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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True Value Company
Incomplete settlement order set aside and remanded
OSHA issued True Value Company two serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $8,000. The parties' settlement withdrew Item 1 but accidentally failed to address Item 2, and the judge's approval order later became final without resolving the entire case. The Secretary then asked to…
Manson Construction Company
Platform-securing item withdrawn and remaining rulings left unreviewed
Manson Construction Company was cited after OSHA inspected work at the Vashon Island Ferry Terminal, where employees used a crane-suspended personnel platform and worked atop a group of pilings called a dolphin. The judge vacated three scaffold-based items but affirmed fall protection violations…
Peacock Engineering, Inc.
Forklift-modification item left vacated after split vote
Peacock Engineering replaced a forklift's forks with a custom attachment so it could hoist burial crypts suspended from wire rope slings. OSHA alleged that the unapproved modification affected the forklift's safe operation in violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.602(c)(1)(ii). The judge vacated the item…
Peacock Engineering, Inc.
General duty citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement
Peacock Engineering installed burial crypts at Miramar National Cemetery using an excavator and wire rope slings. An employee's thumb was amputated by a sling while he guided a suspended crypt into place by hand, and OSHA cited Peacock under the general duty clause for amputation, struck-by, and…
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 30 (Union) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center (Agency)
IFPTE Local 30 and NASA Ames Research Center (FLRA 0-AR-5236): Union exception denied
IFPTE Local 30 filed an exception to an arbitration award involving NASA's Ames Research Center, and the agency opposed it. The Authority issued an expedited, abbreviated decision that does not describe the underlying grievance or the arbitrator's ruling. It found that the union had not shown the…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Princeton Post Office
C.M. (ECAB 17-0371): Right knee meniscus claim denied
C.M., a postal employee, sought to add a right knee meniscus tear to her accepted work injury claim. Her physician said that climbing steps at work may have aggravated the tear, but did not explain the causal connection with sufficient medical reasoning. The Board found the opinion speculative and…
H.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Lorain Post Office
H.G. (ECAB 17-0365): Right arm impairment award sent back
H.G., a postal employee, sought more than the seven percent permanent impairment award he had received for his right arm. The Board found that OWCP had not applied a consistent method for choosing between competing upper extremity impairment rating approaches. It set aside the decision and directed…
R.J. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection
R.J. (ECAB 17-0162): Wage-earning capacity decision upheld
R.J., a Customs and Border Protection employee, sought to change an earlier determination of his wage-earning capacity based on an eligibility worker position. A physician he relied on found that he could perform the position with a variable height workstation. The Board found that this opinion did…
J.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Tampa Post Office
J.V. (ECAB 16-1719): Leg impairment dispute sent for medical review
J.V., a postal employee, sought a schedule award for impairment of both legs. Her treating physicians and OWCP physicians reached conflicting impairment ratings, including whether there was any ratable leg impairment. The Board found an unresolved medical conflict and directed OWCP to obtain an…
A.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration
A.M. (ECAB 16-1545): Left shoulder injury denial upheld
A.M., a Transportation Security Administration employee, sought compensation for a left shoulder injury attributed to an April 27, 2015 workplace incident. The Board found that his medical evidence did not adequately explain how that incident caused the diagnosed shoulder condition. It affirmed…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office
M.M. (ECAB 16-1125): Left arm impairment award sent back
M.M., a postal employee, sought a higher permanent impairment award for her left arm. The Board found that OWCP had not applied a consistent method for choosing between competing upper extremity impairment rating approaches. It set aside the decision and directed OWCP to develop a uniform method…
T.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Post Office
T.D. (ECAB 15-0609): Medical benefits case returned for combined review
T.D., a postal employee, appealed a decision terminating medical benefits for several accepted conditions. The Board found that another OWCP claim file, which also covered right lateral epicondylitis, contained medical reports relevant to the termination. It set aside the decision and directed OWCP…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Princeton Post Office
M.F. (ECAB 14-1326): Recurrence denial reversed; arm awards remanded
M.F., a postal employee, appealed the denial of disability compensation after her limited-duty job was withdrawn and the ratings for permanent impairment of both arms. The Board found a recurrence of disability because the Postal Service withdrew her accommodated job when no work was available. It…
Evergreen Construction Company
Fall protection citation left affirmed after split vote
Evergreen Construction Company was the general contractor for an Atlanta hotel project where a subcontractor's employees worked near fourth-floor edges without fall protection. OSHA cited Evergreen as the controlling employer under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.501(b)(1), and the judge found constructive…
K.M. Davis Contracting, Inc.
Cave-in citation remains serious after split vote
K.M. Davis Contracting installed an underground water line beside a highway, where OSHA found an employee working in a deep excavation without cave-in protection. OSHA alleged a willful violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652(a)(1) and proposed a $53,900 penalty. The judge affirmed the violation but…
D'Hooge v. BNSF Railways
Railroad retaliation award upheld
Gerald D'Hooge reported rough riding locomotives while working a desirable fixed train route for BNSF Railways. After he reported all three locomotives in a train as unsafe, a manager abolished the route, leaving him with less favorable work. An administrative law judge found that the safety report…
D.L. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
D.L. (ECAB 17-0306): Medical recurrence denial upheld
D.L., a Federal Aviation Administration employee, claimed a recurrence of a low back condition following an accepted 2012 workplace injury. The Board found that Dr. Hume relied on an inaccurate history and used speculative language. Dr. Oommen’s reports lacked medical rationale or did not address…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Market Square
S.D. (ECAB 17-0272): Benefit termination upheld; added conditions reconsidered
S.D., a postal employee, challenged the termination of medical benefits and sought to add conditions to her accepted injury claim. The Board upheld the termination because the medical evidence showed no further residuals of the accepted injury. It found the claim for additional conditions needed…
M.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Edison Post Office
M.V. (ECAB 17-0129): Right arm impairment award sent back
M.V., a postal employee, sought a higher permanent impairment award for his right arm. The Board found that OWCP lacked a consistently applied method for choosing between competing upper extremity impairment rating approaches. It set aside the decision and directed OWCP to establish a uniform…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Rocky River Post Office
J.B. (ECAB 16-1906): Wage-earning capacity reduction sent back
J.B., a postal employee, challenged a reduction in compensation based on a constructed payroll clerk job. The Board found that OWCP had not adequately addressed whether the job was reasonably available after he moved from Ohio to Georgia. OWCP also had not considered whether his new home was an…
D.K. and Department of the Air Force, Ogden Air Logistics Center
D.K. (ECAB 16-1653): Reconsideration denial upheld
D.K., an Air Force employee, asked OWCP to reconsider the denial of his shoulder injury claim. The Board could review only OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim, not the underlying injury decision. It found that his new emails did not explain how the alleged August 19, 2015 injury occurred or present…
B.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Elkins Park Post Office
B.T. (ECAB 16-1319): Arm impairment dispute sent to a referee physician
B.T., a postal employee, sought higher permanent impairment awards for both arms. The Board found that two earlier medical reports did not have enough weight to create a medical conflict. Later reports from her physician and an OWCP physician did create a conflict over the arm ratings. It sent the…
American Federation of Government Employees (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Agency)
AFGE and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (FLRA 0-AR-5255): Procedural exceptions denied
AFGE filed exceptions to an arbitration award involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement and requested an expedited, abbreviated ruling. ICE argued that the grievant lacked standing to file and that the union had not properly served the award attachments. The Authority found that the grievant…
Matter of Martin CHAIREZ-Castrejon
Conviction records may be reviewed narrowly for divisibility
The Board considered the Department of Homeland Security's motion to reconsider an earlier decision involving a Mexican lawful permanent resident convicted under Utah law of unlawfully discharging a firearm. The Board held that Immigration Judges may look at a conviction record only to determine…
J.K. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
J.K. (ECAB 17-0321): Hearing loss schedule award denied
J.K., a Navy employee, sought a schedule award for hearing loss attributed to workplace noise. The examining physician found hearing loss in both ears, but the impairment rating under the applicable guides was zero percent. The Board found no ratable binaural hearing impairment and affirmed the…
A.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Samuel S. Stratton VA Medical Center
A.R. (ECAB 17-0296): Injury claim denial upheld
A.R., a Department of Veterans Affairs employee, reported back, hip, and leg symptoms after a workplace chair dropped abruptly. The Board accepted that the incident occurred. It found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated a diagnosed condition…
S.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Shrewsbury Post Office
S.R. (ECAB 17-0271): Late reconsideration denial upheld
S.R., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reconsider an earlier injury claim denial. The Board found that the request arrived more than one year after the merit decision. Her later medical report gave some support for a work connection, but did not show clear evidence of error in the prior decision…
J.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection
J.L. (ECAB 17-0177): Work-related hearing loss claim denied
J.L., a Customs and Border Protection employee, claimed that workplace noise caused hearing loss in both ears. An examining physician found mild hearing loss but attributed its pattern to expected age-related changes rather than work noise. The Board found that J.L. had not submitted medical…
N.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Jersey City Post Office
N.C. (ECAB 17-0157): Late reconsideration request rejected
N.C., a postal employee, requested reconsideration of an older compensation decision. The Board could review only OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim because the merits decision was too old for this appeal. It found that OWCP correctly treated the reconsideration request as untimely and that the…
E.D. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Station
E.D. (ECAB 17-0110): Hearing loss files returned for combined review
E.D., a Navy employee, appealed a hearing loss claim decision. The Board found that OWCP had relied on material from an earlier hearing loss claim, but that claim file was missing from the record before it. It directed OWCP to combine the two files and issue a new decision after reviewing the…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Amarillo Post Office
R.M. (ECAB 16-1765): Left arm impairment award sent back
R.M., a postal employee, sought a higher permanent impairment award for his left arm after receiving awards totaling 40 percent. The Board found that OWCP had not used a consistently applied method for rating upper extremity impairment. It set aside the decision and directed OWCP to develop a…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Lynchburg Post Office
M.M. (ECAB 16-1759): Leg impairment rating sent back for clarification
M.M., a postal employee, sought more than a one percent permanent impairment award for her right leg. The examining physician used a range of motion method that produced a higher rating, while an OWCP medical adviser favored a diagnosis based method. The Board found the examiner had not explained…
United States Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1992 (Union)
DLA Aviation Richmond and AFGE Local 1992 (FLRA 0-AR-5262): Prospective telework remedy set aside
DLA Aviation denied an employee's request to increase telework from four to five days each week. An arbitrator found that the agency had given generic and insufficient reasons under the collective-bargaining agreement, but the employee retired before the award issued. Because no personal relief…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Bellmawr Post Office
C.B. (ECAB 16-1713): Spinal condition claim sent back for medical clarification
C.B., a postal employee, claimed that his work aggravated a spinal condition. His treating physician and an OWCP physician disagreed, so OWCP obtained an impartial examination. The Board found that the impartial report did not resolve whether the job factors caused or aggravated the condition. It…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Milwaukee Post Office
B.C. (ECAB 17-0121): Right wrist injury claim denied
B.C., a postal employee, sought compensation for a right wrist condition after an accepted workplace incident in August 2015. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated his wrist condition. It affirmed OWCP’s denial of the claim.
J.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Newark Post Office
J.N. (ECAB 17-0032): Claimed workplace injury not established
J.N., a postal employee, reported a right hip injury while moving heavy mats at work. The Board found that he gave no detailed account or witness statement after OWCP requested one. The late report and contemporaneous medical notes did not establish the incident as alleged. The Board affirmed the…
S.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, San Francisco Post Office
S.Y. (ECAB 16-1555): Termination of compensation and benefits upheld
S.Y., a postal employee, challenged the termination of wage-loss compensation and medical benefits after OWCP found her accepted conditions had resolved. The Board gave weight to an impartial medical examiner’s opinion that she no longer had disability or residuals from those conditions. It found…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Columbia Post Office
P.W. (ECAB 16-1505): Disability recurrence denial upheld
P.W., a postal employee, claimed a recurrence of total disability after an accepted 2015 injury. The Board found that her medical evidence did not adequately establish that the accepted injury made her unable to work on or after June 27, 2015. It affirmed OWCP’s denial of the recurrence claim.
G.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Rocky River Post Office
G.B. (ECAB 16-1309): Wage-earning capacity reduction upheld
G.B., a postal employee, challenged a compensation reduction based on a customer service representative position. The Board found that the sedentary job fit his medical restrictions and that he had completed relevant vocational training. It also found that the job was reasonably available in his…
W.R. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
W.R. (ECAB 16-1251): Workplace injury claim denied
W.R., an Army Corps of Engineers employee, said he injured his back lifting a shop vacuum over a gate at work. The Board found that he had not supplied a detailed account or a witness statement after OWCP requested supporting facts. Another record gave a different injury date. The Board found the…
Turin v. Amtrust Financial Services, Inc.
Turin v. Amtrust Financial Services (DOL ARB 2017-0004): Early appeal dismissed
Bentzion Turin sought immediate Board review after an administrative law judge dismissed AmTrust and AIIM from his Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower case but kept the case going against other respondents. The Board said the judge had not finished the case, making the appeal interlocutory. Turin had not…
N.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Cleveland VA Medical Center
N.C. (ECAB 17-0527): Denial of finger impairment award sent back
N.C., a Veterans Affairs employee, sought a schedule award for impairment from an accepted left ring finger injury. The Board found that OWCP had not applied a consistent method for rating upper extremity impairment. It set aside the decision and sent the claim back for a uniform rating method and…
C.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Edison Post Office
C.E. (ECAB 17-0106): Claimed workplace scalp injury denied
C.E., a postal employee, claimed she cut her scalp after falling while carrying a package at work. The Board found that her description did not explain how the fall occurred and that the contemporaneous medical record did not give an injury history. She did not provide further details when OWCP…
V.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services
V.R. (ECAB 17-0085): Wage-earning capacity reduction upheld
V.R., a Citizenship and Immigration Services employee, challenged a compensation reduction based on a customer complaint clerk position. The Board found that the medical evidence supported her ability to perform the selected job. It rejected an objection about voice recognition software because its…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Rochester Post Office
M.F. (ECAB 17-0081): Reconsideration denials upheld
M.F., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of an earlier claim decision. The Board lacked jurisdiction to review the underlying merits on this appeal. It found that her requests did not provide relevant new evidence or legal grounds requiring OWCP to reopen the claim. The Board affirmed both…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Steele Post Office
C.G. (ECAB 16-1917): Overpayment decision sent back
C.G., a postal employee, challenged an alleged $10,084.23 compensation overpayment and the finding that she was at fault. The Board found that OWCP had to reconsider when her schedule award entitlement began and whether any award was due before the termination of benefits for refusing suitable…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Keyport Post Office
J.C. (ECAB 16-1724): Injury claim denial upheld
J.C., a postal employee, sought compensation for a claimed injury after an accepted August 2013 workplace incident. The Board found that her medical reports did not adequately explain how the incident caused the diagnosed condition. It affirmed OWCP’s denial of the claim.
H.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration
H.A. (ECAB 16-1184): Hand arthritis claim denied
H.A., a Veterans Health Administration employee, sought to add arthritis of his hands and thumbs as a consequence of an accepted work injury. The Board gave special weight to an impartial medical examiner who found that increased symptoms did not establish aggravation of the underlying arthritis…
R.D. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration
R.D. (ECAB 16-0936): Zero-compensation reduction reversed
R.D., a Transportation Security Administration employee, lost compensation after OWCP concluded that she had failed to cooperate with vocational rehabilitation testing. The Board found the second functional capacity evaluation speculative and internally inconsistent. It also found that OWCP should…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Los Angeles Processing and Distribution Center
P.S. (ECAB 17-0168): Reconsideration denial upheld
P.S., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reconsider an earlier claim denial. The Board could review only the refusal to reopen the claim, not the older merits decision. It found that his arguments about claim type and timeliness did not present a valid new legal ground for merit review. The Board…
D.D. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons
D.D. (ECAB 16-1615): Medical benefit termination upheld
D.D., a Bureau of Prisons employee, challenged the termination of medical benefits for accepted neck and thoracic strains. The Board credited a reasoned medical opinion that she no longer had residuals requiring treatment. It found that a contrary opinion used speculative language and affirmed the…
D.D. and Department of the Army, Tobyhanna Army Depot
D.D. (ECAB 16-1546): Ankle impairment award denied
D.D., an Army depot employee, sought a schedule award for an accepted right ankle fracture. His physician estimated five to ten percent impairment but did not identify the anatomical basis or apply the required impairment guide tables. The Board found the evidence insufficient to establish ratable…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Post Office
T.B. (ECAB 16-0842): Right arm impairment award sent back
T.B., a postal employee, sought a higher permanent impairment award for her right arm. The Board found that OWCP had not applied a consistent method for rating upper extremity impairment. It set aside the decision and sent the schedule award claim back for a uniform method and a new decision.
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Colorado Springs Post Office
C.S. (ECAB 16-0752): Overpayment case sent back with award issue
C.S., a postal employee, challenged a claimed $10,736.75 overpayment tied to a revised schedule award. The Board found that the underlying arm impairment rating was not ready for decision because OWCP had not used a consistent rating method. It held that the overpayment and waiver questions were…
K.W. and U.S. Postal Service, St. Louis Post Office
K.W. (ECAB 16-0583): Right arm impairment award sent back
K.W., a postal employee, sought more than the ten percent permanent impairment award he had received for his right arm. The Board found that OWCP had not consistently applied its upper extremity impairment rating methods. It set aside the decision and sent the schedule award claim back for a…
P.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Harrisburg Post Office
P.E. (ECAB 16-0223): Left arm impairment award sent back
P.E., a postal employee, sought a higher permanent impairment award for his left arm. The Board found that OWCP had not used a consistently applied method for rating upper extremity impairment. It set aside the decision and returned the claim for a uniform rating approach and a new decision.
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2302 (Union) and United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Human Resources Command (Agency)
AFGE Local 2302 and Army Human Resources Command (FLRA 0-AR-5256): Discrimination exceptions rejected
An Army employee alleged that supervisors discriminated against her based on race, age, sex, and protected activity and created a hostile work environment. An arbitrator found improper behavior in two incidents but found insufficient evidence that the supervisors acted with discriminatory or…
Matter of W-Y-U-
Merits review should guide administrative closure
The Board reviewed a Chinese respondent's interlocutory appeal after an Immigration Judge denied his request to recalendar removal proceedings that had been administratively closed at DHS's request. The Board held that the primary consideration is whether the party opposing closure has given a…
V.T. and U.S. Postal Service, North Metro Processing and Distribution Center
V.T. (ECAB 17-0383): Reconsideration denial upheld
V.T., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reconsider an earlier claim decision. The Board could review only OWCP’s refusal to reopen the merits on this appeal. It found that the new submission did not show a legal error, present a relevant new argument, or supply pertinent new evidence. The Board…
A.F. and Department of the Army, Lucius D. Clay Kaserne
A.F. (ECAB 16-1847): Arm impairment awards sent back
A.F., an Army employee, sought higher permanent impairment awards for both arms. The Board found that OWCP had not used a consistently applied method for rating upper extremity impairment. It set aside the bilateral decision and directed OWCP to use a uniform method before deciding the claim for an…
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.