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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J.D. and General Services Administration, Atlanta, GA
Emotional condition and continued disability claims denied
J.D., a former GSA machinist, sought recognition of an emotional condition as a consequence of a 1990 work fall. The Board found insufficient medical evidence linking that condition to the accepted physical injuries. It also found that a second opinion physician’s examination supported OWCP’s…
C.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Milwaukee, WI
Intermittent knee disability recurrence not established
C.K., a transportation security officer, sought compensation for intermittent disability after an accepted left knee strain. A physician assistant’s notes could not supply a medical opinion under FECA. Her physician did not adequately explain how the accepted strain caused the later disability…
C.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Minneapolis, MN
Shoulder claim denied without medical evidence
C.O., a postal employee, attributed left shoulder pain to repeated lifting and throwing boxes at work. OWCP accepted that he performed the described work activities. He did not submit medical evidence to establish a diagnosed injury connected to those duties. The Board affirmed the occupational…
V.P. and Social Security Administration, Brooklyn Social Security Card Center, Brooklyn, NY
Emotional condition claim not reopened on repeated reports
V.P., a Social Security Administration employee, sought reconsideration of a denied emotional condition claim arising from an accepted April 18, 2016 incident. Her resubmitted psychiatric notes did not address the missing causal link, and another physician’s note repeated earlier views without…
L.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Germantown, WI
Intermittent disability claim not reopened
L.R., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of a denied claim for intermittent disability after an accepted November 2016 injury. A new work authorization discussed right shoulder pain and light duty but did not address the claimed disability dates. Other reports and scans had already been…
E.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, North Aurora, IL
Injury claim lacked reasoned medical causation
E.R., a VA employee, reported head, shoulder, and left arm conditions after a May 24, 2017 workplace incident. The Board accepted that the incident occurred. Medical reports diagnosed some conditions but did not explain how the incident caused or aggravated them; other records described symptoms…
E.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bronx, NY
Knee claim reopened for merit review
E.G., a postal city carrier, sought reconsideration of a denied left knee occupational disease claim. OWCP treated a physician’s report as lacking a diagnosis. The Board found that the physician had reviewed a complete MRI report and identified additional knee conditions that OWCP had not…
R.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Panorama City, CA
Bilateral hip claim denied on medical evidence
R.T., a postal city carrier, attributed arthritis in both hips to years of strenuous work duties. OWCP accepted the described duties. The Board credited a second opinion physician who explained that the hip arthritis reflected natural degenerative progression and found no objective work related…
E.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Biloxi, MS
Wage earning capacity request sent back for proper review
E.H., a VA employee, asked OWCP to change a 2008 loss of wage earning capacity finding after a reassignment that she said reduced opportunities for extra pay. OWCP treated her filing as an untimely reconsideration request. The Board held that it was a request to modify the wage earning capacity…
Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 168 and United States Department of the Air Force, 87th Air Base Wing
Air Force 87th Air Base Wing and Police Lodge 168 (FLRA 0-AR-5296): Late grievance dismissal upheld
A police officer at an Air Force base challenged the agency's decision to remove his authorization to carry a firearm and reassign him while it investigated a driving incident. The agency sent the union a Step 3 grievance denial, but the union did not advance the grievance to Step 4 within the…
United States Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Office of Chief Counsel (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union (Union)
IRS Chief Counsel and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5224): Performance-awards ruling vacated
IRS Chief Counsel implemented a Treasury policy requiring managers to consider employee discipline when deciding performance awards. An arbitrator found contractual, policy, and unfair-labor-practice violations, concluding that the agreement's references to merit, budget limits, and nonmandatory…
Glendine Bell (widow of and on behalf of Curtis Bell's estate) v. Island Creek Kentucky Mining
Bell v. Island Creek Kentucky Mining (BRB 17-0580 and 18-0221 BLA): attorney fees reduced
Island Creek Kentucky Mining appealed attorney fee orders in Curtis Bell's miner claim and Glendine Bell's survivor claim. The parties agreed that claimant's counsel would give up fees and expenses connected to a medical report that was withdrawn from consideration. The Board accepted the agreement…
Gary Coffey v. U.S. Coal, Incorporated
Coffey v. U.S. Coal (BRB 17-0546 BLA): employer liability and benefits award affirmed
U.S. Coal stipulated that Gary Coffey had complicated pneumoconiosis and qualified for black lung benefits, but disputed its designation as the operator responsible for paying them. It argued that a later employer, Tennessee Coal Company, should be liable and cited comments from an earlier claim…
Ralph E. English v. Chevron Mining, Incorporated
English v. Chevron Mining (BRB 17-0313 BLA): reconsideration denied and fee awarded
Chevron Mining sought reconsideration of the Board's earlier decision in Ralph English's black lung benefits case. No panel member voted to vacate or change the decision, so the Board denied reconsideration. It also held that the employer raised its challenge to the administrative law judge's…
Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran Affairs Regional Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Agency/Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 940, AFL-CIO (Union/Charging Party)
Philadelphia VA and AFGE Local 940 (FLRA BN-CA-17-0159): Printing agreement enforced
The Philadelphia VA and AFGE negotiated and reached a memorandum covering a centralized printing center. The union repeatedly asked the VA to sign it, but the agency refused and implemented the workplace change. When the General Counsel filed an unfair-labor-practice complaint, the VA did not…
L.D. and General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Washington, DC
Late schedule award reconsideration denied
L.D., a GSA employee, sought reconsideration of a denied schedule award claim. OWCP received the request more than one year after its June 2, 2016 merit decision. The Board found that the new medical reports did not give an impairment rating under the applicable guides and did not clearly show…
S.H. and Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, London, KY
Late emotional condition reconsideration denied
S.H., an Interior Department employee, sought reconsideration of an emotional condition claim more than a year after OWCP’s merit decision. She repeated allegations of workplace harassment and submitted an EEO decision about reasonable accommodation. The Board found that the material did not…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
Life insurance premium overpayment recovery upheld
L.C., a postal mail carrier receiving injury compensation, was overpaid $534.02 when OWCP failed to withhold postretirement basic life insurance premiums. The Board found her without fault but concluded that she had not shown grounds for waiving recovery. It upheld repayment by deducting $179 every…
G.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Collierville, TN
Shoulder related wage loss claim denied
G.H., a postal employee with an accepted right shoulder strain, sought wage loss for a September 2016 medical appointment and disability beginning December 17, 2016. The appointment concerned a cervical scan, with no proof that it treated the accepted shoulder condition. Her physicians did not…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jersey City, NJ
Augmented compensation claim not reopened
J.S., a postal employee with accepted shoulder and neck conditions, sought reconsideration of a denied claim for retroactive augmented compensation based on a spouse. His statement about the marriage repeated information already in the record. Medical reports and reimbursement forms did not address…
M.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Levittown, PA
Wage earning capacity finding reversed
M.K., a postal letter carrier, challenged a 2016 loss of wage earning capacity finding after accepted shoulder and thoracic outlet conditions. OWCP relied on an examining physician who received a statement of accepted facts omitting the accepted right thoracic outlet syndrome. The Board found that…
M.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Augusta, GA
Orthodontic treatment denied for unproven dental injury
M.C., a VA social worker, fell face first onto asphalt at work, and OWCP accepted a facial abrasion. She later sought orthodontic treatment for claimed dental misalignment. The Board found that her dentist did not adequately explain how the fall caused the dental condition or need for treatment…
Nissan North America, Inc.
Conveyor lockout training violation affirmed
Three Nissan maintenance technicians inspected an overhead conveyor while a contract mechanic worked elsewhere and later restarted the conveyor, causing one technician’s hand to be pulled into a belt. The judge vacated a lockout-removal notification item because OSHA did not establish that the…
Secretary of Labor v. Rain for Rent
Contractor truck parking-brake citation affirmed
An MSHA inspector saw a Rain for Rent contractor truck rock after parking in the mine-office lot, opened its door while the driver was signing in, and found that the parking brake was not set. The judge held that the office lot was a mine facility, Rain for Rent was an operator because its…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Delayed fatal-potential injury report affirmed
A contractor miner was crushed between multi-ton machines, could not move or feel one leg, developed abdominal swelling suggesting internal bleeding, and was evacuated by Life Flight. Consol waited roughly two hours after the accident to notify MSHA. The Commission unanimously held that section…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Benefits suspended after required earnings form was not returned
J.H., a postal employee receiving compensation, was sent a Form CA-1032 requesting information about earnings and employment activities. OWCP warned that benefits would be suspended if she did not return the completed form within 30 days. The Board found that notice was properly mailed and that she…
E.K. and Department of the Air Force, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, GA
Late reconsideration denied after workplace fall
E.K., an Air Force employee, sought reconsideration of a denied injury claim after an accepted workplace fall. OWCP received his request more than a year after its November 29, 2016 merit decision; the earlier postmark did not control filing time. A medical report noted elbow and leg diagnoses but…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Saint Cloud, MN
Missed telephone hearing treated as abandoned
C.C., a postal employee, requested a hearing after OWCP denied her occupational disease claim. OWCP gave more than 30 days of written notice of the November 7, 2017 telephone hearing. She did not appear, request postponement, or explain her absence in writing within the required ten days. The Board…
F.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
No additional extremity impairment award established
F.S., a postal employee, sought a greater schedule award than nine percent left arm and five percent right arm impairment, plus awards for his legs. An impartial medical examiner reviewed the accepted conditions and found no additional permanent extremity impairment. The Board gave his reasoned…
S.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Iron Mountain, MI
Additional conditions not accepted after work injury
S.S., a VA employee, had accepted abrasions after an October 2015 workplace altercation. He sought to add brain, spinal, and emotional conditions to the accepted claim. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the incident caused the additional conditions; some…
K.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
Disability claim not reopened on duplicate evidence
K.K., a postal employee, twice requested reconsideration of a denied wage loss claim. One request resubmitted a surgical report already reviewed. A later report described shoulder treatment but did not explain disability during the specific periods OWCP had denied. The Board found no new relevant…
J.H. and Department of Agriculture, Ouachita National Forest, Hot Springs, AR
Lyme disease claim lacked a reasoned causal opinion
J.H., a forest employee, reported a tick bite while evaluating trees at work, and OWCP accepted his workplace tick exposure. One physician did not diagnose Lyme disease; another diagnosed it but did not explain how the identified bite caused it or supply the test details supporting that conclusion…
Secretary of Labor v. Beelman Truck Co.
Undelivered assessment never became final
Beelman Truck asked to reopen a penalty assessment that appeared to have become final after no contest was received. The Postal Service had returned the assessment unclaimed, Beelman said it never received it, and the Secretary did not contend that Beelman refused delivery. The Commission held that…
Marjorie Bell Smith (mother of Timothy M. Bell) v. Service Employees International, Incorporated
Bell Smith v. Service Employees International (BRB 17-0537): reconsideration denied
Marjorie Bell Smith asked the Board to reconsider its decision denying her death benefits claim after her son's death. She submitted new evidence to support her claim that she depended on him. The Board returned the document because it cannot consider evidence that was not before the administrative…
Farrell Reed v. Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC
Reed v. Dickenson-Russell Coal (BRB 17-0511 BLA): claim timeliness remanded
Dickenson-Russell Coal appealed an award of black lung benefits to Farrell Reed, arguing that he had filed his claim too late. The three-year filing period depends on when a medical determination of total disability due to pneumoconiosis was communicated to the miner. A Board majority held that the…
Dorothy L. Baum (widow of Clair Baum) v. Earthmovers Unlimited, Incorporated
Baum v. Earthmovers Unlimited (BRB 17-0501 BLA): survivor benefits award affirmed
Earthmovers Unlimited appealed a survivor benefits award to Dorothy Baum after an earlier Board remand. The judge had found that her husband worked more than fifteen years in qualifying coal mine conditions and was totally disabled, invoking the presumption that his death was due to pneumoconiosis…
A.L. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Tampa, FL
Spinal injury claim lacked qualifying medical evidence
A.L., an FAA air traffic control specialist, reported a spinal injury after an accepted March 9, 2017 workplace incident. His chiropractor diagnosed several spinal subluxations, but the record contained no x-rays establishing them and the chiropractor did not say that x-rays supported the…
L.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hammond, IN
Right hip claim lacked a clear account of work factors
L.B., a postal letter carrier, attributed a right hip condition to decades of walking and climbing and also described a fall on ice. The employing establishment said her route was mounted. OWCP requested details about the duties and the fall, but she did not provide them. The Board found her…
A.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Anchorage, AK
Additional May 2016 wage loss denied
A.L., a postal employee with an accepted injury, sought another four hours of wage loss for a May 9, 2016 medical visit and full compensation through May 14. OWCP had already paid four hours for the routine visit, and the record did not show that more time was needed. OWCP had ended wage loss…
G.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
Ankle injury claim reopened for witness evidence
G.G., a VA nursing assistant, claimed she twisted her ankle at work in May 2015. OWCP denied the claim and then refused merit review of new witness statements. The Board found a coworker’s account of seeing G.G. limping and her ankle swollen on the claimed date relevant, even though the coworker…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, City of Industry, CA
Claim not reopened on repeated medical opinions
L.G., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of a claim concerning future medical care. She resubmitted medical reports OWCP had already reviewed. A later doctor’s request for a referee examination repeated an earlier view about a medical conflict. The Board found no new legal argument or…
J.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, El Paso, TX
Four percent left ear hearing award upheld
J.W., a customs officer, sought a larger schedule award for workplace hearing loss. OWCP’s medical adviser applied the standard formula to his audiogram and found four percent left ear impairment, equivalent to two weeks of compensation. The record lacked medical evidence supporting a higher…
D.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Richmond, VA
Overwork recognized as a factor in emotional condition claim
D.J., a postal customer service supervisor, attributed emotional symptoms to heavy workloads and management conduct. The Board found that documented overtime and the duties of supervising many employees at several facilities established a compensable work factor. It did not find the separate…
Secretary of Labor v. Duracap Materials, LLC
Timely contest prevented finality
Duracap Materials asked to reopen a penalty assessment that appeared to have become final. A certified-mail receipt and Postal Service records showed that Duracap's contest reached the Arlington post office before the contest deadline, although it was never delivered to the Secretary, and the…
Phyllis Matthews v. Navy Exchange Service Command
Matthews v. Navy Exchange Service Command (BRB 18-0070): attorney fee rates remanded
Phyllis Matthews appealed an attorney fee award arising from a claim against the Navy Exchange Service Command. The judge had awarded counsel $101,875 in fees plus $14,838.42 in costs, after reducing requested hourly rates and some billed hours. The Board held that the hourly rates could not stand…
Robin Stidham v. Kentucky Prince Mining Company
Stidham v. Kentucky Prince Mining (BRB 17-0654 BLA): responsible operator affirmed
Kentucky Prince Mining appealed an award of black lung benefits to Robin Stidham. The employer contested only whether it had employed Stidham for at least one year and was responsible for paying benefits. It argued that it had dissolved in 1990 and that payments shown in later records were pension…
Billy E. Barnett v. Virgil Mullins Trucking, Incorporated
Barnett v. Virgil Mullins Trucking (BRB 17-0564 BLA): benefits denial affirmed
Billy Barnett appealed the denial of his black lung benefits claim without a lawyer. The judge credited about 10.7 years of coal mine work, fewer than the fifteen years needed for the statutory presumption, and found no total respiratory disability. The Board upheld the judge's decision to give…
L.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
Termination of shoulder injury benefits upheld
L.B., a VA employee, received wage loss and medical benefits for an accepted right shoulder strain. An impartial examiner found that the strain had resolved and did not explain her later symptoms. The Board gave his report special weight and upheld OWCP’s 2014 termination of benefits. It also found…
S.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Charlotte, NC
Bilateral shoulder claim lacked a reasoned work connection
S.B., a postal processing employee, attributed conditions in both rotator cuffs to her work duties. Several medical reports diagnosed shoulder disease without addressing its cause. Other doctors suggested that work accelerated her symptoms but did not describe the specific duties or explain the…
N.M. and Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
Late reconsideration denied for lack of clear error
N.M., a federal legal assistant, sought reconsideration of a claim involving an alleged fall after a copy room door struck her crutches. OWCP received the request more than a year after the merit denial, and the Board held that mailing it within the year was insufficient. Her statements and later…
C.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Decatur, GA
Shoulder claim denied after lifting incident
C.J., a VA nursing assistant, reported pulling his right shoulder while lifting a patient’s duffle bag at work. The incident occurred, and medical records identified rotator cuff and labrum conditions. His physician did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated those conditions…
D.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bakersfield, CA
Arm impairment rating returned for further review
D.K., a postal employee, challenged schedule awards for his right leg and right arm. The Board upheld the two percent right leg rating based on the accepted meniscus injury. For the arm, OWCP had used a diagnosis based rating without completing an available range of motion comparison for the…
S.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Farmington Hills, MI
Benefit termination claim not reopened
S.B., a postal employee, requested reconsideration after OWCP terminated her injury benefits. She resubmitted a medical report that OWCP had already received. It did not offer new reasoning showing continuing residuals of the accepted conditions, the point at issue. The Board found no new legal…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Social Security benefit overpayment recovery upheld
S.M., a postal employee receiving FECA compensation, also received Social Security benefits attributable to federal service. OWCP calculated an overpayment of $13,631.71 for April 2016 through April 2017. Although she was without fault, the Board found no basis to waive recovery. It affirmed…
Social Security Administration, Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, Sacramento, California (Respondent) and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Association of Administrative Judges (Charging Party)
SSA Sacramento and AALJ (FLRA SF-CA-16-0226): Clerk-team ULP remanded
SSA's Sacramento hearing office replaced one dedicated clerk per administrative law judge with four functional clerk teams after expanding clerk telework. The judges' union demanded bargaining, but SSA implemented the change and denied any duty to bargain. An administrative law judge found that the…
Melyndia Ann Bryan (widow of Bert Fowler Bryan) v. Island Creek Coal Company
Bryan v. Island Creek Coal Company (BRB 18-0309 BLA): reconsideration denied
Island Creek Coal Company sought reconsideration of the Board's decision affirming Melyndia Bryan's survivor's benefits award. No panel member voted to vacate or modify that decision, so the Board denied reconsideration. In a footnote, the Board found that the employer had waived its challenge to…
S.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Gary-Tolleston Station, Gary, IN
Late shoulder claim reconsideration denied
S.G., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of a denied bilateral shoulder occupational disease claim more than a year after the last merit decision. Most of her later medical reports concerned a separate lumbar claim and did not address the missing link between shoulder conditions and work…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Providence, RI
Benefit termination for refused work reversed
P.S., a postal employee with accepted left foot and ankle injuries, lost compensation after OWCP found that she refused suitable modified work. The Board found that OWCP had not obtained a medical opinion considering her emotional conditions and treatment when assessing the offered job. Because…
L.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Marina Station, San Francisco, CA
Knee disability recurrence not established
L.F., a postal employee, claimed a recurrence of left knee disability in February 2015 from a December 2008 workplace incident. OWCP had administratively accepted that the earlier incident occurred but had not accepted a diagnosed knee injury linked to it. Medical reports did not supply a reasoned…
G.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT
Social Security overpayment recovery upheld
G.K., a TSA employee receiving FECA compensation, concurrently received Social Security benefits attributable to federal service. OWCP calculated an overpayment of $13,215.22. Although she was without fault, her financial information did not justify waiver. The Board affirmed recovery by deducting…
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.