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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B.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Bedford Park Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Board requires an explained decision on postal carrier disability claim (ECAB 23-0126)
A postal city carrier sought disability compensation after an accepted left ankle sprain. OWCP denied modification of a disability decision in a letter that did not address the medical evidence or explain its reasoning. The Board treated the letter as an appealable decision, set it aside, and…
M.G. and Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Board returns right arm impairment claim for a new medical opinion (ECAB 22-1394)
A National Institutes of Health program assistant sought a larger schedule award than the 45 percent right upper extremity impairment already recognized. An OWCP referral physician assigned zero percent impairment but disregarded the accepted conditions and earlier schedule award in the statement…
D.W. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Quantico, VA
Board recognizes overwork factor in emotional condition claim (ECAB 22-0639)
A Defense Logistics Agency training manager claimed an emotional condition after heavy work demands and a panic episode. The Board found that he established overwork as a compensable employment factor. It returned the case to OWCP to review whether the medical evidence connected an emotional…
C.G. and Department of the Navy, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
Board reverses suspension of Navy worker wage loss compensation (ECAB 21-0895)
A former Navy shipyard laborer missed OWCP’s deadline to submit a requested EN-1032 financial disclosure form, and OWCP suspended his wage loss compensation. He later submitted the completed form, but OWCP maintained the suspension. The Board held that OWCP should have reinstated appropriate…
P.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Golden Post Office, Denver, CO
Board orders impartial review of right hand impairment (ECAB 21-0233)
A postal carrier had received a schedule award for 89 percent permanent impairment of her right middle finger after an accepted injury and surgery. Her treating physicians reported limitations in other fingers, while OWCP physicians disagreed about whether those limitations were related to the…
Gladden v. The Proctor and Gamble Co.
Parallel SOX claim barred by Title VII judgment
Shannon Gladden pursued a Title VII lawsuit and a separate SOX administrative complaint arising from the same termination by Procter and Gamble. The federal court entered judgment in the Title VII case after Gladden had received the SOX 180-day kick-out notice but chose not to add the SOX claim to…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hyde Park, MA
Board dismisses postal worker appeal filed after deadline (ECAB 23-0416)
A postal worker appealed an OWCP decision issued December 10, 2021. The Board calculated that the 180-day appeal period ended June 8, 2022, but the appeal was filed in February 2023. With no documented compelling circumstances to excuse the delay, the Board dismissed the appeal without reviewing…
M.W. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps, Quantico Fire Department, Quantico, VA
Board upholds firefighter injury claim denial without medical diagnosis (ECAB 23-0085)
A Quantico firefighter reported that a patient punched him while he was working. He provided an account of the incident and a bill for replacement eyeglasses, but no medical evidence diagnosing a condition from the incident. The Board affirmed the claim denial because the required medical evidence…
M.C. and Department of the Army, Research, Development & Engineering Command, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
Board orders clarification of left arm impairment rating (ECAB 22-1160)
An Army employee sought a larger schedule award than her prior 28 percent left upper extremity rating. OWCP obtained an impartial medical opinion to resolve conflicting ratings, but the examiner did not rate the arm using the required range of motion method. The Board found that the opinion needed…
A.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Battle Creek, MI
Board narrows VA worker forfeiture and orders overpayment recalculation (ECAB 22-0820)
A VA worker received compensation while also earning income from a private hospital. The Board held that she knowingly omitted that work and income on compensation forms covering October 27, 2019 through May 9, 2020, so forfeiture and an overpayment applied to that period. The record lacked the…
L.L. and Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dallas, TX
Board upholds denial of added lumbar condition (ECAB 22-0733)
A Bureau of Labor Statistics clerk had accepted injuries after falling when her ankle caught in a cable. She sought to add a lumbar condition to that claim. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish the lumbar condition as caused by, or consequential to, the accepted work injury…
D.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Reading, MA
Board finds retired postal driver occupational disease claim timely (ECAB 22-0056)
A retired postal truck driver filed an occupational disease claim concerning his left hip years after leaving work. OWCP rejected the claim as untimely. The Board found that the record did not establish his awareness of a possible link to work until a physician’s July 21, 2020 report. His August…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Mexico Post Office, Mexico, MO
Board recognizes postal carrier shoulder incident and remands claim (ECAB 21-0343)
A rural postal carrier reported dislocating his left shoulder while moving a bundle of mail inside his vehicle. OWCP had rejected the injury claim, but the Board found that the work incident occurred as alleged. It reversed OWCP’s decision and returned the case for further review of whether that…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Mining Company, LLC
High-negligence amendment allowed
After the parties settled all but one citation, the Secretary sought to amend the remaining rib-control citation from moderate to high negligence. The citation described four large broken or loose ribs in areas where miners regularly worked and traveled, and the Secretary relied on seven recent…
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Cement Company, LLC
Twelve-citation settlement approved
The settlement resolved 12 citations at Lehigh Cement's Nazareth Plant I, including missing or damaged conveyor guards, extensive housekeeping hazards, and unsafe access beside a pond with a nine-foot drop. The agreement reduced several negligence and gravity findings, removed S&S from three…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Tara Otten v. Continental Cement Company, LLC
Walkaround representative was entitled to lost upgrade pay
Tara Otten served as a miners' representative during MSHA inspections and was paid her regular laborer rate instead of the higher mobile-equipment rate she would otherwise have earned. Continental Cement relied on its collective bargaining agreement, which tied upgrade pay to actually performing…
Paul Jones v. The Marshall County Coal Company and Murray Energy Corporation Trust
Jones v. Marshall County Coal (BRB 22-0239 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Paul Jones worked underground in coal mines for fifteen years and later served as a lead foreman whose job involved substantial walking and lifting. A judge found that a disabling respiratory impairment invoked the fifteen-year presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis and awarded benefits…
Arthur P. Blevins v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Blevins v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 22-0212R): prior fifteen year holding partly vacated and remanded
Arthur P. Blevins sought black lung benefits after working in coal mines. The administrative law judge found that he had less than fifteen years of qualifying coal mine employment and denied benefits. In an earlier decision, the Board held that he had established fifteen years and remanded for…
Arthur P. Blevins v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Blevins v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 22-0212 BLA): benefits denial vacated for new disability review
Arthur Blevins appealed the denial of his subsequent black lung claim. The judge counted 14.45 years of mine work after subtracting 165 days for an alleged strike, leaving him short of the fifteen years required for a presumption. The Board held that the strike deduction rested only on the…
Garland Honaker v. Sea B Mining Company
Honaker v. Sea B Mining (BRB 21-0615 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Garland Honaker worked in qualifying coal mine employment for 26.49 years and had a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Those findings invoked the fifteen-year presumption that his disability was due to pneumoconiosis. Sea B Mining disputed whether it had failed to rebut the presumed disease…
K.W. and Department of the Army, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, Command Element, Fort Leonard Wood, MO
Board grants withdrawal and dismisses Army employee appeal (ECAB 22-1290)
K.W.’s representative submitted a withdrawal request in January 2023. The request was dated and received January 26, 2023. After considering the matter, the Board granted the withdrawal and dismissed the docket without addressing the challenged agency decision.
M.N. and Department of Veterans Affairs, North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, TX
Board affirms denial of late reconsideration request (ECAB 22-1150)
The submissions addressed appeal rights and earlier reconsideration requests, but did not bear on whether M.N.’s January 2014 fall occurred in the performance of duty. They did not raise a substantial question about OWCP’s prior decision.
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Section 2 Carrier Annex, Brentwood Post Office, Washington, DC
Board accepts knee contusions and remands other knee conditions (ECAB 22-1126)
Visible knee contusions were consistent with the examination and the incident. The Board reversed and affirmed parts of OWCP’s April 21, 2022 decision, remanded the other medical issues, and set aside the July 20, 2022 decision as moot.
S.N. and Department of the Army, National Capital Region Medical Directorate, Bethesda, MD
Board affirms denial for lack of diagnosed medical condition (ECAB 22-0011)
The submitted therapy records carried illegible signatures and did not identify a qualified physician or a valid diagnosis. That evidence did not establish the medical component of the claimed injury.
R.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Seminole Post Office, Seminole, FL
Board dismisses appeal after appellant dies without substitution (ECAB 21-1426)
The Board’s rules permit an appeal to proceed after an appellant dies if a proper substitute appellant is designated. The Clerk gave the deceased employee’s son 30 days to ask that the appeal proceed in his name. No response was received, so the Board concluded it could not decide the appeal.
S.D. and Panama Canal Commission, Industrial Division, Cristobal, Panama
Board remands late reconsideration request for reasoned decision (ECAB 21-0994)
OWCP’s decision applied the wrong short-form explanation to the late request and did not discuss whether the submitted material showed clear evidence of error. The Board required findings of fact and a statement of reasons addressing the request.
R.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Oak Park Station, Sacramento, CA
Board remands calculation of postal worker overpayment (ECAB 21-0873)
OWCP received conflicting Social Security benefit figures and had not established how a withdrawn benefits application and returned payments affected the calculation. The Board directed OWCP to clarify those issues, recalculate the overpayment, and issue a new preliminary determination.
United States Department of Energy, Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office, Hanford, Washington and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 788
DOE Hanford and AFGE Local 788 (FLRA 0-AR-5850): Authority upholds reduction of suspension to reprimand
The Department of Energy suspended a nuclear engineer for seven days after an email exchange in which he questioned an expedited safety-review meeting and made one inappropriate remark. An arbitrator dismissed most of the charged conduct, found substantial mitigating circumstances, and reduced the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2338 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri
AFGE Local 2338 and Poplar Bluff VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-5839): Authority upholds dismissal of untimely nonselection grievance
The Department of Veterans Affairs did not select an internal candidate for an air-conditioning-mechanic position after finding that he lacked the necessary experience. An arbitrator dismissed the union's grievance as untimely and alternatively found no contract violation or anti-veteran…
Matter of Wilson Ulices MORALES-MORALES, et al.
Equitable tolling can permit a late appeal only with diligence and extraordinary circumstances
The Board reviewed a motion to reconsider its dismissal of the respondents’ appeal as untimely. It held that the appeal deadline in 8 C.F.R. § 1003.38(b) is a claim-processing rule rather than a jurisdictional bar, so the Board may accept a late appeal in appropriate circumstances. Equitable…
J.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Medical Command, Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oakland, CA
Board affirms suspension for missed medical examination (ECAB 22-1351)
Under FECA, OWCP may suspend compensation when a claimant refuses or obstructs a required examination. The Board concluded that OWCP properly applied that authority to J.B.’s missed examination and affirmed the July 13, 2022 decision.
G.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Eastman Post Office, Eastman, GA
Board remands disability claim for medical development (ECAB 22-1167)
The second-opinion physician had identified depression, anxiety, and insomnia related to the employment injury, but had not answered the timing question. OWCP must consider whether to accept the additional conditions and obtain a supplemental opinion on the onset of total disability.
T.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Avent Ferry Station Post Office, Raleigh, NC
Board affirms postal worker overpayment recovery (ECAB 22-1144)
The Board also affirmed denial of a waiver, despite finding T.R. was without fault, and upheld recovery through deductions of $581.91 from continuing compensation every 28 days. The July 19, 2022 OWCP decision remained in force.
R.R. and Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
Board reverses termination of wage-loss compensation (ECAB 22-1046)
The physician relied in part on old imaging and general expectations for the healing of strains. He did not provide a reasoned explanation addressing R.R.’s accepted lumbosacral strain and cervical disc displacement. OWCP therefore failed to justify ending benefits.
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Monticello Post Office, Williamsburg, VA
Board affirms denial of left upper extremity condition (ECAB 22-0944)
The Board reviewed the medical reports against the accepted incident and found that S.P. had not met her burden to show that a left upper extremity condition resulted from that incident. The May 9, 2022 denial therefore remained in effect.
K.C. and Federal Judiciary, U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, CA
Board reverses zero-benefit reduction after unresolved medical conflict (ECAB 22-0278)
One physician found that K.C. could perform sedentary work; her attending physician found that she remained totally disabled. Because those opinions carried comparable weight, OWCP needed to resolve the conflict before penalizing her for nonparticipation in rehabilitation.
V.M. and U.S. Postal Service, George W. Young Post Office, Detroit, MI
Board remands COVID-19 continuation of pay claim (ECAB 21-1096)
OWCP had treated the date alleged in the claim as the injury date when it applied the 30-day notice rule. The governing COVID-19 guidance instead uses the last exposure before medical evidence of diagnosis. OWCP must apply that rule and issue a new decision.
Randy G. Jackson v. Buck Creek Coal, Incorporated and Security Insurance Company of Hartford
Jackson v. Buck Creek Coal (BRB 22-0192 BLA): benefits award and start date affirmed
Randy Jackson had fourteen years of coal mine work, so he could not use the fifteen-year presumption for his black lung claim. A judge instead found direct medical evidence that his disabling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was significantly related to both smoking and coal dust exposure…
Edward J. Kline v. J.R. Mining Construction, Incorporated and State Workers' Insurance Fund
Kline v. J.R. Mining Construction (BRB 22-0091 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Edward Kline qualified for the fifteen-year presumption because he had at least fifteen years of qualifying mine work and a disabling respiratory impairment. The judge nevertheless denied benefits after finding that his employer rebutted the presumption by disproving pneumoconiosis. Kline…
N.S. and Department of the Air Force, Patrick Air Force Base, FL
Board remands amount of Air Force worker overpayment (ECAB 23-0081)
The two Social Security calculation forms disagreed on the rate excluding federal retirement contributions. OWCP must clarify the figures, calculate the overpayment again, and issue a new preliminary determination and decision.
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Sutter Creek Post Office, Sutter Creek, CA
Board affirms denial of stress related condition claim (ECAB 22-1360)
G.W. alleged a hostile workplace and stress, but did not answer OWCP’s development questionnaire or identify specific compensable work factors. Without that factual showing, the Board did not reach the medical causation evidence.
A.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tamarac, FL
Board affirms postal worker overpayment and recovery (ECAB 22-1234)
Although A.V. was without fault, the Board affirmed denial of waiver and recovery by deducting $678.34 from her continuing compensation payments every 28 days. The July 12, 2022 OWCP decision remained effective.
J.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto VA Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA
Board affirms denial of COVID-19 continuation of pay (ECAB 22-1189)
J.S. filed the CA-1 on July 12, 2022. An OSHA injury report submitted earlier did not substitute for the required wage-loss claim form, so she did not meet the statutory notice condition for continuation of pay.
P.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Santee, CA
Board corrects maximum improvement date and affirms impairment award (ECAB 22-1051)
The impairment percentage was supported by the record, but OWCP had assigned the wrong date of maximum medical improvement. The Board modified the maximum medical improvement date to April 1, 2022 while leaving the two percent award intact; it found no basis for a greater impairment rating.
S.M. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Providence, RI
Board affirms denial of hearing loss schedule award (ECAB 21-0648)
The Board reviewed the medical evaluation of hearing loss and concluded that the evidence did not establish a compensable permanent impairment. The Board found no basis for a schedule award on the current record, so the March 10, 2021 OWCP decision remained in effect.
L.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Education Call Center, Muskogee, OK
Board reverses rescission of accepted neck injury (ECAB 21-0293)
The employer’s statements and diagrams concerning where L.H. fell during a break did not establish that the injury occurred outside the performance of duty. OWCP therefore failed to carry its burden to rescind the accepted claim.
David L. Brown v. Mingo Logan Coal Company and Arch Coal, Inc.
Brown v. Mingo Logan Coal (BRB 22-0036 BLA): benefits award for complicated pneumoconiosis affirmed
David Brown filed a subsequent black lung claim after years of coal mine work. A judge found that he had complicated pneumoconiosis arising from that work, which gave him an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease, and awarded benefits. Mingo Logan Coal argued that the judge…
Julian L. Daugherty v. Stoney Ridge Coal Company and Arrowood Indemnity
Daugherty v. Stoney Ridge Coal (BRB 22-0006 BLA): benefits denial remanded for new disability review
Julian Daugherty had sixteen years of qualifying mine work, but a judge denied his black lung claim for lack of total respiratory disability. The Board held that the judge could not favor two later non-qualifying breathing tests over an earlier qualifying test solely because they were more recent…
Braun v. United Airlines, Inc.
AIR21 case remanded for sealing findings
Michael Braun appealed summary dismissal of an AIR21 retaliation complaint, and the parties submitted heavily redacted appellate materials while jointly seeking to file unredacted versions under seal. The Board found that the administrative judge had allowed sealed filings based only on a…
J.F. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Toronto AMF, Ontario, Canada
Board dismisses late Customs employee appeal (ECAB 23-0619)
The Board calculated that the 180-day period ended March 5, 2023. Without a timely appeal or a supported explanation for late filing, it lacked jurisdiction to review the agency decision. The dismissal left the underlying OWCP decision outside the Board’s review in this appeal.
L.J. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, USP Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Board dismisses untimely prison employee appeal (ECAB 23-0611)
The 180th day following the agency decision was March 13, 2023. L.J. filed nine days later, and the Board found no basis to excuse the delay or exercise jurisdiction over the challenged decision. It dismissed the appeal without deciding the underlying compensation dispute.
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Orleans, LA
Board dismisses appeal without final adverse agency decision (ECAB 23-0599)
Board jurisdiction covers timely appeals from final adverse OWCP decisions. Because the decision identified by T.B. accepted conditions and the record contained no qualifying adverse decision, the Board did not reach the merits.
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
Board affirms denial for lack of qualifying medical diagnosis (ECAB 23-0102)
The submitted note diagnosed right-sided radiculopathy and sciatica, but came from a provider who did not qualify as a physician under FECA. The Board found that the note could not establish the medical part of the claim.
J.C. and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Department of Enforcement, Washington, DC
Board affirms compensation overpayment and recovery (ECAB 22-1296)
The Board found J.C. was without fault but upheld OWCP’s denial of waiver. It also upheld recovery by deducting $461.54 from her continuing compensation payments every 28 days. The June 13, 2022 agency decision was therefore affirmed in full.
S.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Providence Veterans Medical Center, Providence, RI
Board affirms denial of COVID-19 continuation of pay (ECAB 22-1169)
The Board used the last exposure as the injury date under OWCP’s COVID-19 guidance. Because S.M. reported the injury on the approved form more than 30 days later, she did not meet the notice requirement for continuation of pay.
M.S. and Department of the Air Force, Hill Air Force Base, UT
Board affirms denial of hearing loss schedule award (ECAB 22-0458)
Although M.S. sought an award for hearing loss, the Board found that the medical evidence did not show a compensable permanent hearing impairment. It therefore left OWCP’s September 22, 2021 decision in place.
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Three untracked contest packets were reopened
Consol Pennsylvania said it mailed three contest packets on August 15, 2022. MSHA received partial payments for the citations Consol did not intend to challenge but did not receive the contest packets, which had not been sent by certified or otherwise trackable mail. Consol moved to reopen promptly…
Secretary of Labor v. Iron Cumberland, LLC
Twenty-citation settlement approved
The settlement resolved 20 citations at Iron Cumberland's Cumberland Mine, reducing proposed penalties from $19,503 to $13,773. Several negligence findings were lowered, two citations were changed to unlikely and non-S&S, and other findings were modified or left unchanged. Judge Moran questioned…
B.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Los Angeles Processing and Distribution Center, Los Angeles, CA
Board dismisses late Los Angeles postal appeal (ECAB 23-0646)
The Board calculated that the deadline was March 9, 2022. B.W. offered no documented explanation establishing compelling circumstances for the late filing, leaving the Board without jurisdiction to review the claim.
B.C. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, San Ysidro, CA
Board dismisses appeal lacking claimed agency decision (ECAB 23-0630)
The Board may review final adverse OWCP decisions within its filing period. Because the purported February 2023 decision was absent and the record showed no qualifying adverse decision, the Board could not exercise jurisdiction over this appeal.
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.