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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Social Security Administration, San Francisco Region and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Social Security District Office Locals
SSA Indio branch (FLRA 8-CA-366): Formal meeting violation upheld, bargaining claim dismissed
SSA's Indio branch assigned additional medical form work to Title XVI claims representatives and held a staff meeting to announce the change without notifying their union. The administrative law judge found bargaining and formal meeting violations. The Authority disagreed on bargaining: the union…
Federal Aviation Administration, Aviation Standards National Field Office and American Federation of Government Employees locals and other labor organizations
FAA Aviation Standards National Field Office (FLRA 6-RA-20004): Reorganization changed some bargaining units
The FAA asked the Authority to review nine existing bargaining units after it moved several offices into the new Aviation Standards National Field Office. The Authority found that units represented by AFGE Locals 2123 and 3433 and the National Association of Flight Standards Employees remained…
Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bronx, New York and American Federation of Government Employees
Bronx VA Medical Center (FLRA 2-CU-30007): Six supervisory job classifications excluded from unit
AFGE sought to clarify the bargaining-unit status of about 11 employees at the Bronx VA Medical Center. The Authority found that incumbents in six disputed job classifications assigned and directed work or effectively recommended personnel actions using independent judgment. It excluded those…
Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Steel Mining Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Steel Mining (FMSHRC PENN 83-103 and related dockets): Ventilation and dust control citations upheld
MSHA cited U.S. Steel Mining for inoperative water sprays and improper belt air flow at its Cumberland Mine. Judge Gary Melick found that missing feeder sprays caused heavy coal dust and created a reasonable likelihood of fire or explosion and impaired visibility. He also found three citations…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2302 and U.S. Army Armor Center, Fort Knox, Kentucky
Fort Knox Army Armor Center (FLRA O-NG-623): Four performance appraisal proposals held nonnegotiable
AFGE Local 2302 challenged the Army Armor Center's refusal to bargain over four proposals about performance appraisals. The proposals would require matching critical elements for similar positions, union observation of performance measure development, conditions on using production studies as…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R14-89 and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Air Defense Center and Fort Bliss, Texas
Fort Bliss finance division (FLRA O-NG-602): Workload and transfer proposals held nonnegotiable
NAGE Local R14-89 proposed conditions on Fort Bliss accepting additional military pay records, joint union and management indicators for deciding whether to take that work, and seniority for lateral transfers within the finance division. The Authority held that the first two proposals constrained…
U.S. Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground Command and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Lodge 2424
Aberdeen Proving Ground (FLRA O-AR-455): Selection remedy changed to preserve management choice
An arbitrator found that Aberdeen Proving Ground used improper procedures to fill two WG-7 positions and ordered the Army to vacate the selections and choose again from the original WG-6 drivers. The Authority agreed that the selection process needed to be rerun but found the remedy too…
Internal Revenue Service, Jacksonville District and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS Jacksonville District (FLRA O-AR-378): Selection remedy modified after lateral reassignment
The IRS laterally reassigned an employee from a supervisory GS-12 job to a nonsupervisory GS-12 bargaining-unit job before he completed supervisory probation. An arbitrator found that the reassignment violated the collective bargaining agreement because competitive procedures had not been used. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Shamrock Coal Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Shamrock Coal Company (FMSHRC KENT 83-131): New employee training violation upheld
MSHA cited Shamrock Coal Company after Darrell Brock began work underground at its No. 10 Mine without receiving the required training specific to that mine and his assigned task. Brock had completed 48 hours of training at a vocational school, but the judge found that this did not replace the…
General Services Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
GSA protective service (FLRA 8-CA-1121): Complaint dismissed after adequate change notice
GSA sent AFGE a plan for special operations response teams affecting federal protective officers in Phoenix and Las Vegas. The union claimed the agency implemented the plan without adequate notice or an opportunity to bargain over its impact. The Authority found that the complete plan and GSA's…
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Department of the Navy and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 3 and Philadelphia Metal Trades Council
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (FLRA 2-CA-720, 2-CA-715): Bargaining ordered over magistrate system
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard instituted a magistrate system for handling traffic and other offenses without bargaining with two unions about its impact and implementation. The administrative law judge found an unfair labor practice and ordered prospective bargaining and a notice. The Authority…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1708 and Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point, Southport, North Carolina
Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (FLRA 0-NG-580): Performance study proposal partly negotiable
AFGE Local 1708 proposed rules for studies used to develop performance standards and for responses to unacceptable performance at the Army's Sunny Point terminal. The Authority held that requiring open studies, using average workers under normal conditions, and giving the union study information…
Roger Lee Welch, James H. Harvey, Melvin E. Dunithan, and Ralph R. Lucas v. Chestnut Ridge Coal Company
Welch and three other miners v. Chestnut Ridge Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 84-7-D and related dockets): Discrimination complaints dismissed after withdrawal
Four miners brought discrimination complaints against Chestnut Ridge Coal Company after being laid off from its Potomac Manor No. 1 Mine. At the hearing, the company president testified that the layoffs were driven by the company's inability to pay the miners' requested wages. After five more…
Roger E. Sammons v. Mine Services Co.
Dismissal of discrimination complaint affirmed
Roger Sammons alleged that Mine Services discharged him from an ironworker job at a coal mine construction project because he made safety complaints and refused unsafe work. An administrative law judge dismissed his Mine Act discrimination complaint, and the Commission affirmed. The Commission said…
Matter of Villanueva
Passport rule required a new citizenship review
A petitioner sought immediate-relative visa classification for a Mexican spouse but had to establish that the petitioner was a United States citizen. The district director discounted certified copies of two pages from an apparently valid United States passport because of concerns about the delayed…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Coal Company
Penalty petitions dismissed after withdrawal
MSHA brought two civil penalty cases against Peabody Coal Company, one involving Black Mesa Mine and the other Kayenta Mine. At the hearing, the Solicitor said the citations had been improperly cited under a regulation the order identifies as 30 C.F.R. 1605(d). The Solicitor withdrew the penalty…
Secretary of Labor v. Turner Brothers, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Turner Brothers (FMSHRC CENT 84-8 and CENT 84-9): Equipment safety citations upheld
MSHA cited Turner Brothers at two surface coal mines for defective brakes and warning devices, missing or discharged fire extinguishers, an incomplete first-aid kit, and expired waivers for bathing and changing facilities. Judge Gary Melick found that a loader without working brakes posed a grave…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Belcher Mine, Inc.
Judge's explanatory letter rejected
In a proceeding involving Belcher Mine, the administrative law judge sent a May 25, 1984 letter purporting to explain his April 26 decision. Commissioner Frank F. Jestrab rejected the letter as an improper circumvention of the Commission's procedural rules and returned it to the judge. The order…
Robert Simpson v. Kenta Energy, Inc. and Roy Dan Jackson
Robert Simpson v. Kenta Energy and Roy Dan Jackson (FMSHRC KENT 83-155-D): Interim discrimination ruling ordered reinstatement
Robert Simpson left his scoop operator job at Kenta Energy's mine because he feared working toward old mine workings without test holes and working without required mine examinations. Judge James A. Broderick found that Simpson's refusal to work was based on a reasonable safety concern and that…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. United States Steel Mining Co., Inc.
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. United States Steel Mining Co. (FMSHRC PENN 82-328): Judge's $75 penalties upheld
MSHA cited U.S. Steel Mining Company for violating its approved ventilation plan and allowing coal dust to accumulate at the Dilworth Mine. After the Secretary removed the significant and substantial designations, U.S. Steel argued that the Secretary's single penalty regulation required $20 for…
Naval Air Development Center, Department of the Navy and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1928
Naval Air Development Center (FLRA O-AR-417): Attorney fee award returned for findings
An arbitrator awarded backpay in an environmental differential pay dispute involving the Naval Air Development Center and provided for attorney fees. The Navy challenged the fee award under the Back Pay Act. The Authority found that the arbitrator had not provided the specific findings and…
Pan American World Airways, Inc.
Union challenge to settlement abatement methods rejected
OSHA cited Pan American World Airways because electromagnetic locks on 24 airport-building exit doors allegedly prevented free and unobstructed egress. The settlement required changes to the lock system, employee instruction, panic bars in two areas, a penalty, and a ten-week abatement period. The…
Lisbon Contractors, Inc.
Backhoe swing-radius citation vacated
Lisbon Contractors used a crawler backhoe to lift a trench box without barricading the machine's rotating superstructure. OSHA cited the crane swing-radius standard on the theory that using the backhoe for lifting transformed it into a crane. The Commission held that the standard and its…
Willamette Iron & Steel Company
Union objection to settlement classification rejected
Willamette Iron & Steel agreed to withdraw its contest of three citations and the associated penalties. The settlement changed one violation from willful to serious and reduced penalties for two violations, while requiring immediate abatement. The employees' union objected only to changing the…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Mid-Continent Resources, Inc.
Electrical work violation and $10,000 penalty affirmed
After an explosion at Mid-Continent's Dutch Creek No. 1 Mine killed 15 miners and injured three, MSHA cited the operator for having an unqualified miner install an electrical switch box cover plate. An administrative law judge found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.511 and assessed a $10,000 penalty…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1994 and Department of Defense, Military Entrance Processing Station, Boston
Boston Military Entrance Processing Station (FLRA O-NG-965): Toll-call fee appeal dismissed after withdrawal
NFFE Local 1994 proposed procedures for collecting administrative fees from Boston Military Entrance Processing Station employees who made unauthorized or unofficial toll calls. The activity alleged the proposal was outside the duty to bargain, and the union appealed. The agency later withdrew that…
Antilles Consolidated Education Association and Antilles Consolidated School System
Antilles Consolidated School System (FLRA O-NG-929): Appeal dismissed for missing required filing details
The Antilles Consolidated Education Association filed a negotiability appeal involving proposals for the Antilles Consolidated School System. After uncertainty about delivery of an earlier notice, the Authority again asked the union to explain the proposals' meaning and say whether the issues were…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1263 and Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, California
Defense Language Institute (FLRA O-NG-745): Two contracting provisions approved, early effective date rejected
NFFE Local 1263 appealed the Defense Language Institute's disapproval of three provisions in a negotiated agreement. The Authority found that union attendance at public pre-bid meetings and a procedure to challenge invalid in-house cost data did not interfere with management's contracting…
National Association of Agriculture Employees, Branch 11 and Department of Agriculture
Agriculture Department (FLRA O-NG-715): Local lunch-period appeal dismissed as moot
National Association of Agriculture Employees Branch 11 challenged the department's refusal to bargain locally over establishing lunch periods. The union also filed an unfair labor practice charge and chose to pursue that proceeding first. The General Counsel concluded that the duty to bargain over…
Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1482
Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow (FLRA 8-CA-1263): Gate-search directive request did not require disclosure
AFGE Local 1482 asked the Barstow Marine Corps Logistics Base for a command directive used in its random vehicle gate searches. The union believed the directive addressed employees' access to a steward and the time allowed to obtain one during a search. The administrative law judge found that the…
Internal Revenue Service, Brookhaven Service Center and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 99
IRS Brookhaven Service Center (FLRA 2-CA-808): Performance expectation complaint dismissed
The IRS Brookhaven Service Center proposed staged performance expectations for seasonal data transcribers and bargained with NTEU Chapter 99 over some changes. The union proposed longer periods before employees would be expected to reach 80, 90, and 100 percent of average performance. The Authority…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management
Office of Personnel Management (FLRA O-NG-914): Reduction-in-force area proposal held nonnegotiable
AFGE Local 32 proposed making the Washington metropolitan area the competitive area for reductions in force at OPM. The proposal would cover employees outside the union's bargaining unit as well as unit employees. The Authority held that the duty to bargain did not extend to a proposal directly…
Matter of McMullen
PIRA involvement set aside asylum and withholding grants
The respondent, an Irish citizen who had used a fraudulent passport to enter the United States, faced deportation after conceding the charges against him. He feared persecution by the Provisional Irish Republican Army after refusing, for personal safety, to carry out a kidnapping assignment. The…
Wachsberger Roofing and Sheet Metal Works, Inc.
Flat-roof safety-belt citation withdrawn
OSHA cited Wachsberger Roofing for not requiring safety belts during work on a flat roof. The Commission asked whether the general personal-protective-equipment standard was displaced by the more specific flat-roof fall-protection rule for built-up roofing. Because factual questions remained about…
Haysite, Division of Synthane-Taylor Corporation
Safety-shoe citation vacated
Haysite employees handled fiberglass sheets weighing up to 180 pounds. The company required sturdy shoes and required two or more employees to carry heavier sheets, but it did not mandate safety-toe footwear. The Commission held that the Secretary did not prove a reasonable person familiar with the…
Plum Creek Lumber Company
Noise and industrial-hygiene settlement approved
Plum Creek Lumber and the Secretary settled multiple citations involving conditions the employer represented had already been abated. Several willful items were changed to serious with a combined $1,000 penalty. Hearing-conservation items were changed from willful to other-than-serious with no…
Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers, National Association of Government Employees, Local R1-144 and Department of the Navy
Navy contracting committee (FLRA O-NG-690): Union seat proposal held nonnegotiable
The Federal Union of Scientists and Engineers proposed a seat on the Navy's Commercial Activities steering committee. The committee oversaw studies and made recommendations concerning possible contracting out of agency functions. The Authority held that management's statutory right to decide on…
Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 1267 and Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Depot Tracy, California
Defense Depot Tracy (FLRA O-NG-417): Shift terms partly negotiable, assignment limits rejected
Laborers Local 1267 appealed the Defense Depot Tracy's refusal to bargain over nine proposals. The Authority found that offering weekday shift openings by seniority, protecting existing shifts in limited circumstances, and generally assigning work consistent with grade were within the duty to…
Social Security Administration, Mid-America Program Service Center and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1336
SSA Mid-America Program Service Center (FLRA O-AR-531): Probationary termination award set aside
An arbitrator upheld the Mid-America Program Service Center's termination of a probationary employee under the parties' collective bargaining agreement. AFGE Local 1336 filed exceptions challenging the award's merits. The Authority found that governing law and regulations barred a negotiated…
Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, San Francisco Region and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Social Security District Office Locals
SSA Fresno offices (FLRA 9-CA-578): Individual schedule talks were not formal discussions
SSA changed the hours of part-time claims clerks in its Fresno district and told the employees individually about the change. The union alleged that SSA failed to give notice and bargain and held formal discussions without union participation. The administrative law judge dismissed the complaint…
Department of the Navy, Naval Station Norfolk and Federal Fire Fighters Association, Local 13 and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2414
Norfolk Naval Station firefighters (FLRA 4-RO-30011): Election directed between two unions or no union
Federal Fire Fighters Association Local 13 sought a separate unit for firefighters at Norfolk Naval Station. The Navy and AFGE Local 2414 argued the firefighters belonged in the existing station-wide unit after a reorganization. The Authority found that the employees shared policies and…
Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Base and Michael David Culp
Norfolk Naval Base (FLRA 3-CA-1966): Reprimand for requesting union representation ordered removed
Norfolk Naval Base reprimanded firefighter Michael David Culp after he refused an investigatory meeting without a union representative. The administrative law judge found that Culp reasonably believed the interview could lead to discipline and that the Navy violated his representation rights by…
Internal Revenue Service, District, Region, National Office Unit and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS case assignment study (FLRA 3-CA-1964): Bargaining and bypass complaint dismissed
The IRS notified NTEU that it would study its case assignment guide and interview employees about how the guide worked. The union requested bargaining on the day the study was scheduled to begin, nearly three weeks after the notice. The Authority found the request untimely, so the IRS had no duty…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Pontiki Coal Corporation
Motions and filings struck from review record
During review of a proceeding involving Pontiki Coal Corporation, an administrative law judge asked to intervene and to have the matter remanded. The Commission denied both motions as unauthorized and struck the judge's related filings and the Secretary's responses from the record. It also struck…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. U.S. Steel Mining Company, Inc.
Five mine safety penalties totaling $990
MSHA cited U.S. Steel Mining Company for conditions at its Maple Creek No. 1 Mine involving a miner's self-rescue device, battery-powered equipment, a locomotive lifting jack, and a roof bolter cable. Judge Gary Melick found that the self-rescue device was too far from the miner and that the…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. U.S. Steel Mining Company, Inc.
Mine safety citations resolved with $2,555 in penalties
MSHA brought six civil penalty proceedings against U.S. Steel Mining Company over conditions at its Maple Creek No. 2 Mine, including electrical equipment, grounding, ventilation, and roof support. Judge Gary Melick upheld most of the contested violations, finding several significant and…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Duval Corporation
Hoist citation upheld, escapeway citation vacated
MSHA cited Duval Corporation after a hoist used as a second escapeway malfunctioned at its underground potash mine in New Mexico. Judge John J. Morris found that Duval used the production hoist before locating and repairing the malfunction, violating the hoist maintenance rule even though no miners…
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and U.S. Army Support Command, Hawaii
Army Support Command Hawaii (FLRA O-AR-215): Property assessment cancellation upheld, fee issue remanded
An arbitrator vacated an Army employee's financial responsibility assessment for damage to a landing vehicle and awarded $3,500 in attorney fees. The Authority rejected the Army's challenges to the finding that the investigation did not justify the assessment and to the bar on reopening the matter…
U.S. Air Force, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 916
Tinker Air Force Base (FLRA O-AR-529): Backpay remedy replaced with repromotion consideration
An arbitrator found that Tinker Air Force Base failed to give a demoted employee the special consideration owed to a person eligible for repromotion to WG-12. The arbitrator ordered retroactive promotion with backpay and benefits. The Authority held that the Back Pay Act required a finding that the…
Georgia National Guard, Fort Stewart, Georgia and Georgia Association of Civilian Technicians Union
Georgia National Guard (FLRA O-AR-441): Priority consideration award narrowed
A grievance challenged the selection of an employee for a general mechanic leader position at the Georgia National Guard. The arbitrator found that the selection did not fully follow the parties' merit promotion procedures. He ordered priority consideration for nine other candidates and barred…
U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1917
Immigration and Naturalization Service (FLRA O-AR-273): Incumbent stays pending corrective action
An arbitrator found that the Immigration and Naturalization Service had filled a criminal investigator position without announcing and posting the vacancy as required. He directed the agency to fill the position through proper procedures and remove the incumbent. The Authority held that the…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Pyro Mining Company
$734 settlement and ventilation citation modification approved
Pyro Mining Company and MSHA reached a settlement covering ten cited conditions at the company's Pyro No. 9 Slope and Pride mines. Judge Richard C. Steffey approved penalties totaling $734, down from MSHA's proposed $1,684. He also changed a ventilation plan citation from an unwarrantable failure…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Corporation
$400 coal dust penalty assessed
MSHA cited Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Corporation for coal dust inside two electrical panels in the tipple control room at its McKinley Mine. Judge James A. Broderick found that the roughly one-eighth-inch accumulations violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.202 because an electrical fault could ignite the…
Federal Aviation Administration, Northwest Mountain Region and Washington, D.C. and Professional Airways Systems Specialists
FAA Seattle and Auburn (FLRA 9-CA-20280, 9-CA-20410): Holiday staffing changes rescinded
The FAA reduced holiday staffing at its Seattle and Auburn facilities without bargaining with PASS over the impact and implementation. FAA relied on a consultation-only clause in an expired agreement with PASS's predecessor union. The Authority agreed with the judge that PASS could reject that…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2000 and William R. Massengale
AFGE Local 2000 (FLRA 6-CO-37 and 6-CO-38): Threat to nonmembers violated labor law
The case concerned complaints by nonmember civilian technicians at Barksdale Air Force Base about their union's conduct during bargaining over work schedules. An administrative law judge found that the union president threatened to "get" or "get rid of" a nonmember who had questioned her at a union…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Getz Coal Sales, Inc.
Bulldozer citations affirmed with $620 in penalties
MSHA cited Getz Coal Sales for missing seatbelts and faulty cab doors on two bulldozers at its Getz Strip Mine. The company and its counsel did not appear at the hearing, so Judge George A. Koutras heard MSHA's evidence and held the company in default. He affirmed all four citations, finding that…
Brown & Root, Inc.
Petition for review dismissed after appellate remand
The Fifth Circuit reversed the Commission's September 30, 1982 order and remanded with instructions to dismiss the petition for review. The Commission dismissed the petition as directed. It ordered the administrative law judge to terminate all proceedings consistently with the appellate mandate.
Pyro Mining Company v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA)
One roof control order affirmed, one changed to a citation
Pyro Mining Company contested two unwarrantable failure orders for roof control violations at its Pyro No. 9 Slope mine. The company accepted that both violations were significant and substantial but disputed whether they resulted from unwarrantable failure. Judge Richard C. Steffey affirmed the…
Lonnie Jones v. D & R Contractors
): Discrimination liability found, relief left open
Lonnie Jones alleged that D & R Contractors removed him after he refused more overtime work because fatigue and illness made continued mining work unsafe. Judge Gary Melick found Jones's safety-based refusal protected by the Mine Act and concluded that it motivated his removal. He allowed Jones's…
Lawrence L. Everett v. Industrial Garnet Extractives
Discharge complaint dismissed after hearing
Electrician Lawrence Everett alleged that Industrial Garnet Extractives discharged him because he reported safety concerns at its mill. Judge James A. Broderick found that Everett's report of a machinery lockout problem was protected activity and partly motivated the discharge. The judge also found…
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.