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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Matter of Portales, et al.
Cuban applicants were firmly resettled in Peru
The Board reviewed eight Cuban applicants who had received refugee status in Peru before traveling to the United States and seeking asylum. The Board held that they were firmly resettled in Peru because they were permitted to live, work, study, practice their religion, and travel there without…
National Association of Government Employees and Department of the Navy, Navy Public Works Center, San Diego, California
Navy payroll statement mailing appeal dismissed as moot (FLRA O-NG-657)
The union proposed mailing civilian employees' time and earnings statements to an address outside the workplace. The Navy said the proposal conflicted with an agency regulation, and the union asked the Authority to decide whether that regulation had a compelling need. The agency later withdrew its…
Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association, Local 29 and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center
Goddard performance standards appeal dismissed as moot (FLRA O-NG-605)
A union at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center appealed the agency's assertion that its proposed performance standards were outside the duty to bargain. The agency later withdrew that assertion. Because no negotiability dispute remained, the Authority dismissed the appeal as moot without deciding…
Department of the Air Force, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois and National Association of Government Employees, Local R7-23
Scott Air Force Base arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA O-AR-379)
The union challenged an arbitrator's award concerning Scott Air Force Base. The award was dated March 22, 1982, making April 20 the last day for the Authority to receive exceptions under the then applicable 30-day rule. The union used a commercial courier, but delivery occurred on April 21. The…
Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation, Tampa, Florida and Federal Aviation Science and Technological Association, National Association of Government Employees
FAA electronics technician arbitration award set aside (FLRA O-AR-143)
An FAA electronics technician grieved that his assigned certification work exceeded the duties listed in his GS-11 position description. An arbitrator found that the work involved systems rather than subsystems and ordered the agency to change the duties or the position description. The Authority…
Military Department, State of Oregon, Oregon Army and Air National Guard, Salem, Oregon and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2986
Oregon National Guard ordered to honor technician attire agreement (FLRA 9-CA-514)
A Federal Service Impasses Panel order gave Oregon National Guard technicians a choice between a military uniform and agreed civilian attire for daily duties. The Guard negotiated related provisions with the union but refused to sign an agreement containing the Panel's language. On a stipulated…
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, National Office and Western Region, San Francisco, California and National Treasury Employees Union
ATF must provide grievance information under labor statute (FLRA 9-CA-390)
An employee and the union requested promotion records to pursue a grievance against ATF's Western Region. ATF directed them to its disclosure office and eventually supplied sanitized records through the Freedom of Information Act process. The judge found that treating the union as a member of the…
Duggan & Marcon, Inc.
Dismissal vacated for possible settlement
An administrative law judge dismissed Duggan & Marcon's notice of contest. After that order, the Secretary provided correspondence showing that the parties were discussing a possible settlement, although no proposed settlement was submitted to the Commission. The Commission directed review, vacated…
Missouri Farmers Association, d/b/a Odessa MFA Exchange
One item vacated and one remanded
The Eighth Circuit returned this case to the Commission for entry of a modified order consistent with the court's opinion. The Commission vacated citation item two. It remanded citation item one to the chief administrative law judge for further proceedings and entry of the modified order. The short…
Furnco Construction Company
Settlement approved and one item withdrawn
The Commission approved a settlement agreement between Furnco Construction Company and the Secretary. It also granted the Secretary's motion to withdraw citation item 4. At the parties' joint request, the Commission severed Furnco's case from J.L. Manta, Inc., OSHRC docket 78-4923. The short order…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin and Dallas Districts and Southwestern Region and National Treasury Employees Union Chapters 52, 46, and 91
IRS ordered to cover union negotiators' travel time and expenses (FLRA 6-CA-636)
Union representatives at IRS offices in Austin, Dallas, and the Southwestern Region traveled to midterm bargaining sessions. The IRS denied official time for some travel and refused travel and per diem payments. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that employee negotiators on official time…
United States Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Texas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2154
Fort Sam Houston payroll change violated bargaining duty, but reduction in force did not (FLRA 6-CA-298)
At Fort Sam Houston, the Army contracted out transportation work, planned a reduction in force, and changed payroll clerks' auditing duties. The judge found bargaining violations in both matters, but the Authority rejected the reduction-in-force finding because the union received adequate notice…
Department of the Treasury, United States Customs Service, Region IV, Miami, Florida and National Treasury Employees Union
Customs Service ordered to remove retaliatory counseling record (FLRA 4-CA-442)
A Customs inspector who led an NTEU chapter complained that too many passengers were being sent to secondary inspection lines at the Port of Atlanta. His supervisor counseled him and placed a written record in his file. The judge found the stated reason for counseling pretextual and concluded that…
Federal Prison System, Correctional Institution, Petersburg, Virginia and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2052
Petersburg prison must bargain over correctional staff changes (FLRA 3-CA-861)
The Petersburg correctional institution changed guard assignments, dormitory coverage, and staffing of its receiving unit. The Authority adopted the judge's finding that management unlawfully refused the union's requests to bargain over procedures and arrangements for affected employees. It…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Cathedral Bluffs Shale Oil Company
Owner citation vacated over contractor work
MSHA cited Cathedral Bluffs Shale Oil Company for a shaft landing that had a chain but no required safety gate. A specialist contractor was developing the shaft, and the judge found the owner’s employees mainly observed its work for quality control. Judge John J. Morris applied a then-recent…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. F & F Mendisco Mining Company
Defective power cable splice led to $1,000 penalty
MSHA cited F & F Mendisco Mining Company after a worker was fatally electrocuted at the Rim Columbus mine near a defective splice in a pump power cable. Mendisco argued that the property owner was responsible for maintaining the electrical system. Judge John J. Morris held that Mendisco operated…
Victor McCoy v. Crescent Coal Company, Crescent Industries, and International Minerals and Chemicals Corporation
Discharge remedy settled for $100,000
An earlier decision found that Victor McCoy had been unlawfully discharged by Crescent Coal Company and ordered reinstatement, back pay, and attorney fees. At a later hearing to set the amounts, the parties settled the remedy. Judge James A. Broderick approved $55,000 for back pay and interest and…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management
OPM promotion proposals receive split negotiability ruling (FLRA O-NG-157)
AFGE Local 32 sought bargaining with the Office of Personnel Management over promotion and vacancy procedures. The Authority held Proposals I, III, and V negotiable: they addressed unit positions, career ladder promotions, and a time limit for selecting from a certificate. It found Proposals II…
Iowa National Guard and National Guard Bureau and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3080
Iowa National Guard bypassed union over Panama deployment attire (FLRA 73-CA-106)
Iowa National Guard technicians disputed whether they could wear civilian attire during a voluntary deployment to Panama. The judge found that management could require military uniforms for that mission and dismissed the claimed unilateral-change and coercion violations. He found, however, that a…
United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Houston Air Traffic Control Center and Edward F. Dupaty
FAA controller retaliation complaint dismissed (FLRA 6-CA-429)
A Houston air traffic controller said the FAA reprimanded him and criticized his work because he invoked a contract clause and filed reports about unsafe conditions. The judge found that the reprimand followed delays in obeying assignments, and that the record did not show the supervisor acted in…
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Management and Information Data Systems Division, OPM) and AFGE Local 3331
EPA union activity complaint dismissed (FLRA 3-CA-1528)
AFGE Local 3331 alleged that EPA managers restricted an employee because she sought union help and held a formal discussion without notifying the union. The employee's supervisor asked for written assurance that she would accept a permanent position at the Office of Management and Budget if one was…
Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923
Social Security production standard: bargaining required on effects, not the target (FLRA 3-CA-128)
The Social Security Administration raised a basic production requirement for a group of employees from 20 to 30 items per hour without bargaining with their union. The judge found that the agency had to bargain over the new target itself and its implementation and impact. The Authority rejected the…
Puerto Rico Air National Guard and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1665
Puerto Rico Air National Guard ordered to comply with attire ruling (FLRA 2-CA-182)
The Federal Service Impasses Panel ordered the Puerto Rico Air National Guard and a union to include a civilian attire option for technicians in their agreement. The Guard refused to implement the order or negotiate related uniform requirements, including after the Defense Department withdrew its…
Matter of Drigo
Adoption after age fourteen did not qualify for preference status
The Board reviewed a lawful permanent resident's visa petition for her adopted, unmarried son from Dominica. The adoption occurred after the beneficiary's fourteenth birthday but before his sixteenth birthday. The Board held that the petition was properly denied under the law in effect when it was…
Matter of Lin
Escape from detention did not create an entry
The Board reconsidered whether a Chinese applicant became subject to deportation proceedings after he escaped from Service detention while awaiting an exclusion hearing. The applicant had presented a passport belonging to another person and was detained after inspection. The Board held that he had…
Arkansas Rice Growers Cooperative Association
Roof-hatch citation vacated
An Arkansas Rice Growers employee died after an unsecured section of a hatchway cover gave way on the sixth-level roof of a by-products plant. OSHA cited the cooperative under two alternative general-industry standards for guarding floor openings. The Commission held that those standards did not…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Sam Kennedy d/b/a Energy Salvage Company
Secretary’s appeal voluntarily dismissed
The Secretary asked to withdraw his appeal in five related proceedings involving Sam Kennedy, doing business as Energy Salvage Company. The motion was unopposed, and the Commission granted it. This brief order does not explain the underlying dispute or state a penalty.
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Allied Products Company
Penalty calculation returned to judge
A federal appeals court affirmed a finding that Allied Products Company violated three mine safety standards but found the assessed penalties to be an abuse of discretion. The court returned the case for recalculation on the existing record. The Commission sent the penalty issue to the…
Matter of Ord
Temporary engineering work qualified for H-1 classification
The Regional Commissioner reconsidered a petition by an engineering staffing company seeking to classify a United Kingdom aeronautical engineer as an H-1 temporary worker. The company supplied engineers to aerospace clients and showed that this beneficiary would be hired for a specific project and…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Capitol Aggregates, Inc.
Berm rule applies to loading ramp
MSHA cited Capitol Aggregates for lacking a berm or guard on a ramp used by a front-end loader to dump fuel into a hopper. The company argued that the ramp was not an elevated roadway under the cited berm rule and that a separate ramp standard governed instead. The Commission affirmed the judge’s…
Eastern Associated Coal Corporation v. Secretary of Labor (MSHA)
Burning refuse pile rule applies beyond work areas
An inspector cited Eastern Associated Coal because a burning refuse pile at its mine lacked an approved fire extinguishing plan. The judge had found the rule inapplicable because the pile was outside a surface work area where miners normally worked or traveled. The Commission rejected that…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Delmont Resources, Inc.
Additional evidence allowed on citation significance
An earlier judge found that a violation cited against Delmont Resources was not significant and substantial under the Commission’s National Gypsum test. The Secretary asked to present additional evidence because the parties had tried the case before that test was announced. The Commission granted…
NFFE Local 1437 and U.S. Army Armament Research and Development Command, Dover, New Jersey
Army performance standard exclusions rejected (FLRA O-NG-598)
NFFE Local 1437 proposed excluding supervisory tasks, administrative rules, and general conduct matters from performance standards for unit employees at an Army research command. The Authority found that the proposals would control the content of performance standards, including job-related…
AFGE Local 2612 and Department of the Air Force, Griffiss Air Force Base
Air Force vacancy freeze proposal outside bargaining duty (FLRA O-NG-492)
AFGE Local 2612 proposed freezing bargaining unit vacancies during a transfer of functions until affected employees had a chance to seek reassignment and decide whether to transfer. The Authority found that the freeze directly affected the numbers and types of employees the Air Force could hire…
International Association of Fire Fighters Local F-215 and Fort Polk, Louisiana
Fort Polk firefighter work proposals rejected (FLRA O-NG-453)
A firefighters’ union proposed limits on security work, rotating temporary duties, and barring several maintenance and other assignments at Fort Polk. The Authority found that all four proposals would prevent or dictate assignments that management had the statutory right to make. It held them…
AFGE Local 2823 and Veterans Administration Regional Office, Cleveland, Ohio
VA candidate pool restriction held nonnegotiable (FLRA O-NG-441)
AFGE Local 2823 proposed that the Cleveland Veterans Administration office use its promotion plan whenever it identified at least three high-quality candidates. The Authority found that the proposal would prevent the office from considering a wider pool or another appropriate source in those…
AFGE Local 32 and U.S. Office of Personnel Management
OPM transfer proposals dismissed without negotiability ruling (FLRA O-NG-395)
AFGE Local 32 appealed over four proposals following a transfer of an OPM function. OPM disputed its obligation to bargain over three proposals, a question the Authority said belonged in an unfair labor practice proceeding rather than a negotiability appeal. OPM had not declared the fourth proposal…
AFGE Council 214 and Department of the Air Force, Air Force Logistics Command
Air Force reassignment proposals held nonnegotiable (FLRA O-NG-385)
AFGE Council 214 challenged the Air Force’s refusal to bargain over three proposals for reassigning employees whose jobs were downgraded or canceled. The proposals would have assigned vacancies by seniority, employee preference, or least seniority when no one volunteered. The Authority found that…
AFGE Local 32 and Office of Personnel Management, Washington, D.C.
OPM cafeteria price proposal held negotiable (FLRA O-NG-329)
AFGE Local 32 proposed that OPM take lawful steps to limit cafeteria price increases and post monthly price-change notices. OPM argued that the General Services Administration, not OPM, controlled the cafeteria contract. The Authority read the proposal as requiring only steps within OPM’s…
NFFE Local 75 and Social Security Administration, Office of Program Operations, Cincinnati, Ohio
SSA union solicitation and discipline proposals split (FLRA O-NG-262)
NFFE Local 75 sought bargaining over union membership solicitation and steps before disciplining union officers or representatives at an SSA office. The Authority held that solicitation during nonwork periods could be negotiable, including paid time when management required no work. It also…
AFGE Local 2578 and General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Service
Archives work assignment proposal rejected (FLRA O-NG-165)
AFGE Local 2578 proposed that part-time or intermittent National Archives employees not be denied assignments because their annual pay reached a specified limit. The Authority found that the proposal would require work assignments without regard to a condition of those employees’ appointments. It…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 4 and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Portsmouth arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA O-AR-375)
IFPTE Local 4 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The award was dated March 13, 1982, and the Authority calculated an April 12 receipt deadline under the 30-day rule then in effect. It received the exceptions on April 14. The Authority said that the time…
Social Security Administration, Field Assessment Office and AFGE Local 1501
SSA arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA O-AR-369)
AFGE Local 1501 filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving the SSA Field Assessment Office. The award was dated March 3, 1982, and the Authority calculated an April 1 receipt deadline under the 30-day rule then in effect. It received the exceptions on April 5. Because the filing time could…
Veterans Administration Center, Richmond, Virginia and AFGE Local 2145
Richmond VA arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA O-AR-362)
A grievant filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving the Richmond Veterans Administration Center and AFGE Local 2145. The award was dated February 4, 1982, and the Authority calculated a March 5 receipt deadline under the rule then in force. The exceptions arrived March 23, so the…
Department of the Army, Fort Sam Houston and AFGE Local 2154
Fort Sam Houston arbitration award set aside (FLRA O-AR-119)
An Army activity grieved after AFGE Local 2154 filed five unfair labor practice charges without first submitting them to management for possible resolution, as their agreement required. The arbitrator denied the grievance, treating the agreement requirement as an unlawful restriction on employees’…
Wheaton Injection Molding Company
Penalty decision vacated for lack of agreement
Wheaton and the Secretary filed a joint stipulation addressing serious violations and proposed penalties, but the company president attached a letter disputing whether the penalties were proper and stating that he did not expect to pay a fine. The judge treated the violations as resolved and…
Samsonite Corporation
Discovery dismissal reversed and citations remanded
OSHA cited Samsonite for alleged excessive noise, inadequate hearing protection and conservation measures, insufficient skin protection from epoxy, and ergonomic stress from repetitive work. The judge treated the Secretary's late responses to requests for admission as binding, dismissed the case…
Berglund-Cherne General Contractors
Rebar impalement citation vacated
Berglund-Cherne employees laid masonry blocks near reinforcing steel that protruded 18 to 24 inches from the same floor level. OSHA cited the company under a standard barring employees from working above unprotected vertical rebar because of impalement hazards. The Secretary argued that workers…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Guarding items vacated and first-aid item affirmed
OSHA cited Conrail's Ohio diesel repair shop for an unguarded drop-table opening, incomplete safety chains on locomotive work ramps, and lack of trained first-aid personnel when no hospital was nearby. The Commission held that a Federal Railroad Administration policy statement exercised authority…
The Shenango Company
Asbestos-monitoring violation affirmed as nonserious
Shenango removed furnace linings made largely of asbestos with jackhammers and pneumatic tools, creating visible dust clouds, but did not monitor employee exposure. The judge found that asbestos material entered the air but vacated the citation because the Secretary had not specifically proved…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Guarding items vacated and safety-shoe items affirmed
OSHA cited Conrail's locomotive repair shops in Enola and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for unguarded repair pits and work platforms and for not requiring steel-toed safety shoes. The Commission vacated the guarding items because a Federal Railroad Administration policy statement displaced OSHA…
Globe Industries, Inc.
Conveyor guardrail citation vacated
Globe employees climbed onto two elevated conveyor belts about once a week to clean guide rollers while production was shut down and locked out. OSHA cited the company for failing to install guardrails along the open sides, treating the conveyor tops as platforms under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.23(c)(1)…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Fall-protection and crane citations vacated
A Bethlehem Steel rigger worked near the unguarded edge of a furnace top without tying off, and OSHA cited the general personal protective equipment standard. Commissioner Cleary concluded that the standard covered safety belts but vacated the item because prior administrative decisions had failed…
Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Rocky Mountain Area Exchange No. 4125 and Ann Palmer
Exchange Service grievance interference complaint dismissed (FLRA 7-CA-554)
Ann Palmer alleged that supervisors at an Army and Air Force Exchange Service facility interfered with her rights after she filed a grievance. The challenged events included counseling comments and a plan to move her desk closer to a supervisor. The Judge found no threat or coercion in the credited…
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and Robert A. Evans
DOL employee grievance retaliation complaint dismissed (FLRA 5-CA-698)
Robert Evans alleged that a Department of Labor office gave him an unfavorable work critique because he filed a grievance. The Judge found that the supervisor completed the critique before learning of the grievance, even though the typed document bore a later date. The Authority rejected the…
Internal Revenue Service and National Treasury Employees Union
IRS performance appraisal retaliation complaint dismissed (FLRA 5-CA-495)
NTEU alleged that the IRS gave employee Carol LaFollette a lower performance evaluation because she had filed a previous unfair labor practice charge and testified in that case. The Judge found that LaFollette engaged in protected activity and that her supervisor knew about it, but the evidence did…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Gamble Coals, Inc.
Roof control citations upheld after fatal fall
MSHA cited Gamble Coals after a roof fall killed a miner at its No. 2 Mine. The Secretary alleged that an entry was wider than the approved roof control plan allowed and that the crew removed support posts without first setting equivalent supports near a cracked roof. Judge William Fauver found…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. United States Steel Corporation
Energized cable handling citations upheld
MSHA cited U.S. Steel twice after workers manually moved energized trailing cables without insulated handling tools at its Atlantic City ore operation. The company argued that its ground fault system supplied equivalent protection. Judge Jon D. Boltz found that damaged cables and ground faults…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Kennecott Minerals Co., Utah Copper Division
Two citations vacated, one affirmed
MSHA withdrew two citations at Kennecott’s Magna Concentrator after concluding that it could not prove the alleged crane rope and conveyor communication violations. Judge George A. Koutras vacated those citations and their proposed penalties. Kennecott accepted a separate guarding citation at the…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Metric Constructors, Inc.
Welders’ safety refusal found protected
Seven welders working for Metric Constructors refused to continue a night repair job about 180 feet above ground after complaining about missing scaffolding, handrails, lighting, and fire protection. Judge Michael A. Lasher Jr. found their safety refusal protected and held that the company…
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.