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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G.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
G.S. (ECAB 13-1738): Right leg schedule award denied
G.S., a postal letter carrier, sought a schedule award after an accepted dog bite and infection of his right calf. OWCP denied the award. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish permanent ratable impairment of the right leg from the accepted injuries. It affirmed OWCP’s May 30…
J.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Edison, NJ
J.A. (ECAB 13-1657): Neck injury benefit termination upheld
J.A., a postal mail handler, received benefits for an accepted neck sprain after lifting mail at work. OWCP ended compensation and medical benefits effective October 11, 2012. The Board found that the medical evidence showed the accepted injury had resolved and that OWCP met its burden to terminate…
J.Y. and Department of the Air Force, Travis Air Force Base, CA
J.Y. (ECAB 13-1520): New impairment evidence requires award decision
J.Y., an Air Force employee with accepted hand, wrist, and neck conditions, submitted a new medical impairment rating after an earlier schedule-award denial. OWCP treated his request as late reconsideration and refused merits review. The Board found that he sought a schedule award based on new…
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Juan, PR
R.B. (ECAB 13-126): Physical and emotional injury claims denied
R.B., a postal letter carrier, claimed physical and emotional injuries from a March 2010 incident involving his delivery vehicle. OWCP denied both claims. The Board found that the record did not establish the claimed physical injuries or an emotional condition in the performance of duty. It…
All Star Realty Co., Inc.
Roofing and ladder citations vacated for lack of employment relationship
All Star Realty had a contract to demolish a strip mall, where OSHA found two brothers removing metal roofing without fall protection and using an improper ladder. The brothers had previously done odd jobs for All Star's owner, but he told them they could take the roofing only after the building…
United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Housing Service, Centralized Service Center (Activity) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3354 (Union/Petitioner)
USDA Rural Housing Service and AFGE Local 3354 (FLRA DE-RP-12-0024): Coordinator unit ruling stands
The USDA Rural Housing Service disputed whether workflow coordinators who checked processors' work should be included in a bargaining unit. A regional director included the field and multi-family coordinators, finding no evidence that their quality reviews effectively recommended supervisory…
United States Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers, Directorate of Contracting, Southwestern Division, Fort Worth District, Fort Worth, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (Union)
Corps of Engineers and AFGE (FLRA DA-RP-13-0008): Galveston contracting unit affirmed
The Army Corps of Engineers moved administrative control of Galveston contracting staff to its Fort Worth office without moving the employees. A regional director found that the Galveston staff no longer fit the old mixed unit but formed an appropriate separate bargaining unit under the reorganized…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Respondent) and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals #33, Local 171 (Charging Party)
Oklahoma City federal transfer center and AFGE Local 171 (FLRA DA-CA-10-0583): Electronic ULP notice ordered
A manager at the Oklahoma City federal transfer center refused to negotiate overtime procedures unless AFGE Local 171 withdrew a grievance. An administrative law judge found that the agency had committed an unfair labor practice and ordered bargaining and a paper notice, but declined to require…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1367 (Union) and United States Department of the Air Force, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas (Agency)
Lackland Air Force Base and AFGE Local 1367 (FLRA 0-AR-4986): Union exception denied
AFGE Local 1367 challenged an arbitration award involving Lackland Air Force Base. The Authority issued an expedited, abbreviated decision after considering the record and its precedent. It concluded that the union had not shown that the arbitrator exceeded his authority, the ground identified by…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3571 (Union) and Social Security Administration (Agency)
Social Security Administration and AFGE Local 3571 (FLRA 0-AR-4878): New-contract argument barred
An arbitrator found a Social Security Administration grievance withdrawn under a provision of the parties' 2005 agreement requiring arbitration to be scheduled within a year of the arbitrator's assignment. AFGE Local 3571 then argued to the Authority that the parties' 2012 agreement controlled…
Brody Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor, MSHA
Brody Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-82-R, et al.): Pattern-rule ruling certified for review
Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick had upheld MSHA's 2013 pattern-of-violations rule against Brody Mining's facial, due-process, and retroactivity challenges. On his own motion, he certified that ruling for immediate Commission review. He found that the rule's validity was a controlling legal question…
Brody Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor, MSHA
Brody Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-82-R, et al.): Pattern-of-violations rule upheld at summary decision
Brody Mining challenged MSHA's revised pattern-of-violations rule and the withdrawal orders issued after its pattern notice. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick held that the Commission lacked jurisdiction to review the notice itself but could review the resulting enforcement orders and consider…
Secretary of Labor, MSHA v. Small Mine Development, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Small Mine Development, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2012-1171-M, et al.): Forklift citation vacated, training and windshield violations modified
The case addressed a miner adjusting raised forklift forks, incomplete task training, and a remix truck operated with a badly cracked windshield at Small Mine Development's underground metal mine. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy vacated the forklift-operation citation because adjusting the forks was not…
J.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Chantilly, VA
J.H. (ECAB 13-2063): Additional left arm schedule award denied
J.H., a federal air marshal, previously received a schedule award for 15 percent permanent impairment of his left arm after a work-related fall. He sought a larger award, relying on his treating surgeon’s 36 percent rating. OWCP’s second-opinion physician and medical adviser rated the impairment at…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Long Island, NY
T.B. (ECAB 13-1930): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical proof
T.B., a Postal Service mailhandler, reported back pain after lifting parcels and boxes at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused her lumbar condition. The Board gave no probative weight to the chiropractors’…
F.B. and U.S. Postal Service, North Metro Processing & Distribution Center, Duluth, GA
F.B. (ECAB 13-1926): Timely reconsideration request returned to OWCP
F.B., a Postal Service clerk, had received a schedule award for 10 percent impairment of his left arm and sought reconsideration. OWCP rejected his request as late and applied the clear evidence of error standard. The Board held that the January 19, 2012 corrected award was the last merit decision…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Parsons, KS
M.H. (ECAB 13-1825): Two percent right arm award upheld
M.H., a Postal Service distribution worker, sought a larger schedule award after treatment and surgery for a right elbow nerve condition. OWCP awarded two percent permanent impairment of his right arm. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser and second-opinion physician properly used the sixth…
C.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Niles Post Office, Niles, MI
C.B. (ECAB 13-1805): Neck injury claim denied for lack of causal proof
C.B., a Postal Service letter carrier, claimed that repetitive neck movements at work aggravated cervical degeneration and caused headaches. OWCP denied his claim. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the established work factors caused a cervical condition. One…
B.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Baltimore, MD
B.P. (ECAB 13-1726): Recurrence claim denied for lack of medical causation
B.P., a Veterans Affairs nurse, sustained an accepted neck sprain while trying to catch a falling patient in October 2011. After returning to regular duty, she claimed a recurrence of disability beginning October 15, 2012. A physician took her off work for three days but did not explain how a…
B.L. and Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
B.L. (ECAB 13-1673): Reconsideration refusal set aside for merits review
B.L., a Smithsonian custodian with an accepted right knee injury, sought reconsideration after OWCP relied on a physician it treated as an impartial examiner. He argued that no medical conflict existed when OWCP designated that examiner, so the opinion should not have received special weight. The…
A.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
A.H. (ECAB 13-1594): Recurrence case remanded after decision mailed to wrong address
A.H., a Postal Service employee with an accepted chest wall sprain, claimed two recurrences of disability. OWCP denied the recurrence claim but mailed its decision to an incorrect address; the notice was returned undelivered. After A.H. requested reconsideration, OWCP rejected the request as late…
F.M. and Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Chief, Morrow, GA
F.M. (ECAB 13-1540): Reconsideration request timely after weekend extension
F.M. sought reconsideration of OWCP’s denial of a traumatic injury claim. OWCP rejected the request as late because it received it more than one year after the September 22, 2011 decision. The Board found that the one-year deadline fell on Saturday, September 22, 2012, and moved to Monday…
E.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Oakland, CA
E.D. (ECAB 13-1232): Information clerk wage capacity reduction upheld
E.D., a postal mail processing clerk with accepted conditions affecting both hands, received wage-loss compensation after her employer could no longer accommodate her restrictions. Following vocational rehabilitation, OWCP reduced her compensation based on a locally available information clerk…
K.N. and Department of the Navy, Commander Navy Installations, Philadelphia, PA
K.N. (ECAB 13-1020): Part-time job did not support wage-capacity reduction
K.N., a Navy rigger, was injured while working full time and later returned to a 20-hour-a-week activities director job. OWCP reduced his compensation using that job’s wages as his earning capacity and later refused to change the determination. The Board found that OWCP had not explained why…
B.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Hunter Holmes McGuire Medical Center, Richmond, VA
B.H. (ECAB 13-1955): Overpayment reversed without proof of overlapping benefits
B.H., a Veterans Affairs health technician, elected federal disability retirement benefits effective January 13, 2013 but continued to receive FECA wage-loss payments while waiting for the retirement payments to begin. OWCP found a $5,070.48 overpayment for January 13 through April 6, 2013. The…
L.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
L.R. (ECAB 13-1893): Heart condition claim denied for lack of medical rationale
L.R., a Postal Service city carrier with heart disease, claimed that delivery work in extreme heat permanently aggravated his condition. His cardiologist supported the claim but gave general statements about heat, stress, and physical activity without explaining how the specific duties aggravated…
L.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Waverly, OH
L.G. (ECAB 13-1867): Back condition claim lacked reasoned medical proof
L.G., a Postal Service letter carrier, claimed that repetitive mail delivery duties aggravated a back condition. Her physicians diagnosed lumbar conditions, but the Board found that their reports did not explain how the specific work activities caused or aggravated them. A checkmark on a causation…
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
B.B. (ECAB 13-0320): No increase to left leg schedule award
B.B. sought a larger schedule award for permanent impairment of her left leg. Her physician proposed ratings above the 15 percent she had already received, while an OWCP second opinion physician rated impairment at 13 percent. The Board found that OWCP properly selected an impartial examiner to…
American Federation of Government Employees (Petitioner/Union) and United States Small Business Administration, Disaster Assistance Processing and Disbursement Center, Legal Closing and Quality Assurance and Training, Fort Worth, Texas (Agency)
SBA disaster assistance center and AFGE (FLRA DA-RP-13-0001): Proposed unit addition denied
AFGE sought an election on adding attorneys and paralegals at the SBA's disaster assistance processing center to an existing agency bargaining unit. A regional director found that the disaster-assistance employees did not share a sufficient community of interest with the mostly regional and…
Secretary of Labor, MSHA v. Bob Bak Construction
Secretary of Labor v. Bob Bak Construction (FMSHRC CENT 2011-372-M): Default did not take effect after timely answer
Bob Bak Construction asked the Commission to reopen a penalty case after a show-cause order was treated as a default. The operator produced an answer that it had mailed to MSHA and the Commission months before the show-cause order, and the Secretary agreed that the record showed proper filing and…
Luis E. DeJesus v. Viking Yacht Company, Incorporated
DeJesus v. Viking Yacht (BRB 12-0581): yacht repair award reversed under recreational vessel exclusion
Luis DeJesus repaired fiberglass boats at Viking Yacht's Florida facilities and was injured while working on a yacht. An administrative law judge found Longshore Act coverage because the company used some stock boats for sales demonstrations and sea trials, treating them as commercial vessels. The…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Little Rock, AR
A.C. (ECAB 13-1986): Elbow injury claim lacked a reliable medical link
A.C., a Postal Service clerk, reported feeling a pop in his right arm while removing a stamp drawer from a safe at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim for lack of medical proof that it caused a diagnosed condition. His orthopedic surgeon diagnosed an elbow…
L.G. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, Winesburg, OH
L.G. (ECAB 13-1950): Older injury claim barred by filing deadline
L.G., a federal meat inspector, filed a claim in February 2012 for a back injury she said occurred while climbing stairs at work in October 2002. OWCP had denied the injury claim and later refused to reopen it for reconsideration. The Board raised the filing deadline and found that the claim came…
H.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Lake Mary, FL
H.M. (ECAB 13-1894): Late reconsideration request denied
H.M., a postal mail processing clerk, claimed that a May 2011 incident involving a full mail tray injured his left rib. OWCP denied the injury claim in July 2011 because the medical evidence did not establish a causal connection. His attorney later said he had requested reconsideration in June…
D.M. and Department of Commerce, Regional Census Center, Boston, MA
D.M. (ECAB 13-1797): Wage loss after hospital discharge unproven
D.M., a temporary Census worker, was injured in a car accident while working in June 2010. OWCP accepted injuries to his throat and neck and covered wage loss through July 23, when his hospitalization and rehabilitation stay ended. He sought compensation for additional time through March 18, 2011…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City, MO
S.D. (ECAB 13-1784): Back injury wage loss and recurrence unproven
S.D., a rural postal carrier, had an accepted occupational back condition and sought compensation for time away from work in 2010. He also claimed that his condition caused a recurrence of total disability in August 2011 after he returned to modified work. The Board found that the medical reports…
C.B. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, MS
C.B. (ECAB 13-1732): One-year reconsideration request was timely
C.B. sought reconsideration of an OWCP schedule award decision concerning right leg impairment. OWCP rejected the request as late because it received it on January 24, 2013, exactly one year after the January 24, 2012 merit decision. The Board held that a request received on the one-year…
M.P. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Miami, FL
M.P. (ECAB 13-1095): Emotional condition claim from reassignment denied
M.P., a Federal Aviation Administration manager, attributed an emotional condition to a reassignment and related management actions. He said the initial assignment could have required him to supervise his former spouse and others with personal ties to her. Management changed the assignment after he…
E.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Minneapolis Processing & Distribution Center, Minneapolis, MN
E.P. (ECAB 13-0805): Claim for increased arm award needs review
E.P. had received a schedule award for two percent impairment of her right arm. She later submitted a physician’s new rating of five percent and said her accepted condition had worsened. OWCP treated her submission as a request to reconsider the earlier award and denied it for lack of new relevant…
L.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Corona, CA
L.V. (ECAB 13-0664): Conflicting foot opinions require impartial review
L.V., a letter carrier, had an accepted right plantar fasciitis claim. She sought recognition of additional conditions affecting both feet and wage-loss compensation after November 17, 2010. OWCP denied both requests after reviewing medical opinions about the additional conditions and her ability…
K.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
K.H. (ECAB 13-0501): No schedule award without work-related impairment
K.H., a postal employee, sought a left leg schedule award after an accepted 1993 work injury to his hip, thigh, and knee. He also had a serious left leg injury from an earlier accident unrelated to work. Physicians agreed that his left leg had permanent impairment, but an OWCP second opinion…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Washington, D.C. (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2798 (Union)
VA Washington medical center and AFGE Local 2798 (FLRA 0-AR-4929): Backpay limited to 120 days
A VA medical center assigned an information technology specialist to higher grade work without a temporary promotion. An arbitrator found that the employee was entitled to a retroactive GS-12 promotion and about six months of backpay. The Authority rejected the agency's challenges to the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1395 (Union) and Social Security Administration, Region V (Agency)
AFGE Local 1395 and Social Security Administration Region V (FLRA 0-AR-4898): Overtime award left in place
An arbitrator partially sustained a grievance over the Social Security Administration's refusal to let employees earn overtime on days when they took paid leave. The union challenged the award, arguing that it conflicted with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Back Pay Act, and agency policy. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2595, National Border Patrol Council (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol (Agency)
Border Patrol and AFGE Local 2595 (FLRA 0-AR-4853): Written-statement deadlines upheld
Two Border Patrol employees were ordered to submit written statements about work incidents. Their union sought more time so its president could consult with them, but the agency declined. An arbitrator found that the contract's delay provision applied to interrogations and did not require the…
Secretary of Labor, MSHA v. Portable, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Portable, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2013-526-M): Advance-notice theory added and second deposition allowed
MSHA originally alleged that Portable impeded an inspection and later sought to add an alternative claim that the company gave advance notice of the inspection. Judge William B. Moran allowed the new theory because it involved the same conduct and Portable had not shown that it could not prepare…
Thelma Sword v. G & E Coal Company, Incorporated
Sword v. G & E Coal (BRB 13-0235): survivor benefits award reversed over disability proof
Thelma Sword sought survivor benefits after the death of her husband Fred, who had worked underground in coal mines for 19 years. An administrative law judge relied on her account of his breathing limits to find a totally disabling respiratory impairment and invoke a presumption that pneumoconiosis…
M.M. and Department of the Navy, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
M.M. (ECAB 13-1991): Lung award increased by correcting weeks paid
M.M., a retired Naval Academy laundry worker, had an accepted occupational asthma claim and a schedule award based on 32 percent lung impairment. She sought a higher rating, and her physician reported 55 percent impairment. The Board found that his report did not adequately explain why her asthma…
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
P.C. (ECAB 13-1984): Repetitive knee strain did not prove one-day injury
P.C., a city mail carrier, claimed that walking up stairs while delivering mail on June 14, 2011 injured his right knee. His physician diagnosed a knee condition but ultimately attributed it to repetitive climbing, squatting, bending, and other mail delivery work. The Board held that this opinion…
M.W. and Department of the Air Force, Special Operations Command, Randolph Air Force Base, TX
M.W. (ECAB 13-1816): Late shoulder claim reconsideration denied
M.W., an Air Force woodworker and forklift operator, claimed a right shoulder injury from pushing plywood at work in March 2009. OWCP denied the injury claim in May 2011 because causal relationship was not established. His March 2013 reconsideration request came more than one year after that merit…
J.F. and Department of the Navy, Shipbuilding, Conversion & Repair, Pascagoula, MS
J.F. (ECAB 13-1814): Hearing loss opinion omitted earlier federal work
J.F., a Navy quality assurance specialist, claimed that federal workplace noise caused his hearing loss. OWCP denied the claim based on a second opinion that considered his noise exposure from 2003 onward and attributed the loss to earlier military service. The Board found that the physician…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashville, TN
B.S. (ECAB 13-1782): Hernia claim lacked a medical explanation of work cause
B.S., a rural mail carrier, developed a right femoral hernia and bowel obstruction after loading her mail vehicle in July 2012. OWCP accepted that her work involved lifting and loading but denied her occupational disease claim. The Board found that her surgeon said the condition was work related…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
T.B. (ECAB 13-1772): Wage earning capacity rating remains in place
T.B., a postal worker with accepted wrist and upper extremity conditions, had a 1997 wage-earning capacity rating based on a modified mailhandler job. After her limited-duty hours were reduced, she sought compensation and modification of that rating. On an earlier remand, OWCP checked whether the…
M.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Eglin Air Force Base, FL
M.F. (ECAB 13-1648): Training incident not medically linked to foot condition
M.F., a practical nurse, reported left foot pain after carrying equipment and walking on uneven ground during emergency response training in September 2011. OWCP accepted that the work activities occurred but denied her injury claim for lack of medical proof linking them to her foot condition. Her…
G.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Goldsboro Main Post Office, Goldsboro, NC
G.B. (ECAB 13-1343): August 2012 wage loss not medically established
G.B., a postal carrier, had an accepted lumbar sprain and upper extremity injuries from a 2001 incident. She sought wage-loss compensation for two weeks in August 2012 when her doctor kept her off work. The doctor cited back pain and a planned injection, but the injection did not occur until…
O.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Southeastern, PA
O.E. (ECAB 13-0586): Repeated arguments did not reopen shoulder claim
O.E., a former postal mail handler, claimed that pushing and pulling equipment injured his right shoulder in November 2007. OWCP denied the claim because the evidence did not establish that the incident occurred as alleged. In a later reconsideration request, his attorney repeated arguments about…
J.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Omaha, NE
J.M. (ECAB 13-1994): Two percent left leg award upheld
J.M., a practical nurse, injured her left knee in a workplace fall, and OWCP accepted a ligament sprain and plica syndrome. OWCP awarded compensation for two percent permanent impairment of her left leg, beginning on the date of a July 2013 second opinion examination. She sought a greater award…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Dominick V. Daniels Processing & Distribution Center, Kearney, NJ
D.S. (ECAB 13-1972): Received date made reconsideration request late
D.S., a postal worker, had claimed a left knee injury after a mail cage door struck him in July 2010. A prior Board decision affirmed denial of the claim because medical causation was unproven. His attorney dated a reconsideration request January 23, 2013, one year after that decision, but OWCP…
P.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
P.P. (ECAB 13-1890): No greater left leg impairment established
P.P., a rural letter carrier, had an accepted lumbar condition with nerve symptoms in both legs and had received a schedule award for four percent left leg impairment. Her physician rated her left leg impairment much higher, while an OWCP medical adviser gave a lower rating. OWCP obtained an…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
J.B. (ECAB 13-1881): Emotional condition claim lacked substantiated work factors
J.B., a postal customer service supervisor, attributed anxiety and depression to long work hours, difficult assignments, and alleged harassment. The Board recognized that substantiated overwork can be a compensable employment factor. It found that the record did not corroborate his account of…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
M.H. (ECAB 13-1585): Emotional condition claim lacked proven harassment
M.H., a postal operations supervisor, attributed an emotional condition to alleged threats from coworkers and actions by a supervisor. A workplace memo confirmed that an employee had a weapon in his vehicle on postal premises, but the Board found no evidence that the incident involved a threat or…
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.