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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United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration and Professional Aviation Safety Specialists
Federal Aviation Administration and PASS (FLRA 0-AR-5912): Authority dismisses premature telework exceptions
An arbitrator found that the Federal Aviation Administration relied on reasons that were not objective or grounded in existing facts when it denied three employees' requests for full-time telework. He sent the requests back to the agency for reconsideration, retained jurisdiction, and stated that…
Matter of S-S-
CAT deferral vacated and removal ordered
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's decision granting the respondent deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. The Board held that the record did not show that the respondent would more likely than not face long-term detention or detention conditions…
Rosemary Baker v. Black Beauty Coal Company
Baker v. Black Beauty Coal Company (BRB 24-0441): black lung benefits award affirmed
Rosemary Baker received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found that she had pneumoconiosis and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Because she had 14.3 years of coal mine work, she did not qualify for the fifteen-year presumption and had to prove each element of…
Brenda Fields on behalf of Raymond Fields v. Arch of Kentucky/Apogee Coal Company, LLC
Fields v. Arch of Kentucky/Apogee Coal Company (BRB 24-0353): carrier liability remanded
Brenda Fields pursued her late husband's black lung claim after an administrative law judge awarded benefits. The employer did not challenge his entitlement on appeal, so the Board affirmed it. The dispute concerned whether Arch Resources, which had self-insured Apogee Coal, was the carrier…
Charles F. Slaughter, Sr. v. Southern Ohio Coal Company
Slaughter v. Southern Ohio Coal Company (BRB 24-0311): denial returned for disease review
Charles Slaughter sought black lung benefits after at least twenty-two years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found him totally disabled but denied benefits because she found the employer had disproved pneumoconiosis. A Board majority held that the judge had not explained…
Mickey J. Bentley v. Quest Energy, Incorporated
Bentley v. Quest Energy (BRB 24-0156): responsible operator finding affirmed
Mickey Bentley received black lung benefits after the parties stipulated that he had complicated pneumoconiosis from coal mine work. Quest Energy challenged its designation as the operator responsible for payment. It sought to submit older x-rays after the liability evidence deadline to show the…
Abram S. Franks v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Franks v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (BRB 24-0146): disability finding remanded
Abram Franks received a black lung benefits award after an administrative law judge found that he had qualifying coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. His widow pursued the claim after his death. The Board held that the judge had not adequately explained whether Franks's…
Clark Slone v. Gap Fork Fuels, Incorporated
Slone v. Gap Fork Fuels (BRB 24-0132): black lung benefits award affirmed
Clark Slone received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found 15.16 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. His employer challenged the work calculation, disability finding, and its failure to rebut the resulting presumption of…
Maxine Trigg on behalf of and widow of Leon Trigg v. Slab Fork Coal Company
Trigg v. Slab Fork Coal Company (BRB 24-0113 and 24-0114): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Maxine Trigg pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. An administrative law judge found thirty-seven years of underground coal mine work, total respiratory disability, and entitlement to miner benefits. The employer challenged the judge's assessment of pulmonary…
Maxine Trigg on behalf of and widow of Leon Trigg v. Slab Fork Coal Company
Trigg v. Slab Fork Coal Company (BRB 24-0113 and 24-0114): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Maxine Trigg pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. An administrative law judge found thirty-seven years of underground coal mine work, total respiratory disability, and entitlement to miner benefits. The employer challenged the judge's assessment of pulmonary…
Terry D. Reese, Sr. v. Virginia International Terminals, LLC
Reese v. Virginia International Terminals (BRB 24-0056): renewed settlement challenge dismissed
Terry Reese settled four longshore injury claims in 2018, then sought to set aside the approved settlements on the ground that he had been fraudulently induced to sign them. An earlier Board decision had affirmed the refusal to reopen the settlements. In this appeal, Reese again sought to rescind…
Cecil W. Lui v. American University of Afghanistan
Lui v. American University of Afghanistan (BRB 23-0367): Defense Base Act claim returned for review
Cecil Lui sought Defense Base Act benefits for physical and alleged psychological injuries from an attack while he was lecturing at the American University of Afghanistan. On an earlier appeal, the Board held that his employment was covered, but the administrative law judge denied the claim again…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Pecos Post Office
Board upholds denial of remaining postal carrier wage-loss period (ECAB 25-0551)
A postal carrier was struck by a rolling cage and received acceptance of several left-side injuries. He sought compensation for remaining claimed time away from work between August 2019 and January 2020. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately establish disability caused by the…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Kalamazoo Sorting & Delivery Center
Board upholds denial of claim after icy workplace fall (ECAB 25-0533)
A postal mail flow controller reported striking her head after slipping on snow and ice at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the medical reports listed diagnoses and symptoms without an adequately reasoned explanation connecting a diagnosed condition…
S.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Baltimore Carrier Annex Post Office
Board returns overpayment amount for new calculation (ECAB 25-0530)
A retired postal carrier received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security benefits tied to federal service. The Board agreed that an unoffset overlap created an overpayment and that she was not at fault. It found, however, that OWCP had not resolved conflicting information about when…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service, San Juan Post Office
Board upholds recurrent pay rate for postal clerk (ECAB 25-0519)
A postal clerk with an accepted 1988 injury later had a recurrence of disability and disputed the pay rate used for compensation. The Board found that he had returned to a regular full-time position for more than six months, based on the employer's descriptions of his clerk work. It held that OWCP…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Park Place Post Office
Board orders medical development of postal technician hernia claim (ECAB 25-0458)
A postal automotive technician reported groin pain while pushing a vehicle at work and sought coverage for a left inguinal hernia. His physician linked the condition to the incident, but the opinion did not by itself establish the claim. The Board found that the report raised an uncontradicted…
Matter of C-M-M-
Bond order vacated and detention ordered
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's March 19, 2025, custody decision that released the applicant from DHS custody on a $15,000 bond and alternatives to detention. The Board held that the Immigration Judge clearly erred in finding that DHS had not shown the applicant…
Signet Construction, LLC
Truss-bracing violation affirmed and other allegations vacated
Signet Construction was building a 60,000-square-foot dairy barn in South Dakota using 138-foot wooden trusses when most of the trusses over the parlor area collapsed, injuring nine employees. OSHA alleged four General Duty Clause theories involving bracing, truss repair, storage, and hoisting…
Michael R. Addair v. Brooks Run South Mining Company, LLC
Addair v. Brooks Run South Mining Company (BRB 25-0005): benefits award affirmed after remand
Michael Addair received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge recalculated his coal mine employment on remand. The employer challenged the new finding of 15.46 years of qualifying work and argued that its doctors had rebutted the presumption of pneumoconiosis. The Board upheld the…
Albert L. Wise v. Consol Mining Company, LLC
Wise v. Consol Mining Company (BRB 25-0003): disability evidence remanded
Albert Wise received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found twenty-one years of underground coal mine work and total respiratory disability. The employer challenged the disability finding. The Board held that the judge had not considered doctors' opinions that a qualifying…
Gerald F. Reed v. Consol Mining Company, LLC
Reed v. Consol Mining Company (BRB 24-0407): black lung benefits award affirmed
Gerald Reed received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found total respiratory disability and accepted the parties' stipulation that he had twenty-six years of underground coal mine work. Consol Mining Company challenged the disability finding and argued that its doctors had…
Amanda Mayberry on behalf of Kenneth Mayberry v. Peabody Coal Company, LLC
Mayberry v. Peabody Coal Company (BRB 24-0136): benefits start date remanded
Amanda Mayberry pursued her late father's black lung claim on behalf of his estate. A district director awarded benefits beginning in November 2018, when he filed the claim, and a later agreement shifted payment to the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Mayberry argued that a 2016 blood gas study…
J.W. and U.S. Agency for International Development
Board upholds denial of overseas vehicle accident claim (ECAB 25-0569)
An agency program specialist reported a left-thumb injury after a work-related motor vehicle accident during travel in Kenya. OWCP accepted that the accident occurred. The Board found the submitted medical material did not establish a diagnosed condition by a qualified physician in connection with…
J.O., claiming as widow of F.O., and Department of the Air Force, Nellis Air Force Base
Board dismisses widow appeal filed one day late (ECAB 25-0545)
A widow appealed OWCP's November 15, 2024 merits decision on May 15, 2025. The Board calculated that the 180-day filing period ended on May 14. Because the appeal arrived the following day and no supported compelling circumstances explained the delay, the Board dismissed it for lack of…
B.Y. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Board reopens lock operator back claim for merits review (ECAB 25-0490)
A lock and dam operator reported a back injury after handling a tow cable. The Board upheld OWCP's initial denial because the evidence then before it did not connect the diagnosed condition to the accepted work incident. It found that a later physician report supplied new, relevant medical…
Masis Staffing Solutions, LLC
Unstable truss-bundle citation affirmed
Masis Staffing supplied temporary workers to a roof-truss manufacturer in Gainesville, Florida. A forklift operator left a 2,000-pound bundle of trusses standing vertically and unsupported for about ten minutes, and it fell onto a Masis worker who was securing another bundle to a trailer. The judge…
TCP Specialists, LLC
Pressurized-piping buffer-zone violation affirmed
TCP Specialists provided wireline services during work on a gas well in San Augustine County, Texas. When well pressure was released into unrestrained pump piping, the pipe ruptured and whipped violently, killing two workers and injuring three others. The judge found that TCP lacked control over…
Premier Bulk Stevedoring, LLC
Crane-visibility citation vacated
Premier Bulk Stevedoring used a shipboard crane to move rolls of paper from a dock into a vessel's cargo hold. OSHA alleged that the crane operator could not see the signalman guiding the draft's movement and cited the longshoring rule that prohibits hoisting a draft unless the operator can see the…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Lenox Hill South Post Office
Board reverses postal carrier's benefit termination after flawed medical review (ECAB 23-0067)
A postal letter carrier received benefits for cervical and lumbar radiculopathy after a work-related vehicle accident. OWCP ended her wage-loss and medical benefits after two physician reviews. The Board found that the first reviewing physician addressed strains rather than the accepted…
Kudigram v. Constellation Energy Generation, LLC
ERA appeal dismissed for failure to file briefs or respond
Harsha Kudigram appealed summary dismissal of an Energy Reorganization Act complaint against Constellation Energy Generation. The Board ordered an opening brief by May 8, 2025, but none was filed. It then directed Kudigram to submit the brief and explain the failure by May 30, warning that…
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Santa Clarita Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal carrier fall claim (ECAB 25-0507)
A postal delivery employee reported back, arm, and knee injuries after slipping on stairs at work. OWCP accepted the fall but denied the injury claim. The Board found that a physician did not adequately separate a preexisting lumbar condition from the effects of the fall, while other reports did…
M.T. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern New England
Board upholds Coast Guard worker benefit overpayment (ECAB 25-0493)
A Coast Guard maintenance mechanic received FECA wage-loss benefits while also receiving Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service. The Board upheld OWCP's $17,397.71 overpayment calculation for July 25, 2023 through September 7, 2024. Although he was not at fault, his…
P.J. and Department of Commerce, Patent & Trademark Office
Board rejects overlapping wage-loss and schedule award claim (ECAB 23-1163)
A patent office legal instrument examiner sought wage-loss compensation for a period that overlapped a schedule award for the same accepted injury. The Board found that OWCP had already paid schedule award benefits through May 28, 2023, and FECA did not permit simultaneous wage-loss compensation…
L.G. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Taxpayer Assistance Center
Board upholds denial of revenue officer stress claim (ECAB 23-0736)
A revenue officer said she developed a stress condition after being required to work in an office during a COVID-19 telework period despite health concerns. The Board found the record did not substantiate that management had required her to attend despite an exemption or mishandled workplace…
R.K. and U.S. Postal Service, San Antonio Post Office
Board upholds denial of shoulder surgery and continued therapy (ECAB 23-0729)
A postal delivery assistant had an accepted claim for shoulder, neck, and related injuries after a workplace fall. She sought authorization for right-shoulder and cervical surgeries and continued physical therapy. OWCP obtained an impartial medical opinion to resolve a conflict between her…
Curtis Watson v. APS Stevedoring, LLC
Watson v. APS Stevedoring (BRB 23-0501): hearing loss compensation remanded
Curtis Watson sought longshore benefits for hearing loss after working around heavy equipment at the Port of Jacksonville. An administrative law judge awarded medical benefits but denied disability compensation because he had given late notice of the injury. The Board held that the judge had not…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Detroit Post Office
Board upholds overpayment after clerk returned to work (ECAB 25-0554)
A postal mail clerk continued receiving total-disability compensation after returning to full-time work in October 2024. The Board upheld OWCP's determination that he received a $4,332.63 overpayment through November 30. It also agreed that he was at fault in creating the overpayment, so recovery…
S.E. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Hampton VA Medical Center
Board declines to add arthritis and hip degeneration to nurse claim (ECAB 25-0531)
A VA nurse injured both knees when she stepped off a curb and fell at work, and OWCP accepted knee contusions. She sought to add right-knee degenerative arthritis and left-hip degeneration. The Board found her physician stated a connection but did not adequately explain how the accepted injury…
D.F. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Board declines to add leg tendinitis to revenue worker claim (ECAB 25-0528)
An IRS customer service representative injured her left ankle after stepping in a hole at work, and OWCP accepted an ankle sprain. She later asked to add left posterior tibial tendinitis to the claim. The Board found the submitted reports did not provide an adequate medical explanation connecting…
F.D. and Department of the Navy, Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Board upholds termination of former shipyard painter benefits (ECAB 25-0512)
A former Navy shipyard painter received wage-loss and medical benefits for an accepted right-knee injury. OWCP terminated those benefits effective January 10, 2025. The Board found the medical evidence supported that ongoing limitations were due to degenerative arthritis rather than residuals of…
L.C. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard
Board upholds existing vision impairment award (ECAB 23-0293)
A Coast Guard attorney adviser sought a greater schedule award for vision impairment following accepted strokes. An examining physician explained that the existing 33-percent rating already reflected impairment in both eyes, including visual acuity and field loss. The Board found the evidence did…
Secretary of Labor v. Wayne J. Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Unread show-cause order did not excuse default
Wayne J. Sand & Gravel failed to answer MSHA's penalty petition and then failed to respond to the Commission's show-cause order. Its new office secretary said she was unfamiliar with the process, busy, and did not scroll far enough to recognize the attached order. The Commission found that the…
Matter of A-A-F-V-
CAT protection vacated
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's decision granting the applicant deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. The Board accepted that the applicant was likely to be detained in El Salvador as a bisexual criminal deportee with visible gang tattoos, but…
Matter of B-N-K-
Administrative closure denied and proceedings remanded
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's interlocutory appeal from the denial of its motion to recalendar removal proceedings that had been administratively closed. The Board held that administrative closure was not warranted to await the respondent's pending Temporary Protected…
Secretary of Labor v. NR Hamm Quarry Inc.
Accidental payments reopened
NR Hamm Quarry timely filed citation contests but its accounting office later paid the related proposed penalties without review by the safety department. Counsel discovered the payments only when the Commission announced plans to dismiss the pending contest cases, and the operator promptly sought…
David L. Wells v. Heritage Coal Company
Wells v. Heritage Coal Company (BRB 24-0120): disability causation remanded
David Wells sought black lung benefits after coal mine work. An administrative law judge found legal pneumoconiosis and total respiratory disability but denied benefits because he found the disease did not substantially contribute to the disability. The Board held that the judge had not fully…
Ronald L. Dolan v. Leivasy Mining Corporation
Dolan v. Leivasy Mining Corporation (BRB 24-0115): benefits award affirmed after remand
Ronald Dolan's widow pursued his black lung claim after his death. Following an earlier remand, an administrative law judge found that he had complicated pneumoconiosis from coal mine work and awarded benefits. The employer challenged how the judge weighed medical opinions about a lung mass seen on…
R.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command
Board upholds existing hearing-loss award (ECAB 25-0532)
A former Navy supply technician sought an additional schedule award for work-related hearing loss. His existing award covered 59 percent binaural hearing loss. The Board reviewed newer audiological ratings near 59 percent and found they did not establish a higher permanent impairment. It affirmed…
M.T. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Board upholds late reconsideration denial in pulmonary claim (ECAB 25-0525)
An Army Corps electrical repairman sought benefits for a pulmonary condition he associated with possible asbestos exposure in a vessel engine room. After OWCP denied the claim, he requested reconsideration more than a year after its last merits decision. The Board found the request untimely and the…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, West Grand Carrier Annex
Board upholds denial of mail carrier back claim (ECAB 25-0521)
A city carrier reported lower-back and leg pain after reaching for a parcel in his delivery vehicle. OWCP accepted the workplace incident. The Board found the medical reports and work slips did not provide an adequate opinion linking a diagnosed condition to the incident. It affirmed OWCP's denial…
A.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Tiger Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal vehicle accident claim (ECAB 25-0482)
A letter carrier reported back and other symptoms after a motor vehicle accident while working. OWCP accepted the accident but denied the injury claim. The Board found the back-pain report stated a symptom rather than a diagnosis, while a later referral naming other conditions did not link them to…
G.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Watsonville Post Office
Board upholds postal carrier retirement benefit offset (ECAB 25-0481)
A former rural carrier received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to his federal service. The Board affirmed OWCP's calculation of a $54,517.04 overpayment for August 2019 through August 2024, though the carrier was without fault. It also upheld denial…
Matter of E-Z-
Asylum and withholding denial affirmed, CAT protection vacated
The Board reviewed the respondent's cross appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of asylum and withholding of removal and the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from the grant of protection under the Convention Against Torture. The Board affirmed that the respondent's detentions and…
Marvin L. Johnson v. Buchanan Minerals, LLC
Johnson v. Buchanan Minerals (BRB 24-0119): benefits award affirmed with earlier start date
Marvin Johnson received black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found complicated pneumoconiosis from coal mine work. Buchanan Minerals challenged its responsibility for payment, arguing that the disease existed before Johnson worked for it. The Board held that medical evidence…
Eva G. Mollett v. Consol of Kentucky, Incorporated
Mollett v. Consol of Kentucky (BRB 24-0051): survivor award remanded for testing review
Eva Mollett received survivor benefits after an administrative law judge found that her late husband had 29.89 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The employer challenged the judge's assessment of pulmonary function studies. The Board found that she…
E.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital
Board upholds denial of hospital worker foot claim (ECAB 25-0495)
A VA medical supply worker reported foot problems that he attributed to prolonged walking while distributing instruments. The Board found the medical reports diagnosed several foot conditions but did not adequately explain how the accepted job duties caused or aggravated them. It affirmed OWCP's…
P.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Birmingham Post Office
Board returns continued-benefits question after valid termination (ECAB 25-0442)
A rural postal carrier received benefits for accepted lower-back and sacroiliac strains. The Board upheld OWCP's termination of benefits effective March 12, 2024, based on the evidence then used to end them. It found that OWCP had failed to consider a physician report relevant to whether she later…
L.F. and U.S. Postal Service, North Metro Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal clerk recurrence claim (ECAB 25-0209)
A postal clerk with an accepted shoulder injury sought benefits for a later recurrence of disability beginning in April 2014. The Board reviewed whether the evidence connected the later inability to work to the accepted 2012 injury. It found that the required causal connection was not established…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Plainfield Post Office
Board upholds termination of postal carrier benefits (ECAB 24-0780)
A postal city carrier received benefits for accepted neck and shoulder sprains after a work-related vehicle accident. OWCP terminated wage-loss and medical benefits after an impartial examiner assessed whether those conditions had resolved. The Board found the termination supported and found no…
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.