Roy J. Maurer found the settlement appropriate under the Mine Act's penalty criteria. He ordered…
Hobet Mining and Construction Company
Citations split and $1,380 penalty assessed
Hobet Mining and Construction Company contested citations issued at its Pine Creek No. 12 Prep Plant and No. 7 Surface Mine. In a correction to the August 6, 1985 decision, Judge James A. Broderick affirmed 12 citations, vacated six, and modified one citation to remove its…
Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration and AFGE Local 2513
DOL Employment Standards and AFGE (FLRA 2-CA-30604): Meeting complaint dismissed
The Department of Labor held a formal meeting with employees without separately notifying AFGE. A judge found that this denied the union its opportunity to attend. The Authority found that nine or ten union officials and stewards were among the roughly 275 employees present. Their actual attendance…
AFGE Local 2904 and United States Marine Corps
AFGE Local 2904 and Marine Corps (FLRA 0-AR-987): Nonparty arbitration exceptions dismissed
An individual union member filed exceptions challenging terms of a master labor agreement that she attributed to an interest arbitrator. The Authority found no signed, dated award in the record and found that the individual was not a party entitled to file exceptions under its arbitration rules. It…
Red Star Marine Services, Inc.
Noise citation withdrawn and case dismissed
Red Star operated tugboats and marine towing services. An administrative law judge found that an engineer aboard the tugboat Stamford was exposed to excessive engine-room noise and that Red Star lacked a continuing, effective hearing-conservation program. The judge affirmed those two items as other…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
$500 settlement approved and order modified
Southern Ohio Coal Company faced a civil penalty proceeding and a contest concerning an alleged failure to conduct a required examination at the Martinka No. 1 Mine. A miner suffered minor injuries after contacting a roof bolt and being struck by loose shale. The parties settled for the full…
Greenwich Collieries, Division of Pennsylvania Mines Corporation
Section 103(k) penalty settled for $550
Greenwich Collieries faced a civil penalty proceeding for a section 103(k) violation at its No. 1 Mine. A section foreman entered an area covered by a withdrawal order after a methane explosion, and the parties proposed reducing the $1,000 assessment to $550. Judge George A. Koutras found that…
Daneker Sand & Gravel
Ten violations settled for $132
Daneker Sand & Gravel faced ten alleged safety violations involving missing machine guards, missing first-aid equipment, and an inoperative loader backup alarm. The original assessments totaled $528, and the parties proposed a $132 settlement based on the sole proprietorship's reported financial…
Consolidation Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed for failure to respond
Chester W. Craig filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Consolidation Coal Company. The Commission ordered him to provide information about the complaint within 30 days or show good cause for not doing so. The order was delivered by certified mail, but Craig did not respond. Judge Paul…
Crescent Hills Coal Co., Inc.
Late discrimination complaint dismissed
Paul Krevokuch filed a discrimination complaint against Crescent Hills Coal Co., Inc. more than a year after his discharge as a mine foreman. He said at different times that he was discharged because of his age, high wages, or safety-related conduct. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that the…
NFFE Local 1363 and U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan
NFFE Local 1363 and Army Yongsan (FLRA O-NG-854): Ammunition shipment proposals rejected
The union proposed that employees at the Army garrison in Korea be allowed to ship privately owned ammunition with household goods, or receive a delay before a ban took effect. The Authority found that the proposals conflicted with government wide travel rules governing what may be shipped at…
AFSCME Local 2910 and Library of Congress
Seating preference proposals rejected
The Library of Congress planned to group loan reference employees by their primary work when relocating them. The union proposed employee seating preferences, seniority tie breaking, and a period to review the seating arrangement. The Authority found that the requested seating choice would…
AFGE Local 3342 and Social Security Administration
AFGE Local 3342 and SSA (FLRA O-NG-1032): Flexible break proposal negotiable
The union proposed that a Social Security district office avoid fixed schedules for employees' daily breaks. The Authority read the proposal as preserving management's ability to deny a break at a time when work required the employee. It rejected the agency's management rights objection and ordered…
VA Medical Center Tampa and AFGE Local 547
VA Tampa and AFGE (FLRA O-AR-791): Classification grievance award set aside
A Tampa VA laboratory technician claimed he should have been promoted to the target grade of his position. An arbitrator decided that the grievance was arbitrable and addressed the grade of the employee's duties. The Authority found that the dispute was, in substance, about position classification…
Southwestern Illinois Coal Corp.
Remand settlement approved for $70
Southwestern Illinois Coal Corp. faced a penalty proceeding involving a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 77.1710(g) at the Captain Mine. After the Commission remanded the case for a finding on whether the violation was significant and substantial and for a penalty assessment, the parties agreed to settle…
Secretary of Labor o/b/o Eperson v. Jolene, Inc., aka Joline, Inc.
Motion to reopen denied
Joline, Inc. asked the Commission to reopen the record in a discrimination case involving Shelby Eperson. The request followed a Sixth Circuit order enforcing the Commission's earlier order granting Eperson reinstatement, back pay, interest, and expenses. The Commission held that its jurisdiction…
U.S. Customs Service Region VIII Seattle and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Seattle and NTEU (FLRA 9-CA-20232): Meeting complaint dismissed
A judge found that Customs failed to give NTEU an opportunity to be represented at a meeting with employees. The Authority found that a union representative was actually present. Without deciding whether the meeting was a formal discussion, it rejected the violation finding and dismissed the…
Social Security Administration Baltimore and AFGE
SSA and AFGE (FLRA 9-CA-20033): Las Vegas break schedule bargaining ordered
A supervisor in the Social Security Administration's Las Vegas office imposed a standing break and lunch schedule for a public service unit that had previously adjusted breaks as needed. The Authority found that choosing break times was negotiable and that the agency changed an established practice…
VA Medical Center Muskogee and AFGE Local 2250
VA Muskogee and AFGE (FLRA 6-CA-399): Official time change reversed
The Muskogee VA Medical Center changed a practice that let union officers use official time for representation after notifying management. It began requiring advance approval and charged two officers as absent without leave while they performed union duties. The Authority found that the unilateral…
U.S. Customs Service Miami and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Miami and NTEU (FLRA 4-CA-552): Meeting and bypass complaint dismissed
A judge found that Customs violated union representation rights at a July meeting and bypassed NTEU by dealing directly with employees. The Authority found that a union representative actually attended the meeting. It also found no evidence that management negotiated directly with employees over…
Defense Public Affairs Office and Washington Headquarters Services; AFGE Local 2
Defense Public Affairs and AFGE (FLRA 3-CA-718): Pentagon parking notice violation found
A Pentagon support office distributed a paid parking circular to employees, but the Defense public affairs office did not give its employees' union separate notice and an opportunity to request bargaining. The Authority found a notice and bargaining violation by the public affairs office, which was…
U.S. Customs Service and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Service and NTEU (FLRA 3-CA-30376): Baggage collection bargaining ordered
Customs issued a nationwide policy allowing duty waivers for small amounts in passenger baggage processing. It did not notify NTEU before implementation, and some cashiers lost overtime opportunities. The Authority found a violation of the duty to bargain over procedures and arrangements for…
Alabama By-Products Corp.
Fatal-accident citations resolved through mixed settlement
Alabama By-Products Corp. faced seven contests and two civil penalty proceedings after a fatal accident involving a continuous-mining machine operator. The judge approved settlements for two citations, affirmed several citations and one imminent-danger order, and dismissed the related contests…
Ella Coal Company
Five citations affirmed and $208 assessed
Ella Coal Company, a small family-operated underground mine, conceded five alleged violations involving examination records, machine guarding, ventilation, ventilation-plan compliance, and explosive storage. Judge George A. Koutras found that the violations occurred and that the operator had…
S.M. Lorusso & Sons, Inc.
Five penalties assessed totaling $160
S.M. Lorusso & Sons, Inc. faced five citations involving excessive noise exposure and missing or damaged guards at a crushed-stone operation. Judge Paul Merlin considered the seriousness of each condition, the operator's small size, its limited prior violations, and the circumstances of employee…
AFGE Local 2094 and VA Medical Center New York
AFGE Local 2094 and VA New York (FLRA O-NG-1038): Four workplace proposals rejected
The union proposed time at the start and end of shifts, official time for visits to members of Congress and federal agencies, and a restriction on discipline for employees with alcohol or drug problems. The Authority found that the shift proposal restricted the VA's right to assign work. The…
U.S. Customs Service and NTEU
Customs Service and NTEU (FLRA 3-CA-20772): Questionnaire complaint dismissed
Customs asked employees about its existing performance appraisal system as part of an internal review. A judge found that the questionnaires bypassed NTEU and that Customs should have bargained over employee participation. The Authority disagreed. It found that Customs sought information about…
Montana Air Chapter of ACT and Montana Air National Guard
Montana Air Chapter and Air National Guard (FLRA O-NG-804): Longevity points rejected
The union proposed one promotion rating point for each completed year of technician service at the Montana Air National Guard. The Authority found that the provision awarded seniority credit without a prior job analysis linking it to success in the jobs at issue. That conflicted with a government…
NFFE Local 943 and Keesler Air Force Base
Four proposals rejected
The union proposed limits on custodial assignments, work accommodations for ill or injured employees, and changes to promotion rating credits. The Authority found the first two proposals constrained management's rights to assign employees and work. The rating proposals awarded points without the…
Bremerton Metal Trades Council and Puget Sound Navy Shipyard
Bremerton Metal Trades Council and Navy (FLRA O-NG-725): Retroactive promotion pay rejected
The union sought retroactive pay for employees detailed to supervisory work if the Authority ordered bargaining on related temporary promotion proposals. The Authority found that a bargaining order did not require the Navy to accept those proposals. The Navy's refusal to agree was not an…
NAGE Local R12-29, AFGE Local 48, and Point Mugu Council; Department of the Navy
Navy and three unions (FLRA O-NG-528): Short temporary promotions negotiable
Three Navy unions proposed temporary promotion of employees detailed to higher graded work after brief periods. The Navy cited a regulation barring temporary promotions to supervisory positions for less than 31 days. The Authority found no compelling need for that regulation to block bargaining. It…
AFGE Local 2612 and Griffiss Air Force Base
Overtime and retention proposals rejected
The union sought a four hour minimum overtime payment for employees held after their shifts and priority retention for union officers and stewards during a reduction in force. The Authority found that federal pay law did not authorize payment for unworked holdover time. It also found that retention…
AFGE Local 1546 and Sharpe Army Depot
Three agreement provisions rejected
An Army official disapproved three provisions of a locally negotiated agreement. The Authority found the local commander had lacked authority to approve the agreement, so the appeal could proceed. A two week notice rule for shift changes conflicted with a government wide scheduling regulation. A…
Federal Aviation Administration and PASS
FAA and PASS (FLRA 6-CA-30370): Bargaining ordered on performance standards change
The FAA revised performance standards and critical job elements for employees in its Southwest Region. PASS asked to bargain through its designated national representative, but the FAA offered only local consultation. The Authority found that the FAA had to bargain over procedures and arrangements…
IRS Dallas District and NTEU Chapter 46
IRS Dallas and NTEU (FLRA 6-CA-1056): Office move bargaining ordered
The IRS moved its Mid-Cities office from Arlington to Euless, Texas, without bargaining over union proposals submitted before the move. The Authority held that proposals 2, 3, 7, and 8 were negotiable, including a request for OSHA safety inspections. Proposals 1, 5, and 6 were outside the duty to…
Customs Service Region IV and NTEU
Customs Service and NTEU (FLRA 34-CA-30615): Union activity discrimination remedied
Customs officials made coercive comments about union officer John Brothers during a detail selection and withheld a detail because of his union activity. The Authority adopted the judge's unfair labor practice findings. It ordered Customs to stop the conduct, post a notice, and give Brothers the…
Fort Knox Teachers Association and Fort Knox Dependent Schools
Fort Knox teachers (FLRA O-NG-893): Two proposals negotiable, three rejected
The teachers union proposed priority consideration for transfers and job openings, assignment rules, and union communication at faculty meetings. The Authority found two priority consideration proposals negotiable because they set the order of consideration without requiring selection. A third…
Social Security Administration and AFGE
SSA and AFGE (FLRA O-AR-825): Three hours of pay replaces leave
An SSA union official spent three hours of personal time preparing for an arbitration hearing after being denied official time. The arbitrator awarded administrative or compensatory time off. The Authority found that neither remedy was authorized for this work. It modified the award to provide…
AFGE Local 1164 and Social Security Administration Boston Region
AFGE Local 1164 and SSA (FLRA O-AR-819): Cash remedy replaces leave
An SSA union official used two hours of personal time to prepare a grievance presentation after the agency denied official time. An arbitrator awarded administrative leave. The Authority agreed that official time had been wrongly denied but found administrative leave was the wrong remedy. It…
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 3231
SSA and AFGE Local 3231 (FLRA O-AR-770): Official time remedy revised
An SSA union official received less official time than she needed to prepare briefs in two arbitrations. The arbitrator ordered payment for 18 and three quarter hours of leave without pay and administrative leave for 14 and one half hours of personal time. The Authority held that the latter time…
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE Local 916
Tinker Air Force Base and AFGE (FLRA O-AR-716): Pay replaces future official time
A union official used personal time to prepare a second step grievance after the Air Force denied two additional hours of official time. The arbitrator awarded two hours of future official time. The Authority found that official time could not be granted later as corrective action for work already…
E & T Trucking and Elmo Mayes
Discrimination complaints dismissed after settlement
James King, Kenneth Music, and John D. Music, Jr. brought discrimination complaints against E & T Trucking and Elmo Mayes. The parties reached a settlement during the hearings. Judge Gary Melick granted the complainants' request to withdraw their complaints under 29 C.F.R. § 2700.11. The three…
Johnie Childers Coal Company, Inc.
Four violations affirmed with $500 penalty
Johnie Childers Coal Company operated the No. 7 underground coal mine in Kentucky. Inspectors found inadequate lighting and no panic bar on a roof bolting machine, inoperable brakes on a shuttle car, and drilling without the line curtain required by the mine's ventilation plan. Judge William Fauver…
Federal Aviation Administration and PASS
FAA and PASS (FLRA 6-CA-30230): Direct shift polling violated union rights
An FAA radar unit manager polled technicians about possible shift changes by memo and at a meeting. The Authority found that the questions concerned contemplated changes to working conditions and bypassed PASS. It ordered the FAA to stop dealing directly with employees and post a notice. It…
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Metal Trades Council
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (FLRA 2-CA-40243): Address disclosure complaint dismissed; later vacated
A judge found that the shipyard violated its information duty when it withheld employees' names and home addresses from the union. The Authority reversed. It found that employees' privacy interests outweighed the union's need for the addresses in this case, and other means of communication were…
SSA Northeastern Program Service Center and AFGE Local 1760
SSA and AFGE Local 1760 (FLRA 2-CA-30643): Address disclosure complaint dismissed
A judge found that SSA violated its information duty by declining to give AFGE the names and home addresses of bargaining unit employees. The Authority reversed. It weighed employee privacy against the union's need for the list and noted other ways to communicate with employees. It dismissed the…
Secretary of Labor v. Calvin Black Enterprises
Contractor safety and inspection citations upheld
Calvin Black Enterprises operated two underground uranium mines in Utah. Inspectors cited Black after a contractor's surveying crew worked underground without ready access to self-rescue devices and used a gasoline-powered jeep where the mine lacked the required escape routes. They also cited Black…
Panama Canal Federation of Teachers and DOD Dependents Schools Panama
Panama teachers (FLRA O-NG-817): Curriculum proposals rejected
The teachers union proposed changes to curriculum planning, textbooks, committees, programs, and participation by teachers and other staff. The Authority found that the proposals would constrain management's decisions about curriculum, work assignments, materials used in teaching, or budget…
Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers and Department of the Navy
Scientists union and Navy (FLRA O-NG-1056): Petition dismissed without prejudice
The union filed a negotiability petition without a written Navy allegation that its proposals were nonnegotiable. The Navy said the proposals might be negotiable and did not assert otherwise. The Authority found no current negotiability dispute and dismissed the petition without prejudice to…
NFFE Local 1363 and Army Garrison Yongsan
NFFE and Army Yongsan (FLRA O-NG-1048): Premature petition dismissed
The union sought review of an Army proposal without a written allegation that it was nonnegotiable. The Army told the Authority it had made no such allegation and did not view the proposal as nonnegotiable. Because no negotiability dispute existed, the Authority dismissed the petition without…
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.