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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Raymond Butler v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Butler v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 21-0241 BLA): carrier liability and benefit award affirmed
Raymond Butler received black lung benefits after a judge credited at least 32.25 years of surface coal mine work in conditions comparable to underground mining. The judge also found a totally disabling respiratory impairment and applied the fifteen-year presumption. Eastern Associated Coal and…
Kimble C. Larsen v. Andalex Resources, Incorporated and Old Republic Insurance Company
Larsen v. Andalex Resources (BRB 21-0147 BLA): benefits and operator liability affirmed
Kimble Larsen sought black lung benefits after 27.33 years of qualifying coal mine work. A judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. Andalex Resources challenged the judge's appointment, its own designation as responsible…
Roger Dale Ison v. Arch of Kentucky/Apogee Coal Company and Arch Coal, Incorporated
Ison v. Arch of Kentucky/Apogee Coal Company (BRB 20-0350 BLA): benefits award and March 2015 start date affirmed
Roger Dale Ison sought black lung benefits on a subsequent claim. The judge credited 15.23 years of qualifying coal mine employment and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, which invoked the fifteen-year presumption. The Board rejected the employer's challenge to the judge's removal…
Robert G. Rollins v. Eastern Associated Coal, LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Rollins v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 20-0348 BLA): benefits award and Peabody carrier liability affirmed
Robert Rollins sought black lung benefits on a subsequent claim after 25 years of qualifying coal mine work. The employer did not contest the judge's finding that Rollins invoked the fifteen-year presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. Peabody Energy argued that Patriot Coal's later…
Rocky A. Jenkins v. C & D Services, Incorporated and American Resources Company
Jenkins v. C & D Services (BRB 20-0327 BLA): en banc reconsideration denied
The Board had affirmed a black lung benefits award to Rocky Jenkins in August 2021. The employer and carrier timely sought reconsideration by the full Board. After reviewing the motion and its earlier decision, a majority of the Board's permanent members did not vote to grant reconsideration. The…
Garnie N. Sykes v. Consol Energy, Incorporated and Island Creek Coal Company
Sykes v. Consol Energy (BRB 19-0478 BLA): en banc reconsideration of remand denied
The Board previously vacated a denial of Garnie Sykes's black lung benefits claim and sent the case back to the judge for further consideration. The employer and carrier requested reconsideration by the full Board. After reviewing the request and its earlier decision, a majority of the Board's…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Omaha, NE
Board returns letter carrier's carpal tunnel claim for full evidence review (ECAB 22-1202)
A retired letter carrier claimed that decades of sorting and carrying mail caused carpal tunnel syndrome. OWCP denied the claim and later refused to reconsider it. The Board found that OWCP had overlooked a statement describing his work tasks and hand symptoms that was submitted after the earlier…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal worker's COVID-19 claim (ECAB 22-1109)
A postal worker had an accepted work-related COVID-19 claim and later sought benefits for additional conditions including vasculitis and neuropathy. OWCP denied the additional conditions and then declined to reopen the claim on reconsideration. The Board found that his reconsideration materials did…
C.A. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Fort Worth, TX
Board orders further review of prison officer's arm and hand claim (ECAB 22-0764)
A federal correctional officer attributed arm and hand conditions to repeatedly restraining and transporting inmates. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim. The Board found that a doctor's explanation connecting repetitive work movements to bilateral sprains was not enough to prove the claim…
M.M. and Department of the Navy, Naval Support Systems Command, Point Mugu, CA
Board orders medical review of Navy woodworker's back injury claim (ECAB 22-0637)
A Navy woodworker reported sciatica after lifting heavy boxes at work. OWCP denied his claim for lack of medical proof connecting the back condition to his duties. The Board found that a treating doctor's opinion, though insufficient to establish the claim outright, provided enough support to…
P.W., widow of A.W., and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
Board orders new calculation of shipyard widow's benefit overpayment (ECAB 20-1131)
P.W. received federal workers' compensation survivor benefits after her husband died from a shipyard injury. OWCP later found an overpayment because she also received Social Security survivor benefits without the required offset. The Board agreed that an overpayment occurred and that she was not at…
Matter of Viney K. GUPTA, Attorney
Attorney disbarred for practicing while suspended
The Board considered a joint disciplinary notice concerning an attorney who continued practicing before the Board, the Immigration Courts, and the Department of Homeland Security while suspended. It held that knowingly disregarding the prior suspension and falsely stating on appearance notices that…
Curtis S. Matthews v. C P & O, LLC, Ports America
Matthews v. Ports America (BRB 21-0634): psychological injury claim returned for review
Curtis Matthews injured his thumb while working as a lasher and sought benefits for a related psychological condition. The judge denied his claim for post-traumatic stress disorder but did not decide whether he had a compensable anxiety disorder, despite the parties raising that issue. The Board…
Carole Allan on behalf of Thomas Allan v. Monterey Coal Company
Allan v. Monterey Coal Company (BRB 21-0630 BLA): miner's benefits award affirmed
Carole Allan pursued her late husband's black lung benefits claim. On an earlier appeal, the Board sent the claim back to determine whether his mine work qualified for the fifteen-year presumption and whether the employer could contest total disability after conceding it. On remand, the judge found…
Sylvester C. Shrewsbury, Jr. v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company
Shrewsbury v. Norfolk Southern Railway (BRB 21-0593 BLA): rail worker qualifies as a miner
Sylvester Shrewsbury drove rail cars to coal mines and transported processed coal away from them. A judge denied his black lung claim after finding that his railway work did not qualify him as a miner. The Board held that his delivery of empty cars to be loaded with coal was integral to coal…
Charles R. Barrett v. Southern Ohio Coal Company and Consol Energy, Incorporated
Barrett v. Southern Ohio Coal Company (BRB 21-0571 BLA): benefits remain payable after lung transplant
Charles Barrett worked underground in coal mines for 11.17 years and later underwent a double-lung transplant. The judge found that clinical and legal pneumoconiosis had totally disabled him before the transplant and awarded benefits without relying on a statutory presumption. The employer argued…
Lodge Jackson v. Jim Walter Resources
Jackson v. Jim Walter Resources (BRB 21-0317 BLA): disability evidence returned for review
Lodge Jackson worked underground in coal mines for 24.56 years. The judge denied benefits after finding that Jackson had not proved total respiratory disability, so he could not invoke the fifteen-year presumption. The Board found that the judge had failed to explain why he gave no weight to a…
Edward Wargo v. Helvetia Coal Company and Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Wargo v. Helvetia Coal Company (BRB 21-0275 BLA): complicated pneumoconiosis award affirmed
Edward Wargo sought black lung benefits after 23 years of coal mine work. The judge found complicated pneumoconiosis based on recent x-rays, biopsy evidence, and medical opinions, and applied the irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. The employer challenged the exclusion…
Rinnie Ratliff v. R & H Coal Company
Ratliff v. R & H Coal Company (BRB 21-0136 BLA): complicated pneumoconiosis finding returned for review
The judge awarded Rinnie Ratliff benefits after finding complicated pneumoconiosis, which carries an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. The Board held that she could not give an x-ray reading greater weight solely because the physician was retained for a Department of…
Jerry Cobb v. Eastern Associated Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Cobb v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 20-0210 BLA): benefits award and Peabody liability affirmed
Jerry Cobb filed a subsequent black lung benefits claim after 22 years of qualifying coal mine work. The judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. The Board upheld the disability finding based on medical opinions that…
Glennie L. Guthrie v. Peabody Coal Company and Peabody Energy
Guthrie v. Peabody Coal Company (BRB 20-0209 BLA): benefits award and carrier liability affirmed
Glennie Guthrie filed a subsequent black lung benefits claim after 14 years of underground coal mine work. The judge found total disability and legal pneumoconiosis without applying the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's reliance on a medical opinion connecting Guthrie's…
Jerry W. Phelps v. Heritage Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Phelps v. Heritage Coal Company (BRB 20-0027 BLA): benefits award and Peabody liability affirmed
Jerry Phelps sought black lung benefits after coal mine work that the judge calculated at 14.8 years. He did not qualify for the fifteen-year presumption, but the judge found that medical evidence established legal pneumoconiosis and that it substantially contributed to his total respiratory…
Berberich v. Kansas City Southern Ry. Co.
Administrative appeal dismissed after federal court filing
Justin Berberich appealed an administrative law judge's decision in his Federal Railroad Safety Act case against Kansas City Southern Railway Company. While the appeal was pending, he informed the Board that he had filed an action in federal district court in Kansas for a fresh review of his claim…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Roswell Post Office, Roswell, GA
Board recognizes mail handler's finger laceration as work injury (ECAB 22-1029)
A mail handler caught his right index finger in a vehicle door while delivering mail. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the visible laceration and clinical records established the injury and its connection to the door incident. It reversed…
F.G. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Tampa, FL
Board returns air traffic controller's COVID pay claim for exposure review (ECAB 22-0859)
An air traffic controller tested positive for COVID-19 and sought continuation of pay. OWCP denied that benefit because he filed his injury form more than 30 days after the date he reported as the injury date. The Board found that OWCP had not determined his last workplace exposure under its…
C.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Tennessee Valley Health Care System, Murfreesboro, TN
Board upholds denial of nursing assistant's head injury claim (ECAB 22-0836)
A VA nursing assistant reported headache and dizziness after a patient struck her head while she dressed him. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that the submitted medical records did not sufficiently diagnose a condition and explain its connection…
C.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Parma Post Office, Cleveland, OH
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's schedule award (ECAB 22-0822)
A postal carrier sought a schedule award after an accepted lower back strain and left leg contusion. The Board found that she had not supplied sufficient medical evidence establishing a permanent impairment of a scheduled body member or function. It therefore upheld OWCP's denial of the award. The…
K.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Clinic, Montgomery, AL
Board upholds denial of expanded knee and shoulder injury claim (ECAB 22-0756)
A VA medical clerk sought to add knee and shoulder conditions to her accepted claim after falling down stairs at work. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately connect those additional diagnoses to the fall. It also upheld OWCP's refusal to reopen the case because her…
W.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bronx, NY
Board returns postal worker's overpayment case for evidence review (ECAB 22-0735)
A postal mail handler received both federal workers' compensation and Social Security retirement benefits without an offset, and OWCP assessed an overpayment. He disputed it, requested waiver, and submitted financial information. OWCP's final decision said he had not responded to the preliminary…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Freeport Post Office, Freeport, NY
Board reverses termination of postal clerk's injury benefits (ECAB 22-0731)
A postal sales clerk had received benefits for accepted work injuries. OWCP terminated her wage loss and medical benefits based on a doctor's opinion that the accepted conditions had resolved. The Board found the doctor's reports contradictory and insufficiently explained. Because OWCP had not…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Board upholds denial of postal employee's emotional condition claim (ECAB 22-0254)
A postal operations specialist attributed anxiety and depression to his workplace, including the handling of an accommodation request and alleged hostility. The Board found that he had not shown error or abuse in the employer's administrative actions or established the alleged harassment with…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Commission review direction vacated
The Commission had granted the Secretary's petition to review the administrative law judge's decision in September 2020. It later vacated that direction for review. As a result, the judge's decision became final without a Commission merits ruling.
Johnny A. Mullins v. Black Castle Mining Company
Mullins v. Black Castle Mining (BRB 22-0125 BLA): benefits award affirmed
Johnny Mullins sought black lung benefits after 39 years of qualifying coal mine work. The judge found total respiratory disability based on lung function tests, exercise blood gas studies, and medical opinions, then applied the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld her decision to credit the…
Wayne D. Browning v. Kingston Mining, Incorporated and ANR Incorporated
Browning v. Kingston Mining (BRB 21-0346 BLA): benefits award affirmed on blood gas and medical evidence
Wayne Browning sought black lung benefits after at least fifteen years of underground coal mine work. The judge found total respiratory disability based on arterial blood gas studies and a medical opinion, then applied the fifteen-year presumption. The employer's physicians questioned the blood gas…
Charles E. Gordon, Sr. v. Warrior Met Coal, LLC/Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated
Gordon v. Warrior Met Coal (BRB 21-0336 BLA): medical opinion supports benefits award
Charles Gordon filed a subsequent black lung benefits claim after 20 years of qualifying coal mine work. The judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment based on a physician's opinion, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. The employer argued that the opinion could…
Rush Creech v. Apogee Coal Company, Limited Liability Company and Arch Coal, Incorporated
Creech v. Apogee Coal Company (BRB 20-0322 BLA): benefits and Arch Coal liability affirmed
Rush Creech filed a subsequent black lung benefits claim after 29.47 years of qualifying coal mine work. The judge found total respiratory disability, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. Arch Coal argued that later sales of Apogee Coal and Patriot Coal's self-insurance…
Linda Barnett on behalf of Jack Barnett v. Squaw Creek Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Barnett v. Squaw Creek Coal Company (BRB 19-0303 BLA): miner's award and Peabody liability affirmed
Linda Barnett pursued her late husband's black lung benefits claim. The judge accepted 32 years of qualifying mine work, found total respiratory disability, applied the fifteen-year presumption, and awarded benefits. Peabody Energy argued that its later transfer of Squaw Creek Coal to Patriot Coal…
G.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wauwatosa, WI
Board orders combined review of postal carrier's back injury files (ECAB 22-1002)
A postal letter carrier sought compensation for a 2015 low back injury. OWCP had separate files for three other claimed back injuries, including an accepted 2014 sprain and a 2020 disc herniation. The Board found that a fair decision required OWCP to review the related files together. It set aside…
B.H. and U.S. Postal Service, White Bear Station Post Office, St. Paul, MN
Board reverses suitable work termination based on incomplete postal job offer (ECAB 22-0993)
A postal carrier with accepted sacroiliitis was offered modified delivery work. His doctor restricted combined standing and walking to four hours and twisting to one hour daily. The job offer listed walking and driving duties as lasting up to 'XX hours,' leaving the Board unable to determine…
G.S. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Air Engineering Center, Lakehurst, NJ
Board upholds termination of Navy machinist's injury benefits (ECAB 22-0697)
A Navy machinist received compensation after a 1988 back injury. OWCP's referral doctor found that the accepted sprain and disc aggravation had resolved and attributed current limitations to separate degenerative conditions. The Board found that opinion well supported by the examination and medical…
S.A. and Department of the Navy, Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Kings Bay, GA
Board upholds denial of knee condition expansion for Navy insulator (ECAB 22-0674)
A Navy insulator had an accepted neck and back injury from reaching for a valve in 2013. She asked OWCP to add osteoarthritis in both knees. The Board found that her doctors linked the knee disease to years of job duties, or offered no reasoned explanation tying it to the accepted 2013 incident. It…
B.A. and Department of the Navy, Office of the Judge Advocate General, Medical Care Recovery Unit, San Diego, CA
Board recognizes compensable work event in Navy employee's stress claim (ECAB 22-0535)
A Navy claims examiner said he developed stress symptoms after boxes blocked the file room exit and firefighters rescued him. OWCP denied the claim, questioning why he was in the room. The Board found that his work required a file search and that the record supported his account of the event. It…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Dallas, TX
Board upholds end of postal worker's wage loss benefits (ECAB 22-0518)
A postal mail handler had received wage loss benefits for an accepted right knee condition. OWCP found that he was no longer disabled by that condition and ended the wage loss payments. The Board found sufficient medical support for the termination. It also upheld OWCP's refusal to reopen the…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Cincinnati Processing & Distribution Center, Cincinnati, OH
Board returns postal worker's additional leg impairment claim (ECAB 22-0218)
A postal mail processor sought more compensation for permanent impairment from an accepted left knee condition. OWCP relied on a medical adviser to reject an increase. The Board found that the adviser received a statement of accepted facts that omitted earlier schedule awards, leaving him without…
J.F. and Department of the Army, Tampa Military Entrance Processing Station, Tampa, FL
Board orders review of Army worker's TENS supplies request (ECAB 22-0164)
An Army health technician used a TENS unit for pain from an accepted back injury and requested replacement leads. OWCP evaluated the request as a recurrence of a medical condition and denied it. The Board found that OWCP had used the wrong question: it needed to decide whether the leads were…
C.V. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Dallas VA Medical Center, Dallas, TX
Board upholds denial of VA nurse's emotional condition claim (ECAB 22-0078)
A VA charge nurse reported an emotional and physical reaction during a dispute among coworkers over a patient transfer. OWCP accepted a compensable employment factor but denied the claim. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately connect a diagnosed condition to that work event…
R.R. and Department of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board, Gardena, CA
Board reverses removal of accepted lumbar condition (ECAB 21-0608)
An NTSB regional director had an accepted back injury and sought recognition of lumbar radiculopathy. OWCP treated the issue as if he had to prove a new condition, but earlier agency records had already included radiculopathy in the accepted claim. The Board held that OWCP bore the burden to…
V.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing & Distribution Center, New York, NY
Board upholds loss of benefits after postal mechanic refused suitable work (ECAB 20-1478)
A postal letter box mechanic received benefits after injuring his right hand and arm. The employer offered a modified job that OWCP found compatible with his medical restrictions. The Board upheld OWCP's finding that the job was suitable and that his reasons for refusing it were insufficient. It…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Chicago, IL
Board returns postal worker's foot and back claim for combined review (ECAB 20-1151)
A postal mail handler claimed that work duties aggravated her left foot and back conditions. OWCP denied the new claim for insufficient medical proof of causation. The Board found that two earlier accepted claims involving the same body areas had to be reviewed with the current file. It set aside…
Michael D. Cadrecha v. Ben M. Radcliff Construction, Incorporated and American Interstate Insurance Company
Cadrecha v. Ben M. Radcliff Construction (BRB 22-0296): withdrawal request returned for review
Michael Cadrecha filed a Longshore Act claim after an injury at a shipyard and sought to withdraw it while pursuing a state court case. The district director denied withdrawal based on his view of which entity was liable for Longshore benefits. The Board held that pursuing the state case was a…
Junior L. Shanks v. Heritage Coal Company LLC and Peabody Energy Corporation
Shanks v. Heritage Coal Company (BRB 20-0261 BLA): Peabody carrier liability affirmed
The judge awarded Junior Shanks black lung benefits after finding at least 20 years of qualifying surface mine work, total respiratory disability, and no rebuttal of the fifteen-year presumption. The employer did not challenge entitlement on appeal. It argued that Peabody Energy was no longer…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Richmond, VA
Board recognizes carrier's leg abrasion but rejects knee claim (ECAB 22-1196)
A postal rural carrier fell on concrete stairs while delivering mail. The Board found that a documented one inch abrasion on her right lower leg was a visible injury from the accepted incident. It ordered OWCP to pay related medical expenses and decide any resulting disability. It found the medical…
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Leakesville Post Office, Leakesville, MS
Board reverses postal worker's retirement benefit overpayment (ECAB 22-0908)
A postal carrier elected OPM retirement benefits effective October 30, 2020, while OWCP paid FECA wage loss benefits through December 5. OWCP found a $2,565.02 overpayment for overlapping payments. The Board found no evidence that she actually received OPM benefits during that period. It reversed…
L.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Capital Metro Area Office, Gaithersburg, MD
Board orders impartial examination for postal worker's arm impairment (ECAB 22-0837)
A retired postal human resources manager sought a larger schedule award for impairment to both arms after accepted carpal tunnel and shoulder conditions. A prior Board decision had identified a conflict between her physician and OWCP's medical adviser. The impartial examiner did not clarify his…
P.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Rockefeller Center Post Office, New York, NY
Board upholds postal worker's overpayment and recovery schedule (ECAB 22-0819)
A retired postal clerk received FECA wage loss payments and Social Security retirement benefits attributable in part to federal service during the same period. The Board upheld OWCP's $43,325.83 overpayment calculation for March 2019 through September 2021 and found that she was without fault…
B.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Brockton VA Medical Center, Brockton, MA
Board upholds denial of VA worker's reported freezer door injury (ECAB 21-1414)
A VA food service worker said a coworker slammed a freezer or cooler door onto her hand. The employer's police investigation included statements that the coworker was not in the building and had no contact with her at the claimed time. The Board found those statements strong enough to refute her…
Gloria F. Shaffer, deceased, widow of Charles H. Shaffer, v. Helen Mining Company and Valley Camp Coal Company
Shaffer v. Helen Mining Company (BRB 22-0054 BLA): complicated pneumoconiosis issue returned for review
Gloria Shaffer pursued a survivor claim for benefits after her husband Charles Shaffer died; after Gloria's death, her son continued the claim on her behalf. The administrative law judge found more than twenty-two years of underground coal mine employment but found no totally disabling respiratory…
Wanda A. Bailey, widow of Ronald D. Bailey, v. Eastern Associated Coal and Peabody Energy Corporation
Bailey v. Eastern Associated Coal (BRB 21-0603 BLA): survivor claim returned for disability review
Wanda Bailey appealed the denial of survivor benefits on her late husband's black lung claim. The administrative law judge found at least fifteen years of qualifying coal mine employment and clinical pneumoconiosis, but did not adequately consider all arterial blood gas studies, a medical opinion…
Floyd Rose v. Universal Coal Services, Incorporated and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Rose v. Universal Coal Services (BRB 21-0507 BLA): black lung benefits affirmed
Floyd Rose had 8.85 years of coal mine employment and sought black lung benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act. The administrative law judge found that Rose had legal pneumoconiosis and a totally disabling respiratory impairment caused by that disease, and awarded benefits without applying the…
Emma Rayetta Bartley v. Harman Mining Corporation
Bartley v. Harman Mining (BRB 21-0498 BLA and 21-0497 BLA): Miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Emma Bartley pursued her late husband's subsequent black lung claim and her own survivor's claim after his coal mine employment. The parties agreed that the miner had more than fifteen years of qualifying work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, which triggered the statutory presumption…
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.