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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Steel Erectors, Inc.
Safe-access and exposed-rebar violations affirmed
Steel Erectors employees worked at an elevated monorail station roughly 40 feet above the ground. The company provided a scaffold stairway and unguarded planks for part of the route, but two ironworkers instead attempted to climb a vertical column and one fell to his death. Employees also worked…
Paul Betty d/b/a Betty Brothers
Scaffold and housekeeping violations affirmed but repetition rejected
Two Betty Brothers employees worked from a 12-foot scaffold without guardrails or an access ladder, and debris with protruding nails surrounded the work area. The senior employee supervised the other worker, purchased materials, reported progress, and acted as the company's on-site representative…
R. Zoppo Co., Inc.
Briefly placing blasting caps with dynamite is storage in a magazine, and the misconduct defense fails where the rule never reached the employee who created the condition
Zoppo was excavating a trench. On the morning of the inspection, 100 pounds of dynamite and a quantity of blasting caps sat together in a metal shed on the jobsite, still in their original cardboard boxes. The standard forbids exactly that: blasting caps shall not be stored in the same magazine…
W. R. Grace and Company
Three contests dismissed
W. R. Grace contested three enforcement actions at its Bonny Lake Mine arising from alleged violations by an independent contractor. MSHA later reported that the contractor had paid the assessments for two citations and that it had not assessed the third because the alleged violation did not…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Easton Construction Co., Inc.
Easton Construction Co., Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 80-219): Default penalty vacated and case remanded
MSHA proposed $915 in penalties against Easton Construction for three alleged Mine Act violations. After Easton did not file a formal answer, a judge entered the proposed penalties by default. The Commission found that Easton had responded to the show cause order with a letter reporting a $26…
Denka Chemical Corporation
Respirator abatement-extension petition remanded for hearing
Denka Chemical agreed to obtain approved respirator canisters by October 1, 1980, but its supplier could deliver only 60 of the 100 ordered units by that date. The company sought an abatement extension because the limited inventory might interrupt its protection program. The judge dismissed the…
ASAMERA Oil (U.S.), Inc.
Respirator and emergency-washing rulings severed from electrical review
ASAMERA Oil's consolidated refinery cases included respiratory-protection, emergency-washing, and electrical citation items. In Docket No. 79-1756, the judge affirmed a serious respiratory-protection item with a $360 penalty and part of an emergency-washing item with a $50 penalty. No party sought…
Brown & Root, Inc.
The LHWCA coverage limitation in § 1915.1(b) was never adopted as an OSHA standard, so § 1910.13 governs ship-repair coverage
Brown & Root builds offshore oil pipelines, working from barges. One of its barges, the M-347, was damaged and was being repaired at the Border Patrol Dock in the Mississippi River at Algiers, Louisiana. An OSHA compliance officer inspected the repair work and the Secretary issued citations under…
John W. Eshelman & Sons
Defective-forklift violation classified as willful
John W. Eshelman & Sons continued using a forklift after its brakes were reported defective. The brakes worsened, another employee unknowingly drove the truck into a loading table, and the company still kept it in service because both forklifts were needed for production. A repair technician was…
J & R Coal Company
Three penalties assessed, ventilation citation vacated
MSHA sought penalties for safety conditions at J & R Coal's mine, including a failed belt fire sensor and departures from an approved ventilation plan. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that the sensor was inoperable even though the company had checked it regularly, and assessed $15 for that…
Tube-Lok Products, Eastern Division of Portland Wire & Ironworks, Inc.
Industry custom is not dispositive of whether protective equipment is needed, and a slow press-brake cycle does not excuse an unguarded point of operation
Tube-Lok makes rollover protection systems for off-the-road equipment at a plant near Matoon, Illinois. Two items of one citation reached the Commission, each side having lost on one of them before Judge Zinn. The first item was a hard hat. An employee moved a heavy steel load with an overhead…
Scotia Coal Company
$36,400 settlement approved
Scotia Coal and MSHA proposed a $36,400 settlement of six civil penalty proceedings involving 43 alleged violations at the Scotia Mine. The original proposed assessments totaled $35,904. Judge Joseph B. Kennedy reviewed the submissions, including supplemental material received under seal, and found…
General Motors Corporation
Citation item vacation reversed and remanded
The Commission reversed the portion of the judge's decision that had vacated item 1 of a citation issued to General Motors. It remanded the case for further proceedings on that item. The official release does not identify the cited standard, the workplace condition, the parties' arguments, or the…
General Motors Corporation
Judge decision reversed and case remanded
The Commission reversed the judge's decision in General Motors' case and remanded the matter for further proceedings. The official release does not identify the citation, cited standard, workplace facts, disputed legal issue, or basis for reversal. It also does not state a penalty or decide the…
R.C. Diving Company, Inc.
Commercial-diving citations restored for further proceedings
OSHA cited commercial-diving conditions aboard a boat used to harvest geoducks in Puget Sound. The judge dismissed the citations after finding insufficient proof that R.C. Diving employed the workers. The Commission held that the compliance officer's testimony about statements identifying Rod Carew…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Scaffold-gap items vacated and ten violations classified as repeated
Two inspections of a supertanker at Bethlehem Steel's shipyard produced scaffold, platform, opening, and housekeeping citations. The Commission vacated the scaffold-gap items because the cited maintenance rule addressed structural soundness, not the allowable distance between staging and a…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. Everett Propst and Robert Stemple
Everett Propst and Robert Stemple (FMSHRC MORG 76-28-P): Personal liability for unsafe payloader affirmed
A miner at Badger Coal was killed when a payloader with defective brakes rolled downhill and overturned. The Commission found that preparation plant supervisor Everett Propst and foreman Robert Stemple knew or had reason to know the brakes made the equipment unsafe but allowed it to remain in…
John Deere Foundry, a Division of Deere Company; Bunge Corporation
Selective settlement approval rejected
In two cases, the judge approved selected settlement terms while rejecting non-admission provisions and entering factual findings without a hearing. The Commission held that it may review settlements for consistency with the Act but may not rewrite them through selective approval. It also held that…
Stuttgart Machine Works, Inc.
Employee-misconduct defense rejected
A foreman was electrocuted when a truck-mounted derrick contacted an energized power line, and a helper was shocked. The Commission rejected the employer's unpreventable employee misconduct defense because its power-line rule was ambiguous, was not communicated to all exposed employees, and was not…
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (Activity) and Federal Employees Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO (Union)
Shipyard diver reinstatement award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-95)
A Portsmouth Naval Shipyard rigger also worked as a qualified diver and received premium pay for those duties. After a safety incident, the shipyard suspended him for five days and permanently removed him from diving work. The arbitrator upheld the suspension but found the permanent removal…
Magma Copper Company
Inadequate shaft gate upheld
MSHA cited Magma Copper for using chains as a gate at a shaft landing in its San Manuel Mine. Judge Charles C. Moore, Jr. found that the chains, even if paired with the disputed toeboard, would not keep material from passing into or out of the shaft as the standard required. He rejected Magma's…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Isaac Fields v. United Castle Coal Company
Isaac Fields v. United Castle Coal Company (FMSHRC VA 80-99-D): Discriminatory discharge found
United Castle Coal fired miner Isaac Fields after an argument with a mine administrator following a broken mantrip incident. Judge Richard C. Steffey found that the company had grown frustrated with Fields's repeated safety complaints and used the argument as a pretext to discharge him. He…
Council of the Southern Mountains, Inc. v. Martin County Coal Corporation
Council of the Southern Mountains v. Martin County Coal (FMSHRC KENT 80-222-D): Attorney fees and expenses awarded
In his earlier decision, Judge Richard C. Steffey found that Martin County Coal unlawfully prevented the Council of the Southern Mountains from monitoring miner training classes. He then decided the Council's request for attorney fees and expenses. He awarded $626.69 in the Council's direct…
Island Creek Coal Company
Blasting violation upheld, electrical charge dismissed
MSHA sought penalties for two alleged violations at Island Creek Coal's Hamilton No. 1 Mine. Judge John F. Cook found that miners had used explosives in a prohibited manner known as shooting on solid in four entries, violating the blasting standard. He assessed $1,500 for that violation. The second…
General Motors Corporation, GM Parts Division
Ancestor-standard challenge barred
General Motors challenged the personal protective equipment standard on the ground that the older Walsh-Healey standard from which it was derived had been amended without proper rulemaking. The Commission held that an employer may not use an OSHA enforcement proceeding to attack the procedural…
Veterans Administration, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Shreveport, Louisiana (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Interdepartmental Local Union 2000, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
VA retaliatory reprimand order upheld (FLRA 6-CA-261)
A Shreveport VA medical center reprimanded a union representative after her protected activity. The administrative law judge found the stated reason pretextual and recommended a violation finding. With no exceptions filed, the Authority adopted the retaliation finding and ordered the reprimand…
Secretary of Labor (MSHA) v. The Anaconda Company
The Anaconda Company (FMSHRC WEST 79-128-M, WEST 79-130-M, and WEST 79-137-M): Three citation decisions remanded
MSHA cited Anaconda in three cases involving workers near suspended loads: a metal cabinet, a cart of gas cylinders, and a rod mill guard. An administrative law judge vacated all three citations after saying the opposing witnesses were equally credible. The Commission found that the judge had not…
South East Coal Company
Abandoned-mine air citation upheld
MSHA cited South East Coal after an inspector traced air from an abandoned mine into an active working place at its No. 8 Mine. South East Coal argued that a much larger flow of fresh intake air reached the work area and that the abandoned air contained no methane and had adequate oxygen. Judge…
Wright Coal Company, Inc.
Canopy penalty case dismissed
MSHA sought penalties for four notices alleging that equipment at Wright Coal's No. 3 Mine lacked protective canopies. The equipment included two battery powered scoops, a roof bolter, and a converted coal drill. Judge Richard C. Steffey credited the operator's account that it tried to obtain and…
Kent Nowlin Construction Co., Inc.
Cavities of different size and shape under one trenching standard are not disparate conditions, so the repeated characterization stands
This order finishes a case the Commission had left deliberately open. In its decision of April 30, 1980, the Commission upheld a repeated violation of the trenching standard at Kent Nowlin's Bluewater worksite and a $1,000 penalty, but made that holding conditional: the affirmance would stand…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R12-132 (Union) and California National Guard (Activity)
California Guard grievance proposal held negotiable (FLRA 0-NG-149)
A union sought a negotiated grievance process for California National Guard technicians, including certain adverse actions. The Guard argued that the National Guard Technicians Act restricted appeals to the adjutant general and barred such bargaining. The Authority held that the statutory appeal…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3486, AFL-CIO (Union) and New Jersey Air National Guard, 177th Fighter Interceptor Group, Pomona, New Jersey (Activity)
New Jersey Guard grievance proposals partly negotiable (FLRA 0-NG-119)
A union proposed to let New Jersey Air National Guard technicians use a negotiated grievance procedure for reduction-in-force and disciplinary disputes. The Guard argued that the technicians’ statutory appeal route barred bargaining over the proposals. The Authority held the reduction-in-force and…
Consolidation Coal Company
Coal dust citation vacated
MSHA cited Consolidation Coal for alleged float coal dust accumulations on rock dusted surfaces at its Osage No. 3 Mine and sought a civil penalty. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. heard conflicting accounts of the surfaces' color, which the witnesses used to judge whether an accumulation existed. He…
White Pine Copper Division, Copper Range Company
White Pine Copper Division (FMSHRC LAKE 79-202-M and LAKE 80-24-M): Cable contact penalties assessed
MSHA cited White Pine Copper after energized electrical cables touched metal air lines or a metal support chain at its underground mine. Chief Judge James A. Broderick held that the entire jacketed cables counted as powerlines and that their existing jackets did not insulate the cables from the…
Kentucky May Coal Company
Loader brake violation upheld
MSHA cited Kentucky May Coal for inadequate brakes on a front end loader used at its coal preparation plant. Judge Richard C. Steffey credited the inspector's observation that the loader took about 10 feet to stop and found that the later compressor repair supported a brake defect. He rejected the…
Local Union No. 5899, UMWA v. Tansy Beth Mining Company
Idled miners awarded compensation
Twelve miners sought pay for shifts they lost when a withdrawal order closed part of Tansy Beth Mining Company's No. 1 Mine. The order cited inadequate roof supports under 30 C.F.R. § 75.200, and Tansy Beth did not contest the order. After the company failed to respond to two orders to show cause…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
A compliance officer's memorandum must be produced once he has testified on direct, because work product shields discovery and not use at the hearing
OSHA surveyed noise at Bethlehem Steel's Lebanon, Pennsylvania plant over seven days in February and March of 1975, using a sound level meter and five audio dosimeters, and cited 38 machine locations under the noise standard as one other-than-serious violation with no proposed penalty. Judge Harris…
Matter of Sugay
Changed circumstances justified a higher immigration bond
The Board reviewed a Philippine citizen's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision retaining a $30,000 immigration bond. After an earlier bond reduction, the respondent was ordered deported, denied relief, and shown to have no fixed address or stable employment, a criminal conviction in the…
Matter of Drennan
Precedent status withdrawn
The official release identifies Matter of Drennan as a decision in visa petition proceedings. It states that Matter of Drennan was withdrawn as a precedent decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on April 1, 1982. The one-page release contains no underlying facts, legal analysis, or…
San Antonio Air Logistics Center (AFLC), Kelly Air Force Base, Texas (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1617, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization)
Kelly Air Force Base union steward threat order upheld (FLRA 6-CA-460)
At Kelly Air Force Base, a management official made statements that a union steward understood as a threat tied to his help with employee grievances. The administrative law judge found interference with protected union activity. No party filed exceptions, and the Authority adopted the judge’s…
San Antonio Air Logistics Center (AFLC), Kelly Air Force Base, Texas (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1617, AFL-CIO (Charging Party)
Kelly Air Force Base bargaining violations upheld (FLRA 6-CA-105)
Kelly Air Force Base changed employee evaluation review procedures and canceled and reestablished certain bargaining unit jobs. The administrative law judge found that the base failed to bargain over the impact and implementation of those changes, while dismissing other allegations. The Authority…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2327 (Union) and Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Social Security Administration (Activity)
Paint-fume administrative leave award sustained (FLRA 0-AR-136)
Paint odors and fumes spread through a Social Security Administration office after overnight furniture painting. Employees reported physical discomfort, and some left using sick or annual leave after management attempted ventilation measures. The union grieved the failure to evacuate the building…
United States Steel Corporation
Roof control violation upheld
MSHA cited United States Steel Corporation at its Robena No. 2 Mine for violating an approved roof control plan during retreat mining. The plan required roof bolts within 12 feet of the face or gob before that work began. Judge Gary Melick credited the inspector's measurement and found that the…
E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company; Chemical & Industrial Union
Settlement exculpatory clause approved
The employees' union objected to a settlement clause stating that the citation, pleadings, abatement, penalty payment, and final order would not be admissions or evidence in non-OSHA proceedings. The Commission adopted the judge's reasoning and approved the settlement. Commissioner Cottine…
Phelps Dodge Corporation
Crusher lockout violation upheld
At Phelps Dodge Corporation's Morenci Mine and Mill, a worker stood on rocks in a crusher's panfeeder hopper while clearing a jam. The electrically powered panfeeder had been stopped with a control button, but it had not been locked out. Judge Paul Merlin held that clearing the rocks was mechanical…
Clinchfield Coal Company
Citation vacated after related ruling
MSHA pursued a civil penalty case against Clinchfield Coal Company involving a citation at its Lambert Fork Mine. Four days before trial, the company moved to dismiss and the government did not oppose the motion. Judge Charles C. Moore, Jr. explained that another Commission judge had already…
Richard W. Neal, Jr. v. Wayne Boich, d.b.a. W. B. Coal Company
Richard W. Neal, Jr. v. W. B. Coal Company (FMSHRC LAKE 80-105-D): Miner wins discharge complaint
Richard Neal answered MSHA inspectors' questions about an equipment accident and raised safety concerns during a hospital interview, then W. B. Coal Company discharged him. Judge James A. Laurenson found that Neal's statements to the inspectors were protected activity and that they partly motivated…
Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1805, AFL-CIO (Petitioner); Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and Panama Area Metal Trades Council (Petitioner); Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 13, AFL-CIO (Petitioner); Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Local 900, AFL-CIO (Petitioner); Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and National Maritime Union, International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, Panama Area Metal Trades Council (Petitioners); Panama Canal Commission and AFGE Local 14, AFL-CIO (Petitioner); Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Local 900, AFL-CIO (Petitioner); Panama Canal Commission (Agency) and District 1, Pacific Coast District, Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, AFL-CIO (Petitioner)
Panama Canal unit petitions partly dismissed and elections directed (FLRA 6-RO-33)
Eight unions filed representation petitions involving employees of the Panama Canal Commission. The Authority directly assessed the proposed bargaining units, with no Regional Director decision under review. It dismissed petitions 6-RO-33, 6-RO-34, 6-RO-39, and 6-RO-66, and ordered secret ballot…
Defense Logistics Agency (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Charging Party); Defense Logistic Agency, Defense Property Disposal Service, Defense Property Disposal Region, Memphis, Tennessee and Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Property Disposal Service, Defense Property Disposal Region, Ogden, Utah and Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Property Disposal Service, Defense Property Disposal Region, Columbus, Ohio (Respondents) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, International Association of Machinists and Metal Trades Council, AFL-CIO (Charging Parties)
DLA dues reimbursement added to labor practice remedy (FLRA 3-CA-294)
The Defense Logistics Agency refused to recognize and bargain with AFGE after unit certifications, and several components declined to honor employees’ dues deduction authorizations. The administrative law judge found unfair labor practices in both consolidated cases but did not order repayment of…
Monterey Coal Company
Lone worker citation vacated
MSHA cited Monterey Coal Company for assigning a truck driver to haul refuse alone at its Wayne Mine without continuous communication or visibility to other workers. The cited standard restricts solitary work in an area where hazardous conditions would endanger the worker. Chief Judge James A…
Frederick G. Bradley v. Belva Coal Company
Discharge claim sustained, amounts reserved
Frederick Bradley, a section foreman at Belva Coal Company's No. 5B Mine, refused an instruction to let a scoop run over a damaged trailing cable. Chief Judge James A. Broderick found that Bradley believed in good faith that doing so was dangerous and that his refusal helped cause his discharge. He…
International Communication Agency (Agency/Joint Petitioner) and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1418 (Labor Organization/Joint Petitioner); International Communication Agency (Agency/Joint Petitioner) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1812 (Labor Organization/Joint Petitioner)
Voice of America radio technicians moved to one unit (FLRA 3-CU-32)
The International Communication Agency and two unions jointly asked the Authority to move New York radio broadcast technicians from an AFGE unit into an NFFE unit with Washington technicians. The Authority directly decided the consolidated unit petitions, without a Regional Director decision under…
Pioneer Uravan, Incorporated
Loader brake citations split
MSHA cited Pioneer Uravan over a loader with inoperable service brakes in two settings. Judge John J. Morris found that its working parking brake was adequate while the loader operated on flat ground, and he vacated the brake citation in WEST 80-63-M. In WEST 80-356-M, a drop test showed that none…
B & N Construction, Inc.
Entry citation upheld, order violation vacated
MSHA cited B & N Construction after its owner briefly denied inspectors access to a portable stone crushing operation unless they obtained a search warrant. Judge Jon D. Boltz held that the Mine Act allowed the follow-up inspection without a warrant and upheld the denial of entry citation…
Matter of Yazdani
Unauthorized school transfer made student deportable
The Board reviewed an Iranian student's appeal from a deportability finding based on her transfer from the University of Utah to the University of San Francisco. She had obtained the Utah school's assistance with a transfer request, but she had not received advance permission from the Immigration…
Weatherby Engineering Company
Scaffold standard held unenforceable
The Commission reviewed the vacatur of a citation alleging that an elevated scaffold platform lacked guardrails and toeboards. It adhered to precedent holding that 29 C.F.R. § 1910.28(a)(3) was unenforceable because OSHA changed the source ANSI language from advisory “should” to mandatory “shall”…
U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Southern Region (Activity/Petitioner) and National Weather Service Employees Organization, MEBA, AFL-CIO (Labor Organization)
Weather Service forecasters included, clerks excluded (FLRA 6-CU-16)
The National Weather Service asked the Authority to exclude forecasters and clerical staff from an existing bargaining unit. The Authority directly decided the unit clarification petition, without reviewing a Regional Director decision. It found the forecasters’ direction of other staff was routine…
General Services Administration, National Capital Region (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local No. 1733 (Union)
GSA arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA 0-AR-174)
A union at the General Services Administration’s National Capital Region filed exceptions to an arbitration award dated November 11, 1980. The Authority’s rules required filing within 30 days of the award, making December 10 the deadline. The union filed on December 14. The Authority stated it…
Veterans Administration Medical Center, Houston, Texas (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1633 (Union)
Houston VA arbitration exceptions dismissed as late (FLRA 0-AR-168)
A union at the Houston VA medical center challenged an arbitration award dated October 7, 1980. Under the Authority’s 30-day rule, exceptions were due November 5, but the union filed on November 21. The Authority explained that it lacked power to extend or waive the deadline. It dismissed the…
Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., Inc.
Berm requirement covers both sides of elevated roads
MSHA cited Cleveland Cliffs Iron for missing berms on roads used to reach mine pump stations. The company argued that those roads were not used for hauling and that the rule's reference to an "outer bank" applied only to a road with one exposed side. The Commission held that regularly transporting…
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.