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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M.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command
Board denies added conditions and wage loss in Navy worker’s knee claim (ECAB 23-0333)
A Navy boiler plant operator struck his left knee while moving through an obstructed area at work. OWCP accepted a left knee contusion. He sought acceptance of additional knee conditions and a consequential right ankle condition, along with compensation for several periods away from work. The Board…
M.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command
Board upholds denial of added injuries and disability in Navy claim (ECAB 23-0031)
A Navy boiler plant operator sought to add further left knee and right ankle conditions to an accepted knee claim. He also sought compensation for several periods away from work. The Board found the medical reports did not adequately connect the additional conditions or claimed disability periods…
Cagle v. Broken Arrow Excavation
STAA appeal withdrawn and sanctions request denied
Slade Cagle appealed dismissal of his STAA complaint against Broken Arrow Excavation but requested to withdraw the appeal instead of filing his opening brief. Because his request did not state whether a settlement prompted the withdrawal, the Board ordered him to certify that there was no…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Del Rio Sector and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2366, National Border Patrol Council
U.S. Border Patrol, Del Rio Sector and AFGE Local 2366 (FLRA 0-AR-5987): Authority sets aside overtime backpay
Customs and Border Protection temporarily revoked a Border Patrol agent's law-enforcement and firearm authority after an off-duty arrest and assigned him to administrative work that did not qualify for overtime. An arbitrator found that an unsupported dishonesty charge delayed restoration of full…
David Puccetti on behalf of Albert Puccetti v. Heritage Coal Company, LLC
Puccetti v. Heritage Coal (BRB 24-0286 BLA): attorney fee award increased
David Puccetti's counsel appealed the attorney fee award made after a successful black lung benefits claim for Albert Puccetti. The judge had awarded $19,720 in fees and expenses, reducing several time entries and rejecting a reply to the employer's objections. The Board upheld the judge's…
Michael J. Warmus v. Keystone Coal Mining Corporation and Consol Energy, Incorporated
Warmus v. Keystone Coal Mining (BRB 24-0260 BLA): benefits award vacated and remanded
Michael J. Warmus sought black lung benefits on a subsequent claim. The judge awarded benefits after finding that his 29.63 years of coal mine work and total respiratory disability triggered the Section 411(c)(4) presumption, which the employer had not rebutted. The Board held that the judge had…
Donnie P. Dalton v. ICG Tygart Valley, LLC
Dalton v. ICG Tygart Valley (BRB 24-0059): benefits denial affirmed on second review
Donnie Dalton sought black lung benefits after fourteen years of coal mine work. The administrative law judge found legal pneumoconiosis but not complicated pneumoconiosis or a totally disabling respiratory impairment. After an earlier remand for a closer review of the imaging evidence, the judge…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Beverly Hills Post Office
Board dismisses appeal and late reconsideration petition (ECAB 25-0485)
A postal worker sought Board review of a September 2023 decision, but that decision was the Board's own earlier ruling rather than a recent OWCP decision. The Board dismissed the new appeal for lack of jurisdiction. It also treated the filing as a possible reconsideration request and dismissed it…
K.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto VA Medical Center
Board grants request to dismiss VA worker appeal (ECAB 25-0480)
A VA worker filed a Board appeal and then asked to dismiss it. The Board granted the request and ended the appeal without reviewing OWCP's underlying decision. The PDF's introductory paragraph contains a different docket number; its caption and operative order identify this case as 25-0480.
C.L. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Board recognizes diagnoses after IRS worker vehicle crash (ECAB 25-0468)
An IRS agent reported neck and back injuries after being rear-ended while working. An emergency physician diagnosed cervical and low-back strains after the crash. The Board found those diagnoses established a medical condition connected with the accepted incident and returned the claim for OWCP to…
M.H. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Border Patrol
Board keeps hearing-loss rating and returns pay-rate issue (ECAB 25-0434)
A Border Patrol agent and firearms instructor sought a higher schedule award for work-related hearing loss. The Board upheld the 15 percent binaural impairment rating. It found OWCP had not clarified possible premium pay used in calculating the award and returned that issue for a new decision.
T.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Rockwood Post Office
Board upholds denial of reopening postal shoulder claim (ECAB 23-0766)
A postal carrier asked OWCP to reconsider a denied right shoulder injury claim. The Board found her request did not identify a new legal error or submit relevant new evidence addressing medical causation. It upheld OWCP's refusal to reopen the claim, without deciding the underlying injury claim…
Secretary of Labor v. P&K Stone, LLC
Returned assessment reopened after address update
MSHA mailed P&K Stone's assessment to its Chico, Texas address of record, but the Postal Service returned it because forwarding had expired. P&K updated its address 24 days after the failed delivery, before receiving a delinquency notice, and moved to reopen within 30 days of that notice. The…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Reston Post Office
Board dismisses new appeal and second reconsideration request (ECAB 25-0461)
A postal worker tried to appeal an April 2025 Board order as though it were an OWCP decision. The Board dismissed the appeal because it had no recent adverse OWCP decision to review. It also dismissed the filing as a second petition for reconsideration because its rules provide no such petition…
T.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Stedman Post Office
Board returns postal shoulder claim for review of employer evidence (ECAB 25-0443)
A rural postal carrier claimed repetitive job duties contributed to a right shoulder condition. OWCP denied the claim because it found the work factors unproven, but it did not address the employer's statement and position description describing those duties. The Board returned the case for OWCP to…
N.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Melville Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal carrier back claim (ECAB 25-0430)
A postal carrier reported back pain after lifting mail flats into a bin. The Board found her physicians' opinions did not adequately explain how the accepted work incident caused the diagnosed lumbar conditions, and other submissions lacked a physician's causal opinion. It affirmed the denial of…
D.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Lancaster Processing and Distribution Center
Board upholds postal worker wage-loss cutoff after light-duty refusal (ECAB 25-0328)
A postal worker declined a temporary modified-duty assignment. The Board found the work offer fit her medical restrictions and that she had not established a justified reason for refusing it. It upheld OWCP's wage-loss cutoff for the specified period.
M.T. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
Board upholds benefit cutoff but orders fresh review of later disability (ECAB 25-0305)
An FAA worker challenged OWCP's finding that accepted injury conditions had resolved. The Board credited a second-opinion physician on that cutoff. A later treating report conflicted with that opinion about continued disability and residuals, so the Board returned the later-period issue for an…
Matter of E-Y-F-G-
Bond order vacated for flight risk
The Department of Homeland Security appealed an Immigration Judge's order releasing the respondent from custody on a $10,000 bond. The Board held that the respondent's short residence in the United States, recent criminal activity, removal of a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor, and assistance to a…
R.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Pittsburgh VA Medical Center
Board dismisses new appeal and late reconsideration petition (ECAB 25-0462)
A VA worker sought to appeal a January 2025 Board decision as though it were an OWCP decision. The Board dismissed the new appeal because it had no recent adverse OWCP decision to review. It also dismissed the filing as a reconsideration petition because it came after the 30-day period.
C.A. and U.S. Postal Service, San Antonio Processing and Distribution Center
Board upholds denial of late hearing request (ECAB 25-0453)
A postal mail handler asked for an oral hearing on an OWCP injury decision. The request arrived months after the 30-day deadline. The Board found she had no hearing right at that point and upheld OWCP's denial.
V.A., widow of J.A., and Department of the Army, Corpus Christi Army Depot
Board upholds denial of Army worker survivor claim (ECAB 25-0403)
An Army worker's widow sought benefits after his death, alleging it was related to an accepted back injury. The Board found the medical record did not adequately explain a causal link between the accepted injury and the causes of death. It affirmed OWCP's denial of the survivor claim.
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Sayre Post Office
Board upholds denial of late reconsideration request (ECAB 25-0395)
A postal worker requested reconsideration of an earlier disability decision years after the one-year filing period. The Board found the request was late and did not demonstrate clear evidence that OWCP had erred. It upheld OWCP's refusal to reopen the merits of the claim.
M.L. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
Board rejects added diagnoses but reverses benefit termination (ECAB 24-0395)
A Department of Labor employee sought to add carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical radiculopathy to an accepted arm and shoulder claim. The Board found her physician had not adequately explained how work caused those additional diagnoses. It also found OWCP's second-opinion physician gave no adequate…
Cytonix, LLC
In re Cytonix, LLC (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 25-03C): new-chemical settlement approved
Cytonix, LLC manufactured a chemical substance identified in the order as Chemical A, which the company treated as confidential business information. EPA alleged that Cytonix manufactured the new chemical on at least 77 occasions before submitting a required pre-manufacture notice or applicable…
A.I. and Department of Defense, National Security Agency
Board upholds hearing-loss schedule-award pay rate (ECAB 25-0457)
An NSA linguist challenged the pay rate used for a schedule award related to hearing loss. The Board found OWCP applied the proper pay-rate date and calculation under FECA. It affirmed the award decision.
D.C. and Department of the Navy, Marine Depot Maintenance Command
Board upholds five percent impairment rating for Navy worker (ECAB 25-0448)
A Navy mechanic sought a higher schedule award for a left hand injury. The Board reviewed the competing impairment reports and found the evidence did not establish more than five percent permanent impairment of the left upper extremity. It affirmed OWCP's award decision.
C.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Federal Way Post Office
Board upholds denial of postal worker back claim (ECAB 25-0384)
A postal mail processing clerk attributed back and leg conditions to handling mail trays at work. The Board found the medical reports did not adequately explain how the accepted work factors caused the diagnosed conditions. It affirmed OWCP's denial of the claim.
V.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Palatine Processing and Distribution Center
Board upholds denial of postal supervisor stress claim (ECAB 25-0375)
A postal supervisor attributed stress symptoms to workload, staffing, coworkers, and management actions. The Board found the evidence did not establish the alleged conditions as compensable work factors, including proof of error or abuse in personnel matters. It affirmed OWCP's denial of the claim.
L.C. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Board returns therapy dispute for clearer medical opinion (ECAB 25-0304)
An IRS employee sought continued massage and manual therapy after April 2024 for accepted conditions. OWCP's second-opinion physician recommended some therapy but did not explain whether the requested treatments were medically necessary. The Board returned the case for a clarified opinion and a new…
T.H. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service National Office
Board returns IRS shoulder claim for combined file review (ECAB 25-0446)
An IRS employee sought to add shoulder conditions to a claim following a workplace incident. She had several earlier claim files involving her neck and shoulders. The Board found OWCP needed to combine those related files before deciding whether to expand the current claim.
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Martin Luther King Station
Board upholds postal worker retirement-benefit overpayment (ECAB 25-0423)
A postal worker received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service without the proper offset. The Board upheld a $14,179.24 overpayment, even though she was without fault. It also upheld denial of waiver and deductions of $369.23 from…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Ricon Station
Board upholds suitable-work refusal finding (ECAB 22-0867)
A postal carrier challenged OWCP's finding that she refused a suitable job after an accepted right-hand condition. The Board reviewed her stated reasons for declining the offer and found they did not establish a justified refusal under FECA. It affirmed OWCP's decision on suitable work.
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Auburn Post Office
Board recognizes overwork factor and returns postal stress claim (ECAB 22-0451)
A postmaster attributed an emotional condition partly to chronic understaffing and long workweeks. The Board found evidence of overwork established a compensable employment factor. Because OWCP had not assessed medical causation, the Board returned the claim for that review and a new decision.
M.A. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency
Board orders compensation for medical appointment time (ECAB 22-0328)
A Defense Logistics Agency worker sought wage-loss compensation for time away from work to attend treatment for an accepted injury. The Board found the record established authorized appointments on multiple dates from December 2020 through March 2021. It ordered OWCP to pay up to four hours for…
F.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Dallas Network Distribution Center
Board dismisses appeal from informational letters (ECAB 25-0437)
A postal worker tried to appeal two OWCP letters explaining recoupment procedures. The Board found the letters were informational and were not final adverse decisions. It dismissed the appeal without reviewing the underlying compensation dispute.
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Tampa Post Office
Board orders impartial review of postal worker knee impairment (ECAB 25-0212)
A postal carrier sought a higher schedule award for permanent impairment of his right leg. His physician and OWCP's medical adviser gave conflicting impairment ratings and disagreed about the rating method. The Board returned the claim for an impartial specialist to resolve the medical conflict.
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Edgewood Post Office
Board returns multi-limb impairment award for fuller review (ECAB 25-0196)
A postal worker sought greater schedule awards for impairments affecting his arms and legs after accepted injuries. OWCP's second-opinion physician considered spinal-related impairment but did not assess several other accepted arm, hand, and knee conditions. The Board set aside the award decision…
595 Construction LLC
Late contests dismissed and penalties affirmed
OSHA inspected three 595 Construction worksites in Elburn, Illinois, under its fall-hazard emphasis program and issued three sets of citations. The company received the citations in early November 2024 but did not file notices of contest by the November 27 deadline, instead filing about two months…
J.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Long Beach Healthcare System
Board upholds denial of VA therapist stress claim (ECAB 23-0196)
A VA occupational therapist attributed an emotional condition mainly to supervisors' actions and personnel matters. The Board found he did not establish error, abuse, or another compensable work factor supporting the claim. It affirmed OWCP's denial.
B.V. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Central California Health Care System
Board returns VA worker disability claim for medical clarification (ECAB 22-0853)
A VA nursing assistant sought wage-loss benefits for a period in 2020 after accepted injuries. OWCP's second-opinion physician addressed whether she had a consequential knee condition but was not asked to determine her ability to work during the claimed period. The Board returned the disability…
Rondal Clifton v. Buchanan Minerals, LLC and Encova Insurance
Clifton v. Buchanan Minerals (BRB 24-0402 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Rondal Clifton sought black lung benefits after at least 44 years of underground coal mine work. The administrative law judge found that he had neither complicated pneumoconiosis nor a totally disabling respiratory impairment and denied benefits. The Board upheld her weighing of the x-rays, CT…
Fred F. Williams, Jr. v. Sidney Coal Company Incorporated
Williams v. Sidney Coal (BRB 24-0204 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Fred F. Williams, Jr. sought black lung benefits after 20 years of qualifying coal mine work. On remand from an earlier Board decision, the judge again found that Williams had complicated pneumoconiosis and awarded benefits under the irrebuttable Section 411(c)(3) presumption. The Board upheld the…
Ronald Williams v. Green Branch Mining, Incorporated and Security Insurance Company of Hartford
Williams v. Green Branch Mining (BRB 24-0049 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Ronald Williams pursued a subsequent black lung benefits claim after at least 25 years of qualifying coal mine work. The judge found that medical opinions showed a totally disabling respiratory impairment even though the breathing and blood gas tests did not meet the regulatory disability…
Julie Anania, widow of Donald Anania v. Electric Boat Corporation
Anania v. Electric Boat (BRB 23-0492): widow's death-benefit claim denial affirmed
Julie Anania sought death benefits after her husband Donald, a longtime Electric Boat machinist exposed to asbestos at work, died from small bowel cancer. The judge found that she invoked the Section 20(a) presumption linking the death to work, but Electric Boat rebutted it with a medical opinion…
Geoffrey Atukwatse v. SOC, LLC and Continental Insurance Company
Atukwatse v. SOC (BRB 23-0483): Defense Base Act claim denial affirmed
Geoffrey Atukwatse worked for SOC as a security guard in Iraq and sought Defense Base Act benefits for psychological symptoms and hearing loss that he attributed to that work. The judge found that he had invoked the Section 20(a) presumption for both claimed injuries, but the employer rebutted it…
Delbert L. Mitchell v. Sequoia Energy, LLC and National Union Fire/AIG
Mitchell v. Sequoia Energy (BRB 24-0396 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Delbert L. Mitchell received a black lung benefits award after the judge found at least 22 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Those findings invoked the Section 411(c)(4) presumption, leaving Sequoia Energy to rebut it. The judge found the employer's…
Helen June Russell v. Burlin Howard Trucking
Russell v. Burlin Howard Trucking (BRB 24-0357, 24-0358): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Helen June Russell pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor's claim. Burlin Howard Trucking challenged its designation as the employer responsible for paying benefits, but the Board upheld it because the employer had not shown that either of two more recent operators could…
Helen June Russell v. Burlin Howard Trucking
Russell v. Burlin Howard Trucking (BRB 24-0357, 24-0358): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Helen June Russell pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor's claim. Burlin Howard Trucking challenged its designation as the employer responsible for paying benefits, but the Board upheld it because the employer had not shown that either of two more recent operators could…
Sheldon E. Simmons v. ICG Tygart Valley, LLC
Simmons v. ICG Tygart Valley (BRB 24-0392 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Sheldon E. Simmons sought black lung benefits after 37 years of underground coal mine work. The administrative law judge found a totally disabling respiratory impairment and applied the Section 411(c)(4) presumption that his disability was due to pneumoconiosis. ICG Tygart Valley disputed the…
Russell Smallwood v. Presley Trucking Company, Incorporated and Granite State Insurance/AIG
Smallwood v. Presley Trucking (BRB 24-0327 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Russell Smallwood filed a second black lung benefits claim after 14 years of coal mine work. The administrative law judge denied it because Smallwood had not shown a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the judge's weighing of three blood gas studies: one met the disability…
James R. Guthrie v. ITEC and State Workers’ Insurance Fund (PA)
Guthrie v. ITEC (BRB 24-0186 BLA-A): benefits denial returned for medical opinion review
James R. Guthrie sought black lung benefits through a request to modify an earlier denial. The administrative law judge found that Guthrie had a totally disabling respiratory impairment but denied benefits after finding that he had not shown legal pneumoconiosis. The Board found that the judge had…
Larry D. Hensley v. Rockhampton Energy, LLC and Rockwood Casualty Insurance Company
Hensley v. Rockhampton Energy (BRB 24-0177 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Larry D. Hensley sought black lung benefits after 39 years of coal mine employment. An administrative law judge found that x-rays, a CT scan, and the record as a whole established complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggered an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease…
Secretary of Labor v. Ben's Creek Operations WV, LLC
Commission review withdrawn
The Commission had granted the Secretary of Labor's petition for discretionary review of the judge's decision in April 2024. After further consideration, all three Commissioners concluded that review had been improvidently granted. The Commission vacated its direction for review. The short order…
Matter of A-A-R-
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 former MS-13 gang member from El Salvador who had a United States murder conviction. The Board agreed that the respondent would likely be detained after removal…
Douglas Fletcher v. Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation
Fletcher v. Jewell Ridge Coal (BRB 24-0125 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Douglas Fletcher sought black lung benefits on a subsequent claim after at least nine years of coal mine work. The administrative law judge found both clinical and legal pneumoconiosis and concluded that legal pneumoconiosis substantially contributed to his total respiratory disability. The Board…
F.B. and U.S. Postal Service, North Tryon Station
Board upholds benefit cutoff and returns later disability claim (ECAB 25-0332)
A postal worker challenged termination of benefits for an accepted condition. The Board credited medical evidence that the accepted condition had resolved by December 10, 2024 and upheld that cutoff. Later medical opinions conflicted on whether she had continuing disability or residuals, so it…
A.D., representative of L.D.’s estate, and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
Board keeps earlier wage-earning capacity finding (ECAB 25-0301)
The representative of a former FAA employee's estate sought to change a long-standing wage-earning capacity determination. The Board found the new evidence did not establish a basis to modify the December 1998 determination. It affirmed OWCP's decision.
R.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Hartly Post Office
Board upholds one percent right-arm impairment award (ECAB 25-0223)
A former postal postmaster sought a higher schedule award for a right upper extremity injury. The Board reviewed the medical rating evidence and found it did not establish more than one percent permanent impairment. It affirmed OWCP's award decision.
T.N. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Board upholds denial of late ICE reconsideration request (ECAB 22-0560)
An ICE employee sought reconsideration of an earlier OWCP merits decision after the one-year filing period. The Board found the request was untimely and did not show clear evidence that the prior decision was wrong. It affirmed OWCP's refusal to reopen the claim.
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.