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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P.R., claiming as widow of E.R., and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Munising, MI
P.R., claiming as widow of E.R., (ECAB 12-1156): Additional arm impairment award denied
P.R., the widow of a Forest Service groundskeeper, sought an additional schedule award for his right arm after his death. OWCP had accepted a work-related right elbow condition and awarded a 10 percent arm impairment. The Board found that the later medical evidence did not support a greater rating…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
P.S. (ECAB 12-0649): Additional right arm impairment award denied
P.S., a postal clerk, had accepted right wrist and carpal tunnel conditions and sought a larger arm impairment award. The Board found that OWCP had wrongly treated an older disability examination as creating a conflict over permanent impairment, a different issue. It nevertheless gave weight to a…
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Paul, MN
S.S. (ECAB 12-0121): Written review denial set aside on remand
S.S., a postal worker with an accepted hernia condition, sought a schedule award and later requested review of the written record. OWCP rejected the review request as late. The Director acknowledged that an earlier decision had gone to the wrong address and had not been properly issued. The Board…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Russell Ratliff v. Cobra Natural Resources, LLC
Proposed reinstatement cutoff rejected
A judge had ordered Cobra Natural Resources to temporarily reinstate Russell Ratliff while his Mine Act discrimination claim proceeded. The Secretary and Cobra later proposed economic reinstatement instead of returning Ratliff to work. Their agreement would have ended Cobra's payment obligation if…
J.H. and Department of Housing and Urban Development, St. Louis, MO
J.H. (ECAB 12-1950): Lumbar surgery authorization denied
J.H., a HUD employee with accepted back conditions, sought authorization for lumbar surgery. An impartial orthopedic specialist had concluded that the proposed operation was unlikely to help and recommended conservative care. Her treating surgeon continued to recommend surgery but did not overcome…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
C.G. (ECAB 12-1916): Health premium overpayment and waiver denial upheld
C.G., a postal mail clerk receiving disability compensation, was paid without required health insurance premium deductions. OWCP found an $8,632.11 overpayment for January 2011 through March 2012. The Board agreed with that amount and found C.G. was not at fault for the payroll error. She did not…
B.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newark, NJ
B.W. (ECAB 12-1862): Right knee occupational claim denied
B.W., a postal letter carrier, attributed right knee degenerative disease to delivering mail, including an incident in snow. OWCP accepted her walking and stair-climbing duties but found insufficient medical proof that they caused or aggravated the knee condition. The Board found no medical opinion…
J.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sugarland, TX
J.O. (ECAB 12-1833): Calf injury claim denial upheld
J.O., a postal rural carrier, described twisting her right leg while delivering a parcel and later reported calf pain. OWCP accepted that the October 2011 workplace incident occurred. The Board found that the submitted medical opinions did not give a sufficiently detailed explanation linking a…
J.G. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, CA
J.G. (ECAB 12-1688): Written review requests denied in two claims
J.G., a Navy employee, requested written-record review in two compensation claims after he had already requested reconsideration. OWCP denied both review requests. The Board found he no longer had a right to a hearing or written review as a matter of right after electing reconsideration. It also…
B.M. and Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Baltimore, MD
B.M. (ECAB 12-1665): Two percent right leg award upheld
B.M., a DEA criminal investigator, had accepted right knee injuries and surgery. OWCP awarded one percent leg impairment and later added another percent, for a total of two percent. The Board found OWCP's medical adviser had properly applied the impairment guide to the accepted knee conditions…
D.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Gretna, LA
D.L. (ECAB 12-1615): Toe fracture claim returned for medical development
D.L., a postal city carrier, fell into a hole while delivering mail and was diagnosed with a right toe fracture. OWCP denied the claim because the medical reports did not fully explain causation. The Board agreed the reports were not conclusive, but found they supported the claim enough to require…
D.R. and General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service, Auburn, WA
D.R. (ECAB 12-1441): Cervical claim acceptance rescinded and benefits ended
D.R., a GSA transportation specialist, attributed neck and arm symptoms to extended computer work. OWCP had accepted an aggravation of degenerative cervical disc disease. The Board found the medical evidence showed that computer work had not caused or aggravated that condition, supporting…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sioux Falls, SD
M.H. (ECAB 12-1390): Additional hand award returned for medical review
M.H., a retired postal maintenance technician, had accepted right hand injuries and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and had received a 12 percent right hand award. He requested a larger award. An OWCP examiner rated substantial finger motion loss, but OWCP's medical adviser attributed it to…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Misrouted assessment reopened
Consolidation Coal missed the deadline to contest an MSHA penalty assessment after it was placed in a safety supervisor's mailbox with copies of assessments that had already been contested. The supervisor discovered the mistake three days after the assessment became final. The company adopted a new…
Secretary of Labor v. Hoover Excavating, Inc.
Unclaimed assessment reopened
Hoover Excavating did not timely contest an MSHA proposed penalty and later asked the Commission to reopen the final assessment. Hoover said it never received the assessment and learned of the delinquency when its lawyer searched MSHA's data system. The Secretary did not oppose reopening and…
Secretary of Labor v. Bolinder Resources, LLC
Final assessment reopened
Bolinder Resources asked the Commission to reopen an MSHA penalty assessment that had become final after it was not timely contested. The release does not state why Bolinder missed the contest deadline. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the parties' submissions, the…
Secretary of Labor v. Redhawk Mining, LLC
Contest-form mistake excused
Redhawk Mining sought to reopen an MSHA penalty assessment that had become a final Commission order. Redhawk said it submitted a timely notice of contest but accidentally marked the wrong box and discovered the mistake after receiving MSHA's penalty petition. The Secretary did not oppose reopening…
Secretary of Labor v. Sturgeon Mining Co., Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
Sturgeon Mining did not contest an MSHA proposed penalty within 30 days, so the assessment became a final Commission order. The company asked the Commission to reopen the assessment, and the Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the submissions, the Commission reopened the matter in…
M.D. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Honolulu, HI
M.D. (ECAB 12-1973): Reconsideration request returned for timely review
M.D., a TSA employee, sought reconsideration of a wage-loss claim for a period in early 2010. OWCP treated the request as late by comparing it with an older decision, even after the Board had directed it to use the later merits decision on the same issue. The Board found the request timely against…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, West Sacramento, CA
T.S. (ECAB 12-1781): Increased arm award request returned to OWCP
T.S., a postal worker, had received a schedule award for right arm impairment and later submitted new medical evidence seeking an increased award. OWCP declined to act unless the Board first remanded the case. The Board found this was a new claim based on progression of the work-related condition…
D.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Western New York Performance Cluster, Buffalo, NY
D.J. (ECAB 12-1773): Knee award and late hearing request denied
D.J., a postal maintenance specialist, had accepted knee and fibula injuries after a fall at work. He sought a schedule award, but his physician's impairment rating did not show how it applied the required impairment guide. The Board found the rating insufficient to establish entitlement. D.J.'s…
J.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albany, NY
J.T. (ECAB 12-1755): Additional shoulder award denial affirmed
J.T., a postal city carrier, had received a 22 percent left arm award after a shoulder injury and later received a seven percent award under a newer impairment guide. OWCP determined the later rating was not an addition to the earlier 22 percent and kept the more favorable prior award. The Board…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Calumet City, IL
M.R. (ECAB 12-1713): Late shoulder claim reopening refused
M.R., a postal worker, had claimed a shoulder injury from pulling equipment at work. An earlier Board decision upheld the claim denial for lack of medical proof linking her shoulder condition to that incident. She later sought reconsideration and submitted medical reports. The Board found the…
J.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Northern New Jersey Performance Cluster, Newark, NJ
J.R. (ECAB 12-1704): Emotional condition claim denied
J.R., a postal letter carrier, claimed an emotional condition after a confrontation with his supervisor about his work and health. The Board found he had not established the alleged harassment or discrimination with corroborating evidence. His other complaints concerned administrative matters…
E.G. and Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
E.G. (ECAB 12-1603): New knee occupational claim denied
E.G., a Government Printing Office press worker, attributed left knee pain to bending, stooping, and kneeling while cleaning presses. OWCP treated this as a new occupational claim separate from an older knee injury. A physician diagnosed traumatic arthritis and connected it to the earlier injury…
H.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Langhorne, PA
H.S. (ECAB 12-1585): Additional left leg award denied
H.S., a postal letter carrier, sought an additional schedule award for his left knee beyond the two percent already awarded. The Board accepted OWCP's medical adviser's rating based on a partial meniscectomy and found the competing arthritis rating unsupported under the impairment guide. Its…
J.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Bay Pines Medical Center, St. Petersburg, FL
J.J. (ECAB 12-1569): Claimed workplace infection denied
J.J., a VA nurse, claimed she contracted candidiasis pneumonia through her hospital work. OWCP asked her to identify the specific workplace exposure and provide medical evidence connecting it to the illness. The Board found her account did not establish the alleged exposure and the medical evidence…
J.N. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Records Management Division, Winchester, VA
J.N. (ECAB 12-1543): Timely reconsideration request returned to OWCP
J.N., an FBI supervisory research analyst, requested reconsideration of an earlier denial of a claim involving an incident at work. OWCP treated her request as late and applied the clear-error standard. A date stamp showed OWCP received it on the last day of the applicable one-year period. The…
S.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
S.J. (ECAB 12-1512): Emotional condition claim denied
S.J., a postal employee, attributed an emotional condition to conduct by her supervisor, including a parcel that struck her arm and alleged threats and retaliation. The Board found the record did not establish an intentional assault or verbal abuse. Her other allegations involved administrative…
A.S. and Peace Corps, Yaoundé, Cameroon
A.S. (ECAB 12-1375): Psychiatric schedule award and reopening denied
A.S., a former Peace Corps volunteer, had accepted psychiatric conditions and sought a schedule award. The Board found the treatment records did not establish impairment of a member or organ covered by FECA's schedule; the brain and mental disorders were not eligible for this award. A.S. then…
D.W. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk, VA
D.W. (ECAB 12-1361): Hearing aid reconsideration returned to OWCP
D.W., a Navy employee with accepted hearing loss, had received a binaural impairment award but was denied hearing aids. He requested reconsideration within weeks of the denial. OWCP acknowledged his request but did not issue a final decision on it, then issued two later decisions applying…
Secretary of Labor v. The N.C. Granite Corp.
Litigated citation's assessment reopened
N.C. Granite timely contested an MSHA citation and was actively litigating it when the related penalty assessment arrived. Its safety manager mistakenly believed a separate assessment contest was unnecessary, so the assessment became final. The company's first reopening motion was dismissed after…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
Blanket 30 percent settlement rejected
The Secretary proposed reducing the penalties for all 32 citations against The American Coal Company by exactly 30 percent without changing any gravity or negligence findings. The motion cited amicable resolution and litigation uncertainty but gave no individualized facts supporting the reductions…
E.I. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Biloxi, MS
E.I. (ECAB 12-1945): Respiratory exposure claim denied
E.I., a VA nurse, attributed respiratory symptoms to mold she believed was present in her workroom. OWCP requested details of the exposure and medical support. The Board found the record did not establish the alleged workplace mold exposure; air sampling did not show elevated mold in the tested…
R.Y. and Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Russellville, AR
R.Y. (ECAB 12-1841): Lumbar surgery authorization denied
R.Y., a Forest Service technician, had several accepted spine conditions after a tree struck him at work. His treating physician recommended lumbar surgery, while an OWCP examiner questioned its likely benefit. An impartial specialist reviewed imaging and concluded surgery was not warranted. The…
G.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
G.M. (ECAB 12-1682): Back injury and reopening denials upheld
G.M., a postal letter carrier, reported back pain after lifting a mail tub. OWCP accepted the lifting event but found the medical reports did not adequately link a diagnosed condition to it. The Board agreed that the evidence did not establish medical causation. The later reconsideration request…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Gateway Performance Cluster, St. Louis, MO
R.M. (ECAB 12-1533): Leg award reopening refused
R.M., a postal city carrier, had received schedule awards for impairment of both legs from accepted foot and ankle conditions. She requested reconsideration, disputing the percentages, improvement date, award period, and examination quality. The Board found she had not identified a misapplied legal…
B.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baytown, TX
B.D. (ECAB 12-1503): Emotional condition claim returned for development
B.D., a postal carrier, was bitten by a dog while delivering mail and later reported anxiety during further encounters with dogs on her route. OWCP accepted the arm wound but treated her separate stress claim as a duplicate and denied compensation without developing it. The Board found the dog bite…
R.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tulsa, OK
R.N. (ECAB 12-1465): Leg impairment award upheld
R.N., a postal letter carrier, sought leg impairment awards for an accepted lumbar disc condition. He had also received a separate left leg award under an older ankle claim. Physicians gave differing impairment ratings for his legs. The Board found the evidence did not establish more than three…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
C.S. (ECAB 12-1221): Revised wage capacity finding upheld
C.S., a postal distribution supervisor with an accepted emotional condition, had an earlier wage capacity finding based on a constructed clerk job. He later worked as a labor relations specialist for more than a year before retiring. OWCP used that actual job and pay to revise the capacity finding…
Permabond Construction, Inc.
Default order remanded for review of letters
An administrative law judge entered default against Permabond after it missed a conference call, filed a late notice of contest, and appeared not to respond to an order to show cause. Before the decision was docketed, however, Permabond's pro se representative faxed the judge a letter explaining…
Bryan Martin, d/b/a Terra Reclamation
Demolition fall and survey items affirmed
Terra Reclamation was demolishing a three-story building in New Holland, Pennsylvania. Two workers used an aerial lift about 28 feet high without lanyards or harnesses, and other workers performed demolition near an unprotected upper-floor edge without fall protection. The company also began…
Federal Construction Group
Disqualification motion denied
The Commission remanded the case for the judge to consider Federal Construction Group's motion seeking his disqualification. The company alleged improper ex parte contact because the judge ate lunch with an OSHA compliance officer and the court reporter during the hearing. The judge found that the…
A.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
A.F. (ECAB 13-0007): Long-delayed injury claim reopening refused
A.F., a former postal clerk, said a coworker pushed him into a mail container in 1989. OWCP denied his injury claim because the incident was not established. His 2012 reconsideration request was far beyond the one-year deadline and supplied no new factual evidence about whether the incident…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Richmond, VA
J.M. (ECAB 12-1919): Knee claim reopening refused
J.M., a postal carrier technician, claimed a knee condition from stepping into a postal vehicle. OWCP denied the occupational disease claim for lack of evidence establishing an injury. J.M. sought reconsideration, saying he had sent additional information on December 28, 2011. On appeal, he raised…
H.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command, Portsmouth, VA
H.B. (ECAB 12-1875): Hearing award returned to compare audiograms
H.B., a Navy shipyard painter, had accepted occupational hearing loss. OWCP awarded four percent right ear impairment using one audiogram. Another specialist's earlier audiogram showed different results, but OWCP did not explain why it chose the later test. The Board held that the competing tests…
P.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashua, NH
P.A. (ECAB 12-1813): Late disability reopening refused
P.A., a postal worker, had accepted neck, shoulder, and hip strains but had repeatedly been denied compensation for disability after June 1997. She again requested reconsideration in 2012, years after the last merits decision. One new report gave a reasoned account of continuing disability, but it…
F.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Island Park, NY
F.O. (ECAB 12-1812): Right foot occupational claim denied
F.O., a postal distribution clerk, attributed right foot pain to sorting mail, carrying parcels, pushing equipment, and prolonged standing. The Board accepted that she performed those duties and had diagnosed foot conditions. Her doctors discussed an older work incident but did not adequately…
T.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Moline, IL
T.F. (ECAB 12-1540): One percent left leg award upheld
T.F., a postal letter carrier, had accepted left ankle and tendon injuries and received surgery. She sought a schedule award for permanent leg impairment. Her treating podiatrist supplied examination findings but no impairment rating under the required guide. OWCP's medical adviser applied the…
M.I. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Houston Veterans Administration Medical Center, Houston, TX
M.I. (ECAB 12-1519): Carpal tunnel occupational claim denied
M.I., a VA accountant, claimed that years of keyboard work caused or aggravated bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The Board accepted that keyboard use was part of her job. Her physician addressed her right wrist and said typing worsened symptoms, but did not sufficiently explain the medical process…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Camarillo, CA
L.W. (ECAB 12-1510): Back disability recurrence denied
L.W., a postal letter carrier, had an accepted back injury from lifting a mail tray and later worked modified duty. She sought wage-loss compensation after stopping work again. The Board found the medical evidence did not establish a spontaneous change in her accepted condition causing the new…
J.W. and Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command, Oakland, CA
J.W. (ECAB 12-0537): Unreported apartment management brings forfeiture
J.W., a former Navy pipe fitter, received compensation for a 1981 back and hernia injury. He also managed his father’s apartment building and received free rent, but did not disclose that work or benefit on required reporting forms. The Board held that the omission triggered forfeiture of…
B.W. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Baltimore, MD
B.W. (ECAB 13-0039): Right arm schedule award denied
B.W. sought a schedule award for right shoulder and elbow impairment after falling at home when his knees gave way. He argued that prior accepted work injuries caused the fall. His physician diagnosed shoulder and elbow conditions and attributed them to the knee problem. The Board found the medical…
D.M. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Tracy, CA
D.M. (ECAB 12-1887): Renewed treatment not tied to accepted arm injury
D.M., a Defense Logistics Agency transportation assistant, had an accepted 2009 injury involving sprains of her left hand, shoulder, and upper arm. After her physician discharged her from care, she later sought treatment and compensation for time spent at medical appointments. The later reports…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
A.D. (ECAB 12-1787): Request to reopen disability claim denied
A.D., a Postal Service mail handler with an accepted lumbar sprain, challenged OWCP’s refusal to reconsider his recurrence of disability claim. His request repeated his account of being unable to work and included reports already in the record. The Board found the other submissions irrelevant to…
K.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
K.J. (ECAB 12-1777): Back disability recurrence returned for medical development
K.J., a Postal Service employee with an accepted back injury and multiple surgeries, sought compensation for a later period of disability. His physician attributed the work absence to a flare of the accepted condition, pain medication changes, and hospitalization. The Board found that opinion…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
J.M. (ECAB 12-1756): Mail truck injury claim denied
J.M., a postal letter carrier with earlier neck and back conditions, reported increased pain while twisting to lift parcels from his mail truck. OWCP accepted that the December 2011 work incident occurred but denied a new injury claim. The Board found that the physicians did not explain how that…
D.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Ronkonkoma, NY
D.M. (ECAB 12-1734): Additional injury conditions need another medical referee
D.M., a Transportation Security Administration employee, sought recognition of additional neck and shoulder conditions from an accepted baggage-lifting injury. An unresolved conflict between medical opinions had already led to earlier remands. The Board found the latest impartial specialist’s…
S.H. and U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Dallas, TX
S.H. (ECAB 12-1655): Timely schedule award reconsideration returned
S.H., a former Census Bureau enumerator, had received schedule awards for 2 percent impairment of her right leg and 10 percent of her left leg after a work injury. She sought reconsideration with additional evidence within one year of the award decision. OWCP treated the request as untimely and…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Princeton Post Office, Princeton, NJ
M.F. (ECAB 12-1532): Thoracic outlet disability claim denied
M.F., a postal carrier, had an accepted aggravation of bilateral traumatic thoracic outlet syndrome after earlier work injuries. She sought disability compensation, arguing that the newly accepted condition undercut an earlier termination of benefits. The Board found that the medical reports did…
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.