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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T.E. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies disability after voluntary resignation (ECAB 24-0629)
A postal rural carrier associate sought wage-loss compensation beginning February 14, 2024 after she had voluntarily resigned. The Board held that resignation alone did not establish disability. It found the medical evidence did not show that the accepted injury prevented her from performing the…
J.R. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency
Board upholds refusal to reopen Valley Fever claim (ECAB 24-0544)
A Defense Logistics Agency employee sought reconsideration of a Valley Fever claim. A physician described continued symptoms and work limits, but her new report substantially repeated an earlier submission. The Board found no new relevant evidence or legal argument warranting a merits review. It…
K.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies claimed injury-related disability period (ECAB 23-0267)
A VA medical clerk sought disability compensation from August 3, 2021 through April 11, 2022 after an accepted injury. Medical reports listed conditions and work restrictions but did not adequately explain why the accepted injuries prevented her from working throughout the claimed period. The Board…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and National Treasury Employees Union
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5908): Authority upholds hardship-reassignment remedies
NTEU alleged that Customs and Border Protection field offices handled hardship-reassignment requests inconsistently when the requested destination lacked a vacancy. An arbitrator found that the national agreement required consistent treatment and ordered affected employees to receive another…
Secretary of Labor v. TIC - The Industrial Company
Assessment sent to old address held nonfinal
TIC updated its address of record with MSHA before the proposed assessment was issued. The change was not properly entered in MSHA's system, so the assessment was sent to the old address and returned as undeliverable. TIC discovered the delinquent penalty through MSHA's data system and requested a…
Secretary of Labor v. Robinson Nevada Mining Company
Unknown recipient signature justified reopening
Robinson Nevada said it never received a proposed assessment that postal records showed was signed for by “C SMITH” in Ely, Nevada. The company had no employee by that name and learned of the assessment only after receiving a delinquency notice. It contacted MSHA the next day and promptly sought…
Secretary of Labor v. Specialty Vermiculite, LLC
Corrected delivery date confirmed timely contest
Specialty Vermiculite contested four citations on August 4, 2023. MSHA initially treated the filing as late because postal information listed the assessment as delivered on July 1. After reviewing the delivery record, MSHA corrected the receipt date to July 5, making the contest timely. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Knight Hawk Coal, LLC
Unsupported S&S removal rejected
Knight Hawk and the Secretary proposed settling three citations by removing the significant-and-substantial designation from two and reducing total penalties from $7,960 to $4,590. The ALJ accepted the explanation for one removal but found inadequate support for removing S&S from a roof-control…
Secretary of Labor v. Crimson Oak Grove Resources, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. River City Stone-DIV/Mathy Construction Co. and Secretary of Labor v. Holcim (US) Inc. and Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Crimson Oak Grove Resources, LLC and consolidated cases (FMSHRC LAKE 2021-0145): Settlement citation vacaturs required Commission review
These five cases involved proposed settlements or dismissals in which the Secretary would vacate citations while operators accepted or withdrew contests to other citations and waived potential attorney-fee claims. The ALJ required either assurance that the vacaturs were independent of the other…
Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc.
Cactus Canyon Quarries, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0045): Mine jurisdiction upheld and citations split
Cactus Canyon challenged MSHA's authority over its Fairland stone-processing plant and the related Clendennen Ranch quarry. The judge held that the plant performed milling and that both facilities were mines covered by the Mine Act. Of ten citations, he vacated four, affirmed three as issued, and…
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses appeal filed beyond 180 days (ECAB 24-0815)
A postal employee filed a Board appeal on August 7, 2024 from a September 13, 2023 OWCP decision. The Board found that the 180-day deadline had passed and that the record did not establish compelling circumstances for late filing. It dismissed the appeal without reaching the underlying compensation…
T.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses late appeal of OWCP decision (ECAB 24-0788)
A postal employee appealed an October 27, 2023 OWCP decision on July 8, 2024. The Board found the appeal was filed after the 180-day deadline and that the employee had not documented compelling circumstances excusing the delay. It dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without reviewing the…
C.B. and Department of the Air Force
Board changes knee award improvement date (ECAB 24-0757)
An Air Force painter challenged a schedule award for 10 percent impairment of his left leg after a knee injury. The Board found no basis for a higher impairment rating and upheld OWCP’s pay rate based on his 2008 disability date because the record showed no qualifying later disability recurrence…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies claimed period of knee disability (ECAB 24-0719)
A postal carrier sought wage-loss compensation for June 1, 2020 through February 25, 2021 following an accepted temporary aggravation of left knee conditions. The Board gave weight to a second-opinion physician who found that the aggravation had resolved and that the worker could return without…
E.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board rejects late request to reopen knee claim (ECAB 24-0714)
A postal employee asked OWCP to reconsider a previously decided left knee claim after the filing period had expired. The Board reviewed only whether the late request showed clear evidence of error. It found that the submitted medical reports did not raise a substantial question about the earlier…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders further review of shoulder disability period (ECAB 24-0645)
A postal distribution clerk sought wage-loss compensation for a period after an accepted left shoulder condition. An impartial examiner supported light-duty restrictions, but OWCP had not resolved whether the accepted condition caused disability during the claimed period. The Board set aside the…
Secretary of Labor obo Jason Hargis v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC and Jason Hargis v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Jason Hargis v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2021-0163): Injury reporting affirmed and discrimination dismissal sustained
Jason Hargis reported a back injury after handling crusher liner plates, was placed on light duty, and was terminated about a month later. The Commission affirmed that Vulcan violated the injury-reporting rule because Hargis could not perform all his duties and management knew his work had been…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Pattern notice itself held unreviewable
MSHA issued Morton Salt a pattern-of-violations notice after identifying 82 S&S citations in a 12-month period, including 45 involving loose-ground hazards. Morton Salt asked the Commission to review MSHA's decision-making process and mitigating-circumstances analysis behind the notice. The…
Irvin Neace v. Enterprise Mining Company LLC
Neace v. Enterprise Mining (BRB 23-0290): black lung benefits award affirmed on CT scan evidence
Irvin Neace sought black lung benefits after forty-one years of coal mine employment. A judge found that a CT scan established complicated pneumoconiosis and awarded benefits under the irrebuttable presumption. The employer challenged the judge's decision to credit one reader's interpretation of a…
Namon Tackett v. Raging Bull Coal Company
Tackett v. Raging Bull Coal (BRB 22-0226): black lung benefits award and operator liability affirmed
Namon Tackett sought black lung benefits after years of underground coal mine work. The Board upheld the finding that Raging Bull was the responsible operator because it acquired substantially all of a prior operator's assets and then employed Tackett. It also upheld the judge's calculation of…
A.T. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies continuing knee disability after termination (ECAB 24-0797)
A postal auto technician sought benefits for continuing disability or residuals after compensation for an accepted knee injury had ended. The Board found that the new medical opinion did not adequately explain how his later knee conditions and inability to work were caused by the accepted 2017…
S.M. and Department of the Navy
Board declines to add spine conditions to leg injury claim (ECAB 24-0692)
A Navy shipyard electrician sought to add neck and lower back conditions to an accepted 2012 right leg contusion claim. The Board found that his supporting physician did not account for a prior cervical fracture or explain the time gap before the claimed spine conditions. It gave greater weight to…
S.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies nurse’s right knee injury claim (ECAB 24-0674)
A VA nurse reported hitting her right knee on a computer monitor while tending to a patient. OWCP accepted that the workplace incident occurred, but the Board found the medical evidence did not establish that it caused a diagnosed knee condition. One physician called the incident only a possible…
T.R. and U.S. Postal Service
Board recognizes mail route incident and orders medical review (ECAB 24-0666)
A postal carrier reported left knee pain after walking stairs while delivering mail on September 8, 2023. The Board found the described route activity and timely report established a traumatic incident in the performance of duty. OWCP had rejected the claim without evaluating whether the incident…
K.F. and U.S. Postal Service
Board grants request to withdraw appeal (ECAB 24-0530)
A postal employee timely appealed a January 31, 2024 OWCP decision, then sent a letter asking to withdraw the appeal. The Board granted the request and dismissed the appeal without deciding the merits. The order also states that an OWCP reconsideration ruling issued while the appeal was pending was…
Secretary of Labor v. Tintic Consolidated Metals, LLC
Personnel-change explanation deemed too cursory
Tintic missed the contest deadline for an $83,040 assessment while its chief operating officer was retiring, its safety superintendent changed positions, and a new general manager was appointed. The company discovered the delinquency when the new manager received a later assessment and promptly…
Eddie D. Fuller v. Excel Mining, LLC
Fuller v. Excel Mining (BRB 24-0006): black lung benefits award affirmed on CT scan findings
Eddie Fuller sought black lung benefits after twenty-nine years of coal mine work. A judge found that a CT scan established complicated pneumoconiosis, qualifying Fuller for the irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. The employer argued that competing readings of the scan…
Patricia L. Anthony, on behalf of Melvin Anthony v. Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Anthony v. Keystone Coal Mining (BRB 23-0379): miner's black lung benefits award affirmed
Melvin Anthony had twenty-one years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. A judge awarded benefits under the fifteen year presumption, and his widow Patricia continued the claim after his death. The employer argued that smoking alone caused his lung disease…
Stevie Cornett v. Buchanan Minerals, LLC
Cornett v. Buchanan Minerals (BRB 23-0361): black lung benefits award affirmed by divided panel
Stevie Cornett sought black lung benefits after fifteen years of coal mine work. A judge found that imaging and medical opinions established complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggers an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. The Board majority upheld her assessment of…
Marie A. Hill v. Virginia International Terminals, LLC
Hill v. Virginia International Terminals (BRB 23-0188): benefits denial vacated over uneven evidence rulings
Marie Hill injured her back when another vehicle struck the translifter she was operating at a terminal. Her employer paid temporary disability benefits, then disputed whether she needed further benefits or treatment. The judge denied the claim after excluding a later report Hill sought from her…
Esther S. Hatcher v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Hatcher v. Director, OWCP (BRB 22-0486): mining supervisor work must be counted before benefits are decided
Esther Hatcher sought black lung benefits based on work that included mine inspection, office management, and supervision at strip mines. The Board upheld the finding that her government and state reclamation inspection work was regulatory work, not qualifying coal mine employment. It also upheld…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders reasons for reconsideration denial (ECAB 24-0760)
A postal data conversion operator sought reconsideration of a denied right hand and arm claim. OWCP called the request untimely and said it did not show clear error, but did not clearly explain the supporting facts or how it evaluated the submitted evidence. The Board set aside the denial and…
N.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders lung testing for impairment award (ECAB 24-0747)
A postal employee sought a schedule award for permanent lung impairment from accepted inhalation anthrax. OWCP’s referral physician found no impairment based on examination and reported symptoms, but did not perform pulmonary function testing required by the impairment guides. The Board held the…
J.O. and U.S. Postal Service
Board accepts work incident and orders Achilles review (ECAB 24-0740)
A postal employee reported a left Achilles injury after prolonged standing at work on November 26, 2022. The Board found the work incident occurred as described and that later medical histories did not cast serious doubt on it. OWCP had denied the claim without properly weighing whether that…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders new opinion on back claim expansion (ECAB 24-0705)
A postal rural carrier sought to add thoracic facet syndrome and sacroiliitis to an accepted back injury claim. The Board found OWCP’s second-opinion physician departed from the agency’s accepted statement of facts when assessing causation. That made the opinion insufficient to resolve the claim…
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses appeal of proposed benefit termination (ECAB 24-0688)
A postal employee appealed OWCP’s May 14, 2024 proposal to terminate wage-loss and medical benefits. The Board found the proposal was not a final adverse OWCP decision it could review. OWCP later issued a final termination, but that occurred after this appeal was filed. The Board dismissed the…
K.R. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Board orders employer evidence on emotional claim (ECAB 24-0651)
An IRS employee claimed an emotional condition after an alleged abusive telephone call with a coworker. The Board found OWCP had asked the employee for information but had not obtained a statement or relevant evidence from the employer about the disputed incident. Without that evidence, the Board…
J.C. claiming as widow of S.C. and Department of the Interior
Board upholds denial of late hearing request (ECAB 24-0576)
The widow of a forestry technician sought an OWCP oral hearing after a decision on her claim arising from his death. Her request reached OWCP more than 30 days after the June 8, 2023 decision. The Board found the decision had been properly mailed and that OWCP reasonably exercised its discretion in…
Matter of D. RODRIGUEZ
Attempted injury to a child qualifies as child abuse for removability
The Board reviewed a Texas respondent’s challenge to removability based on a conviction for attempted injury to a child. It held that the child-abuse removability provision does not exclude attempt offenses and that the conviction qualifies as a crime of child abuse under the categorical approach…
Wanda Allen (on behalf of and widow of Jody Allen) v. Peabody Western Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation
Allen v. Peabody Western Coal (BRB 23-0430 and 23-0431 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Wanda Allen pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim against Peabody Western Coal Company and Peabody Energy Corporation. The administrative law judge credited Jody Allen with more than fifteen years of qualifying surface coal mine employment and found that a blood gas…
Wanda Allen on behalf of and widow of Jody Allen v. Peabody Western Coal Company
Allen v. Peabody Western Coal (BRB 23-0430 and 23-0431): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Wanda Allen pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. Jody Allen had forty-one years of surface coal mine work, including more than fifteen years of qualifying work. A resting blood gas study taken above 6,000 feet met the disability threshold in the applicable federal…
Michael H. Stanley v. Island Creek Coal Company
Stanley v. Island Creek Coal (BRB 23-0336): benefits award sent back for rebuttal review
Michael Stanley sought black lung benefits after twenty-five years of qualifying coal mine work. A judge found him totally disabled and awarded benefits under the fifteen year presumption. The Board upheld the presumption but found that the judge used an inadequate reason to discount one doctor's…
Cindy L. Titus v. Air Force Insurance Fund
Titus v. Air Force Insurance Fund (BRB 23-0220): attorney fee rate sent back for review
Cindy Titus received disability and medical benefits for injuries sustained while working under a claim covered by the Nonappropriated Fund Instrumentalities Act. Her lawyer sought an attorney fee using a Portland, Oregon hourly rate. The judge instead used Salt Lake City as the relevant market and…
M.C. and Department of Homeland Security
Board denies emotional claim over counseling memo (ECAB 24-0655)
A Homeland Security employee attributed a panic attack and other symptoms to an allegedly retaliatory counseling memorandum from her supervisor. The Board treated the memorandum as a personnel matter and found no credible corroboration of harassment, threats, or retaliation that would make it a…
C.G. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau
Board splits form suspension and job offer rulings (ECAB 24-0210)
A Census Bureau worker receiving compensation did not return a requested EN-1032 earnings form, and OWCP suspended wage-loss benefits. The Board upheld that suspension. It reversed a separate termination of wage-loss and schedule award entitlement based on a purported suitable job offer because the…
City of Holyoke Department of Public Works
In re City of Holyoke Department of Public Works (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 24-01): petition dismissed after agreement
The City of Holyoke Department of Public Works petitioned for review of provisions in its NPDES permit. The City notified the Board that the parties had executed an Agreement in Principle concerning metals effluent limits, PFAS monitoring requirements, and the expected effective date of contested…
G.V. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders review of omitted knee report (ECAB 24-0781)
A postal mail processing clerk asked OWCP to reconsider denial of a knee injury claim after a workplace fall. OWCP denied the request as untimely and lacking clear error, but its decision did not address an August 2022 report from her treating orthopedist. The Board held that OWCP must consider all…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds six percent arm impairment award (ECAB 24-0758)
A postal employee sought a larger schedule award for a right arm injury. The Board found the physician’s impairment calculation and OWCP medical adviser’s review supported six percent permanent impairment of the right upper extremity under the applicable guides. A chiropractor’s separate rating did…
V.L. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses neck injury benefit termination (ECAB 24-0739)
A postal employee received benefits for an accepted cervical disc injury. OWCP ended wage-loss and medical benefits based on an impartial examiner’s opinion that the work condition had resolved. The Board found the examiner departed from the accepted statement of facts about the traumatic injury…
S.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds injury and late hearing denials (ECAB 24-0710)
A postal employee claimed a condition after an accepted December 2, 2023 workplace incident. The Board found the submitted medical evidence did not establish a diagnosed condition connected with that incident. She requested an OWCP oral hearing more than 30 days after the claim decision, and the…
D.V. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board upholds medical travel denials (ECAB 24-0671)
A VA employee sought reimbursement for medical trips to a physician about 650 miles from home. The Board found OWCP had not abused its discretion by denying payment for travel on June 20, 2023 and March 1, 2024. His reconsideration request repeated an argument about difficulty finding a nearby…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service
Board rejects late ankle claim reconsideration (ECAB 24-0485)
A postal carrier sought reconsideration of a denied ankle injury claim more than a year after OWCP’s merit decision. The Board found the request untimely and held that his account of walking an uneven route did not demonstrate clear error in the earlier ruling. It also found the earlier decision…
Cargill Incorporated v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Cargill Deicing Technology
Cargill Incorporated v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2022-0285): Nitrogen dioxide escapeway citation vacated
MSHA cited Cargill after nitrogen dioxide in a return-air route used as the Cleveland salt mine's secondary escapeway measured above 5 parts per million. The judge held that the Secretary had not shown the measured gas levels made the route unsafe or untravelable under the escapeway standard. He…
B.T. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies larger bilateral arm award (ECAB 24-0736)
A postal carrier with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome sought a schedule award above the six percent already awarded for each arm. Following an earlier Board remand, an impartial medical examiner found no objective examination findings supporting a greater rating under the impairment…
N.F. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies repetitive-motion hand claim (ECAB 24-0644)
A postal rural carrier attributed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome to repetitive casing and delivery work. The Board found her physician’s report did not describe the work exposure and explain how it caused the diagnosed condition. Diagnostic testing by itself did not establish causation. It…
T.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Board rejects vehicle injury claim and hearing challenge (ECAB 24-0605)
An immigration investigator reported neck and back symptoms after a government vehicle was struck from behind. The Board found the submitted evidence did not establish a diagnosed medical condition connected with the accepted collision. It also found he missed a scheduled OWCP telephone hearing and…
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): Backpay stay denied during appeal
An ALJ found that American Tripoli discriminated against miner representative Robert Baumann and ordered $10,552 in backpay plus interest, along with civil penalties. The operator appealed and sought to stay the backpay award after MSHA warned that nonpayment could lead to enforcement action. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Mid-States Materials, LLC
Unexplained delays barred reopening with prejudice
Mid-States paid three penalties and emailed MSHA to contest seven others, but the email was sent 28 days after the assessment had already become final. The company did not explain why the contest was late. It also filed its reopening motion more than a month after the delinquency notice without…
Roy C. Knotts v. Rockville Mining Company, Incorporated
Knotts v. Rockville Mining (BRB 23-0452): black lung benefits award affirmed
Roy Knotts sought black lung benefits in a subsequent claim. A judge found that medical opinions established a disabling respiratory condition despite pulmonary function and blood gas studies that did not meet the regulatory disability thresholds. The Board upheld the judge's decision to credit…
Connie Shrewsbury v. Itmann/Consolidation Coal Company
Shrewsbury v. Itmann/Consolidation Coal (BRB 23-0299): black lung denial sent back for medical review
Connie Shrewsbury sought black lung benefits after more than fifteen years of underground coal mine work. A judge denied the claim, finding neither complicated pneumoconiosis nor a totally disabling respiratory condition. The Board found that the judge had overlooked an employer x-ray reading, had…
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.