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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Maxine Pelker, Widow of Rex D. Pelker v. Owens Corning Fiberglass, Columbia I & S, and E.J. Bartells Company
Pelker v. Owens Corning Fiberglass (BRB 22-0017): death benefits denial affirmed
Rex Pelker worked as an insulator for several employers and was exposed to asbestos. After he died of lung disease and cancer, his widow Maxine sought Longshore Act death benefits and separately settled claims against third parties. The judge found Owens Corning Fiberglass responsible for covered…
Carl G. Sigler v. Windsor Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund
Sigler v. Windsor Coal (BRB 21-0542 and 21-0250): benefits award returned for CT scan review
Carl Sigler had at least twenty years of underground coal mine work. After an earlier denial and Board remand, the judge found complicated pneumoconiosis and awarded benefits. Windsor Coal challenged the finding, while Sigler challenged an attorney fee order. The Board held that the judge had…
Johnny Wilson v. Peabody New Mexico Services and Peabody Energy Corporation
Wilson v. Peabody New Mexico Services (BRB 21-0251 BLA): black lung award affirmed
Johnny Wilson worked at surface coal mines for at least nineteen years and was totally disabled by a respiratory impairment. The judge found that his work as a truck driver, dozer operator, and supervisor regularly exposed him to coal dust, qualifying him for the fifteen year presumption. Peabody…
Carl G. Sigler v. Windsor Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund
Sigler v. Windsor Coal (BRB 21-0542 and 21-0250): benefits award returned for CT scan review
Carl Sigler had at least twenty years of underground coal mine work. After an earlier denial and Board remand, the judge found complicated pneumoconiosis and awarded benefits. Windsor Coal challenged the finding, while Sigler challenged an attorney fee order. The Board held that the judge had…
Stephen R. Egnor v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Egnor v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 21-0224 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Stephen Egnor worked at least twenty-five years in qualifying coal mine employment, most recently as an electrician whose duties included heavy labor. A judge found that his resting hypoxemia prevented him from doing that work and awarded black lung benefits under the fifteen-year presumption…
Patricia Ann Jones (on behalf of and widow of Jerry Lee Jones) v. Peabody Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Jones v. Peabody Coal (BRB 20-0496 and 20-0497 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Jerry Lee Jones worked at least seventeen years in qualifying coal mine employment, and his widow pursued both his miner claim and her survivor claim. A judge found that medical opinions established a disabling respiratory impairment and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. The…
Patricia Ann Jones (on behalf of and widow of Jerry Lee Jones) v. Peabody Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Jones v. Peabody Coal (BRB 20-0496 and 20-0497 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Jerry Lee Jones worked at least seventeen years in qualifying coal mine employment, and his widow pursued both his miner claim and her survivor claim. A judge found that medical opinions established a disabling respiratory impairment and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. The…
Trivedi v. General Electric
Recusal and second reconsideration motions denied
After the Board affirmed dismissal of Madhuri Trivedi's SOX and Consumer Financial Protection Act complaint as years late and denied reconsideration, Trivedi filed repeated motions seeking recusal of the panel, vacatur, and en banc rehearing. The Board treated the filings as a second…
S.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Blossvale, NY
Board upholds denial of carrier's wage loss claim (ECAB 21-1230)
A rural carrier associate sought wage loss compensation after a 2019 work vehicle accident that OWCP had accepted for a right fibula fracture, left ankle sprain, and thoracic spine sprain. She had returned to modified work but later claimed disability beginning April 10, 2021. Her physicians…
C.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
Board reverses finding that nurse's accepted spine aggravations had resolved (ECAB 21-1120)
A Veterans Affairs nurse had accepted temporary aggravations of cervical and lumbar spine conditions after a 2016 work fall. OWCP found those aggravations had resolved one year later and denied her challenge. The Board held that OWCP's second opinion physician did not give enough medical reasoning…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Deland, FL
Board reverses unexplained postal carrier overpayment amount (ECAB 21-0334)
A postal carrier received disability compensation after returning to modified work and also claimed intermittent wage loss for medical appointments. The Board had previously found that some overpayment occurred, but directed OWCP to determine the carrier's entitlement for the specific hours she…
C.W. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, Washington, DC
Board dismisses Secret Service employee's appeal from its own decision (ECAB 21-0181)
A Secret Service employee filed an appeal identifying a November 18, 2020 decision. That decision was an earlier Board ruling that had affirmed an OWCP decision from November 2019. The Board explained that it can review final adverse OWCP decisions issued within 180 days before an appeal is filed…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Springdale Post Office, Stamford, CT
Board orders new medical review of postal worker's left hip impairment (ECAB 21-0141)
A Postal Service letter carrier sought a schedule award for more than 31 percent permanent impairment of his left leg after a hip replacement. OWCP relied on an impartial medical examiner's 31 percent rating. The Board found that the examiner did not adequately explain his choice of physical…
A.S. and Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Medicare Hearings & Appeals, Arlington, VA
Board returns analyst's reconsideration request for proper review (ECAB 21-0078)
A federal program analyst sought compensation for a lumbar spine injury after lifting a monitor at work. OWCP denied his claim, then denied a later reconsideration request using the stricter standard for untimely requests. The Board found the request was filed within one year of OWCP's latest…
GreenBuild Design & Construction, LLC
In re GreenBuild Design & Construction, LLC (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 22-(06)): EAB declines sua sponte review
The Administrative Law Judge issued an Initial Decision in the GreenBuild Design & Construction matter on December 12, 2022. Neither party appealed to the Environmental Appeals Board. The Board declined to review the case on its own initiative, so the Initial Decision became a final order on…
Paul Farrington v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Farrington v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 22-0045 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Paul Farrington filed a subsequent black lung claim after a prior denial. He had twenty-eight years of underground coal mine work, and a judge found that qualifying pulmonary function studies and medical opinions established total respiratory disability. The Board upheld that finding and the…
Donald R. Bigers v. Heritage Coal Company, LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Bigers v. Heritage Coal (BRB 21-0339 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Donald Bigers worked twenty-nine years underground in coal mines. A judge found that three of four breathing tests had qualifying results before medication and that medical opinions also established total respiratory disability. The Board upheld those findings and the use of the fifteen-year…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board returns postal carrier's COVID-19 claim after early denial (ECAB 22-1341)
A Postal Service carrier assistant filed a claim alleging that she developed COVID-19 at work. OWCP asked her for more evidence on July 21, 2022, but denied the claim on August 17, before the required 30-day response period ended. The Board set aside that decision because OWCP did not give her the…
M.T. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, Dublin, CA
Board requires findings on prison employee's reassignment claim (ECAB 22-1212)
A Bureau of Prisons employee filed a claim after learning at a work meeting that she would be reassigned out of state. OWCP accepted that the meeting occurred and that she had a diagnosed condition, but denied the claim for lack of medical proof connecting the condition to work. The Board found…
K.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Bear Post Office, Bear, DE
Board requires combined review of postal carrier's back injury files (ECAB 22-0951)
A Postal Service rural carrier filed a claim for back and leg injuries after handling a large parcel. OWCP accepted that the work incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical evidence connecting it to her back condition. The Board found that the carrier had earlier injury claims…
P.T. and National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, National Fisheries Service, Alaskan Observers, Inc., Seattle, WA
Board affirms knee arthritis denial but returns wage loss claim (ECAB 22-0841)
A groundfish observer sought to add left knee arthritis to his accepted work injury claim and obtain compensation for a later period away from work. The Board agreed with OWCP that the impartial examiner's reasoned opinion did not support adding arthritis. On the wage loss issue, the examiner had…
H.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Saint Louis, MO
Board upholds denial of mail carrier's late reconsideration request (ECAB 21-1137)
A Postal Service mail carrier claimed that repetitive work caused right carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndromes. OWCP denied the claim because he had not established the alleged work events as described. After an earlier Board decision found his reconsideration request untimely, OWCP again…
P.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Portland Processing and Distribution Center, Portland, OR
Board returns postal mechanic's back injury claim for combined review (ECAB 21-0808)
A Postal Service machinery mechanic claimed a back injury after a tricycle pedal came off during his shift. OWCP denied the claim, finding no diagnosed condition tied to that incident. The Board found that the current file and four earlier claims concerned back injuries and needed to be reviewed…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3197 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington
AFGE Local 3197 and VA Puget Sound (FLRA 0-AR-5811): Authority dismisses late attorney-fee exceptions
An arbitrator awarded environmental-differential pay to VA Puget Sound housekeepers but later denied AFGE Local 3197's request for attorney fees. The Union did not file exceptions within thirty days of the fee award and instead asked the arbitrator to reconsider it. The arbitrator denied…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Bastrop, Texas and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3828, Council of Prison Locals #33
Bureau of Prisons Bastrop and AFGE Local 3828 (FLRA 0-AR-5785): Authority declines interlocutory laches review
AFGE Local 3828 filed a grievance alleging that the Bureau of Prisons failed to compensate Bastrop employees for work performed at the beginning and end of their shifts. After a five-year delay before the Union sought a hearing, an arbitrator rejected the agency's laches defense because the…
Edmond A. Rose v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Rose v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 22-0121 BLA): benefits denial returned for disability review
Edmond Rose had 26.91 years of qualifying surface coal mine work, but a judge denied his black lung claim after finding no total respiratory disability. Three of five breathing tests produced qualifying results before medication, including the most recent test. The Board held that the judge had…
Everett L. Silcox v. T.M. Coal Company and Old Republic Insurance Company
Silcox v. T.M. Coal (BRB 21-0606 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed after remand
Everett Silcox filed a subsequent black lung claim after earlier denials. A judge credited him with eighteen years of underground coal mine work, found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. On appeal, the employer challenged the…
Roger D. Yates v. Island Creek Coal Company
Yates v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 21-0204 BLA): benefits award returned for medical opinion review
Roger Yates had more than fifteen years of underground coal mine work. A judge awarded black lung benefits after crediting medical opinions that Yates had a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board majority held that the judge had not adequately explained why he favored those opinions…
B.B. and Department of Defense, Department of Defense Education Activity, Alexandria, VA
Board returns teacher's COVID-19 continuation of pay claim (ECAB 23-0124)
A Department of Defense elementary school teacher said she contracted COVID-19 after exposure to children at work. OWCP denied continuation of pay because she filed her injury claim more than 30 days after the date she identified as the injury date. The Board found that OWCP had not applied its…
P.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Birmingham, AL
Board returns postal carrier's shoulder award claim for review of medical report (ECAB 22-1372)
A Postal Service rural carrier associate sought a schedule award after a work injury to his right shoulder. His surgeon reported an eight percent permanent impairment of the right upper extremity. OWCP denied the award, saying the record did not establish a permanent impairment, but its decision…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Smith, AR
Board returns postal carrier's ankle injury claim for review of medical reports (ECAB 22-1300)
A Postal Service delivery specialist said he injured his left ankle while avoiding a charging dog on his route. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim, finding no supported diagnosis linked to it. Before issuing that decision, OWCP had received an orthopedic surgeon's reports…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
Board returns postal worker's knee claim after OWCP used wrong claim type (ECAB 22-1026)
A Postal Service carrier technician sought further review of knee symptoms after an injury years earlier. He filed an occupational disease claim before OWCP formally accepted the earlier traumatic injury claim. OWCP treated the new filing as a recurrence claim, denied it, and later denied…
E.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Richmond, VA
Board returns postal carrier's knee impairment award for more medical review (ECAB 21-1293)
A Postal Service city carrier sought a larger schedule award for a work-related left knee injury. Her treating surgeon rated her impairment at 20 percent, while OWCP's medical adviser rated it at seven percent, which OWCP awarded. The Board found that the record lacked the surgeon's referenced…
P.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Sacramento, CA
Board upholds $24,801 benefit overpayment with $250 repayment deductions (ECAB 21-1183)
A former Transportation Security Administration screening supervisor received FECA wage loss compensation while also receiving Social Security retirement benefits partly attributable to her federal service. OWCP had not offset the overlapping benefits and found a $24,801.33 overpayment for 2013…
N.F. and Department of the Interior, Isle Royale National Park Service, Houghton, MI
Board upholds denial of park worker's occupational disease claim (ECAB 21-1145)
An Isle Royale maintenance worker attributed groin and testicular pain to physically demanding work in hot weather. OWCP treated his filing as an occupational disease claim and denied it for lack of a diagnosed condition linked to the accepted work factors. The Board affirmed. It found that the…
M.O. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Directorate of Emergency Services, Fort Meade, MD
Board upholds denial of Army firefighter's back injury claim (ECAB 21-0940)
An Army firefighter fell backward during a hose advancement drill and claimed back and left leg injuries. OWCP accepted that the fall happened but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused a diagnosed condition. The Board affirmed. It found that the treating…
E.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oakland, CA
Board finds postal carrier established work factors in knee claim (ECAB 21-0899)
A Postal Service city carrier attributed right knee problems to years of collecting and delivering mail, walking, climbing stairs, and handling packages. OWCP denied her occupational disease claim because it found the alleged work factors had not been established. The Board found her account…
M.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Amity Post Office, New Haven, CT
Board upholds $34,051 overpayment but rejects lump sum recovery (ECAB 21-0725)
A former Postal Service rural carrier received FECA wage loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits partly based on federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld OWCP's finding of a $34,051.79 overpayment for 2014 through August 2020 and agreed that she was without…
D.F. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Coppell, TX
Board upholds $41,971 overpayment but returns waiver decision (ECAB 21-0652)
A former Transportation Security Administration officer received FECA wage loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits partly attributable to federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld OWCP's $41,971.77 overpayment finding and agreed she was without fault. OWCP had…
R.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Gastonia, NC
Board returns postal carrier's shoulder award claim for combined file review (ECAB 21-0081)
A Postal Service letter carrier sought a larger schedule award for right arm impairment after shoulder surgery. OWCP had awarded a combined 20 percent impairment and denied his later claim for an increase. The Board found that two earlier right shoulder claim files, including one with a prior…
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC
Haul-truck railing settlement approved
MSHA cited two hazards on the same haul truck at Appalachian Resource West Virginia’s Tug Fork Preparation Plant. One citation involved a loose railing at the top of an eight-to-nine-foot ladder, and the other involved the equipment operator’s failure to wear a seat belt. The settlement changed the…
Doris Lynn Adkins (widow of Stephen E. Adkins) v. Pine Ridge Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Adkins v. Pine Ridge Coal (BRB 21-0620 BLA): survivor benefits award affirmed
Doris Lynn Adkins filed a survivor claim after her husband, Stephen Adkins, died. A judge found that he had twenty-two years of underground coal mine work and complicated pneumoconiosis arising from that work, triggering the irrebuttable presumption that his death was due to pneumoconiosis. Pine…
Kenneth E. Lovell v. Heritage Coal Company LLC, formerly Peabody Coal Company, and Peabody Energy Corporation
Lovell v. Heritage Coal (BRB 21-0418 BLA): benefits denial returned for causation review
Kenneth Lovell had 12.5 years of coal mine work and could not use the fifteen-year presumption. A judge found that he had legal pneumoconiosis and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, but denied benefits because he found the disease was not a substantial cause of the disability. The Board…
John B. Sanders v. South Akers Mining Company, LLC and National Union Fire/AIG
Sanders v. South Akers Mining (BRB 21-0261 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
John Sanders had twenty-four years of coal mine work, including at least fifteen years underground. A judge found that medical opinions established a totally disabling respiratory impairment and awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's reliance on a…
Terry Perry v. Eastern Associated Coal LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Perry v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 21-0243 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Terry Perry filed a subsequent black lung claim after an earlier denial. A judge credited him with thirty-four years of qualifying coal mine work and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. She awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption after finding that the employer had not…
Arthur G. Grace v. Peabody Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Grace v. Peabody Coal (BRB 20-0479 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Arthur Grace filed a subsequent black lung claim after an earlier denial for lack of total disability. A judge found that he had thirty-one years of coal mine work, including more than fifteen qualifying years, and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the finding that the…
A.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Wedgwood Post Office, Seattle, WA
Board upholds denial of postal worker's recurrence claim (ECAB 22-0978)
A former postal worker sought compensation for a claimed recurrence of disability years after a 1998 work vehicle accident. OWCP had accepted several injuries from that accident but denied the later recurrence claim. The Board affirmed because the submitted medical records did not establish…
TH Construction Group
Late-contest dismissal set aside and remanded
OSHA issued TH Construction Group four serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $15,214. The company's owner later requested a late notice of contest, claiming OSHA had told him not to worry after he promptly supplied information that another contractor employed the workers. An…
N.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Napierville, IL
Board affirms schedule award compensation for postal worker (ECAB 21-0236)
A 39-year-old USPS laborer-custodian sought compensation for an 11 percent permanent impairment of his right upper extremity after a work-related wrist injury and surgery. OWCP paid him wage-loss compensation during the period covered by the schedule award, and he argued that the payment coding…
M.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Board returns postal worker's impairment claim for further review (ECAB 20-1565)
A former postal tool and parts clerk sought a larger schedule award for permanent impairment of his left arm and leg after accepted work injuries. He had already received awards for 8 percent impairment of the left arm and 31 percent of the left leg. The Board found that OWCP had not obtained the…
Shirley Ann Thornton (widow of Barry Lee Thornton) v. Itmann Coal Company
Thornton v. Itmann Coal (BRB 21-0300 BLA): survivor award returned for disability review
Shirley Ann Thornton sought survivor benefits after her husband, Barry Lee Thornton, died. A judge found that he had 21.25 years of qualifying coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, triggering the fifteen-year presumption that his death was due to pneumoconiosis. The Board…
Shanker, Chief, Div. of Enforcement, OLMS, USDOL v. Patent Office Professional Association
Shanker v. Patent Office Professional Association (DOL ARB 2023-0001): stay of supervised election denied
The Board had voided the Patent Office Professional Association's 2020 presidential election because the union failed to honor a reasonable request to distribute campaign literature, and it ordered a new supervised election by March 16, 2023. The union sought a stay until its regular November 2023…
E.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Northern California Health Care System, Martinez VA Medical Center
Board returns VA worker's COVID continuation of pay claim (ECAB 22-1356)
A VA medical instrument technician reported workplace COVID-19 exposure and later tested positive. OWCP denied his request for continuation of pay because his injury form was filed more than 30 days after the injury date he reported. The Board found that OWCP had not applied its COVID-19 guidance…
W.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Aurora, IL
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal worker's wage loss claim (ECAB 22-1124)
A postal work unit supervisor sought wage loss compensation after an accepted right knee injury. After OWCP denied compensation for a later period, he asked it to reconsider and raised concerns about an examination for his separate schedule award claim. The Board found that the examination argument…
J.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Philadelphia, PA
Board upholds finding that VA nurse abandoned hearing request (ECAB 22-1094)
A VA nurse with an accepted COVID-19 claim requested a telephone hearing after OWCP denied continuation of pay. OWCP mailed a hearing notice to his address of record at least 30 days before the scheduled date. He did not call in, request a postponement, or explain his absence in writing within the…
L.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashville, TN
Board upholds denial of postal worker's back injury claim (ECAB 22-1061)
A rural carrier associate reported lower back pain after loading cat litter at work. OWCP accepted that the work event occurred but found that the medical record did not establish an injury connected to it. The Board found that reports from a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner, and physical…
A.I. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshal Service
Board reverses air marshal's $8,902.61 overpayment finding (ECAB 22-0931)
A federal air marshal elected federal retirement benefits while OWCP continued to pay FECA wage loss compensation. OWCP found an $8,902.61 overpayment for October 22 through December 5, 2020 and ordered repayment. The Board found that the record showed continued FECA payments but did not establish…
Secretary of Labor obo Jason Hargis v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Jason Hargis v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2022-0013): Cross-review cases consolidated for briefing
The Secretary of Labor, Vulcan Construction Materials, and miner Jason Hargis each petitioned the Commission to review rulings in related proceedings. The Commission granted all three review petitions and consolidated the cases. It set the same deadlines for each party's opening, response, and…
Artsen Chemical America, LLC
In re Artsen Chemical America, LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 23-02C): greenhouse-gas reporting settlement approved
Artsen Chemical America, LLC is a New Jersey supplier headquartered in Madison. The Consent Agreement states that the company imported at least 25,000 metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gases in one or more years from 2010 through 2020, and that it did not timely report its imports…
Hal T. Woods, Sr. v. Arch of Kentucky/Apogee Coal Company, LLC and Arch Resources, Incorporated
Woods v. Apogee Coal (BRB 21-0120 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Hal Woods filed a subsequent black lung claim after an earlier denial. A judge found twenty years of qualifying coal mine work, a totally disabling respiratory impairment, and entitlement under the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld Arch Coal's carrier liability for Apogee Coal, despite…
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.