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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AFGE Local 1778 and McGuire Air Force Base
McGuire union forms and on-duty solicitation restricted (FLRA 2-CO-12)
AFGE Local 1778 presented nonmembers seeking help with forms for dues or representation costs in a way that suggested help depended on signing. The Authority agreed with the judge that this impression unlawfully coerced employees, but found no proof that the union actually withheld representation…
FMC Corporation
Misfire citation upheld with lower penalty
FMC Corporation contested a citation after an inspector found blasting material in two drill holes at its underground trona mine. Judge John J. Morris found that the remaining ammonium nitrate fuel oil showed at least partial failure of the charges to explode, so both holes had to be treated as…
FMC Corporation
Unsafe truck steering and energized repair citations affirmed
FMC Corporation contested two safety citations at its mine. Judge John J. Morris found that a subcontractor's pickup truck had loose, worn steering parts that could cause loss of control, violating the rule requiring correction of safety defects before use. He also found that an FMC electrician…
Wade Kemp III, William Kure, Russell Collins, Virgil Kelly, Eugene Weigenstein, and Donald Darrell Goodman
Wade Kemp III and five others (FMSHRC CENT 81-186-M through CENT 81-191-M): Individual penalty petitions dismissed
The Secretary sought individual civil penalties against six agents of GAF Corporation, alleging that they knowingly allowed use of a haul truck with defective brakes at the Annapolis Quarry and Mill. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy dismissed the charges against four agents during the hearing because the…
Washington Corporation, doing business as Washington Construction Company
Washington Construction Company (FMSHRC WEST 81-63-M and four other dockets): Seven citations vacated, fall protection penalty assessed
Five consolidated penalty cases against Washington Construction Company involved several citations and a fall protection violation at its Dry Valley Mine. Judge Virgil E. Vail vacated two citations when the Secretary could not locate the inspectors needed to prove them, and vacated five others…
Chicago O'Hare Chapter 10, Association of Civilian Technicians and Illinois Air National Guard Technicians
Chicago Air National Guard proposal appeal dismissed as moot (FLRA O-NG-735)
The union appealed the National Guard Bureau’s disapproval of a provision in its local agreement. The Bureau later withdrew its allegation that the provision was outside the duty to bargain. The Authority found no live negotiability dispute and dismissed the petition as moot. It said the agreement…
NAGE Local R1-144 and Naval Underwater Systems Center, Newport, Rhode Island
Naval appraisal-plan proposal appeal dismissed as moot (FLRA O-NG-710)
NAGE Local R1-144 petitioned after the Naval Underwater Systems Center said a proposal about its GS-13 through GS-15 appraisal plan conflicted with a Navy regulation. The agency later withdrew the nonnegotiability allegation. The Authority found the appeal moot and dismissed the petition without…
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 2080 and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville, Tennessee
Corps of Engineers pay proposals held nonnegotiable (FLRA O-NG-391)
IBEW Local 2080 sought premium pay for schedule changes, Sunday overtime, and a four-hour minimum for callback overtime. The Authority found no evidence that the parties’ earlier bargaining brought the proposals within the statutory savings clause. It held the first two proposals outside the duty…
IBEW Local 121 and Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Engraving bureau pay petition dismissed as late (FLRA O-NG-357)
IBEW Local 121 appealed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s claim that a pay-setting proposal was nonnegotiable. The Authority held that the agency’s prehearing brief to the Federal Service Impasses Panel was an allegation of nonnegotiability that started the appeal period. The union filed its…
AFGE Local 1617 and San Antonio Air Logistics Command
Kelly Air Force Base arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA O-AR-402)
AFGE Local 1617 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving the San Antonio Air Logistics Command at Kelly Air Force Base. The Authority found that the exceptions arrived after the statutory filing period. It dismissed them without reviewing the award’s merits.
AFGE Local 3272 and SSA Holland Branch Office
Holland SSA probationer separation award upheld (FLRA O-AR-205)
An arbitrator denied a grievance challenging a probationary SSA employee’s separation after finding that management’s appraisal of her work was not shown to be arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory. The union asserted Privacy Act and unfair labor practice violations and disputed the arbitrator’s…
Matter of Brown
Departure did not end pending deportation proceedings
The Service appealed after an immigration judge terminated deportation proceedings against a Jamaican lawful permanent resident who had temporarily left the United States. The respondent had conceded deportability for a marijuana conviction and had applied for a section 212(c) waiver before…
Matter of Ruis
Later readmission did not erase an entry without inspection
The Board reviewed the Service's appeal after an immigration judge terminated deportation proceedings against a Colombian lawful permanent resident who had entered the United States without inspection. The respondent later departed and returned using his Alien Registration Receipt Card, and argued…
Consolidation Coal Company, successor to Pocahontas Fuel Company
Consolidation Coal Company (FMSHRC HOPE 75-680): Miner pay rate sent back for a specific award
A court had ruled that miner Howard Mullins was paid too little after a transfer and sent the case back to determine the amount due. An administrative law judge then left the calculation to the parties. The Commission held that further administrative proceedings were needed to determine what period…
Concord Naval Weapons Station and AFGE Local 1931
Overseas ammunition team excluded from Concord unit (FLRA 9-CU-27)
Concord Naval Weapons Station sought to exclude five mobile ammunition evaluation and reconditioning positions from an AFGE bargaining unit. The Authority found that their overseas team assignments, schedules, pay, recruitment, and working conditions differed substantially from those of other unit…
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co.
Union participation issue remanded
The railroad withdrew its notice of contest after the Secretary reported that the dispute had been resolved. The affected employees' union had already elected party status, but the judge did not learn that fact until after affirming the citation and cancelling the hearing. The union maintained that…
SSA San Francisco Region and AFGE Council of Social Security District Office Locals
SSA must invite union to formal grievance discussions (FLRA 8-CA-382)
SSA officials met with a bargaining-unit employee about her grievances without notifying the union. The Authority found the meetings were formal discussions about grievances within the statute. It rejected SSA’s claim that the union had waived attendance rights for grievances employees handled…
U.S. Customs Service, Region VII, Los Angeles, California and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs must supply grievance records; meeting claim dismissed (FLRA 8-CA-240)
An NTEU-represented Customs employee grieved a denied promotion and the union requested records about the selection process. Customs refused the records and also declined a requested fourth-step grievance meeting. The Authority held that the relevant records had to be furnished under the statutory…
AMOCO Oil Company
Settlement order left final after divided review
AMOCO and the Secretary reached a settlement, and the affected employees' union objected to parts of the abatement plan. The two participating commissioners disagreed over whether employee parties may challenge settlement terms beyond the length of the abatement period. Because the vote was…
Davis-McKee, Inc.
Serious trench-sloping violation affirmed
Two Davis-McKee employees operated a compactor in a trench more than 17 feet deep. One wall near a concrete caisson contained a substantial wedge of unsupported soil, and the opposite wall was steeper than the standard allowed. The Commission held that the caisson did not serve as shoring because…
General Electric Company
Transformer test-berth citation affirmed on a lax pass system, nominal $1 penalty
At General Electric's Pittsfield, Massachusetts plant, transformers weighing up to 500 tons were assembled at one end of Building 100 and tested at the other, the two areas divided by a chain-link fence. Five high voltage test berths were at issue. Each was fenced to eight feet with a pedestrian…
Astra Pharmaceutical Products, Inc.
Chemical-protection penalty reduced to $500
A reactor overflow sprayed an Astra operator with toxic chemicals and seriously injured him, while other employees responding to the incident were also exposed. The serious violation arose because Astra required goggles, respirators, and gloves but not impervious full-body protection such as boots…
General Motors Corporation, Terex Division
Settlement remanded for union participation
General Motors and the Secretary reached a settlement, but the affected employees' union said it had no chance to participate in the negotiations and lacked proper notice of the filed proposal. The Commission held that a union with party status must be allowed meaningful participation in settlement…
Texaco, Inc.
Settlement order became final after divided Commission review
Texaco and the Secretary settled four citation items, but the employees' union objected to withdrawal of three items and sought to continue their prosecution. The two participating commissioners disagreed over whether employees with party status could raise settlement objections unrelated to the…
Brown & Root, Inc.
Settlement approval set aside because the intervening union was never heard on its objections
The Secretary of Labor and Brown & Root settled a general duty clause case. Under the settlement the Secretary moved to amend the citation and complaint to call the alleged section 5(a)(1) violation serious rather than willful, and to cut the proposed penalty from $9,000 to $400. Administrative Law…
Kansas Army National Guard, National Guard Bureau and NAGE Local R14-87
Kansas Guard ordered to bargain over grievance scope (FLRA 7-CA-818)
The Kansas Army National Guard continued to call a grievance-procedure proposal nonnegotiable after the Authority had ruled it negotiable. The Authority held that the Guard’s refusal violated its bargaining duty and that a possible court-review period did not stay the earlier ruling. It dismissed…
Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Fort Carson, Colorado and AFGE Local 1345
Exchange service sick-leave practice ruling adopted (FLRA 7-CA-780, 7-CA-802)
AFGE Local 1345 challenged changes in two practices at the Fort Carson exchange. The judge found a bargaining violation over a change to the practice of approving sick leave of less than three days without an explanation, but dismissed the allegation concerning layaway procedures. Neither party…
Air Force Logistics Command, Ogden Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1592
Hill Air Force Base official-time complaint dismissed (FLRA 7-CA-426)
AFGE sought official time for two employees paid from appropriated funds to negotiate an agreement covering a separate unit of nonappropriated-fund employees at Hill Air Force Base. The Air Force denied the request. The administrative law judge found that statutory official-time entitlement did not…
General Services Administration, Region 8, Denver, Colorado and AFGE Local 3275
Denver GSA ordered to bargain over paid parking (FLRA 7-CA-349)
GSA’s Denver region changed employee parking assignments and charges without giving AFGE Local 3275 notice and an opportunity to negotiate. On a stipulated record, the Authority found that implementing the paid parking program without bargaining violated the federal labor statute. It ordered GSA to…
IRS Dallas District and NTEU Chapter 46
Dallas IRS ordered to reimburse union negotiator (FLRA 6-CA-1295)
An NTEU negotiator incurred travel and per diem expenses during talks over a proposed change affecting IRS employees in Austin. The IRS Dallas District refused reimbursement. On a stipulated record, the Authority held that this denial violated the statutory entitlement for designated bargaining…
IRS Austin District and NTEU Chapter 52
Austin IRS ordered to cover union negotiator travel (FLRA 6-CA-1215)
The IRS denied official time for travel and refused travel and per diem reimbursement for NTEU negotiator Francis Milner during midterm talks. On a stipulated record, the Authority held that the denial violated the statutory official-time entitlement. It ordered official time, expense…
NASA Lewis Research Center and Lewis Engineers and Scientists Association
NASA union-questioning allegations remanded (FLRA 5-CA-935)
At NASA’s Lewis Research Center, a supervisor and an employee gave conflicting accounts of whether he asked about her union membership and warned her about speaking to a union representative. The administrative law judge did not make specific credibility findings on those disputed facts. The…
Internal Revenue Service, Indianapolis and Dallas Districts and NTEU Chapter 49
IRS ordered to restore official time and travel costs for impasse proceedings (FLRA 5-CA-593)
Two NTEU representatives sought official time and travel reimbursement for June 1980 impasse proceedings involving the IRS Indianapolis and Dallas districts. The IRS denied the time and expenses. The judge found an unfair labor practice, and the Authority adopted that ruling. The order required…
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and AFGE Council 214
Wright-Patterson negotiators granted official time and travel (FLRA 5-CA-470, 5-CA-517)
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base refused official time and travel expenses for three union negotiators during midterm bargaining. An administrative law judge found that refusal unlawful while dismissing other allegations. The Authority adopted the judge’s findings and rejected the base’s argument…
U.S. Customs Service, Region IX, Chicago, Illinois and National Treasury Employees Union
Chicago Customs must reimburse union negotiator’s travel (FLRA 5-CA-1331)
Customs refused to reimburse employee John Schmal for travel and per diem incurred while representing NTEU in impact bargaining. The Authority found that the denial violated the statutory official-time entitlement and ordered reimbursement and a posted notice. It dismissed a separate allegation…
Internal Revenue Service and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS ordered to bargain over nationwide quality-review program (FLRA 3-CA-900)
After an IRS pilot of its Collection Quality Review System, NTEU asked to bargain over the nationwide version. The judge recommended dismissing the complaint because he viewed the pilot agreement as limiting later bargaining. The Authority disagreed: the union had not clearly waived its right to…
Treasury Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and NTEU
ATF negotiators awarded official time and travel (FLRA 3-CA-2849)
ATF denied official time, travel, and per diem to two NTEU representatives negotiating over a proposed reduction in force. They used annual leave for the bargaining sessions. On the stipulated record, the Authority found an unfair labor practice under the official-time provision. It ordered…
Immigration and Naturalization Service and National INS Council, AFGE
Immigration service ordered to reimburse union negotiators’ travel (FLRA 3-CA-2069)
The INS denied travel and per diem expenses for three union representatives attending scheduled negotiations. It argued that the statute created no reimbursement right and that the union had waived any such right in its agreement. The Authority held that official-time negotiators were entitled to…
VA Medical Center, Bronx and AFGE Local 1168
Bronx VA supply clerk retained in bargaining unit (FLRA 2-CU-33)
AFGE Local 1168 asked whether supply clerk William Green belonged in the Bronx VA bargaining unit despite a supervisory job title. The Authority found that his assignment and direction of work had been routine and did not require independent judgment. It kept him in the unit. The Authority decided…
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, Division of United Technologies Corp.
Common plating-duct citation reaffirmed under the Second Circuit's significant risk test, hardhat item withdrawn
The Second Circuit remanded this case in Pratt & Whitney Aircraft v. Secretary of Labor , 649 F.2d 96 (2d Cir. 1981). It vacated the Commission's affirmance of a serious item under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.94(d)(7)(iii) and of one of two nonserious items under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a), and sent both back…
VA Buffalo Regional Office and AFGE Local 3314
Buffalo VA ordered to bargain over appraisal-system proposal (FLRA 1-CA-824)
AFGE Local 3314 proposed staying certain actions based on unsatisfactory performance pending arbitration of a related grievance. The Buffalo VA office refused to bargain and implemented a new performance appraisal system without bargaining over the proposal. The Authority held that both steps…
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 2369
SSA retroactive-promotion award set aside (FLRA O-AR-370)
An arbitrator ordered a career-ladder promotion retroactive to the date an SSA employee first became eligible, with backpay. The employee’s supervisor had delayed preparing the forms needed for approval. The Authority held that the Back Pay Act permits a retroactive promotion for delay after…
Fort Bliss Army Air Defense Center and NAGE Local R14-22
Fort Bliss backpay portion of promotion award set aside (FLRA O-AR-314)
An arbitrator found that Fort Bliss had delayed promotions for two employees and ordered retroactive promotions and backpay to November 1978. The Authority held that the Back Pay Act did not authorize that remedy because the delay occurred before the promotions were approved. It set aside paragraph…
Matter of Salim
Asylum denied as discretion while withholding granted to Afghanistan
The Board reviewed an Afghan applicant's appeal after an immigration judge denied asylum and temporary withholding of deportation following his arrival from Pakistan with a fraudulently purchased passport. The Board found that he had established a probability of persecution in Afghanistan based on…
Babcock and Wilcox Company
Settlement agreement approved
Babcock and Wilcox Company and the Secretary entered into a stipulation and settlement agreement. The short Commission order does not identify the underlying citations, standards, penalties, or settlement terms. The Commission approved the agreement and resolved the proceeding on the negotiated…
Whirlpool Corporation
Settlement disapproved for failure to serve unions
Whirlpool and the Secretary submitted a settlement that reduced an alleged violation from serious to other than serious. The local and international unions objected, but the record showed only workplace posting, not formal service of the agreement on the employee representatives. The parties also…
San Antonio Air Logistics Center and AFGE Local 1617
Kelly Air Force Base mobility-program pay award narrowed (FLRA O-AR-186)
Employees who entered an upward-mobility program challenged the computation of their retained pay. The Authority rejected the agency’s argument that the grievance could not be arbitrated because it concerned retention benefits. It held, however, that 31 employees placed in the program on or after…
Eyelet Specialty Company
Settlement approved before the union's timely mailed objections arrived, order remanded
The Secretary of Labor and Eyelet Specialty submitted a settlement proposal to then Administrative Law Judge Barbara L. Hassenfeld. The judge had already held a telephone conference with the Secretary, the company and United Steelworkers Local 8298, at which the settling parties reported agreement…
C F & I Steel Corporation
Roof support violation affirmed, penalty reduced to $1,800
An inspector issued a withdrawal order after finding inadequate roof support in an entry at C F & I Steel Corporation's Allen underground coal mine. Judge John A. Carlson found that significant portions of the entry lacked adequate support in violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.200, despite the company's…
Wyoming Nurses Association and VA Medical Center Sheridan
Sheridan VA reconsideration request denied (FLRA O-NG-698)
The Wyoming Nurses Association sought reconsideration after the Authority dismissed its negotiability petition as untimely. The union cited part-time staffing, travel, inexperience, and misfiling with a regional office. The Authority held that those reasons did not establish extraordinary…
SSA San Francisco Region and AFGE Council of Social Security District Office Locals
SSA work-assignment meeting complaint dismissed (FLRA 9-CA-369)
AFGE alleged that SSA held a formal discussion with bargaining-unit employees about distributing work after another employee’s detail without inviting the union. The Authority found that the record did not establish the meeting’s formality, including whether it had an agenda or recorded employee…
SSA San Francisco and AFGE Council of Social Security District Office Locals
SSA individual-meeting complaint dismissed (FLRA 9-CA-368)
AFGE alleged that SSA supervisors met individually with employees to bargain directly and held formal discussions without union notice. The Authority found that the stipulated facts did not show the meetings were formal. It also found no evidence of the specific conversations needed to establish…
Environmental Protection Agency and NFFE Local 1907
EPA headquarters ordered to reimburse negotiator; regional claim dismissed (FLRA 4-CA-663)
NFFE representative Joe Thomas sought travel and per diem for collective bargaining sessions. EPA headquarters directed Region IV not to authorize reimbursement. The Authority found that headquarters violated the statutory official-time entitlement and ordered it to pay the expenses and post a…
Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories and AFGE Local 1052
Fort Belvoir professional-unit election directed (FLRA 3-RO-76)
AFGE Local 1052 petitioned to represent professional employees at the Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories. The Authority agreed that the proposed unit was appropriate and resolved disputes over whether certain scientific positions were management officials. It included employees whose work used…
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and NTEU Chapter 130
ATF ordered to restore negotiator official time (FLRA 3-CA-1505)
ATF required designated NTEU negotiator Michael Breen to use annual leave for midterm bargaining on August 21, 1980. On a stipulated record, the Authority found that the denial of official time violated the statute. It ordered ATF to restore the leave and post a notice.
Delaware National Guard and Association of Civilian Technicians, Delaware Chapter
Delaware Guard grievance-scope complaint dismissed (FLRA 2-CA-798)
The Association of Civilian Technicians alleged that the Delaware National Guard bargained in bad faith by refusing to accept a full-scope negotiated grievance procedure. The judge found that the refusal alone did not violate the statute and that the record did not show bad-faith bargaining. The…
The New River Company
Five citations affirmed, withdrawal order vacated
An MSHA inspector cited five safety violations at New River's Siltix coal mine and issued a withdrawal order after finding coal accumulations had not been cleared. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed two belt-roller guarding citations, a float-coal-dust citation, an electrical-equipment permissibility…
Little Bill Coal Company, Inc.
Four violations assessed and settlement approved
MSHA sought $5,565 in civil penalties for alleged safety violations at Little Bill Coal Company's No. 4 and No. 5 mines. Judge Richard C. Steffey found four violations proved after a hearing and assessed $45 in penalties for them. He found that large penalties would threaten the company's ability…
Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1592
Hill Air Force Base union-steward complaint dismissed (FLRA 7-CA-925)
AFGE alleged that Hill Air Force Base officials threatened a union steward and issued a counseling letter because of her protected activity. The judge found that the challenged conduct did not establish unlawful interference or discrimination. The Authority adopted the judge’s findings and…
IRS Dallas District and NTEU Chapter 46
Dallas IRS ordered to repay relocation-bargaining travel (FLRA 6-CA-1250)
Two NTEU negotiators incurred travel and per diem while bargaining over the move of the IRS Sherman, Texas post of duty. The IRS Dallas District denied their vouchers. On a stipulated record, the Authority held that the denial violated the statutory official-time entitlement. It ordered…
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.