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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Larry A. Howerton v. Eastern Associated Coal, LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Howerton v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 21-0001 BLA): modification and benefits affirmed
Larry Howerton sought modification of a decision on a subsequent black lung claim. A judge found that he had more than fifteen years of underground coal mine work and complicated pneumoconiosis arising from that work, then granted modification and awarded benefits. Eastern Associated Coal and…
William R. Fogle v. Heritage Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Fogle v. Heritage Coal (BRB 20-0376 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
William Fogle filed a subsequent black lung claim after an earlier denial. A judge found thirty-three years of qualifying coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, then awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld Peabody Energy's carrier liability for…
B.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
Board upholds denial of postal worker's wrist injury claim (ECAB 22-1338)
A rural carrier associate struck her right wrist on a vehicle door latch while loading packages. OWCP accepted that the incident happened but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the treating physician's return-to-work note contained no diagnosis. Notes from physician assistants and a…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Phoenix Post Office, Phoenix, AZ
Board upholds denial of postal handler's wage loss claim (ECAB 22-1024)
A postal mail handler sought wage loss compensation after an accepted vehicle accident caused neck, wrist, and thorax injuries and postconcussion syndrome. His physician excused him from work during part of the claimed period but did not explain how the accepted injury prevented him from doing his…
C.W. and Department of the Navy, Atlantic Military Sealift Command, Virginia Beach, VA
Board upholds $58,443.59 overpayment recovery from mariner (ECAB 22-1012)
A Navy merchant mariner received FECA wage loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable in part to his federal service. OWCP calculated a $58,443.59 overpayment for September 2009 through May 2021 because it had not offset the federal service portion of his Social Security…
D.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL
Board returns VA nurse's shoulder impairment award for new measurements (ECAB 22-0961)
A VA nurse injured her left shoulder in a workplace fall and received a schedule award for 14 percent permanent impairment of her left arm. Her treating surgeon reported a 19 percent arm impairment, while OWCP's medical adviser calculated 14 percent from shoulder motion. The Board found that the…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Eden Post Office, Eden, NC
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal worker's knee injury claim (ECAB 22-0546)
A postal letter carrier sought to reopen her denied knee injury claim after a vehicle struck her parked mail truck. She argued that OWCP should have treated the claim as an occupational disease claim and submitted a medical report about the effects of her repeated job duties. The Board found that…
H.A. and Department of the Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, Laughlin Air Force Base, TX
Board upholds denial of Air Force instructor's ankle injury claim (ECAB 20-1267)
An Air Force flight simulator instructor twisted his right ankle when he landed awkwardly on a staircase at work. OWCP accepted that the April 2019 incident occurred but denied his claim because the medical record did not establish that it caused a diagnosed condition. The Board found that the…
G.B. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Sharpe Army Depot, Lathrop, CA
Board narrows compensation forfeiture tied to unreported volunteer work (ECAB 20-0536)
A former Defense Department employee received wage loss compensation for knee injuries while working without pay for quilting organizations. OWCP imposed forfeiture for 2004 through 2018 and calculated a $370,431.46 overpayment because her reporting forms did not disclose the work. The Board found…
Randy G. Hoover v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Hoover v. Director, OWCP (BRB 22-0185 BLA): late reconsideration set aside
Randy Hoover won black lung benefits on modification after a judge found forty years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs sought reconsideration more than thirty days after that award. The judge…
Christopher J. Hurley v. Camp Creek Service Center, Ltd. and West Virginia Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund
Hurley v. Camp Creek Service Center (BRB 22-0170 BLA): benefits decision to be reissued
A judge awarded Christopher Hurley black lung benefits, then sent the decision by email to the employer's attorney of record. That attorney had left her firm, and the employer said it did not actually receive the decision until December 8, 2021. Its first appeal was dismissed as late, but its…
Ivan M. Acord v. Pine Ridge Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Acord v. Pine Ridge Coal (BRB 21-0017 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Ivan Acord filed a subsequent black lung claim after an earlier denial. A judge found 34.75 years of qualifying coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, then awarded benefits under the fifteen-year presumption. The Board held that Peabody Energy remained the responsible…
J.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Western New York Healthcare System, Buffalo VA Medical Center, Buffalo, NY
Board returns VA nurse's claim for review of overlooked medical reports (ECAB 23-0082)
A VA psychiatric nurse sought compensation after a patient pulled at her during work, and OWCP had denied a causal link between the incident and her diagnosed conditions. She later requested reconsideration with medical evidence. The Board found that OWCP refused reconsideration without addressing…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, North Houston Processing & Distribution Center, North Houston, TX
Board splits fault finding on postal worker's $8,730 overpayment (ECAB 22-1155)
A postal mail handler returned to full-time modified work in December 2021, but OWCP continued depositing wage loss compensation for total disability. The Board upheld OWCP's $8,730.32 overpayment calculation because she received both pay and compensation for the same period. It found her without…
D.M. and Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, CA
Board orders impartial review of Navy mechanic's ankle impairment (ECAB 22-1139)
A Navy air conditioning mechanic sought a schedule award for permanent impairment after an accepted workplace ankle sprain. His physician rated two percent impairment of the right lower extremity, while OWCP's medical adviser rated zero percent using a different diagnosis category. The Board found…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashville, TN
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's foot injury claim (ECAB 22-1090)
A postal carrier said she injured her right foot while stepping into her truck. She gave different dates and descriptions of the event in her claim, later statement, testimony, and medical records. The Board found that these inconsistencies did not establish one reliable account of the workplace…
A.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Corpus Christi, TX
Board upholds three percent impairment rating for Border Patrol agent (ECAB 22-0930)
A Border Patrol agent sought an increased schedule award for impairment after accepted lower back injuries that caused leg symptoms. OWCP had previously awarded three percent impairment of the left lower extremity. The Board found that the district medical adviser correctly applied the applicable…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing & Distribution Center, New York, NY
Board remands overpayment calculation and fault decision (ECAB 22-0388)
M.W. worked as an electronics technician for the U.S. Postal Service and received FECA wage-loss compensation after a work injury. OWCP found a $42,947.52 overpayment from January 1, 2017 through March 27, 2021 because it had not offset the portion of M.W.'s Social Security retirement benefits…
J.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, El Paso, TX
Board upholds refusal to reopen border patrol agent's injury claim (ECAB 21-0726)
J.L., a Customs and Border Protection border patrol agent, injured the right elbow while drawing a service handgun and later sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. OWCP denied the award after its medical adviser found no ratable impairment, and it later denied J.L.'s request to reopen…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 446 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Asheville, North Carolina
AFGE Local 446 and VA Asheville Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-5828): Authority upholds same-shift detail practice
The VA Asheville Medical Center considered only second-shift employees for a temporary detail to a second-shift supervisory position. AFGE Local 446 argued that the agreement required the agency to let employees on every shift apply. An arbitrator found the agreement silent on that question and…
Genevia E. Johnson (widow of Patton P. Johnson) v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Johnson v. Dominion Coal (BRB 22-0019 BLA): survivor benefits affirmed after remand
Genevia Johnson sought survivor benefits after her husband, Patton Johnson, died. After an earlier Board remand, a judge found that a medical opinion established he had a totally disabling respiratory impairment and invoked the fifteen-year presumption that his death was due to pneumoconiosis. The…
Richard L. Conner v. Island Creek Coal Company and Consol Energy, Incorporated
Conner v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 21-0590 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Richard Conner had a totally disabling respiratory impairment, but a judge credited only 6.5 years of qualifying coal mine work and found no pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the exclusion of his warehouse manager and accountant work from the qualifying employment total, leaving him short of the…
Abdulla Barwari v. Titan Corporation and Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania
Barwari v. Titan Corporation (BRB 20-0494): diabetes found work related, benefits claim remanded
Abdulla Barwari worked as a translator in Kuwait and Iraq for Titan Corporation and was diagnosed with diabetes while overseas. A judge denied his claim after finding his diabetes, hypertension, and depression were not work related. The Board held that the employer's sole medical opinion on…
M.L. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, Dallas, TX
Board orders combined review of bilateral upper extremity claim (ECAB 22-1276)
M.L., a general claims examiner at the Department of Labor, alleged bilateral upper extremity conditions from repetitive federal employment duties. OWCP denied the claim while relying on evidence from an earlier claim involving the same body region, but that earlier file was not part of the record…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grand Rapids, MI
Board affirms denial of second knee replacement claim (ECAB 22-1195)
A.C., a letter carrier at the Grand Rapids Post Office, claimed that long-term walking, standing, and carrying at work caused a need for a second knee replacement. OWCP accepted that the alleged work factors occurred but found that she had not established the medical component of her claim. The…
E.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Bedford Park Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Board recognizes knee and foot diagnoses, remands causation review (ECAB 22-1085)
E.T., a mail handler at the Bedford Park Post Office, reported swollen ankles and knees after years of walking and stair use at work. Her physician documented bilateral knee osteoarthritis, a left knee medial meniscus tear, and bilateral plantar fasciitis. OWCP accepted the employment factors but…
H.L. and U.S. Postal Service, East Rockaway Post Office, East Rockaway, NY
Board affirms denial of postal worker's fall injury claim (ECAB 22-1058)
H.L., a postal worker, slipped on water in a restroom and claimed injuries to the head, neck, shoulders, and lower back. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred in the performance of duty and that diagnosed medical conditions had been established, but denied that the conditions were causally…
L.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Minneapolis VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN
Board orders combined review of VA food service worker's back claims (ECAB 22-1032)
L.F., a food service worker at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, alleged that he injured or reinjured his back while pushing food carts and doing related work. OWCP denied the claim after finding that the incident was not established and citing evidence that he was in light-duty training rather…
J.V. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Corpus Christi, TX
Board orders new hearing loss medical evaluation (ECAB 22-1022)
J.V., a U.S. Border Patrol agent, claimed hearing loss and tinnitus after years of exposure to firearms, trains, vehicles, and other workplace noise. OWCP accepted that the claimed workplace exposure and a medical condition had been established, but denied that the hearing loss was caused by…
W.W. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety & Inspection Service, Jasper, FL
Board affirms denial of shoulder disability benefits (ECAB 21-0740)
W.W., a consumer safety inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, had an accepted occupational disease involving disorders of the tendons in both shoulders. He sought disability compensation for February 18 through March 4, 2019 and September 11 through 20, 2019. The Board found that his…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Harvest, AL
Board affirms denial of rural carrier's back injury claim (ECAB 21-0202)
J.W., a rural carrier associate for the U.S. Postal Service, claimed that he hurt his back while descending steps during his route on May 29, 2020. OWCP asked for more factual and medical information, but no response arrived within the 30-day period. The Board found that his description did not…
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 407
National Park Service and AFGE Local 407 (FLRA 0-AR-5765): Authority upholds duty-station bargaining remedy
The National Park Service reviewed employees' duty stations and retroactively corrected some locations without advance notice to AFGE Local 407. An arbitrator found that the review was a personnel survey covered by the agreement and ordered the agency to conduct a new survey, notify the Union…
Secretary of Labor v. Iron Cumberland, LLC
Combustible-accumulation settlement approved
The settlement covered two specially assessed section 104(d)(2) orders for extensive combustible-material accumulations along the Cumberland Mine’s 6 Mains West No. 1 belt. The first order identified ten locations, including material contacting moving rollers and one smoking accumulation; the…
Leon C. Metheny v. F & M Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis Fund
Metheny v. F & M Coal (BRB 22-0161 BLA): benefits denial reversed, award directed
Leon Metheny had 13.453 years of coal mine work, short of the fifteen years needed for the statutory presumption. A judge found that he had disabling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused in part by coal dust, but denied benefits after separately finding that pneumoconiosis did not cause his…
Michael W. Choncek v. Keystone Coal Mining Corporation and Consol Energy, Incorporated
Choncek v. Keystone Coal (BRB 22-0153 BLA): black lung benefits affirmed after remand
Michael Choncek had 21.83 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. An earlier Board decision upheld his use of the fifteen-year presumption but returned the case for a new assessment of whether the employer had rebutted it. On remand, the judge again…
Garland J. Street v. B&B Mining, Incorporated and Old Republic Insurance Company
Street v. B&B Mining (BRB 21-0403 BLA): benefits denial partly vacated and remanded
Garland Street sought black lung benefits based on coal mine employment. The judge found that he had twelve years of qualifying work, less than the fifteen years needed for the statutory presumption, and denied benefits because he had not shown that pneumoconiosis caused his total disability. The…
Roy L. Rife v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Rife v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 21-0073 BLA): benefits denial vacated in part
Roy Rife sought black lung benefits after at least fifteen years of underground coal mine work. The judge found him totally disabled by a respiratory impairment, but denied benefits after finding that the employer had rebutted the fifteen-year presumption. The Board held that the judge had…
Williams v. QVC, Inc.
Denial of SOX complaint affirmed
Fabfabio Williams, an IT security architect, reported concerns about the quality and cost of an outside vendor's vulnerability reports and about hiring candidates he considered unqualified. The Board agreed with the administrative judge that these reports were not objectively reasonable reports of…
F.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford, CT
Board returns postal employee's back claim for combined file review (ECAB 23-0070)
A postal delivery employee claimed a back condition caused by her work and connected it to an earlier accepted injury. OWCP denied the new claim and twice refused to reconsider it. The Board found that OWCP needed the earlier injury file to evaluate her current claim fairly. It set aside the…
S.H. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL
Board affirms denial of air traffic controller's continuation of pay (ECAB 22-1179)
S.H., an FAA air traffic controller, contracted COVID-19 and had an accepted work injury dated December 8, 2021. She submitted the required Form CA-1 on January 12, 2022, five days after the 30-day deadline for continuation of pay. OWCP denied continuation of pay but accepted the COVID-19 claim…
S.G. and U.S. Postal Service, North Houston Post Office, Houston, TX
Board orders reasoned review of late reconsideration request (ECAB 22-1136)
S.G., a letter carrier at the North Houston Post Office, claimed hand numbness and tingling from repetitive duties and submitted medical reports with a late reconsideration request. OWCP denied the request, saying it did not show clear evidence of error, but did not acknowledge or discuss the…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, West Springfield, PA
Board affirms $1,507.88 overpayment and denial of waiver (ECAB 22-1055)
R.R., a postal rural carrier, returned to modified full-time work on November 23, 2021 after a left leg and foot injury. OWCP continued wage-loss payments through December 4, producing a $1,507.88 overpayment. The Board upheld the amount and period and agreed R.R. was without fault. It also upheld…
C.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, New York Harbor Healthcare System, Margaret Cochran Corbin VA Campus, New York, NY
Board affirms denial of VA technician's ankle injury claim (ECAB 22-0885)
C.T., a medical instrument technician at a VA facility, reported twisting his right ankle and striking his arm after his foot caught in a dialysis machine line. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred on June 17, 2020 but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the physicians' work slips and…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
Board orders further review of postal worker's carpal tunnel claim (ECAB 22-0616)
J.H., a former San Francisco mail carrier, sought to add right carpal tunnel syndrome to a claim accepted after a 2003 vehicle collision and right shoulder injury. His physician explained that shoulder surgery and altered arm positioning could have increased stress on the right wrist, contributing…
L.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fresno, CA
Board orders correct method for rating lumbar injury impairment (ECAB 21-0625)
L.L., a former mail processing clerk for the Fresno Post Office, had an accepted lumbar sprain and sought a schedule award for permanent impairment in her left lower extremity. OWCP awarded one percent based on reports that applied a peripheral-nerve table from the medical impairment guides. The…
Smith v. Franciscan Physician Network
Late appeal accepted after time-zone mistake
Dr. Annette Smith filed her petition for review at 10:47 p.m. in California on the due date, but that was 1:47 a.m. the next day in Washington and therefore one hour and 47 minutes late under the Board's Eastern Time filing rule. Smith had become self-represented only days earlier, and neither the…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Millersville Post Office, Baltimore, MD
Board affirms denial of postal carrier's intermittent disability claim (ECAB 22-1324)
A.M., a rural postal carrier, injured her left shoulder, right thumb, wrist, and hand while loading a heavy box at work. She later returned to light duty but sought wage-loss compensation for intermittent absences in May 2022. Her physician reported that a flareup of shoulder pain could be expected…
D.V. and Department of Agriculture, APHIS Emergency Programs, Worcester, MA
Board remands tree climber's late reconsideration request for the correct review standard (ECAB 22-1298)
D.V., a Department of Agriculture tree climber, injured his left shoulder at work in 2015. OWCP later terminated his wage-loss and medical benefits after an impartial examiner concluded that the accepted injury had resolved. D.V. sought reconsideration more than one year after OWCP's last merits…
S.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Encino Park Post Office, Encino Ledge, TX
Board remands postal carrier's disability claim after OWCP overlooked a medical report (ECAB 22-1231)
S.A., a rural postal carrier, sought disability compensation after symptoms in her left hand and wrist led her to stop work in November 2021. OWCP denied the claim, saying she had not supplied a detailed medical report explaining why she could not do her light-duty assignment. The Board found that…
L.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Mid Atlantic Consolidated Patient Account Center, Asheville, NC
Board upholds denial of late reconsideration request in workplace stress claim (ECAB 22-1096)
L.B., a Veterans Affairs program support assistant, claimed that workplace harassment and unequal treatment caused an emotional condition. OWCP denied the claim in 2018 because she had not established a compensable work factor. Her 2020 reconsideration request arrived more than one year after that…
J.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lincoln, NE
Board remands postal worker's vascular-condition claim for a clearer medical opinion (ECAB 22-0989)
J.A., a postal carrier, injured his left ankle while walking through a yard at work in April 2017. OWCP accepted the ankle injury and related conditions, and later authorized a vascular procedure needed before ankle surgery. It declined to add J.A.'s vascular condition to the accepted claim. The…
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Brockton Processing & Distribution Center, Brockton, MA
Board affirms denial of disability after postal worker's hand injury (ECAB 22-0061)
J.P., a mail processing clerk, injured his right hand and wrist in a fall at work. OWCP accepted a right wrist and hand sprain and paid earlier wage-loss compensation, but denied the later period J.P. claimed. The Board found that his physician did not explain how the accepted sprain kept him from…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 149 and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Hidalgo, Texas
NTEU Chapter 149 and CBP Hidalgo (FLRA 0-AR-5820): Authority upholds rescission of lane agreement
NTEU Chapter 149 challenged Customs and Border Protection's rescission of a local agreement that limited how often employees rotated through primary vehicle-processing lanes. The arbitrator found the agreement was a local mutual agreement under the parties' 2017 national contract and that the…
Roger L. Edwards v. Edwards Trucking Company, Incorporated
Edwards v. Edwards Trucking (BRB 21-0616): legal pneumoconiosis finding sent back
Roger Edwards sought black lung benefits after coal mine work that included underground mining and surface work as a coal truck driver. The judge credited him with 19.75 years of coal mine employment but fewer than six years in qualifying dusty conditions, so the fifteen-year presumption did not…
Louis F. Workman v. G E X, Kentucky, Incorporated and Aetna Casualty & Surety Travelers Casualty & Surety
Workman v. G E X Kentucky (BRB 21-0415 BLA): benefits denial sent back
Louis Workman sought black lung benefits after coal mine work in Kentucky. The judge found 13.33 years of coal mine employment, simple clinical pneumoconiosis, and a totally disabling gas exchange impairment, but denied benefits for lack of a proven connection between pneumoconiosis and disability…
Robert L. Nantz v. Big Elk Creek Coal Company and Old Republic Insurance Company
Nantz v. Big Elk Creek Coal (BRB 21-0011R): benefits award stands after reconsideration
Robert Nantz had received an award of black lung benefits. The Board affirmed that award in June 2022. The employer and its insurance carrier filed a timely request for reconsideration, and no response was filed. After reviewing the request and its earlier decision, the Board reported that no…
Smith v. Akal Express, Inc.
Extra-record evidence excluded
Akal Express and Dalsher Singh appealed after they failed to appear below and were held in default on Shervis Smith's STAA complaint. They asked the Board to add a prior court ruling and Smith's Facebook posts, claiming the material showed a pattern of deceptive claims and fraud on the tribunal…
J.C. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY
Board dismisses Army Corps employee's late appeal of May 2022 decision (ECAB 23-0246)
J.C. appealed an OWCP decision dated May 6, 2022. She filed her Board appeal on December 6, after the 180-day filing period ended on November 2. The Board found no documented compelling circumstances explaining the delay and no newer final adverse OWCP decision within the appeal period. It…
K.C. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Washington, DC
Board dismisses customs employee's late appeal of February 2022 decision (ECAB 23-0172)
K.C. appealed an OWCP decision dated February 3, 2022. She filed her Board appeal on November 15, after the 180-day filing period ended on August 2. The Board found no documented compelling circumstances explaining the delay and no newer final adverse OWCP decision within the appeal period. It…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hallstead, PA
Board dismisses postal worker's late appeal of February 2022 decision (ECAB 23-0163)
D.M. appealed an OWCP decision dated February 2, 2022. She filed her Board appeal on November 7, after the 180-day filing period ended on August 1. The Board found no documented compelling circumstances explaining the delay and no newer final adverse OWCP decision within the appeal period. It…
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.