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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F.M. and Department of Homeland Security
Board upholds $7,111.10 overpayment recovery (ECAB 24-0751)
A Homeland Security maintenance mechanic received FECA wage-loss compensation alongside Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service. The Board upheld OWCP's $7,111.10 overpayment finding for November 2021 through April 2023. It found him without fault but upheld denial of a…
Morrell v. DLH Holdings Corp.
SOX retaliation dismissal affirmed
Eileen Morrell, an experienced financial-planning and government-contract accounting employee, alleged that DLH Holdings eliminated her position in retaliation for internal accounting complaints. The Board agreed that she genuinely believed some of the challenged accounting practices violated…
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds denial of late reconsideration request (ECAB 24-0848)
A postal employee sought reconsideration of a decision concerning continuing disability and medical residuals after the one-year period expired. The Board found that the new medical report largely repeated earlier opinions and did not demonstrate clear evidence of error in the prior decision. It…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds one-percent arm impairment award (ECAB 24-0836)
A postal employee sought a schedule award above the one percent right arm impairment already granted. OWCP's medical adviser applied both diagnosis-based and range-of-motion methods under the applicable guides. The Board found that the adviser properly calculated a one percent impairment and that…
M.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board recognizes work-related COVID infection (ECAB 24-0765)
A VA electronics technician contracted COVID-19 after working near a coworker who had tested positive. His doctor explained the close, sustained workplace exposure and concluded that it likely caused the infection. The Board found the medical evidence sufficient to establish work-related COVID-19…
M.T. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders combined review of related injury files (ECAB 24-0753)
A postal distribution clerk claimed hip, back, and knee conditions from repetitive work. OWCP denied the claim while noting earlier accepted back and knee injuries in separate files. The Board found that the related files needed to be combined so OWCP could consider all relevant medical evidence…
N.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies claimed work-related back condition (ECAB 24-0726)
A VA nurse reported a back injury after a February 2022 work incident. The Board found that some medical reports offered no opinion on what caused the diagnosed conditions. Other opinions relied on the lack of earlier symptoms without sufficiently explaining a physiological link to the incident. It…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board accepts postal worker COVID claim (ECAB 24-0615)
A postal mail processing clerk became ill with COVID-19 after a close conversation with a coworker who had tested positive. Her physician discussed the exposure, positive test, symptoms, and absence of another known exposure. The Board found that the medical report adequately linked the infection…
S.I. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board accepts VA clerk COVID exposure claim (ECAB 24-0509)
A VA medical clerk developed COVID-19 after sharing office space with a coworker who tested positive. An employer physician documented contact tracing, symptoms, and the positive test and attributed the infection to that workplace exposure. The Board found the medical evidence established…
S.K. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Board accepts border officer COVID claim (ECAB 24-0191)
A Customs and Border Protection officer had an accepted workplace COVID-19 exposure. Her treating doctor documented a positive test and concluded that the infection was more likely than not caused by contact with an infected person at work. The Board found that this opinion established the required…
I.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board accepts clinic COVID outbreak claim (ECAB 24-0048)
A VA practical nurse tested positive for COVID-19 during an outbreak at the clinic where she worked. Her doctor attributed the infection to the accepted workplace exposure. The Board found that opinion sufficient to establish a work-related diagnosis. It reversed OWCP's denial and remanded for…
A.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board accepts therapist COVID patient-exposure claim (ECAB 23-1171)
A VA physical therapist developed COVID-19 after treating patients who had tested positive during a facility outbreak. An employer physician documented her symptoms and positive test and linked the infection to patient exposure at work. The Board found the evidence established a work-related…
Matter of Bharatkumar Girishkumar THAKKER
Pre-Diaz-Lizarraga retail theft convictions not categorically crimes involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed an Indian lawful permanent resident’s removal case after the Third Circuit directed it to reconsider the treatment of his Pennsylvania retail theft convictions. The Board held that its earlier decision in Matter of Jurado was inconsistent with the categorical approach because the…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders completion of disability exam (ECAB 24-0822)
A postal rural carrier sought disability compensation from February 12, 2024 after an accepted injury. OWCP had referred her for a second-opinion exam to assess her work capacity but denied the claimed period before the physician submitted a report. The Board found that OWCP needed to complete the…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies claimed arm injury from falling box (ECAB 24-0748)
A postal distribution clerk reported a right arm injury after a box struck her at work. Her physician identified several shoulder, elbow, and wrist conditions and attributed them to the incident, but did not explain how the box impact caused or aggravated each condition, including a preexisting…
P.W., widow of J.W., and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders new medical review of death claim (ECAB 24-0713)
A postal employee's widow sought survivor benefits, alleging that his death was linked to accepted work injuries. OWCP's medical adviser assessed causation while overlooking an accepted ankle condition listed in the case history. The Board found that the opinion lacked a complete factual basis. It…
L.C. and Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command
Board upholds reduction for missing rehabilitation (ECAB 24-0696)
A Navy employee receiving wage-loss benefits was referred to vocational rehabilitation for sedentary work within medical restrictions. The Board found the second-opinion doctor's work-capacity assessment supported the referral. It also found the employee did not cooperate with rehabilitation…
Secretary of Labor obo Alvaro Saldivar v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Paid penalties mooted stay request
An ALJ granted summary decision in a discrimination case and assessed civil penalties against Grimes Rock. The company asked the Commission to stay payment while the case was on appeal or allow it to place the money in an interest-bearing escrow account. After filing that request, Grimes paid the…
Randy D. Caudill v. Consol Buchanan Mining Company, LLC
Caudill v. Consol Buchanan Mining (BRB 23-0447): black lung benefits award affirmed
Randy Caudill sought black lung benefits after seventeen years of underground coal mine work. A judge found that a respiratory impairment prevented him from doing his very heavy belt maintenance work and awarded benefits under the fifteen year presumption. The employer argued that pulmonary tests…
Maurice Hendricks; Eric A. Dupree v. Trapac, LLC
Hendricks v. Trapac (BRB 23-0343): lawyer's hourly rate affirmed after remand
Maurice Hendricks obtained disability and medical benefits for a work related back injury at Trapac. His former lawyer, Eric Dupree, appealed the fee set after a prior Board remand, seeking a higher hourly rate and more compensation for the time before payment. The Board held that the judge could…
G.C. and Department of the Navy
Board orders new impartial hip-condition examination (ECAB 24-0718)
A Navy shipyard employee sought to add aggravated avascular necrosis of both hips to an accepted injury claim. The impartial examiner discussed a work-related aggravation but rejected an accepted hip-strain diagnosis and did not use the agreed case history as the basis for his opinion. The Board…
N.H. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses reduction for rejected job offer (ECAB 24-0659)
A postal employee declined a modified rural carrier assignment. OWCP reduced her wage-loss compensation under the rule for refusing temporary limited duty. The Board found that the written job offer did not say the position was temporary, despite OWCP later describing it that way. Because OWCP had…
J.V. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders further knee and disability review (ECAB 24-0621)
A postal employee sought acceptance of further right knee conditions and wage-loss compensation after an accepted injury. The Board found that the medical record required more development on the additional conditions. OWCP's second-opinion physician had not been asked to address the specific…
M.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board orders complete impairment assessment (ECAB 22-0605)
A VA employee sought schedule awards above the existing 11 percent right leg and 12 percent left leg impairment ratings. OWCP's second-opinion examiner received a case history that omitted an accepted left ankle fracture and a prior left leg award from a related claim. The Board found that the…
W.M. and Department of the Air Force
Board dismisses Air Force appeal filed years late (ECAB 24-0904)
An Air Force employee appealed a December 8, 2020 OWCP merit decision on August 26, 2024. The Board found that the 180-day appeal period expired on June 6, 2021. With no documented compelling circumstances explaining the delay, it dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and did not review the…
M.F. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses late postal employee appeal (ECAB 24-0891)
A postal employee appealed a March 2, 2023 OWCP merit decision on September 4, 2024. The Board found that the filing exceeded its 180-day appeal period. The employee supplied no documented compelling circumstances for the delay, so the Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without…
L.D. and Department of the Air Force
Board dismisses late Air Force employee appeal (ECAB 24-0877)
An Air Force employee appealed a January 3, 2024 OWCP merit decision on August 28, 2024. The Board found that the 180-day filing deadline had passed on July 1. With no documented compelling circumstances for the delay, it dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and did not reach the…
D.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies claimed foot condition after incident (ECAB 24-0813)
A VA police officer sought compensation for a right foot condition after an accepted April 2022 work incident. The Board found that the treatment records contained diagnoses but no physician opinion explaining how the incident caused the condition. It affirmed OWCP's denial of the injury claim.
A.P. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders combined review of car-accident claims (ECAB 24-0808)
A postal rural carrier associate claimed hand, shoulder, and neck symptoms after a work vehicle collision. OWCP denied the claim, while a separate occupational disease file involved an injury to his upper back. The Board found that the related files had to be combined to permit full review of the…
P.T. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds $6,366.74 overpayment finding (ECAB 24-0715)
A postal employee received FECA wage-loss compensation alongside Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service. The Board upheld OWCP's $6,366.74 overpayment finding for November 2022 through February 2023. Although she was without fault, it also upheld denial of a waiver of…
J.F. and Department of the Army
Board orders medical-adviser impairment review (ECAB 24-0568)
An Army employee sought a schedule award for permanent impairment after an accepted injury. OWCP obtained a second-opinion examination finding no ratable impairment but did not send that report to its medical adviser for a required assessment. The Board set aside the denial and ordered a medical…
H.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies claimed COVID disability dates (ECAB 24-0487)
A VA nurse sought disability compensation for August 20 through 29, 2023 after an accepted COVID-19 claim. A doctor recommended time off but did not explain how the accepted condition prevented the nurse from doing regular duties during the claimed dates. Other notes were from a nurse practitioner…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders new compensation pay-rate review (ECAB 24-0467)
A postal employee disputed the pay rate used for wage-loss compensation after a recurrence of disability. The Board found conflicting employer records about whether he had returned to regular full-time work before the recurrence. That fact mattered to whether a later pay-rate date could be used. It…
Dickerson v. Iteris, Inc.
SOX complaint denial affirmed
Michael Dickerson, an experienced accounting professional, alleged that Iteris fired him for reporting financial irregularities. The Board found his appellate brief inadequate because it did not identify supported errors in the judge's decision, but it nevertheless reviewed the ruling because he…
S.R. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses late postal appeal (ECAB 24-0882)
A postal employee appealed a June 22, 2023 OWCP merit decision on August 29, 2024. The Board found that its 180-day appeal period ended on December 19, 2023. With no documented compelling circumstances for the delay, it dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without reviewing the underlying…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies specific COVID disability periods (ECAB 24-0693)
A postal employee sought compensation for several intermittent disability periods in 2023 following an accepted COVID-19 injury. Her doctors described continuing symptoms and diagnoses but did not address whether the accepted condition prevented work on the particular dates claimed. The Board found…
K.C. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses benefit termination and remands expansion (ECAB 24-0628)
A postal carrier challenged termination of benefits after a work vehicle collision and sought acceptance of additional conditions. The Board found the second-opinion report too conclusory to justify ending benefits for accepted knee, shoulder, back, and neck conditions. It set aside the…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds existing leg impairment ratings (ECAB 24-0625)
A postal employee sought schedule awards above the nine percent left leg and seven percent right leg impairment ratings she had already received. OWCP used an impartial physician to resolve conflicting medical ratings. The Board found that the physician properly applied the impairment guides and…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board grants withdrawal of postal appeal (ECAB 24-0618)
A postal employee filed a Board appeal and later asked to withdraw it. The Board granted her request and dismissed the appeal without ruling on the underlying claim. Its order closes this Board proceeding.
M.R. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Board reverses prison worker benefit termination (ECAB 24-0556)
A Bureau of Prisons food service worker received wage-loss benefits for an accepted injury. OWCP terminated those benefits after her treating physician released her to full-time work. The Board found that his reports did not address the accepted right elbow cubital tunnel and carpal tunnel…
P.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board upholds late filing denial for medication claim (ECAB 24-0404)
A retired VA employee filed a 2023 claim about a severe reaction to medication taken years earlier. The Board found that he had not established a timely compensation claim under FECA. His reconsideration request repeated earlier material and added medical evidence that did not address the filing…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses life-insurance overpayment finding (ECAB 24-0321)
OWCP alleged that a postal employee had received a $10,666.99 overpayment because life insurance premiums were not deducted from benefits. The Board found no documentation showing that he had elected the coverage, what type he selected, or when it began. Without proof of that election, OWCP had not…
R.C. and Department of Agriculture, Fort Simcoe Job Corps Center
Board reissues order to review rash claim (ECAB 19-0572)
A Job Corps employee sought reconsideration of a rash claim attributed to sun exposure at work. He submitted a photograph and hospital report documenting the rash. In this reissued decision, the Board found that the new evidence addressed the disputed causal link and warranted a merits review. It…
National Association of Independent Labor, Local 19 and United States Department of the Air Force, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois
NAIL Local 19 and Scott Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-5962): Authority upholds 14-day suspension
The Air Force suspended an employee for 14 days after a workplace dispute escalated to physical contact, considering both the incident and a prior counseling letter about aggressive conduct. An arbitrator found that the agency conducted a full and fair investigation, proved the charged misconduct…
V.S. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies additional conditions after fall (ECAB 24-0778)
A postal employee sought acceptance of post-traumatic headaches and obstetric trauma following an accepted workplace fall. The Board found that the medical records listed symptoms and diagnoses but did not adequately explain how the fall caused those additional conditions. It affirmed OWCP's denial…
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses termination of neck-injury benefits (ECAB 24-0773)
A postal employee receiving benefits for accepted neck and shoulder injuries challenged OWCP's termination effective November 17, 2023. Her treating physician and OWCP's second-opinion physician disagreed about whether work-related residuals and disability remained. The Board found that OWCP needed…
G.C. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Board denies claimed lumbar condition (ECAB 24-0672)
A National Park Service maintenance mechanic attributed a lumbar condition to an accepted October 2023 incident. A physician said the incident aggravated preexisting back problems but did not explain how it did so or distinguish the work injury from the prior condition. Another report used only a…
S.C. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders clarification of knee meniscus opinion (ECAB 24-0582)
A postal mail handler sought acceptance of a left knee meniscus tear after an accepted workplace fall. Her treating physician and OWCP's second-opinion physician disagreed, so OWCP obtained an impartial examination. The Board found that the impartial opinion did not adequately resolve whether the…
Roger Mosley v. Rockspring Development, Incorporated
Mosley v. Rockspring Development (BRB 24-0071): black lung benefits award affirmed
Roger Mosley sought black lung benefits after 34.81 years of underground coal mine work. A judge found that pulmonary tests and a doctor's opinion established a totally disabling respiratory impairment, then awarded benefits under the fifteen year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's choice to…
Donald Seabolt v. ICG Eastern, LLC
Seabolt v. ICG Eastern (BRB 23-0281): black lung benefits award affirmed
Donald Seabolt sought black lung benefits after 25.74 years of qualifying coal mine work. His employer argued that the claim was filed too late because Seabolt had been told years earlier that he was disabled by black lung. The Board upheld the judge's finding that Seabolt's testimony and written…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses termination over incomplete job offer (ECAB 24-0811)
A postal carrier declined a limited-duty job offer after an accepted shoulder injury. OWCP terminated wage-loss compensation and schedule-award entitlement for refusing suitable work. The Board found that the offer lacked required pay and position details and gave inconsistent work hours. Because…
S.D. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses appeal of proposed benefit termination (ECAB 24-0793)
A postal employee appealed two OWCP notices proposing to terminate compensation. Each notice offered a chance to submit more evidence before OWCP decided the issue. The Board held that the notices were not final adverse decisions and dismissed the appeal without reviewing whether benefits should…
E.C. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies claimed ankle and foot conditions (ECAB 24-0782)
A postal employee sought acceptance of left ankle and foot conditions after an accepted October 2023 workplace incident. The Board found that some medical reports gave no causation opinion and that later reports did not adequately explain how the incident caused the conditions. It affirmed OWCP's…
Y.R. and U.S. Postal Service
Board recognizes harassment factor and remands claim (ECAB 24-0612)
A postal employee attributed an emotional condition to harassment by a coworker and to other workplace disputes. Witness and supervisor statements corroborated the coworker harassment, and the Board found it a compensable work factor. It did not find sufficient support for several other…
T.K. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
Board dismisses appeal of void schedule-award decision (ECAB 24-0337)
An ATF employee appealed OWCP's November 2023 denial of an additional schedule award. The same schedule-award issue was already pending before the Board in docket 24-0026 when OWCP issued that decision. The Board held that OWCP could not decide the issue during its appeal and that the later OWCP…
T.K. and Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
Board orders correction of schedule-award pay rate (ECAB 24-0026)
An ATF employee challenged the pay rate used to calculate a schedule award. The Board accepted the injury-date basis for the rate but found conflicting employer and OWCP figures for his annual pay at that time. It set aside the payment decision and ordered OWCP to resolve the discrepancy and issue…
Preferred Roofing, LLC
Subcontractor fall citations vacated
Preferred Roofing hired Valor Roofing to reroof a home in Jacksonville, Florida. OSHA observed Valor employees working without fall protection and using a ladder whose rails did not extend three feet above the roof, then cited Preferred as the controlling employer under the multi-employer worksite…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 310 and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Coatesville, Pennsylvania
AFGE Local 310 and Coatesville VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-5960): Authority upholds untimely-overtime ruling
An AFGE local president kept daily records of meetings outside his scheduled work hours for more than three years before asking a VA medical center for almost $18,000 in overtime. An arbitrator found that the employee knew of the potential claim when he began keeping the records and that the union…
Secretary of Labor v. GMS Mine Repair & Maintenance, Inc.
Contractor held to mine block-light safeguard
A GMS miner drove a manbus past a red block light and caused a head-on underground rail collision that seriously injured miners. GMS argued that the mine-specific safeguard could not be enforced against it because MSHA had issued written notice to the production operator, not separately to GMS, and…
Thelma Dillingham, on behalf of James W. Dillingham v. Heritage Coal Company
Dillingham v. Heritage Coal (BRB 24-0163): proposed fee settlement returned to district director
Thelma Dillingham appealed a district director's reduction of her lawyer's requested fee for work on a black lung claim. While the appeal was pending, the parties proposed a $7,425 fee settlement and asked the Board to order a revised award. The Board explained that only the adjudicator before whom…
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.