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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S.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Oklahoma City VA Medical Center
Board returns VA employee's injury appeal for combined file review (ECAB 25-0694)
A VA health aide appealed decisions about injuries after a fall on an icy parking lot crosswalk. Another claim file concerned the same region of her body. The Board found that OWCP needed to combine the files to consider all relevant medical evidence. It set aside both decisions and ordered a new…
Rufus Hendrix v. Best Coal, Incorporated
Hendrix v. Best Coal (BRB 25-0039 BLA): disability finding vacated and claim remanded
Rufus Hendrix appealed a denial of black lung benefits without counsel. The Board upheld the judge's finding that conflicting x-rays, a CT scan, and the medical opinions did not establish complicated pneumoconiosis. But the judge had said a doctor did not address total disability even though his…
Bonnie Owens (o/b/o and Widow of John A. Owens) v. Lodestar Energy, Incorporated and Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance
Owens v. Lodestar Energy (BRB 24-0414 and 25-0012): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Bonnie Owens sought miner's and survivor's black lung benefits after her husband's death and his 26 years of surface coal mine work. On remand, the administrative law judge found that he had a totally disabling respiratory impairment, invoked the 15 year presumption, and awarded benefits. The…
Larry L. Collins v. ArcelorMittal/XMV, Incorporated
Collins v. ArcelorMittal/XMV (BRB 24-0423 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed after remand
Larry Collins qualified for the 15-year black lung presumption after a judge found 29 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. On remand, the judge considered a medical opinion previously omitted from his assessment of legal pneumoconiosis and again found…
Virginia A. Ramsey v. Donaldson Mining Company
Ramsey v. Donaldson Mining (BRB 24-0416 BLA): survivor benefits denial affirmed
Virginia Ramsey sought survivor benefits after the death of her husband, a coal miner. A labor judge found that his work history and respiratory disability invoked the 15-year presumption, but that the employer rebutted it on death causation. Ramsey appealed only the finding that autopsy evidence…
Bonnie Owens (o/b/o and Widow of John A. Owens) v. Lodestar Energy, Incorporated and Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance
Owens v. Lodestar Energy (BRB 24-0414 and 25-0012): miner and survivor benefits award affirmed
The employer and its carrier appealed the administrative law judge’s award of miner’s and survivor’s black lung benefits. Bonnie Owens was the claimant-respondent and did not file a response brief. The judge found the miner had twenty-six years of qualifying surface coal mine employment, a totally…
S.C. and Architect of the Capitol
Board upholds denial of Capitol worker's right hip claim (ECAB 25-0817)
An Architect of the Capitol employee sought compensation for a right hip condition after a February 2025 work incident. The physician's report discussed an earlier injury and did not explain a causal connection to the accepted incident. A physician assistant's report could not supply the required…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Pleasant Ridge Annex Post Office
Board dismisses postal worker's late appeal (ECAB 25-0813)
A postal worker appealed an April 2024 OWCP decision in August 2025. The Board found that the filing came well after the 180-day appeal deadline, with no documented compelling reason for the delay. It dismissed the appeal without reaching the underlying claim.
D.S. and Department of Defense, Defense Health Agency, Evans Army Community Hospital
Board recognizes hospital cook's work incident and returns injury claim (ECAB 25-0809)
A hospital cook reported a back injury while washing dishes, lifting trash, and stooping at work. Her employer acknowledged the incident, and medical evidence reflected her account. The Board found the work incident established and reversed OWCP's contrary denial. It returned the case for OWCP to…
V.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Chicago South West Carrier Annex
Board increases postal worker's right arm award to four percent (ECAB 25-0779)
A postal worker had received a schedule award for two percent permanent impairment of her right arm. Her physician calculated a higher four percent rating using loss of shoulder range of motion. The Board found that the higher permitted rating controlled. It modified the decision and directed OWCP…
Matter of Oscar Alfredo DUBON MIRANDA
Matter of DUBON MIRANDA (BIA ID 4144): bond order vacated
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's order releasing the respondent on a $7,000 bond. The Board held that the respondent's inappropriate behavior toward his stepdaughter, convictions for driving under the influence and disturbing the peace, and the lack of information…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Review petition withdrawn
An administrative law judge removed the significant and substantial designations from two MSHA citations issued to Morton Salt. The Commission granted the Secretary of Labor's petition to review that ruling and later heard oral argument. The Secretary then asked to withdraw the petition, and Morton…
Robert E. Steely v. Apogee Coal Company, LLC
Steely v. Apogee Coal (BRB 25-0013 BLA): benefits award and carrier liability affirmed
Robert Steely sought black lung benefits after 23 years of qualifying coal mine work. A labor judge found him totally disabled by a respiratory impairment, applied the 15-year presumption, and awarded benefits. The Board upheld the judge's assessment of a qualifying pulmonary function study and…
Russell Lee Fleming v. Inmet Mining, LLC
Fleming v. Inmet Mining (BRB 24-0422 BLA): complicated pneumoconiosis award affirmed
Russell Fleming sought black lung benefits after 35 years of underground coal mine work. A labor judge found that the x-ray evidence and a medical opinion established complicated pneumoconiosis, invoking the irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. Inmet Mining challenged…
B.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Board upholds denial of FEMA responder's exposure claim (ECAB 25-0794)
A FEMA fire protection employee reported exposure to a bloodborne pathogen at work. OWCP asked for evidence of a diagnosed condition connected to the exposure, but received none by the decision date. The Board affirmed the denial because the record did not establish a medical condition.
J.G. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Board finds retired Army worker's hearing claim timely (ECAB 25-0790)
A retired Army Corps equipment operator filed a hearing loss claim more than three years after his last workplace noise exposure. The Board found that employer hearing conservation audiograms had documented worsening hearing loss while he still worked there. Those records gave the employer actual…
L.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Kilmer Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal worker's late reconsideration request (ECAB 25-0759)
A postal worker asked OWCP to revisit a denied injury claim more than one year after the last merits decision. He submitted a doctor's hernia report and other materials. The Board found that the late request did not clearly show error in the prior decision, the standard required after the one-year…
L.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center
Board orders restoration of postal worker's wage loss benefits (ECAB 24-0505)
The Board had previously reversed OWCP's termination of a postal worker's benefits, but OWCP did not restore payments. It later terminated benefits again without issuing a new pretermination notice. The Board held that OWCP had to reinstate wage loss compensation after the first reversal and give…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Co.
Two S&S citations affirmed
MSHA cited Consol's Bailey Mine for a missing keeper pin on a longwall shield and cracked light globes on a continuous miner. The Commission held that substantial evidence supported the judge's findings that the missing pin created a projectile hazard and the cracked globes could contribute to a…
Matter of J-C-A-G-
CAT deferral vacated
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's grant of deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture to a citizen of Mexico who had cooperated with United States law enforcement against a drug-trafficking conspiracy. The Board held that generalized evidence of…
Roy Gibson v. Lone Mountain Processing, Incorporated
Gibson v. Lone Mountain Processing (BRB 25-0018 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Roy Gibson sought black lung benefits after 18 years of underground coal mine work. A labor judge found that a respiratory impairment prevented him from performing the heavy work of an outby foreman, qualifying him for the 15-year presumption. Lone Mountain Processing argued that the medical…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Columbus Post Office
Board dismisses appeal without an OWCP decision to review (ECAB 25-0869)
A postal worker sought review of a purported October 2024 OWCP decision. The Board found no such final adverse decision in the record and none issued within the applicable appeal window. Without a decision it could review, the Board dismissed the appeal without reaching compensation issues.
R.H. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Tonto National Forest
Board dismisses Forest Service worker's late appeal (ECAB 25-0868)
A Forest Service employee appealed an October 2024 OWCP decision in September 2025. That filing came after the April 2025 deadline, and she gave no documented compelling reason for the delay. The Board dismissed the appeal without considering the underlying claim.
M.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration
Board dismisses TSA worker's appeal and late reconsideration petition (ECAB 25-0844)
A TSA employee tried to appeal purported OWCP decisions and also challenged an earlier Board ruling. The Board found no final adverse OWCP decision within the appeal window; one date he cited belonged to the Board's own earlier decision. His challenge to that decision came after its 30-day…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Otay Mesa Annex Station
Board upholds denial of postal carrier's late reconsideration request (ECAB 25-0815)
A postal carrier sought reconsideration of an old wage loss decision involving an accepted hip condition. Her request came more than one year after the last merits decision. The Board found that the materials submitted did not clearly show error in that decision, as required for a late…
B.B. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Board denies FBI agent's hearing loss schedule award (ECAB 25-0789)
An FBI agent had accepted work-related hearing loss and tinnitus. Audiometric calculations yielded no ratable hearing impairment in either ear. The Board agreed that tinnitus could not add an award without measurable binaural hearing impairment under the applicable guide. It affirmed denial of a…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Medford Post Office
Board dismisses postal worker's repeat appeal and late petition (ECAB 25-0763)
A postal worker appealed an OWCP decision the Board had already affirmed. No new OWCP decision fell within the 180-day appeal window. The Board also found his renewed challenge to its own prior decision came after the 30-day reconsideration period. It dismissed both filings without another merits…
V.C. and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Board orders impartial exam on OSHA employee's left knee claim (ECAB 25-0714)
An OSHA employee asked OWCP to add left knee conditions to her accepted injury claim. Her treating physician attributed them to favoring the left leg after a right knee injury. OWCP's second opinion physician attributed the left knee findings to degeneration. The Board found a medical opinion…
United States Department of the Navy, Commander Navy Region Northwest, Fire and Emergency Services and International Association of Firefighters, Local F-282
Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services and IAFF Local F-282 (FLRA 0-AR-6008): Authority upholds clarified rotation award
The Navy rotated a firefighter for one shift to another station within the same battalion. An arbitrator first found that the move violated the agreement, but after the agency requested clarification, he issued a second award finding that the agreement permitted the rotation and denied the…
Ernest C. Edgell v. The Ohio County Coal Company
Edgell v. Ohio County Coal (BRB 24-0460 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Ernest Edgell sought black lung benefits after 24 years of underground coal mine work. A labor judge found that a later pulmonary function study and a supporting medical opinion established total respiratory disability, allowing him to invoke the 15-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's…
K.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Springfield Processing and Distribution Center
Board upholds suspension of postal worker's wage loss benefits (ECAB 25-0814)
A postal worker returned a required earnings and employment report only partly completed. OWCP mailed another form and warned that benefits would be suspended without a complete response within 30 days. She did not submit a fully completed form by the deadline. The Board affirmed suspension of wage…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Dyer Post Office
Board upholds postal worker's benefit suspension for missing report (ECAB 25-0810)
OWCP mailed a postal worker the required earnings and employment report and warned that wage loss benefits would stop unless she returned it within 30 days. The record showed no timely completed response. The Board upheld suspension until OWCP receives the report.
V.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
Board upholds VA worker's $12,541.28 overpayment (ECAB 25-0787)
A VA employee received both FECA wage loss benefits and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld the resulting $12,541.28 overpayment and agreed she was without fault. It also upheld denial of a waiver because she did not…
K.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Huntington Station Post Office
Board reverses postal carrier's benefit termination and returns expansion claim (ECAB 25-0723)
A postal carrier sought acceptance of more conditions after an injury and challenged termination of her benefits. OWCP's impartial examiner had received a statement of accepted facts that omitted several already accepted conditions. The Board found that omission undermined the opinion on claim…
Sunbelt Rentals Scaffold Services LLC, dba Sunbelt Rentals
Circular-saw training citation vacated
Sunbelt Rentals assigned two employees to build the floor of a temporary paint-storage structure at a Port Arthur, Texas, staging site. One employee sustained tendon and bone injuries when a cordless circular saw contacted his hand, and OSHA cited Sunbelt for allegedly inadequate instruction on…
Secretary of Labor obo Timothy Barnes, et al. v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC
Discrimination cases settled
A judge found that Warrior Met Coal Mining discriminated against miners Timothy Barnes and Brandon Hall for exercising rights protected by the Mine Act. The judge ordered reinstatement and backpay relief, assessed $40,000 in civil penalties, required removal of related employment records, and…
Matter of Beresford A. LANDERS, Jr., Attorney
Appeal dismissed and disbarment ordered
The Board reviewed an attorney's appeal from an adjudicating official's decision disbarring him from practice before the Board, the Immigration Courts, and the Department of Homeland Security. The disciplinary counsels alleged that he continued practicing during a suspension by preparing and filing…
Douglas Alene Ballou on behalf of Ray Ballou v. Enterprise Mining Company, LLC
Ballou v. Enterprise Mining (BRB 25-0071 and 25-0072 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Douglas Alene Ballou pursued her late husband's miner claim and her survivor claim. A labor judge found that Ray Ballou's 30 years of underground coal mine work and totally disabling respiratory impairment invoked the 15-year presumption, then awarded miner benefits when the employer failed to…
Douglas Alene Ballou on behalf of Ray Ballou v. Enterprise Mining Company, LLC
Ballou v. Enterprise Mining (BRB 25-0071 and 25-0072 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Douglas Alene Ballou pursued her late husband's miner claim and her survivor claim. A labor judge found that Ray Ballou's 30 years of underground coal mine work and totally disabling respiratory impairment invoked the 15-year presumption, then awarded miner benefits when the employer failed to…
Thomas M. Hoffman v. Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Hoffman v. Keystone Coal Mining (BRB 25-0014 BLA): work history recalculation ordered
Thomas Hoffman received a black lung benefits award after a labor judge counted fifteen years of qualifying coal mine work and applied the 15-year presumption. The employer challenged the calculation. The Board affirmed nine years and nine months that were unchallenged but held that the judge had…
Daniel J. Lewis v. MEPCO, Limited Liability Company
Lewis v. MEPCO (BRB 24-0429 BLA): benefits award vacated for new work history finding
Daniel Lewis had received a black lung benefits award based on a finding of more than fifteen years of qualifying coal mine work. On a third appeal, the employer challenged the judge's work history calculation. The Board held that the judge had not explained why earning more than $10,000 in a year…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Fort Point Post Office
Board dismisses appeal from void postal hearing decision (ECAB 25-0819)
A postal claimant had already appealed an OWCP merit decision to the Board. OWCP then denied a hearing request involving the same issue while that appeal was pending. The Board held that OWCP could not exercise jurisdiction at the same time and treated the later hearing denial as void. It dismissed…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Morgan Processing and Distribution Center
Board dismisses postal worker's late July appeal (ECAB 25-0731)
A postal worker appealed a December 30, 2024 OWCP decision on July 24, 2025. The deadline moved to June 30 because its 180th day fell on a Saturday, but her filing still came later. With no documented compelling reason for the delay, the Board dismissed the appeal without reviewing the merits.
P.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Board keeps ICE officer's arm rating but returns pay calculation (ECAB 25-0725)
An ICE employee sought a higher rating for his left arm and challenged the pay rate used for his schedule award. The Board found that the medical evidence supported the existing 24 percent impairment rating. It found OWCP had failed to account for his administratively uncontrollable overtime pay…
T.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Moreno Valley Processing and Distribution Center
Board declines to reopen postal worker's upper extremity claim (ECAB 25-0644)
A postal employee sought reconsideration of a denied upper extremity claim. An MRI report did not address the disputed causal link to work, and a physician's new report repeated an earlier opinion. The Board found no relevant new evidence or legal argument warranting another merits review. It…
D.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Eastport Post Office
Board recognizes postal carrier's shoulder contusion and returns claim (ECAB 25-0581)
A postal carrier was pushed by a customer and reported a right shoulder injury. A same-day examination documented a shoulder contusion. The Board found that diagnosis established in connection with the accepted incident and reversed OWCP's denial. It directed OWCP to apply its procedures for…
E.D. and Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General
Board upholds late filing denial of investigator's migraine claim (ECAB 23-1144)
A Defense Department investigator attributed chronic migraines to alleged workplace hostility that last occurred in 2018. She filed her claim in 2023, more than three years after the last documented exposure. The Board also found no evidence that a supervisor received notice or had actual knowledge…
Claude W. Cox v. Paramont Coal Company Virginia, LLC
Cox v. Paramont Coal (BRB 24-0454 BLA): black lung claim returned for renewed evidence review
Claude Cox, a former underground coal miner, appealed the denial of his black lung benefits claim. The administrative law judge had accepted that he had simple pneumoconiosis but found that he had not shown complicated pneumoconiosis or a totally disabling respiratory condition. The Board upheld…
Paul Lule v. SOC, LLC
Lule v. SOC (BRB 24-0126): denial of Defense Base Act benefits upheld
Paul Lule worked as a security guard at a base in Iraq and sought benefits for a claimed work-related psychological condition. The judge found that his testimony and treatment records initially triggered a presumption that the condition was related to his work. The employer rebutted it with a…
Steve A. Pedroso v. Continental Maritime of San Diego, Incorporated
Pedroso v. Continental Maritime (BRB 24-0095): denial of Special Fund relief upheld
Steve Pedroso worked as a boilermaker and foreman for Continental Maritime of San Diego. The judge awarded disability benefits for work-related knee and back injuries but denied the employer's request to shift part of its liability to the Longshore Act's Special Fund. On appeal, the employer argued…
Sasa Nikolic v. DynCorp International, LLC
Nikolic v. DynCorp (BRB 24-0083): denial of psychological injury benefits upheld
Sasa Nikolic worked as a firefighter in Afghanistan and sought benefits for a claimed work-related psychological injury. The judge initially presumed a link between his work and the alleged injury, but found that the employer rebutted that presumption. After weighing the conflicting medical…
Daniel Looney v. Island Creek Coal Company
Looney v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 19-0266 BLA): disability causation returned for new findings
Daniel Looney received a black lung benefits award without relying on the 15-year presumption. After a federal appeals court returned the case, the Board reexamined the evidence of clinical pneumoconiosis and its contribution to his disability. It upheld the judge's assessment of x-rays and biopsy…
Auguste v. Safe Tech USA
Aviation retaliation complaint dismissal upheld after repeated discovery failures
Daniel Auguste appealed the dismissal with prejudice of his AIR21 retaliation complaint against Safe Tech USA. The Board upheld dismissal because he repeatedly failed to provide required discovery despite clear instructions, warnings, and an earlier lesser sanction. It rejected his claim that a car…
Borris v. U.S. Department of Energy
Energy retaliation appeal dismissed after district court action
Philip Borris sought Board review of an ALJ’s dismissal in his Energy Reorganization Act case against the Department of Energy. He later notified the Board that he intended to seek a fresh review in federal district court and supplied a filed copy of that complaint. The Board held that the Labor…
G.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Jacksonville Post Office
Board recognizes postal worker's walking duties and returns knee claim (ECAB 25-0780)
A postal worker said long hours of walking, standing, loading, and delivering mail caused knee disease. The Postal Service confirmed his walking route and physical duties. The Board found those work factors established and reversed OWCP's contrary finding. It returned the claim for a decision on…
M.W. and Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command
Board upholds denial of seaman's late reconsideration request (ECAB 25-0777)
A Military Sealift Command seaman sought reconsideration of a denied spinal condition claim. His request came more than one year after the last merits decision. The Board found that his new medical reports did not demonstrate clear error in the earlier ruling, the demanding standard for a late…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Fort Point Post Office
Board affirms denial of postal claimant's federal coverage (ECAB 25-0753)
The claimant sought FECA coverage for a December 2022 finger injury sustained while locking a cargo pallet. The Board found that he had not established that he was a federal employee at the time of the injury. It affirmed OWCP's denial of the claim.
R.S. and Department of the Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base
Board returns Air Force worker's lymphoma impairment claim (ECAB 25-0699)
An Air Force employee sought a schedule award after treatment for accepted lymphoma. OWCP's doctors rated a 35 percent whole person impairment, but that did not answer whether a body member or function covered by FECA's schedule was impaired. The Board found the medical development incomplete. It…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Holiday extended contest deadline
Consol received a proposed penalty assessment on October 10, 2024, and submitted its contest on November 11. The Secretary treated November 9 as the deadline and argued that the assessment had become final. The Commission applied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a), because the thirtieth day was a…
Matter of W-F-
CAT deferral vacated
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's grant of deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture to a citizen of Haiti who had been convicted of carjacking and had cooperated with federal law enforcement. The Board agreed that the conviction was a particularly…
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.