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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Secretary of Labor v. Blanchard Machinery Co.
Unknown recipient supported reopening
Blanchard Machinery sought to reopen a penalty assessment that it said it never received. The assessment was addressed to an employee with no mining or safety duties and signed for by a person whom neither Blanchard nor its carrier employed at the time. Blanchard investigated promptly after…
Gary R. Ramsay v. Consol Mining Company, LLC and Consol Energy, Incorporated
Ramsay v. Consol Mining (BRB 24-0252): benefits award vacated and disability reconsidered
Gary Ramsay sought black lung benefits after thirty-four years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found total respiratory disability, applied the fifteen year presumption, and awarded benefits. A two-judge Board majority held that the judge had not adequately resolved…
A.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center
Board orders review of overlooked psychiatric report (ECAB 25-0169)
A VA pharmacist sought compensation for psychological symptoms following workplace interactions that OWCP had accepted as compensable factors. OWCP denied the claim for lack of a medical diagnosis, but its hearing representative did not address a nurse practitioner's report countersigned by a…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Denver Processing and Distribution Center
Board denies lung impairment schedule award (ECAB 25-0154)
A postal employee sought a schedule award for lung impairment following accepted COVID-19. Her physician estimated impairment without supporting pulmonary function test data. The Board credited OWCP’s medical adviser, who used later spirometry and found zero percent impairment under the applicable…
M.D. and U.S. Postal Service, West Allis Post Office
Board orders independent review of postal worker's knee claim (ECAB 25-0122)
A postal worker claimed that repetitive duties caused or worsened bilateral knee arthritis and meniscal conditions. OWCP’s second opinion physician attributed the condition to nonwork factors, while two treating physicians gave reasoned opinions linking it to work. The Board found a conflict in…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Valparaiso Post Office
Board denies claimed work disability period (ECAB 25-0106)
A postal employee sought compensation for disability from January 2021 through March 2023 related to an accepted injury. The Board found that the medical reports did not establish work disability during that period or connect it to the accepted injury. It affirmed OWCP’s denial.
Exxon Mobil Baytown Refinery
One mental-illness recordkeeping instance affirmed
A pipe rupture at ExxonMobil's Baytown refinery caused an explosion that injured three contractors and a fire that burned for nearly eight hours. Three process technicians who responded later received mental-illness diagnoses and missed work, but ExxonMobil declined to record the cases on its OSHA…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Paul Kirk v. CEMEX Construction Materials Florida, LLC
Discipline for kiln-dust complaint found discriminatory
Paul Kirk, an electrician and union president at CEMEX's cement plant, raised concerns about hot dust escaping from a kiln and interrupted a management meeting when he believed the problem had not been addressed. MSHA inspected after an anonymous complaint and cited the plant for kiln conditions…
Charles A. Pennington, Sr. v. North Branch Coal Company
Pennington v. North Branch Coal (BRB 24-0068): black lung benefit award affirmed
Charles Pennington won black lung benefits after an administrative law judge found twenty years of qualifying coal mine work, a totally disabling respiratory impairment, and no successful rebuttal by North Branch Coal. The company appealed on procedural grounds, arguing it had been denied a fair…
Jones v. Exclusive Jets, LLC
Pilot retaliation award affirmed with new interest method
Exclusive Jets fired pilot Michael Jones less than three weeks after he reported aircraft mechanical irregularities and objected to conducting a maintenance test flight in poor weather. The Board held that his reports and related communications were protected under AIR21 and that timing plus…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Gateway North Mining, LLC
Roof-control order affirmed and citation modified
MSHA issued an order and a citation after two separate roof falls at Peabody's underground coal mine struck miners in December 2022. For the first incident, the Judge found that Peabody exceeded width limits in its approved roof-control plan and failed to take added measures for visible adverse…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Flushing Post Office
Board orders reasoned ruling on reconsideration request (ECAB 25-0136)
A postal carrier requested reconsideration of a denied emotional-condition claim. OWCP summarily rejected the request as untimely without adequately explaining its factual findings or reasons. The Board directed OWCP to describe the evidence, explain its application of the reconsideration…
W.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Brooklyn Processing and Distribution Center
Board reverses termination of injury benefits (ECAB 25-0102)
A postal employee challenged termination of benefits for an accepted 2013 injury. OWCP relied on an impartial examiner to resolve conflicting medical opinions, but that examiner disregarded accepted conditions in the official statement of facts. The Board found his report lacked the special weight…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Romeoville Post Office
Board reverses wage-loss termination over job offer (ECAB 25-0082)
A postal carrier refused a modified job that OWCP later described as temporary. The written offer did not state that the job was temporary. The Board found OWCP had not proved that key condition for terminating wage-loss benefits under its temporary assignment rule. It reversed the termination.
D.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Lake Havasu Post Office
Board reverses zeroing of postal worker's compensation (ECAB 25-0079)
A postal carrier in vocational rehabilitation stopped cooperating after a counselor identified receptionist and customer service jobs and their expected pay. OWCP reduced her wage-loss compensation to zero. The Board held that, once suitable jobs and potential earnings had been identified, OWCP had…
Secretary of Labor v. Tata Chemicals Soda Ash Partners, LLC
Due-date mistake supported reopening
Tata Chemicals retrieved a proposed assessment from its post office four days after delivery and calculated the contest deadline from the pickup date. Its contest of the unpaid penalties was five days late under the actual delivery date. Tata supplemented its reopening motion to explain the…
Secretary of Labor v. W.G. Yates & Son’s Construction Company
Hot-work fire citation affirmed before Commission review
W.G. Yates was cutting steel in a phosphate mine building when hot slag entered an uncovered drain and ignited rubber lining inside a discharge pipe. The fire burned for about 17 minutes, produced thick black smoke, and resisted six fire extinguishers before the mine's emergency team put it out…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. MOSenecaManufacturer, LLC dba American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0251): Missing case copies prompted a show-cause order
American Tripoli filed a motion that relied on cases the Commission could not identify from the information provided. The Commission ordered the operator to submit copies of those cases by December 6, 2024, but it received no response. The Commission explained that it has discretion to vacate…
June L. Buchanan on behalf of Donald R. Buchanan v. Lodestar Energy, Incorporated
Buchanan v. Lodestar Energy (BRB 24-0175): miner's black lung award affirmed
June Buchanan continued her late husband's black lung claim after his death. An administrative law judge credited him with 36 years of qualifying coal mine work and found that medical opinions established a totally disabling respiratory impairment. Lodestar Energy challenged the disability finding…
Gary R. Stinson v. Harold Keene Coal Company, Incorporated and Chartis Casualty Company
Stinson v. Harold Keene Coal (BRB 23-0425): mine work years need recalculation
Gary Stinson sought black lung benefits based partly on the presumption available after at least 15 years of qualifying coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. On an earlier appeal, the Board had already upheld the disability finding but required a better explanation of his…
Roy H. Meadows, Jr. v. Roy H. Meadows & Sons Manufacturing and Old Bay Republic Insurance Companies
Meadows v. Meadows & Sons Manufacturing (BRB 23-0303): black lung claim sent back for fuller review
Roy Meadows received a black lung benefit award after an administrative law judge found complicated pneumoconiosis and assigned liability to Meadows & Sons Manufacturing. The Board vacated both findings. It said the judge had not resolved which date Meadows last worked for a more recent operator, a…
Secretary of Labor v. St. Mary's Cement
Secretary of Labor v. St. Marys Cement U.S. LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2025-0084): Timely all-penalties contest required remand
St. Marys timely returned a proposed-assessment form and checked the box stating that it contested every listed violation. It did not also check the individual boxes beside several penalties, and MSHA later issued a delinquency notice for those items. The Commission held that the assessment never…
Secretary of Labor v. St. Mary's Cement
Secretary of Labor v. St. Marys Cement (FMSHRC LAKE 2023-0265): Paid settlement made reopening moot
MSHA proposed $85,461 in penalties, and St. Marys timely contested them before agreeing to a settlement that reduced the amount to $67,025. The operator paid the full settlement amount after receiving a delinquency notice. St. Marys nevertheless moved to reopen, but it identified no mistake or…
Theoni Salcedo, widow of Juan R. Salcedo v. Automatic Tube Company, American Sterilizer Company, and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
Salcedo v. Automatic Tube (BRB 23-0235): death benefit denial affirmed
Theoni Salcedo sought death benefits after her husband Juan died of mesothelioma. She alleged that asbestos exposure while he worked for Automatic Tube and American Sterilizer contributed to his illness. The administrative law judge denied the claim, finding the employer rebutted the presumption…
Selvarangan v. Tata Consultancy Services
CFPA review petition declined after withdrawal
Anandaraj Selvarangan alleged that Tata Consultancy Services violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act's employee protections. He asked the administrative judge to withdraw his objections and dismiss the case without prejudice, and the judge approved that request. Selvarangan then submitted a…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Houston-Westbury Post Office
Board dismisses late appeal from compensation decision (ECAB 25-0152)
A postal employee appealed an OWCP decision issued May 16, 2024. The appeal was filed November 27, 2024, after the 180-day filing limit. The Board found no documented compelling circumstance explaining the delay and dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
D.O. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Correctional Center New York
Board orders review of overlooked treatment evidence (ECAB 25-0050)
A correctional officer sought authorization for lumbar injections after an accepted elevator injury. OWCP denied the request while stating that no new evidence had been submitted, although it had received additional reports from his treating physicians. The Board directed OWCP to review and address…
R.L. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Herlong
Board declines larger left-arm impairment award (ECAB 25-0045)
A federal correctional officer sought more than the eight percent permanent impairment award for an accepted left wrist injury. The Board reviewed the impairment evaluations under the applicable guides and found that the record did not establish a greater impairment. It affirmed OWCP’s decision.
E.P. and Social Security Administration, Dallas Region
Board orders completion of disability evidence review (ECAB 25-0038)
A Social Security Administration employee sought compensation for intermittent disability associated with accepted upper-extremity conditions. OWCP referred her for a second opinion on disability and work capacity but decided the claim before receiving that physician's report. The Board set aside…
T.R. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Board reverses zeroing of shipyard worker's benefits (ECAB 24-0934)
A Navy shipfitter was referred for vocational rehabilitation and did not complete an approved computer-training program. The counselor had already identified an information clerk position and its potential earnings. The Board held that OWCP should have used the likely earnings from that job to…
H.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Cardiss Collins Processing and Distribution Center
Board orders recalculation of retirement-benefit overpayment (ECAB 24-0548)
A postal employee received FECA wage-loss compensation and Social Security retirement benefits attributable in part to federal service without an offset. The Board agreed that an overpayment occurred and that he was without fault. It found OWCP had not explained why it used one of several…
J.W. and Department of Health and Human Services, Wagner Indian Health Services
Board denies COVID-19 exposure claim for missing diagnostic proof (ECAB 24-0028)
A federal optometrist reported COVID-19 following an accepted workplace exposure. Her physician reported a positive test but did not provide the laboratory result or explain its absence as required by the applicable FECA guidance. The Board held that the record did not establish the required…
M.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Northeast Consolidated Patient Account Center
Board orders combined review of related injury files (ECAB 25-0140)
A VA nurse claimed neck and upper-extremity conditions from long periods of computer work. OWCP denied the claim while referring to her prior injury files, including an earlier wrist claim. The Board held that those related files must be combined for a full review of the evidence. It directed OWCP…
N.I. and U.S. Postal Service, Cardiss Collins Post Office
Board dismisses late appeal from two OWCP decisions (ECAB 25-0115)
A postal employee appealed March and May 2024 OWCP decisions on November 14, 2024. The Board found the filing came more than 180 days after both decisions. With no documented compelling circumstance to excuse the delay, it dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, West Sacramento Post Office
Board denies work-related right knee claim (ECAB 25-0046)
A postal worker claimed that job duties caused a right knee condition. The Board found one report described only pain, which is a symptom rather than a diagnosis, and another diagnosed chondromalacia without explaining a work connection. It concluded that the medical evidence did not establish…
R.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Greensboro Processing and Distribution Center
Board orders merits review despite late reconsideration request (ECAB 25-0043)
A postal carrier sought reconsideration of a denied shoulder and back injury claim after the usual one-year window. The Board agreed the request was late but found the existing medical evidence demonstrated clear error in the prior denial. It reversed OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim and remanded…
D.F. and Department of Defense, Norfolk Naval Air Station
Board upholds back-injury denial and late hearing rejection (ECAB 25-0042)
A Defense Department worker reported back and right-side injury after lifting boxes at work. The Board found the medical evidence did not establish a condition caused by the accepted incident. It also found that his request for an oral hearing came more than 30 days after OWCP's merit decision. It…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Capitol Heights Post Office
Board reverses termination of carpal tunnel benefits (ECAB 24-0932)
A postal employee had an accepted bilateral carpal tunnel condition and continued receiving benefits. Her treating physician found continuing disability, while OWCP’s examiner found the accepted condition had resolved. The Board found a medical-opinion conflict that required an impartial…
E.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Coppell Post Office
Board orders renewed knee impairment review (ECAB 24-0686)
A postal carrier sought an additional right-leg schedule award for accepted knee conditions after earlier awards for the same leg. OWCP compared the new impairment percentage with prior percentages and denied a further award. The Board held that OWCP needed to determine whether the current knee…
G.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, W.G. Hefner Salisbury VA Medical Center
Board finds travel injury occurred during covered duty (ECAB 24-0456)
A VA police officer injured his quadriceps tendon when he fell from a bicycle during temporary-duty travel. OWCP denied the claim on the ground that he was outside the performance of duty. The Board found the activity reasonably incidental to his temporary-duty assignment and reversed that finding…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Michael Cook v. Panther Creek Mining, LLC
Part 90 miner awarded lost pay
Michael Cook exercised his Part 90 right to transfer away from excessive coal-dust exposure, moving from a ten-hour continuous-miner-operator schedule to an eight-hour mine-examiner schedule. Panther Creek kept his hourly wage unchanged, but Cook worked 13 fewer hours and lost $761.67 before a…
C.W. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Board denies hearing-loss schedule award (ECAB 25-0139)
An FBI firearms instructor had accepted work-related hearing loss and tinnitus and sought a schedule award. The Board found that the audiometric results yielded no ratable hearing impairment under the applicable guides. Because the hearing loss was not ratable, tinnitus could not add an impairment…
K.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Chicago International Service Center
Board orders further review of shoulder injury claim (ECAB 25-0097)
A postal employee reported right shoulder pain after lifting a heavy package at work. Her physician described imaging and examination findings and connected a rotator cuff injury to the accepted incident. The Board found that report required further medical development before OWCP could decide…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Albuquerque Post Office
Board denies claimed two-year disability period (ECAB 25-0009)
A postal employee sought disability compensation from August 2022 through July 2024 based on an accepted 2013 injury. The Board found that imaging and medical reports did not establish that the accepted injury caused work disability during the claimed period. It affirmed OWCP’s denial.
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Palo Alto Sorting and Delivery Center
Board reverses wage-loss termination over unsuitable job (ECAB 24-0712)
A postal carrier with an accepted shoulder condition was offered a temporary modified assignment. The job required pushing, pulling, and lifting, but the physician barred those activities with her right arm. The Board found the assignment exceeded her medical restrictions and could not support…
Johnson Brass & Machine Foundry, Inc.
Fall and lockout violations affirmed
Johnson Brass operated pit-mounted centrifugal casting machines at its Wisconsin foundry. An employee was seriously injured when his clothing caught on a rotating die while he cleaned it from inside a spinner pit. OSHA cited fall protection, lockout-tagout, training, and machine-guarding violations…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Complex, Yazoo City, Mississippi and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 4036, Council of Prison Locals 33
Federal Correctional Complex Yazoo City and AFGE Local 4036 (FLRA 0-AR-5743): Authority dismisses premature overtime exceptions
Federal Correctional Complex Yazoo City temporarily assigned employees to another institution, and the union alleged that those employees lost overtime opportunities. An arbitrator found the grievance timely as to continuing violations occurring within 40 days before filing and directed a hearing…
Mitchell v. Manning Trucking, Inc.
STAA recusal interlocutory appeal denied
Rico Mitchell alleged that Manning Trucking retaliated against him under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act. While the complaint remained pending, he asked the administrative judge to recuse, and the judge denied that motion after allowing supporting submissions and holding a hearing…
S.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Philadelphia Post Office
Board denies expansion of longstanding leg injury claim (ECAB 25-0134)
A postal employee sought to add complex regional pain syndrome and patellofemoral arthritis to prior accepted injuries and claimed disability beginning February 2010. The Board found the medical evidence did not establish that those conditions were caused by or consequential to the accepted…
N.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Beachwood Post Office
Board upholds retirement offset overpayment and waiver denial (ECAB 25-0113)
A postal employee received FECA wage-loss compensation along with age-related Social Security retirement benefits without the required offset. The Board upheld OWCP’s $21,273.89 overpayment calculation for September 2023 through April 2024 and found she was without fault. It also affirmed OWCP’s…
D.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Gainesville General Mail Facility
Board orders supplemental disability opinion (ECAB 25-0111)
A postal employee sought compensation for disability from December 2019 through August 2022 following an accepted 2017 injury. OWCP had developed the medical record but lacked an adequate opinion addressing disability throughout the disputed period. The Board directed OWCP to obtain a supplemental…
G.B. and Department of the Army, Red River Army Depot
Board upholds rescission but orders renewed hearing-loss review (ECAB 23-0686)
An Army employee challenged OWCP's rescission of an accepted hearing-loss claim. The Board credited the impartial examiner's opinion and found OWCP had proved rescission was warranted. It also found that OWCP had failed to address evidence relevant to whether the employee could otherwise establish…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 0906 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Eastern Kansas Health Care System, Topeka VA Medical Center
AFGE Local 0906 and Topeka VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-NG-3645): Authority orders bargaining over break-room ice
AFGE Local 0906 proposed that a locked VA mental-health clinic provide a break-room water system with hands-free ice dispensing or add a suitable refrigerator-freezer to its existing filtration system. The union explained that staffing and patient-monitoring needs sometimes kept employees in the…
Secretary of Labor v. JDI Industrial
Refused assessment and legal mistake defeated reopening
JDI Industrial sought to reopen five recordkeeping penalties after delivery of the proposed assessment was refused and the contest deadline passed. Its safety director had worked with MSHA to correct the violations and mistakenly believed that abatement meant no penalties would be issued. The…
Matter of Cleto Marte DOMINGUEZ REYES
Money-laundering threshold
The Board reviewed a lawful permanent resident’s challenge to his aggravated-felony classification after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Board held that the $10,000 amount requirement is based on the particular circumstances of the offense, rather than a categorical…
Bauche v. Masimo Corp.
SOX appeal dismissed after opening brief omitted
John Bauche sought Board review in a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower case against Masimo Corporation. The Board issued a notice that it intended to dismiss the petition for review. Bauche responded, but his filing did not include the required opening brief or otherwise comply with the notice. For the…
D.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Eau Claire Post Office
Board reverses denial of chiropractic care (ECAB 25-0059)
A postal employee requested chiropractic treatment for accepted conditions. His treating providers supported the treatment, and OWCP's own medical adviser found the record sufficient to authorize it. The Board held that OWCP abused its discretion by denying authorization despite that evidence and…
A.F. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Board denies park worker's stress claim (ECAB 24-0952)
A National Park Service mechanic attributed an emotional condition to management actions and alleged harassment. The Board found no demonstrated error or abuse in personnel actions and insufficient corroboration of the claimed harassment. It held that no compensable employment factor was…
A.H., widow of D.H., and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Facility Detroit
Board orders proper handling of deceased worker's debt (ECAB 24-0798)
The widow of a Navy employee challenged an overpayment arising from unpaid federal life-insurance premiums. The Board found OWCP had not shown that it followed required procedures for collecting a deceased claimant's debt, including referral for a federal tax-refund offset before pursuing the…
S.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Independence Annex
Board upholds refusal to reopen stress claim (ECAB 24-0703)
A postal employee asked OWCP to reconsider her denied emotional-condition claim. Her submission repeated earlier allegations and evidence without a new legal argument or relevant new proof that required reopening. The Board affirmed OWCP’s refusal to review the merits again.
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.