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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C.S. and Department of the Navy, Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet-Shipyards, Bremerton, WA
C.S. and Department of the Navy (ECAB 19-0660): Wage-earning capacity review must consider other conditions
C.S., a Navy shipyard welder with an accepted right knee injury, challenged a wage-earning capacity determination based on a constructed electronics worker position. The Board found that OWCP considered his accepted knee conditions but had not adequately evaluated other preexisting conditions…
National Weather Service Employees Organization and United States Department of Commerce, National Weather Service, NOAA
National Weather Service Employees Organization and NOAA (FLRA 0-MC-0030): Authority denies stay of impasse order
The National Weather Service Employees Organization and NOAA had bargained for about five years over a successor agreement when the Federal Service Impasses Panel resolved twenty-nine remaining articles. The union asked the Authority to stay the Panel proceedings while a federal lawsuit challenged…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2145 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia
AFGE Local 2145 and Richmond VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-5595): Authority strikes premature fee denial
An arbitrator rescinded two reprimands issued to a Richmond VA Medical Center employee, reduced a five-day suspension to a reprimand, and awarded back pay. Although the parties had agreed that she would retain jurisdiction over attorney fees, the arbitrator denied fees before the union submitted a…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Refuge-chamber penalty reduced on remand
Peabody Midwest violated its emergency response plan by placing one refuge chamber in the direct line of sight of the working face. On review of an earlier ALJ ruling, the Commission removed the significant-and-substantial designation because more than 15 miners were present only during shift…
Jerry P. Burnette v. Fred Wahl Marine Construction
Burnette v. Fred Wahl Marine (BRB 20-0137): attorney fee increased
Jerry Burnette's lawyer appealed an administrative law judge's reduction of his requested fee for work on Burnette's Longshore Act claim. The Board restored higher hourly rates for an associate attorney and a legal assistant. It also reversed exclusions of time spent preparing Burnette for a…
Charles Thompson v. Resource Consultants
Thompson v. Resource Consultants (BRB 20-0106): former counsel's fee request returned
Former counsel Eric Dupree sought additional attorney fees for work on Charles Thompson's Defense Base Act claims after the claims settled. An administrative law judge denied the petitions and said he lacked jurisdiction to consider them. The Board agreed that the approved settlements discharged…
Daniel Hill v. Northrop Grumman
Hill v. Northrop Grumman (BRB 20-0064): full Board reconsideration denied
Northrop Grumman and its insurer asked the full Benefits Review Board to reconsider its May 27, 2020 decision in Daniel Hill's Longshore Act case. The motion was timely. A majority of the Board's permanent members did not vote to vacate or modify the earlier decision, so the Board denied the…
Don H. Stanley v. Owens Trucking Company
Stanley v. Owens Trucking (BRB 19-0393 BLA): black lung benefit award affirmed
An administrative law judge awarded Don Stanley black lung benefits after finding 19 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Owens Trucking challenged the constitutionality of the 15-year presumption and argued that it had rebutted the presumption. The…
Kenneth Ray Mozingo v. Apple Coal Company
Mozingo v. Apple Coal (BRB 19-0383 BLA): black lung benefit award affirmed
An administrative law judge awarded Kenneth Ray Mozingo black lung benefits on a subsequent claim. Although Mozingo had more than 26 years of coal mine work, the judge did not find enough qualifying work for the 15-year presumption. He instead assessed entitlement under the ordinary rules and found…
Estile B. Gregory v. Eastover Mining Company
Gregory v. Eastover Mining (BRB 19-0250 BLA): benefit denial affirmed on reconsideration
The Board had earlier upheld a finding that Estile Gregory had not proved total respiratory disability but ordered further government-sponsored lung testing because a test was invalid. Eastover Mining sought reconsideration after advising the Board that Gregory had died and could no longer undergo…
Larry Dale Charles v. Enterprise Mining Company, LLC
Charles v. Enterprise Mining (BRB 19-0206 BLA): employer reconsideration denied
Enterprise Mining and its insurer asked the Board to reconsider its March 27, 2020 decision in Larry Charles's black lung case. The motion was timely. No member of the Board panel voted to vacate or modify the earlier decision, so the Board denied reconsideration. This short order does not restate…
William C. Potter v. National Mines Corporation
Potter v. National Mines (BRB 19-0191 BLA): benefits and attorney fee affirmed
An administrative law judge awarded William Potter black lung benefits after finding at least 21 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. National Mines and its insurer challenged the judge's appointment, the 15-year presumption, the medical findings, and…
J.K. and Department of the Navy, Mid Atlantic Regional Maintenance Facility, Portsmouth, VA
J.K. and Department of the Navy (ECAB 20-0591): Recurrence claim not reopened
J.K., a Navy shipbuilding specialist, had an accepted neck sprain and post-concussion syndrome after striking his hard hat on a hatch opening. OWCP later denied his claim that a worsening of the accepted conditions required additional medical treatment. The Board reviewed only OWCP's refusal to…
M.J. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Detroit, MI
M.J. and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ECAB 19-1979): Claim not reopened
M.J., a federal criminal investigator, reported upper back symptoms after his work vehicle was struck from behind. OWCP denied his claim because the medical evidence did not establish a definite diagnosis connected to the accepted incident. In a timely request to reopen the case, he submitted an…
S.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Birmingham, AL
S.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 19-1864): Late reconsideration needs correct review standard
S.J., a Veterans Affairs food service worker, sought reconsideration after OWCP terminated benefits for an accepted knee and back injury. The Board found her latest request untimely but concluded that OWCP had applied the standard for a timely request rather than the clear-evidence-of-error…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bensenville, IL
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1578): Refusal to reopen knee claim upheld
S.H., a postal city carrier, sought reconsideration of a denied right knee injury claim after her knee hyperextended while she stepped into a postal truck. OWCP declined to reopen the claim. The Board found that her timely reconsideration request included no new evidence or argument meeting the…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Worth, TX
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1493): Leg award upheld, arm rating sent back
P.W., a postal worker with accepted upper and lower extremity conditions, sought greater schedule awards for permanent impairment. The Board found no proof of more than six percent impairment of her right lower extremity and upheld that part of OWCP's decision. For her right upper extremity, the…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Logistics & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1422 and 19-1420): Impairment award and counsel fee upheld
J.K., a former postal worker with an accepted cervical condition, challenged an 11 percent permanent impairment award for her right upper extremity and OWCP's approval of her former lawyer's fee. The Board found that the physician and OWCP medical adviser supported the 11 percent rating, with no…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Logistics & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1420 and 19-1422): Impairment award and counsel fee upheld
J.K., a former postal worker with an accepted cervical condition, challenged an 11 percent permanent impairment award for her right upper extremity and OWCP's approval of her former lawyer's fee. The Board found that the physician and OWCP medical adviser supported the 11 percent rating, with no…
B.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bolivar, NY
B.M. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1341): Back injury claim lacks reasoned causation proof
B.M., a postal sales and service distribution associate, reported back pain while sorting heavy parcels and repeatedly bending at work. OWCP accepted the January 11, 2018 employment incident but denied the injury claim for lack of medical proof linking a diagnosed back condition to it. The Board…
D.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Akron, OH
D.T. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-0867): Claim files must be combined for review
D.T., a postal clerk, claimed that prolonged sitting at work contributed to back and other conditions. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim after considering a physician's view that her current back condition followed from an earlier accepted workplace injury. The Board found that OWCP had…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Incoming Mail Center, Boston, MA
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 17-0181): Retirement offset overpayment and recovery upheld
J.R., a former postal letter carrier receiving FECA wage-loss benefits, also received Social Security retirement benefits attributable in part to his federal service. The Board upheld OWCP's finding that failure to offset those benefits produced a $22,729.08 overpayment from April 2014 to December…
United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the General Counsel and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1106
USDA Office of the General Counsel and AFGE Local 1106 (FLRA 0-MC-0029): Authority denies impasse-order stay
The USDA Office of the General Counsel and AFGE Local 1106 reached an impasse over sixteen articles in a successor agreement, and the Federal Service Impasses Panel issued an order resolving them. The union asked the Authority to stay that order while unrelated litigants challenged the…
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration and National Treasury Employees Union
Food and Drug Administration and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5581): Authority upholds union-email ruling
NTEU asked the Food and Drug Administration to distribute an email about back pay for furloughed employees, fiscal-year funding, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and a union-dues form. An arbitrator found that the first three subjects were representational communications permitted by the…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Plainfield, IL
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1717): New impartial physician needed for impairment rating
B.S., a postal rural carrier, sought a schedule award for permanent left arm impairment following accepted shoulder conditions. His treating physician and OWCP's medical adviser gave different impairment ratings. The impartial examiner assigned to resolve that disagreement treated the accepted…
P.R., representative of the estate of N.R., and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution Butner, Butner, NC
Estate of N.R. and Bureau of Prisons (ECAB 19-1313): Schedule award claim needs medical development
P.R., representing the estate of N.R., pursued a schedule award claim for permanent impairment linked to N.R.'s accepted cervical and lumbar conditions. N.R. had supplied examination findings and sought an impairment rating before his death from an unrelated cause. The Board found that OWCP had not…
T.L. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, MS
T.L. and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ECAB 19-1110): Reconsideration request was timely
T.L., an Army Corps revetment worker, challenged OWCP's denial of a right knee injury claim. He had requested reconsideration in June 2015 and, through counsel, again in November 2016. OWCP treated the September 2018 filing as the operative request and applied the stricter standard for a late…
T.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Columbia Veterans Administration Healthcare System, Columbia, SC
T.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 19-0461): Fall injury claim lacks causation proof
T.J., a Veterans Affairs medical clerk, fell at work and reported pain in several parts of her body. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but denied her traumatic injury claim for lack of medical evidence linking diagnosed conditions to the incident. The Board found that a physician listed…
J.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Hebron, KY
J.S. and Transportation Security Administration (ECAB 19-0345): Wage-loss period unproved
J.S., a transportation security officer, had an accepted lower back strain from lifting a bag at work in 2016. She sought wage-loss compensation for a period in September and October 2018. The Board found that her physician described work restrictions but did not explain that the accepted strain…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Winterwood Post Office, Las Vegas, NV
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0386): Emotional injury claim lacks physician evidence
D.M., a postal carrier, reported emotional trauma after finding a deceased person on her delivery route. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her claim because the medical evidence did not establish a diagnosis linked to it. The Board held that the submitted reports, signed only by a…
S.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Greer, SC
S.M. and Transportation Security Administration (ECAB 20-0152): Overpayment exists, amount requires recalculation
S.M., a transportation security officer, received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits partly attributable to federal service. The Board agreed that an overlap created an overpayment without fault by S.M. It found that OWCP's $26,366.95 calculation included time…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Peekskill, NY
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-0465): Additional knee, wrist, and shoulder conditions unproved
A.R., a postal carrier assistant, fell at work after his left knee gave way and sought to expand his accepted claim to additional knee, wrist, and shoulder conditions. The Board found that his physician's checked-box causation statement lacked an explanation and that later opinions did not explain…
J.H. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution-Ashland, Ashland, KY
J.H. and Bureau of Prisons (ECAB 19-0395): Two percent arm impairment award upheld
J.H., a federal prison drug treatment specialist, sought a larger schedule award for accepted right carpal tunnel syndrome. Her physician rated right arm impairment at six percent, while OWCP's medical adviser rated it at two percent. The Board found the adviser's use of the applicable impairment…
Reyes Construction, Inc.
Four trench-protection violations affirmed
Reyes Construction excavated around a leaking water pipe in an eight-foot-deep trench with vertical walls and Type B or C soil. One trench box had an open end next to a vertical soil wall and large gaps that allowed hazardous movement, while another lacked protection along the bottom four and…
Secretary of Labor v. KenAmerican Resources, Inc.
Advance-notice penalty assessed
During an MSHA complaint inspection, an underground miner asked a dispatcher whether “company” was outside, and the dispatcher confirmed that inspectors were present. The Commission had already held on review that this exchange violated the Mine Act's ban on advance notice and remanded only for a…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Lugonia Station Post Office, Redlands, CA
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0335): Wage loss termination reversed
A.R., a postal carrier, received wage-loss compensation for an accepted left wrist sprain and later returned to part-time, modified duty. OWCP terminated the remaining wage-loss payments based on her treating physician's report that released her from care with permanent restrictions. The Board…
R.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Hollywood, FL
R.L. and Transportation Security Administration (ECAB 19-1793): Arm rating remanded, leg ratings upheld
R.L., a transportation security officer, sought larger schedule awards after an accepted fall affecting his left shoulder and back. The Board found no proof of impairment in his right leg or more than one percent in his left leg, and upheld those ratings. It found that OWCP had not obtained the…
M.H. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Armament Research Development & Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, Picatinny, NJ
M.H. and Department of the Army (ECAB 19-1187): Emotional condition denial needs findings
M.H., an Army engineer with an accepted hearing loss claim, alleged an emotional condition tied to workplace treatment and communication difficulties. OWCP found that a supervisor had subjected him to emotional abuse and isolation but denied the claim by citing a rule about unproved harassment. The…
R.W. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
R.W. and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (ECAB 19-0334): Overpayment upheld, fault finding reversed
R.W., a former naval shipyard data entry technician, received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable in part to federal service. The Board upheld OWCP's finding of a $69,177.66 overpayment from September 2010 through April 2018. It reversed the finding that…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Detroit Processing & Distribution Center, Detroit, MI
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0576): Odor exposure claim remanded
M.H., an occupational health nurse at a postal facility, reported symptoms after smelling a strong fragrance at work. OWCP denied her traumatic injury claim because it found the incident unproven. The Board found that coworker statements and contemporaneous medical reports supported that the…
W.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Atlanta Processing & Distribution Center, Atlanta, GA
W.H. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0562): Wrist award and hearing denials upheld
W.H., a mail handler, sought a schedule award for permanent impairment after a work-related right wrist fracture. His physician's older report gave a 19 percent rating under the fifth edition of the impairment guides, but OWCP requested an evaluation under the sixth edition and received none. The…
L.G. and Department of the Air Force, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, GA
L.G. and Department of the Air Force (ECAB 20-0433): Elbow claim denial upheld
L.G., an aircraft mechanic, reported left elbow and hand symptoms after using tools while working on an aircraft. OWCP accepted the described work factors but denied his occupational disease claim for lack of medical evidence connecting the diagnosed elbow condition to those factors. His doctor…
R.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Las Vegas, NV
R.T. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0298): Late reconsideration denial upheld
R.T., a postal clerk, sought reconsideration after his claim for shoulder and spine conditions from lifting parcels had been denied. OWCP received his request more than a year after the last merits decision, so it applied the stricter clear-evidence-of-error standard. The Board found that his…
C.V. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Yuma, AZ
C.V. and Customs & Border Protection (ECAB 18-0453): Wage loss claims remanded
C.V., a border patrol agent with accepted work-related psychiatric conditions, sought wage-loss compensation for periods in June and July 2014 and in October and November 2014. OWCP denied the claims as unsupported recurrences of disability. The Board found that the record did not show which…
United States Department of the Air Force, March Air Reserve Base, California and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3854
March Air Reserve Base and AFGE Local 3854 (FLRA 0-AR-5584): Authority upholds reversal of firefighter suspension
March Air Reserve Base suspended a firefighter and union steward for five days based on alleged workplace harassment and failure to record official time. An arbitrator found both charges unsupported, citing serious redactions that impaired the employee's response, hearsay evidence, and the absence…
Matter of Jorge Vicente NIVELO CARDENAS
Matter of Nivelo Cardenas (BIA ID 3993): address duties control constructive notice of an in absentia hearing
The Board reviewed an Ecuadorian respondent's appeal from the denial of his motion to reopen an in absentia removal order entered after he did not appear for a scheduled hearing. The respondent argued that a spelling error in the town name meant he did not receive notice, but the Board held that he…
C.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Southfield Post Office, Shreveport, LA
C.L. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0385): Occupational disease denial upheld
C.L., a postal carrier, reported back, knee, and leg symptoms that she attributed to repeatedly climbing steps at work. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim, and the Board affirmed because she had supplied no medical evidence establishing a diagnosed condition related to the accepted work…
W.L. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, King of Prussia, PA
W.L. and National Park Service (ECAB 19-1581): Injury claim denial upheld
W.L., a park ranger, reported back and knee pain after his pant leg caught while he moved a scooter from a truck at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because the submitted record did not establish a diagnosed injury. The only medical form bore an illegible…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Camilla Post Office, Camilla, GA
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1432): Intermittent wage loss remanded
A.S., a postal carrier, sought intermittent wage-loss compensation after a work-related fall that caused an accepted low back strain. Her doctor connected the fall to aggravation of preexisting spine conditions and resulting disability, but his opinion was not detailed enough to prove entitlement…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indianapolis, IN
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1211): Recurrence denial upheld, hearing remanded
C.M., a former postal clerk, claimed a recurrence of disability decades after an accepted low back strain. The Board upheld the recurrence denial because the new medical opinion did not adequately explain how the 1987 strain caused her current conditions, and the record lacked bridging evidence. It…
D.S. and Department of the Air Force, Air Force Logistics Command, McClellan Air Force Base, CA
D.S. and Department of the Air Force (ECAB 19-1162): Overpayment upheld, fault reversed
D.S., a former Air Force worker receiving FECA wage-loss benefits, also received Social Security retirement benefits attributable in part to federal service. The Board agreed that the overlapping payments caused a $17,135.01 overpayment for the identified periods. It found that the complexity of…
Secretary of Labor obo William R. Whitmore v. Yager Materials Corp.
Safety manager temporarily reinstated
William Whitmore, Yager Materials' maintenance manager, alleged that he reported training problems, COVID-19 protocol concerns, a haul-truck near miss, and equipment safety defects. Yager suspended and fired him soon afterward, stating that he made inappropriate comments about extending a new…
Theodore Oesau v. Rogers Group, Inc.
Harassment finding defeated retaliation claim
Theodore Oesau alleged that Rogers Group fired him after he raised numerous equipment and workplace safety concerns at its Arkansas quarry. Judge David Simonton found that the complaints were protected and that management knowledge, possible hostility, and close timing supported an initial…
D.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Jamaica Main Post Office, Jamaica, NY
D.F. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0354): Shoulder claim remanded for combined record
D.F., a mail carrier, sought compensation for a left shoulder condition after reporting a new work incident in February 2019. OWCP denied the claim, and its hearing representative relied on other shoulder injury files while affirming the denial. The Board found that those related files had not been…
F.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Santa Clarita, CA
F.E. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 20-0070): Schedule award claim not reopened
F.E., a former mail handler, sought a schedule award after OWCP had terminated his compensation and schedule award entitlement in 2014 for refusing suitable work. OWCP later issued schedule award denials with appeal rights, then concluded that issuing those decisions had been an error. The Board…
V.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Monsey Post Office, Monsey, NY
V.S. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1792): Wage loss termination reversed
V.S., a postal carrier, received wage-loss benefits for an accepted left ankle sprain after falling on steps at work. Her treating physician said she still had ankle findings and could not return to full duty, while OWCP's second opinion physician found the condition resolved and cleared her for…
Y.F. and U.S. Postal Service, James C. Brown, Jr. Post Office, Las Vegas, NV
Y.F. and U.S. Postal Service (ECAB 19-1576): Speech condition not added to claim
Y.F., a mail handler, had an accepted injury after a cage shelf struck her head. She sought to add dysarthria, a speech condition, to that claim. Her treating physician attributed the condition to the workplace injury but did not explain medically how the injury caused or aggravated it. Other…
W.C., claiming as widow of J.C., and Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration, Seattle, WA
W.C., widow of J.C. (ECAB 19-0351): Survivor claim not reopened
W.C. sought survivor benefits after her husband, a former Department of Labor employee who had received FECA compensation for depression, died. OWCP had denied the claim, and she asked it to reconsider. The Board found that her arguments did not identify a relevant legal error or new legal point…
C.H. and Smithsonian Institution, Pennsy Collections & Support Center, Landover, MD
C.H. and Smithsonian Institution (ECAB 20-0440): Hernia claim remanded
C.H., a Smithsonian exhibition specialist, reported groin pain after lifting a heavy acrylic panel at work. A surgeon diagnosed a left inguinal hernia and explained how heavy lifting could make a preexisting hernia manifest. The Board found that opinion did not yet prove the claim but raised an…
T.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs Western Colorado Health Care System, Grand Junction, CO
T.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs (ECAB 20-0383): Parking lot injury remanded
T.T., a VA health technician, reported an injury after slipping on ice while stepping from her truck in a parking lot near the end of her workday. OWCP denied the claim on the ground that she was not in the performance of duty. The Board found the record did not adequately show whether the lot was…
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.