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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
R.B. and Department of the Navy, Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, SC
R.B. (ECAB 12-0015): Thirty-nine percent bilateral hearing award upheld
R.B., a former Navy shipyard worker, received a schedule award for work-related bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser correctly applied the hearing loss formula to his audiogram and added five percent for tinnitus, yielding 39 percent binaural impairment…
N.L. and Peace Corps, Enrollees Department, Washington, DC
N.L. (ECAB 11-2114): Termination of benefits for accepted head injury upheld
N.L. received compensation for decades after an accepted head injury and related mental health conditions during Peace Corps training. OWCP ended wage-loss and medical benefits effective April 27, 2010 based on an attending psychiatrist's examination finding no continuing effects of the accepted…
M.E. and Department of Transportation, Austin, TX
M.E. (ECAB 11-2088): Back impairment did not qualify for schedule award
M.E., a transportation safety specialist, sought a schedule award after an accepted lumbar sprain. One physician rated impairment of her back, but FECA does not provide a schedule award for the back itself. A second opinion physician found no related impairment of a scheduled body member such as a…
A.F. and General Services Administration, Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, New York, NY
A.F. (ECAB 11-2065): Intermittent wage claim and hearing abandonment upheld
A.F., a GSA contracting officer with an accepted right foot sprain, claimed wage loss for three intermittent absences. The Board found no medical opinion explaining that the sprain disabled her from work on those dates. It also found that she missed a properly noticed hearing and did not explain…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Rockwall, TX
D.S. (ECAB 11-2018): Work incident established, but injury claim still denied
D.S., a postal rural carrier, reported back and leg symptoms after lifting, twisting, and pulling mail trays on her route. OWCP denied the claim because it found the work incident unproven. The Board disagreed on that point: her account of the June 25, 2011 work activity was sufficiently supported…
J.D. and Department of the Army, Red River Army Depot, AK
J.D. (ECAB 11-2008): Wage-loss termination for ankle injury upheld
J.D., an Army depot worker, received wage-loss compensation for an accepted right ankle injury. OWCP terminated wage-loss benefits after an impartial orthopedic specialist found that the injury no longer prevented him from working. The Board held that the specialist's original and supplemental…
B.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Kahului, HI
B.S. (ECAB 11-1973): Disability compensation awarded after no written job offer
B.S., a TSA screener with an accepted lumbar strain, could return to modified sedentary work after February 11, 2010. OWCP denied wage-loss compensation for the following months, reasoning that his employer could have accommodated the restrictions. The Board found that the employer did not make a…
M.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fife, WA
M.D. (ECAB 11-1751): Forfeiture and overpayment for unreported woodcutting upheld
M.D., a postal carrier receiving compensation for accepted shoulder injuries, did not report woodcutting activity on required employment forms. The Board found that he knowingly omitted reportable work and compensation in kind, including firewood. It upheld forfeiture for January 10, 2006 through…
C.D. and Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, Washington, DC
C.D. (ECAB 11-0303): Recurrence of disability after limited-duty return unproved
C.D., a Navy intelligence specialist, sought compensation for a claimed recurrence of disability beginning August 4, 2009 after returning to limited-duty work. His physician described ongoing symptoms but the reports close to that date did not state that he could no longer perform his job. Later…
Maine Drilling & Blasting, Inc.
Reassessed penalty reopened for further proceedings
Maine Drilling & Blasting timely contested a citation under its original assessment case number. MSHA later reassessed the same citation under a new case number, and no separate contest was received for the reassessment. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. In the interests of justice, the…
Kingston Mining, Inc.
One-day-late penalty contest reopened
Kingston Mining's contest of a proposed penalty assessment was postmarked one day after the assessment became a final Commission order. Kingston attributed the problem to a processing backlog during the National Mine Rescue Competition and said it discovered the late filing during a routine case…
Foothills Contracting, LLC
New operator's final assessment reopened
Foothills Contracting failed to contest a proposed penalty assessment within 30 days, causing it to become a final Commission order. The company said it was new, was working diligently to comply with regulatory requirements, and had corrected the cited oversights. The Secretary did not oppose…
River City Stone, Division of Mathy Construction Company
Assessment reopened after missing fax attachment
River City Stone's counsel intended to contest two penalty assessments in one fax, but sent two copies of the other assessment's contest form and omitted the form for this case. After receiving a delinquency notice, River City moved to reopen in less than 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the…
Nyffeler Construction, Inc.
Roof fall-protection and training violations affirmed
Two Nyffeler Construction employees installed roof sheathing more than ten feet above the ground without compliant fall protection. The company owner could see the work and admitted that no guardrail, safety net, or personal fall-arrest system was in use. The company also had not trained the…
Trinity Yachts, LLC
Argon hazard-training item affirmed on second remand
A Trinity Yachts employee died after inhaling argon gas in an enclosed shipyard vent trunk. On second Commission remand, the judge reopened the record to hear from the human-resources administrator who had oriented the employee, who had difficulty reading and writing English. The judge found that…
Ohio County Coal Company
Pry-bar citation dismissed and remaining penalties cut to $493
After settling 17 citations, Ohio County Coal contested the classifications and penalties for a loose roof bolt, a missing pry bar, and an improper cable splice. Chief Judge Susan L. Biro upheld the roof-control violation but made it non-S&S with low negligence because the loose bolt was near the…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pearl River, LA
A.M. (ECAB 12-0533): Late reconsideration request did not show clear error
A.M. sought to reopen a denied recurrence of disability claim after the one-year reconsideration period had passed. Her new psychologist's report attributed disability to a 2001 telephone call, but the Board found it did not address a separate 1995 incident relevant to the earlier denial. The…
O.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Little Rock, AK
O.P. (ECAB 11-2104): Occupational disease claim remained closed on reconsideration
O.P. sought reconsideration of OWCP's denial of her claim that postal duties aggravated shoulder and carpal tunnel conditions. Her arguments disputed management statements, and her medical submissions described symptoms without linking the conditions to the claimed 2008 work duties. The Board held…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Garland, TX
T.J. (ECAB 11-2095): Knee disability claim returned for medical development
T.J., a postal carrier with accepted right elbow and left knee conditions, sought wage-loss compensation for March 12 through April 28, 2011. OWCP denied it because the medical evidence did not establish inability to perform her limited-duty job. The Board found that her surgeon's reports, though…
R.A. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, White Plains, NY
R.A. (ECAB 11-2091): Repeated arguments did not reopen terminated benefits
R.A. sought reconsideration after OWCP terminated benefits for accepted cervical conditions and the Board had upheld the termination. Her request repeated earlier challenges to the impartial examiner and urged acceptance of other conditions. The Board found no new relevant evidence or legal…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hillsboro, OH
J.G. (ECAB 11-2081): Late reconsideration request lacked clear error
J.G. asked OWCP to reconsider a 2007 denial of his right shoulder and biceps injury claim in July 2011. A physician later stated more firmly that the work incident caused the conditions, but the Board found this did not show an obvious error in the earlier decision under the strict rule for late…
B.H. and Internal Revenue Service, Richmond, VA
B.H. (ECAB 11-2019): Back injury claim and reconsideration refusal upheld
B.H., an IRS employee, reported back symptoms after lifting and carrying boxes at work. The Board accepted that the incident occurred but found no competent medical evidence linking it to an injury: her chiropractor did not document an x-ray-demonstrated spinal subluxation needed to qualify as a…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grand Rapids, MI
T.H. (ECAB 11-2014): Late request did not reopen back claim
T.H., a postal mail processor, sought reconsideration of a 2002 denial of his back injury claim. OWCP treated a 2010 letter from his attorney asking about the claim's status as a reconsideration request. The Board found the request untimely and found no earlier request in the record. Because the…
D.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Catano, Puerto Rico
D.V. (ECAB 11-1977): Withdrawn postal work requires a new disability review
D.V., a letter carrier with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, claimed intermittent wage loss after the Postal Service withdrew limited duty in August 2010. OWCP denied his recurrence claim, reasoning that he had returned to full duty and had not shown continuing work injury residuals. The…
B.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grand Rapids, MI
B.W. (ECAB 11-1927): Pay-rate overpayment and repayment upheld
B.W., a postal carrier, received compensation using a later pay rate after a 2000 work injury. The Board found that her return to modified duty was not regular employment under FECA, so compensation should have used the injury-date rate. It upheld OWCP's finding of a $12,707.67 overpayment for…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
D.S. (ECAB 11-1914): Tea tree oil exposure claim denied for lack of medical proof
D.S., a postal letter carrier, inhaled fumes from a broken bottle of tea tree oil in a package at work. OWCP accepted that the exposure occurred but denied her injury claim. The Board found that her physicians described exposure and symptoms without a firm, legible diagnosis or a reasoned…
H.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hampden, ME
H.S. (ECAB 11-1593): Withdrawn light-duty work requires reassessment
H.S., a postal distribution clerk with an accepted lumbar strain, claimed total disability when the Postal Service withdrew her light-duty job in February 2010. OWCP denied the claim because it found insufficient current medical proof and treated withdrawal under the National Reassessment Process…
U.S. Silica Company
Final assessment reopened for further proceedings
U.S. Silica filed a penalty contest four days after the assessment had become a final Commission order. Silica said its environmental, health, and safety coordinator had been told the assessment arrived a week later than it actually did and calculated the deadline from that date. Silica also said…
Mike Dover Corporation
Two final assessments reopened
Mike Dover Corporation asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that had become final orders after no timely contests were received. The Secretary did not oppose either request. After reviewing the submissions, the Commission reopened both matters in the interests of justice. It…
West Virginia Mine Power, Inc.
Reopening denied for unreliable mail processing
West Virginia Mine Power failed to contest a proposed assessment after an employee forwarded it to the safety director of a different mine and the document's later path could not be established. The company did not identify new procedures for monitoring received mail, despite an earlier warning…
West Virginia Mine Power, Inc.
Late contest reopened over two-member dissent
West Virginia Mine Power filed a penalty contest four or five days late after its safety director lost the form while catching up on holiday paperwork and handling other mine projects. The company promptly sought reopening, paid the uncontested penalties, and described new deadline-tracking…
Limestone Dust Corporation
Conference-related filing mistake excused over dissent
Limestone Dust said it mistakenly believed a pre-citation conference under an MSHA pilot program served as its penalty contest. A three-member Commission majority reopened the final assessment in the interests of justice and remanded it for penalty proceedings. Chairman Mary Lu Jordan and…
Matter of E. W. RODRIGUEZ
The section 212(h) bar depends on the circuit
The Board reconsidered the section 212(h) aggravated-felony bar in the case of a Salvadoran respondent who had obtained lawful permanent resident status through legalization and was later convicted of bank fraud. Applying controlling Fifth Circuit precedent, the Board held that the bar applies only…
Leclaire Investments, Inc.
Missing contest reopened after timely partial payment
Leclaire Investments said it timely contested a penalty assessment and paid the uncontested penalties, but MSHA had no record of receiving the contest. The record did confirm timely payment for the uncontested items. Leclaire moved to reopen less than 30 days after learning of the problem from a…
P.S. and Department of the Navy, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, CA
P.S. (ECAB 12-0169): Late request did not reopen carpal tunnel claim
P.S., a Navy accounts payable clerk, sought reconsideration of a 2001 denial of her carpal tunnel injury claim. Her 2011 request was more than one year late. The Board found that her newer description of repetitive typing did not show that OWCP had clearly erred when it rejected her earlier claim…
R.S. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Lock & Dam #13, Fulton, IL
R.S. (ECAB 12-0096): Melanoma compensation termination upheld
R.S., an Army Corps lock and dam operator, had accepted work-related melanoma of the right cheek. OWCP terminated benefits effective March 13, 2011 after a physician reported that the melanoma had been excised, had not recurred, and no longer prevented his work. The Board found the contrary reports…
R.V. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Harlingen, TX
R.V. (ECAB 12-0022): Five percent hearing award and hearing-aid denial upheld
R.V., a border patrol agent, received a five percent binaural hearing loss award after work-related noise exposure. The Board found that the physician-certified audiogram supported no higher rating and that other testing lacked required certification or supporting medical opinions. It also held…
B.W. and Department of Labor, Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board, Washington, DC
B.W. (ECAB 11-2146): Three percent awards for each arm upheld
B.W., an attorney adviser at the Board, had accepted bilateral de Quervain's disease and carpal tunnel syndrome. OWCP awarded three percent impairment of each upper extremity. The Board held that this was the highest rating supported by the mild carpal tunnel findings under the applicable…
M.J. and Department of Health & Human Services, Social Security Administration, Dallas, TX
M.J. (ECAB 11-2142): Dual-benefit overpayment and fault finding upheld
M.J., a Social Security Administration claims representative, elected federal retirement benefits effective January 1, 2011 while OWCP continued paying wage-loss compensation through March 12. The Board upheld a $3,795.96 overpayment. It found that her letters to OWCP showed she knew she could not…
M.W. and Social Security Administration, Region IV, Atlanta, GA
M.W. (ECAB 11-2115): Additional fall injuries not established
M.W., a Social Security Administration claims representative, fell from a chair at work in May 2010. OWCP accepted a right hip sprain but denied her claim for additional conditions. The Board found that the medical reports did not clearly diagnose and connect the claimed hand, arm, shoulder, neck…
L.B. and Department of the Air Force, Machinery Department, Randolph Air Force Base, TX
L.B. (ECAB 11-1871): Benefits suspension for missed examination upheld
L.B., an Air Force machine tool operator helper, did not attend a scheduled second-opinion psychiatric examination in March 2011. He argued that he no longer lived at the address where OWCP sent the appointment and warning letters. The Board found that OWCP used his address of record and that he…
S.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Remote Encoding Center, Kearny, NJ
S.K. (ECAB 11-1783): Two percent left arm award upheld
S.K., a postal data conversion operator, sought more than a two percent schedule award for left arm impairment from accepted ulnar nerve entrapment. The Board found that OWCP's examiner used the applicable sixth edition impairment guide and its entrapment neuropathy rating method. Her physician's…
N.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Coatesville, PA
N.A. (ECAB 11-1647): Wrist disability recurrence and reopening denied
N.A., a Veterans Affairs employee with accepted avascular necrosis of both wrists, claimed a recurrence of disability in July 2010. The Board found that her operative report did not address whether the accepted work injury caused the claimed recurrence, and general medical text could not establish…
C.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Houston, TX
C.K. (ECAB 12-0746): First direct deposit fault finding set aside
C.K., a postal employee, received wage-loss compensation after returning to work at her regular salary. The Board affirmed OWCP's $3,927.25 overpayment finding for May 17 through July 2, 2011. It held that OWCP had not shown she knew or should have known the first incorrect electronic deposit was…
M.W. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Norfolk, VA
M.W. (ECAB 12-0041): Hearing award reconsideration refused
M.W., a Norfolk Naval Shipyard employee, sought to reopen a two percent left-ear hearing loss award. His physician described a greater loss but referred to an audiogram that was not in the record. The Board held that the report did not provide the testing needed to revisit the award, and it could…
S.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA
S.B. (ECAB 11-2135): Two percent awards for each leg upheld
S.B., a postal mail handler, sought a larger schedule award for impairment of both legs after an accepted back condition. The Board found OWCP's medical adviser provided the only rating that followed the applicable impairment method. It affirmed a two percent impairment rating for each leg and the…
I.P. and Department of the Navy, San Francisco Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, CA
I.P. (ECAB 11-2079): Hearing request after Board review denied
I.P., a former Navy boilermaker, requested an OWCP oral hearing after the Board had affirmed the denial of a schedule award. OWCP had issued no new final adverse decision since that Board ruling. The Board held that its earlier review left no OWCP decision for the hearing branch to review and…
J.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
J.P. (ECAB 11-1887): Carpal tunnel award denial and reopening refusal upheld
J.P., a postal employee with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, sought a schedule award for both arms. The Board found that her physician's one percent ratings lacked an explanation and that normal preoperative nerve studies did not support ratable impairment under the applicable guide. Her…
K.C. and Department of the Navy, Naval Systems Air Command-Stations, Cherry Point, NC
K.C. (ECAB 11-1849): Back injury claim returned for medical development
K.C., a Navy employee, said he injured his back when his chair tipped and he fell at work in April 2010. OWCP accepted that the fall occurred but denied the injury claim for insufficient medical proof. The Board found that his physician's reports supported a possible aggravation of preexisting…
E.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York City, NY
E.A. (ECAB 11-1755): Two percent left leg award upheld
E.A., a postal administrative clerk with accepted left plantar fasciitis, sought more than a two percent schedule award for her left leg. One physician's higher estimate lacked a stated impairment guide and calculations; another initially used an incorrect value but revised his rating to two…
W.G. and Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, AL
W.G. (ECAB 11-1599): Wage-earning capacity ruling left in place
W.G., an Army Corps surveying technician, sought to modify a 1998 wage-earning capacity determination after claiming total disability in 2010. The Board found that his medical reports did not explain a material change in the accepted cervical conditions that prevented his modified survey work…
A.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bell, CA
A.H. (ECAB 11-1101): Part of overpayment returned for waiver review
A.H., a postal employee, received OWCP wage-loss compensation while retroactive pay from his employer covered the same period. The Board affirmed a $17,593.73 overpayment and upheld recovery at $700 every four weeks. It found him at fault for accepting overlapping payments after he received the…
United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs and Border Protection (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 231 (Union)
CBP and NTEU Chapter 231 (FLRA 0-AR-4734): Reassignment ruling stands after reconsideration denial
An arbitrator ordered Customs and Border Protection to return employees to their former airport positions after finding that the agency had not shown the reassignment was needed for service reasons under its agreement. The Authority had rejected CBP's exceptions, including several arguments it had…
United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Laredo, Texas (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 149 (Union)
CBP and NTEU Chapter 149 (FLRA 0-AR-4634): Border inspection practice restored
Customs and Border Protection told officers at a Texas port to query only one traveler per vehicle and stop hood and trunk inspections. An arbitrator found that this change violated the agency's 2007 inspection directive and ordered a return to the prior local practice. CBP challenged the award as…
Robert J. Silcox, employed by Big Laurel Mining Corporation
Section 110(c) timing starts when the individual investigation ends
MSHA sought an individual penalty against Robert J. Silcox under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. After denying Silcox's motion to dismiss, Judge William B. Moran clarified when the agency's reasonable-time period begins. He held that the clock starts when MSHA finishes its separate section 110(c)…
Stephen M. Reasor, employed by Big Laurel Mining Corporation
Section 110(c) timing starts when the individual investigation ends
MSHA sought an individual penalty against Stephen M. Reasor under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. After denying Reasor's motion to dismiss, Judge William B. Moran clarified when the agency's reasonable-time period begins. He held that the clock starts when MSHA finishes its separate section 110(c)…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1235 (Union) and United States Department of the Navy, Commander Navy Region Southwest (Agency)
AFGE Local 1235 and Navy Region Southwest (FLRA 0-AR-4786): Grievance specificity ruling upheld
AFGE Local 1235 filed a grievance under its agreement with Navy Region Southwest. An arbitrator found that the grievance did not identify the specific provisions of an agency rule allegedly violated or adequately identify the affected employees, as the agreement required. The union argued that…
United States Department of the Air Force, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska (Agency) and International Association of Fire Fighters, Local F-191 (Union)
Offutt Air Force Base and Fire Fighters Local F-191 (FLRA DE-RP-11-0005): Fire department employees remain in unit
The firefighters' union asked to clarify whether thirteen employees serving as station chiefs, crew chiefs, and an assistant training chief belonged in the Offutt Air Force Base bargaining unit. A regional director found that the station and crew chiefs did not spend most of their work time…
National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Agency)
NTEU and Customs and Border Protection (FLRA 0-AR-4661): Ground rules bargaining award upheld
After Customs and Border Protection combined employees from predecessor agencies into one bargaining unit, NTEU disputed how the parties negotiated ground rules for a new agreement. An arbitrator found no unfair labor practice in CBP's decision to defer bargaining over a grievance procedure until…
Ernest Matney, employed by Knox Creek Coal Corporation
Foreman held personally liable for missed roof hazards
Knox Creek foreman Ernest Matney conducted preshift examinations in an underground coal mine but failed to identify longstanding roof and rib hazards, including sheared roof bolts and sloughage. An ALJ found the violations were caused by the operator's unwarrantable failure but ruled that Matney…
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.