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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A.S. and Department of Defense, Defense Personnel Support Center, Philadelphia, PA
Compensation suspension affirmed for missing earnings form (ECAB 17-1530)
A.S. received a request to complete an EN1032 report about employment and earnings. OWCP mailed the form to her address of record and warned that benefits would be suspended if she did not return it within 30 days. The Board found that she missed that deadline and upheld the suspension effective…
N.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
Claimed recurrence of total disability denied (ECAB 17-1415)
N.W., a postal employee, sought compensation for a recurrence of total disability beginning June 7, 2016. The Board found that the submitted medical evidence did not show that his accepted injury caused inability to work during that period. Notes from a nurse practitioner and a report with an…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Vallejo, CA
Termination of foot injury benefits reversed (ECAB 17-1271)
S.D., a postal letter carrier, had accepted left foot contusion and plantar fasciitis. OWCP ended his wage-loss and medical benefits based on a second-opinion physician’s report. The Board found that the physician discounted the accepted plantar fasciitis despite the agency’s statement of accepted…
W.M. and Department of the Navy, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
Additional lumbar surgery authorization denied (ECAB 17-1244)
W.M., a former Navy shipyard oiler with an accepted back injury, sought authorization for another lumbar fusion. His attending surgeon did not adequately explain why the proposed surgery was necessary for the accepted conditions. OWCP’s medical adviser reviewed the history and imaging and found the…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pennsville, NJ
Back injury claim denied for incomplete medical history (ECAB 17-1151)
D.W., a postal employee, lifted boxes at work and claimed a lumbar disc injury. OWCP accepted the March 19, 2015 incident. The Board found that the principal physician did not account for her prior disc herniation or adequately explain how this incident caused the claimed condition; other reports…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Yukon, OK
Knee occupational disease claim remanded after work factors established (ECAB 17-0831)
T.J., a postal letter carrier, claimed that years of walking, driving, sorting, and other duties caused bilateral knee conditions. The Board found that his detailed account sufficiently established the claimed work factors. OWCP had denied the claim at that factual stage and had not evaluated the…
R.N. and Department of the Army, National Museum of Health and Medicine, Silver Spring, MD
Disability recurrence claim remanded for medical development (ECAB 16-1279)
R.N., an Army management analyst with an accepted right shoulder and arm sprain, claimed a recurrence of total disability beginning September 11, 2014. Her physicians’ reports were not individually sufficient to prove the claim, but consistently linked her continued inability to work to the injury…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oakland Park, FL
Knee disability recurrence claim denied (ECAB 17-1371)
P.S., a postal letter carrier, claimed a recurrence of disability from an accepted 2010 right knee injury. The Board found that later walking-related knee pain pointed to a new intervening cause and that the medical evidence did not adequately tie her March 2016 disability to the accepted injury…
B.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Dayton International Airport, Vandalia, OH
Right arm schedule award remanded for uniform rating method (ECAB 17-1243)
B.R., a transportation security employee, challenged a one percent permanent right arm impairment award. The Board found that the diagnosis could be rated under methods that OWCP had applied inconsistently across upper extremity cases. It set aside the decision and remanded for OWCP to use a…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hazelwood, MO
Neck claim remanded as a new traumatic injury (ECAB 17-0871)
R.R., a postal employee with an earlier accepted neck injury, reported neck pain after lifting boxes at work on August 27, 2015. OWCP treated his filing as a recurrence claim and denied it. The Board found that the described lifting event was a new traumatic incident, even though he used the wrong…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Dallas, TX
Additional leg impairment schedule awards denied (ECAB 17-0862)
S.D., a postal employee, sought schedule awards above the existing 55 percent right leg and 37 percent left leg impairment ratings. The Board found that his later medical reports did not give a valid higher rating under the required edition of the impairment guides. One report also relied on…
P.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kingston, MA
Lumbar facet procedure authorization denied (ECAB 17-0607)
P.M., a postal employee with accepted lumbar and left sacroiliac strains, sought approval for lumbar facet radiofrequency treatment. The Board found that his physician had not adequately linked the proposed treatment to the accepted strains or explained why it was medically warranted, particularly…
GMJ Contracting Corp. d/b/a GMJ Masonry
Wrong settlement order set aside
An administrative law judge approved and docketed a settlement agreement in GMJ Masonry’s case. The agreement actually concerned a different GMJ citation in another docket and did not resolve the one-item serious citation at issue here. The approval order nevertheless became final because the error…
Aspen Products, Inc.
Settlement correction remanded to judge
An administrative law judge approved a settlement in two consolidated Aspen Products cases. The Secretary later reported that a typographical error caused the agreement to group the wrong violations and substitute the wrong violation. The normal response period for Aspen’s position on the…
J.L. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Norfolk, VA
Overpayment and waiver denial affirmed after wage review (ECAB 16-1888)
J.L., a Coast Guard employee, received $36,113.59 in wage-loss compensation for a period when he had no wage loss. The Board upheld the overpayment for August 2003 through November 2015. Although he was without fault, the Board found that his income and assets exceeded the amounts needed for…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Van Nuys, CA
Recurrence of total disability denied after modified work (ECAB 16-1667)
K.M., a postal employee, stopped modified work and claimed total disability beginning January 26, 2013 from accepted neck and pain conditions. The Board found that the later medical reports did not explain how those accepted conditions had worsened enough to prevent the modified duties. Her return…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Barre, VT
Shoulder claim reconsideration refusal affirmed (ECAB 17-1314)
R.C., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of a denied right shoulder occupational disease claim. The Board found that her new doctor’s notes largely repeated diagnoses and opinions already considered. The other submitted material was duplicative or came from a physical therapist and did not…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
Knee impairment award remanded for clarified rating (ECAB 17-1056)
J.M., a postal letter carrier with an accepted right knee strain, sought more than the existing two percent leg impairment award. The Board found there was no true conflict of medical opinions to give the referral physician special weight. That physician also did not explain his rating by citing…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Kentuckiana District, Louisville, KY
Commuting injury claim denied under performance-of-duty rule (ECAB 17-0995)
J.C., a postal employee serving as an acting supervisor, was in a motor vehicle accident while driving from home to her assigned post office. The Board found that she was making an ordinary commute, not delivering mail as a rural carrier. Her mileage reimbursement did not cover all or substantially…
B.O. and Department of the Navy, Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, SC
Overpayment established, period and amount remanded (ECAB 17-0510)
B.O., a former Navy shipyard employee, received FECA compensation and Social Security benefits attributable to federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld the existence of an overpayment. OWCP, however, calculated the asserted $47,469.74 using federal retirement information for…
E.V. and Department of Justice, Federal Prison Industries, Inc., Ray Brook, NY
Back injury claim denied for inadequate causal explanation (ECAB 17-0037)
E.V., a Federal Prison Industries employee, claimed a back injury after lifting a file cabinet at work. OWCP accepted the incident. The Board found that his treating physician did not explain how it caused or aggravated the L3-4 disc condition or account for earlier back problems. Other reports…
J.H. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Asheville, NC
Wage-loss termination and recurrence denial affirmed (ECAB 16-1449)
J.H., a National Park Service employee, challenged termination of wage-loss compensation and claimed a later recurrence of disability from an accepted left arm condition. The Board found that he was able to resume his date-of-injury position when OWCP ended benefits in April 2012. His later…
Coastal Energy Corporation
In re Coastal Energy Corporation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 17-04): reconsideration denied for state-issued permit
Jill Bailey sought review of Missouri Permit No. MO-G491369, a state general operating permit issued by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources under Missouri's approved NPDES program. The Board had earlier dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction because the permit was state-issued…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Amended partial settlement approved for $33,300
Peabody Midwest Mining sought to settle three citations involving excessive entry width, an allegedly inadequate preshift examination, and roof-support conditions. The initial motion proposed reducing penalties from $54,200 to $33,300 but stated only that substantial factual disputes existed while…
Matter of J-A-B- & I-J-V-A-
Removal proceedings cannot be terminated for a second asylum screening
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security’s appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against two Mexican arriving applicants who had expressed fear of return and were later paroled into the United States. The Immigration Judge wanted to give them an opportunity…
Jennifer Goff v. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated
Jennifer Goff v. Huntington Ingalls (BRB 17-0349): adult child's death benefit claim needs separate review
Jennifer Goff filed for death benefits after her father died of an asbestos-related disease linked to shipyard work. Her mother, the surviving widow, had settled third-party claims without the employer's prior approval and conceded that she could not receive Longshore benefits. An administrative…
T.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, IL
Workplace fall injury denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1546)
T.T., a Veterans Affairs employee, sought compensation for conditions she attributed to an April 2016 fall at work. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but found the medical evidence insufficient to connect a diagnosed condition to it. The Board found that the physicians did not give a clear…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Boston, MA
Left knee injury denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1494)
S.M., a postal mail handler assistant, reported feeling a pop in her left knee while sorting mail in January 2017. OWCP accepted the workplace incident but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how that incident caused the diagnosed knee…
M.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Recurrence of disability denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1388)
M.R., a Veterans Affairs employee with an accepted lumbar injury, claimed a recurrence of total disability in March 2017. She had worked in modified-duty positions after the original injury. The Board found no medical evidence showing a spontaneous worsening that prevented that work and no evidence…
S.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jacksonville, FL
Knee injury and reconsideration denials affirmed (ECAB 17-1246)
S.T., a postal employee, claimed a right knee meniscus tear after an accepted September 2016 workplace incident. The Board found that her physician diagnosed a tear but did not connect it to that incident with a reasoned medical opinion. It also found that her reconsideration request did not meet…
F.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Schaumberg, IL
Additional right leg impairment award denied (ECAB 17-1122)
F.F., a postal employee, sought a schedule award above the six percent permanent impairment already awarded for his right lower extremity. The Board favored a physician’s reasoned six percent rating under the applicable diagnosis-based method. It found the competing seven percent rating…
M.W. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Hot Spring, SD
Left foot injury denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1063)
M.W., a park guide, felt a snap in his left foot while walking back from a tour in August 2016. OWCP accepted the workplace incident but denied his injury claim. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated his diagnosed foot condition…
A.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Injury denial after workplace fall affirmed (ECAB 17-1015)
A.W., a Veterans Affairs employee, slipped on spilled coffee and fell at work in June 2015. OWCP accepted the fall but denied his claim for a resulting injury. The Board found that the medical reports either did not address causation or did not adequately explain how the fall caused or aggravated…
K.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Moundsville Post Office, Moundsville, WV
Reconsideration denial upheld (ECAB 17-1429)
K.T., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reconsider its denial of her right shoulder condition claim. The Board had jurisdiction over the reconsideration ruling, not the earlier injury merits decision. It found that her request offered no new relevant medical opinion linking her rotator cuff tears to…
F.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Laredo, TX
Hearing loss schedule award denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1400)
F.S., a Customs and Border Protection supervisor, sought a schedule award for claimed occupational hearing loss. The Board reviewed the audiograms and medical evaluations under the applicable impairment method. It found that he had not established ratable hearing loss warranting an award. It…
D.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Bronx, NY
Late reconsideration denial upheld (ECAB 17-1197)
D.B., a Veterans Affairs employee, requested reconsideration of a previously denied injury claim. OWCP found the request late and found no clear evidence of error in the earlier decision. The Board agreed that her submissions did not raise a substantial question about the denial and affirmed the…
M.M. and Social Security Administration, Region IV, Paducah, KY
Injury denial after workplace fall affirmed (ECAB 17-1071)
M.M., a Social Security Administration employee, sought compensation after she slipped on a wet floor at work and struck her left hand. OWCP accepted the incident but denied a resulting injury. The Board found that the medical report did not provide a sufficiently reasoned explanation connecting…
P.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Buston, OH
Left knee occupational disease denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1013)
P.A., a rural mail carrier, attributed left knee osteoarthritis to her postal duties. Her physician described pressure on the knee while driving but did not address earlier injuries to the same knee. The Board found that the opinion lacked a complete medical history and did not establish the…
K.L. and Department of the Air Force, Fairchild Air Force Base, WA
Suitable work refusal termination affirmed (ECAB 17-0235)
K.L., an Air Force employee with accepted back conditions, declined an offered facility services assistant position. OWCP terminated his compensation for refusing suitable work. The Board found that the offer fit the physician’s sedentary-work restrictions and that his objection did not justify…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, South Jersey District, Bellmawr, NJ
Recurrence denial set aside for proper rescission review (ECAB 16-1464)
L.M., a postal employee, had received OWCP acceptance of a recurrence of disability but was later denied wage loss for the same period. The Board found that the hearing representative had effectively rescinded the acceptance without following OWCP’s required rescission procedures. It set aside that…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
Wage loss denial remanded for evidence review (ECAB 16-0852)
S.M., a postal employee with accepted conditions, sought wage-loss compensation for periods when he said he could work only four hours a day. OWCP denied the claim while failing to discuss several relevant medical reports received before its decision. The Board set aside that denial and remanded…
Secretary of Labor v. A&G Coal Corporation
Default issue reserved for hearing after Commission remand
A&G Coal failed to join a scheduled conference call, did not respond to a show-cause order, and was defaulted in five penalty cases. The Commission remanded because the record was unclear about who represented A&G and whether the company received the show-cause order. Judge David P. Simonton found…
Secretary of Labor and Jonathan Holskey v. Pennyrile Energy, LLC
Miner temporarily reinstated after safety complaints
Jonathan Holskey complained about dust-control measurements, belt examinations, faulty ram-car brakes, accident reporting, and being assigned air readings without training. He reported that a ram car rolled and injured his foot, ankle, back, and neck, and Pennyrile Energy terminated him 17 to 32…
Wymac Ent., Inc., dba Work Shop Denver
Secretary’s withdrawal closes case
OSHA cited Wymac Enterprises for an alleged construction-safety violation and proposed a $1,630 penalty. The Secretary withdrew the citation one day before the initial pretrial conference. Wymac then filed motions seeking sanctions, compliance with prior orders, and a stay of the withdrawal. The…
Richard Carrier Trucking, Inc.
Pressurized diesel citation vacated
Richard Carrier Trucking drivers used pressurized canisters to spray diesel fuel inside timber trailers so wood chips would not freeze to the surfaces. OSHA alleged that the canisters were repurposed fire extinguishers and that the practice exposed employees to fire and burn hazards. The compliance…
B.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Los Angeles, CA
Overpayment fault finding reversed and waiver remanded (ECAB 17-1562)
B.K., a postal employee, challenged a $957.87 compensation overpayment and OWCP’s finding that he was at fault. The Board upheld the overpayment for April 20 through 30, 2016 but rejected the fault finding. It sent the case back for OWCP to consider whether recovery should be waived. The waiver…
E.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Plantville, CT
Thumb impairment award claim remanded (ECAB 17-1484)
E.K., a postal employee, sought a schedule award for permanent impairment from an accepted right thumb laceration. The Board found that OWCP needed to use a consistent method to rate upper extremity impairment. It set aside both OWCP decisions and ordered a new determination of her award claim…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Fort Lowell Station, Tucson, AZ
Overpayment fault ruling set aside for waiver review (ECAB 17-1395)
J.S., a postal employee, received both federal retirement and FECA benefits for five days in August 2016. The Board agreed that this created a $513.29 overpayment but found that he was not at fault. It set aside the fault ruling and remanded for OWCP to decide whether recovery should be waived. The…
F.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Priority Mail Processing Center, Miami, FL
Termination of wage loss and medical benefits affirmed (ECAB 17-1219)
F.S., a postal employee, received benefits for an accepted lumbar disc condition. OWCP terminated wage-loss compensation and medical benefits after a referral physician found that the work-related condition had resolved. The Board found that the physician’s reasoned opinion carried the weight of…
L.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Mount Hood Delivery Distribution Center, Portland, OR
Total disability claim denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1048)
L.J., a postal employee with accepted shoulder and brachial plexus injuries, claimed total disability beginning in December 2016. The Board found that the more persuasive medical opinion allowed work with restrictions. The supporting reports did not adequately link the claimed periods of total…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bloomingdale, IL
Wage earning capacity decision reversed as modified (ECAB 16-1892)
A.J., a postal employee, challenged a loss of wage-earning capacity determination based on a special assignment. The Board found that the assignment was temporary and could not fairly represent permanent wage-earning capacity. It held that the earlier determination should be modified and reversed…
A.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Van Buren, ME
Left shoulder injury denial affirmed (ECAB 16-0452)
A.C., a Customs and Border Protection automotive mechanic, reported a left shoulder problem after reaching for a door control at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied a causal connection to the claimed shoulder condition. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately establish…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company LLC
Related Harvey Mine cases consolidated
PENN 2017-222 contained an inadequate-preshift-examination citation and a coal-accumulation order issued at Consol Pennsylvania Coal's Harvey Mine. The Secretary asked to consolidate it with PENN 2017-223 because several citations in that docket were referenced in or directly related to the May 15…
Town of Marion, Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re Town of Marion, Wastewater Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 17-01 and 17-02): petitions dismissed after agreement
The Town of Marion and Buzzards Bay Coalition filed petitions for review concerning the Town of Marion wastewater treatment plant and Permit No. MA0100030. Both petitioners moved to dismiss their appeals after the parties reached an agreement to resolve the dispute. The Town of Marion and EPA…
Town of Marion Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re Town of Marion Wastewater Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 17-01 and 17-02): petitions dismissed after agreement
The Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Town of Marion each filed a petition for review concerning the NPDES permit for the Town of Marion Wastewater Treatment Plant. Both petitioners moved to dismiss their petitions after the parties reached an agreement to resolve the dispute. The Town of Marion and…
C.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bronx, NY
Right ankle injury denial affirmed (ECAB 17-1568)
C.H., a postal employee, claimed a right ankle injury from a January 2017 workplace incident. OWCP accepted the incident but denied a compensable injury. The Board found that the submitted medical evidence did not adequately establish a causal connection between the incident and the diagnosed ankle…
J.D. and Department of Interior, National Park Service, Arlington, VA
Arm impairment claim returned for new rating (ECAB 17-1397)
J.D., a National Park Service employee, sought an award above seven percent permanent impairment of his right arm. The Board found that OWCP needed to apply a consistent method for rating upper extremity impairment. It set aside the impairment and written-record review decisions and remanded for a…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Davenport, FL
Injury denial affirmed on corrected ground (ECAB 17-1366)
J.W., a postal employee, alleged a right biceps injury from a May 2016 work incident. OWCP accepted the incident but denied medical causation. The Board found that he had not sufficiently identified any particular workplace event or activity on the alleged date, so the factual incident itself was…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Highland Hills Station, Dallas, TX
Medical equipment request remanded for missing record (ECAB 17-1098)
D.G., a postal employee with accepted conditions, sought authorization for an adjustable bed, mattress, and pillow. OWCP denied the request after a hearing. The Board found that a medical-necessity letter relied on by the hearing representative was missing from the case record sent to it. It set…
E.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Savannah, GA
Reconsideration denial affirmed (ECAB 17-0746)
E.R., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reopen an earlier compensation claim. The Board could review only the later nonmerit reconsideration ruling. It found that his request did not meet the requirements for a new merits review. The Board affirmed the refusal to reopen.
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.