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.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albany, NY
T.G. (ECAB 11-1176): Emotional condition claim sent back for medical review
T.G., a Postal Service custodian, claimed that disciplinary action caused or aggravated an emotional condition. The Postal Service issued a removal notice, later reduced it to a 105-day suspension, and an arbitrator cut that suspension to seven days. OWCP denied the compensation claim because it…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jackson, MS
P.W. (ECAB 11-1122): Schedule award denial affirmed
P.W., a Postal Service carrier, injured her back while lifting a tray of mail, and OWCP accepted several related back conditions. She later requested a schedule award for permanent impairment. The Board explained that a spinal injury can support a schedule award if it causes impairment of a covered…
M.C. and Department of the Navy, San Diego, CA
M.C. (ECAB 11-797): Late reconsideration request denied
M.C., a Navy aircraft worker, disputed OWCP's 1994 termination of benefits for an accepted back injury. His most recent merits decision was issued in 1997, but he requested reconsideration again in July 2010. The Board held that the request was outside OWCP's one-year filing period. His repeated…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Santa Clarita, CA
M.S. (ECAB 11-158): Wage-earning capacity determination upheld
M.S., a Postal Service letter carrier, returned to a modified carrier position after an accepted shoulder injury. OWCP used his earnings in that position to determine in 1994 that he had no wage loss. Years later, he argued that the position was makeshift and could not fairly measure his earning…
Humphreys Enterprises, Inc.
Highwall citation modified with $30,000 penalty
A dozer operator became lost in darkness, rain, and dense fog while benching near a previously identified hazardous spoil area at Humphreys Enterprises' surface mine. The dozer entered loose spoil above a 50-foot highwall, spun, slid about two feet, became stuck, and was abandoned without an…
James E. Collins v. Electric Boat Corporation
Collins v. Electric Boat (BRB 11-0359): permanent total disability award affirmed
James Collins injured his right knee while working in Electric Boat's testing department, and his left knee later became symptomatic as a result. A judge awarded permanent total disability benefits after finding that Electric Boat had not shown suitable alternative work. The Board upheld the…
C.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Tampa, FL
C.R. (ECAB 11-1476): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical explanation
C.R., a Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialist, reported back pain after trying to close a container door at work. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not establish that it caused his back strain. His doctor diagnosed a strain…
D.P. and Department of the Air Force, 402nd Maintenance Wing, Robins Air Force Base, GA
D.P. (ECAB 11-1168): Hearing loss award and hearing refusal upheld
D.P., an Air Force equipment repairer, developed work-related hearing loss and received a schedule award for 13 percent binaural impairment. He argued that OWCP should have added impairment for tinnitus. The Board upheld the hearing loss calculation and found that the medical record did not show…
P.W. and Department of the Army, Tank Automotive & Armament Command, Warren, MI
P.W. (ECAB 11-1137): Refusal to reopen illness claim upheld
P.W., an Army mechanical engineer, sought compensation for sarcoidosis that she attributed to environmental conditions at work. OWCP had accepted the claimed exposure but denied the claim because it found the medical evidence insufficient to link the disease to that exposure. In a later…
S.T. and U.S. Postal Service, East Elmhurst Post Office, East Elmhurst, NY
S.T. (ECAB 11-986): Recurrence claim not reopened
S.T., a Postal Service letter carrier, had accepted neck and back sprains from a work-related vehicle collision. OWCP denied her claim for a recurrence of disability beginning February 17, 2008. She requested reconsideration and supplied records and statements about other events and later periods…
K.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallastown, PA
K.O. (ECAB 11-814): Seven percent arm impairment award upheld
K.O., a Postal Service worker, had accepted shoulder and cervical conditions and had received a schedule award for seven percent impairment of her right arm. After several prior appeals and remands, OWCP obtained a supplemental report from an impartial orthopedic specialist. The specialist found no…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Duluth, GA
T.W. (ECAB 11-560): Cervical condition not added to accepted injury claim
T.W., a Postal Service mail handler, had an accepted lumbar sprain after lifting mail tubs and trays. She asked OWCP to recognize a cervical disc condition as an additional consequence of the work injury. The Board found that her doctor's reports diagnosed the cervical condition but did not explain…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cincinnati, OH
J.C. (ECAB 11-532): Neck condition claim denied for insufficient medical link
J.C., a Postal Service mail processing clerk with a preexisting neck condition from military service, claimed that years of lifting and sorting mail aggravated it. His surgeon said that work activity may have aggravated the condition but did not explain a causal mechanism with sufficient certainty…
K.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Beltsville, MD
K.R. (ECAB 11-391): Left hip replacement request denied
K.R., a Postal Service letter carrier, had an accepted right hip condition and a covered right hip replacement. He later developed left hip arthritis and sought coverage for a left hip replacement, arguing that his work and altered gait caused the condition. His treating surgeons supported a…
J.D. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
J.D. (ECAB 11-131): End of accepted back aggravation upheld
J.D., a Navy shipyard engineer, claimed that repeated rides in bumpy workplace vehicles aggravated his low back condition. OWCP accepted a temporary aggravation but later found it had ended. The Board explained that OWCP carried the burden to show the accepted condition and related residuals had…
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (Agency) and National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 254 (Union)
FDA and NTEU Chapter 254 (FLRA 0-AR-4783): Agency exceptions dismissed
The Food and Drug Administration challenged an arbitration award involving NTEU Chapter 254. The Authority dismissed the agency's exceptions because its arguments could have been presented to the arbitrator but were not. The published order gives no details about the grievance, the arbitrator's…
Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 158 (Union) and United States Department of the Navy, Naval Support Activity, Crane, Indiana (Agency)
Police Lodge 158 and Navy (FLRA 0-AR-4761): Classification exceptions denied
Three Navy employees challenged how their instructor or dog-handler positions were described and classified. An arbitrator found that the agency had mishandled one employee's position-review request and directed it to process his classification appeal under the agreement. She denied the other two…
Rock n Roll Coal Company, Inc.
Unsupported settlement motion rejected
The Secretary and Rock n Roll Coal proposed changing a citation from section 104(d)(1) to section 104(a), reducing negligence from high to moderate, and lowering the penalty from $13,609 to $3,690. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that the motion provided no facts supporting those changes or the…
National Cement Company of California
Retaliation complaint dismissed on remand
Electrician Jayson Turner alleged that National Cement fired him in retaliation for safety concerns involving manlift lighting, electrical gloves, mislabeled switchgear, and work near heat and gases. The Commission had found that Turner established a prima facie case and remanded for closer…
Cumberland Coal Resources LP
Ventilation violations modified with $12,500 penalty
Cumberland removed four permanent stoppings and substituted temporary curtains while preparing equipment access between two sections of its underground coal mine. The changes allowed substantial intake-air leakage into the return, leaving the working face below the quantity required by the approved…
Apex Quarry, LLC
Equipment citations modified with $9,791 installment penalty
Apex Quarry admitted a group of S&S equipment violations involving a torn seat belt, an ineffective parking brake, a damaged windshield, unsafe truck access, and nonworking horns or backup alarms. The parties agreed to several gravity and negligence modifications that reduced the proposed…
K.H. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Bowling Green, KY
K.H. (ECAB 11-1417): Cold office injury claim denied
K.H., an IRS worker, reported a headache, sore throat, cough, and body aches after working in a cold office without heat. OWCP accepted that the office was cold and closed early that day. The Board found the medical evidence insufficient to show that the workplace exposure caused or worsened her…
J.H. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Torrance, CA
J.H. (ECAB 11-1368): Emotional condition claim denied for insufficient medical reasoning
J.H., an FAA air traffic controller, claimed that an aircraft near miss in March 2007 caused an emotional condition and other health problems. OWCP accepted the near miss as a compensable work factor and had separately accepted an earlier emotional injury related to a 2004 incident that later…
A.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Philadelphia, PA
A.F. (ECAB 11-1297): Late reconsideration request denied
A.F., a Postal Service mail handler, sought compensation for a period away from work following a 1995 back injury. In 2011 he asked OWCP to reconsider an earlier merits decision, arguing that the Postal Service had not given him a written suitable work offer. The Board held that the request came…
C.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Artesia, NM
C.M. (ECAB 11-1290): Right arm schedule award denial upheld
C.M., a border patrol officer and instructor, had accepted neck, thoracic, and low back strains after a vehicle crash. He requested a schedule award for loss of use of his right arm. A chiropractor rated impairment of the cervical spine and whole person, but the Board explained that FECA does not…
C.M. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO
C.M. (ECAB 11-1282): Shoulder impairment award sent back for a new rating
C.M., an IRS tax examining technician, received a schedule award for 14 percent right arm impairment after a workplace fall and shoulder surgeries. Her physician calculated a higher impairment using shoulder range of motion. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser had misread a numerical error…
P.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashua, NH
P.A. (ECAB 11-1120): Late reconsideration request denied
P.A., a Postal Service worker, disputed the termination of compensation after an accepted 1994 fall. She sought reconsideration in 2010 and submitted a physician's report connecting several conditions and continued disability to that fall. The Board found the request was late under OWCP's one-year…
A.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dexter, MO
A.H. (ECAB 11-1100): Disability period sent back for medical review
A.H., a Postal Service rural carrier associate, injured her back in a work-related vehicle accident. OWCP accepted a lumbar strain and later added a ruptured lumbar disc, but denied compensation for a claimed period of disability beginning June 29, 2009. An OWCP referral physician found that the…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Portland Performance Cluster, Portland, OR
J.B. (ECAB 11-1067): Hand injury claim reopened for merits review
J.B., a Postal Service human resources specialist, had accepted hand and knee contusions after a workplace fall. OWCP later ended medical benefits, finding that the work injury had no remaining effects. She requested reconsideration and submitted several items, including a new physician's report…
W.O. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Fresno, CA
W.O. (ECAB 11-965): Shoulder disability claim reopened for merits review
W.O., an IRS tax examiner, had accepted shoulder and wrist conditions and later underwent shoulder surgery. OWCP denied compensation for a claimed period of disability from April 2008 to April 2009. He requested reconsideration and submitted a later physician's report discussing why his shoulder…
E.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Buffalo Performance & Distribution Center, Buffalo, NY
E.R. (ECAB 11-821): Skin condition claim denied after workplace incidents reviewed
E.R., a Postal Service mail handler, claimed that stress from workplace interactions and assignments aggravated her eczema. She described many incidents involving coworkers and managers, including disputes over assignments, physical contact, and responses to her complaints. The Board reviewed the…
Windham Materials, LLC
Unreceived default order held nonfinal
Windham Materials failed to answer a penalty petition and show-cause order, leading the Chief Judge to enter a default. Windham said the petition and show-cause order were sent to the wrong mailing address rather than the address on its Legal ID Report, and that it learned of the matter only after…
Standard Sand and Silica Co.
Late fatality report affirmed with $5,000 penalty
A Standard Sand employee suffered a fatal heart attack while working at the Lake Wales Dry Plant. Coworkers promptly called 911 and performed CPR, but the company did not notify MSHA until 7:12 a.m., more than two hours after the employee was found unresponsive and more than an hour after he was…
Florida CRI, Inc.
Default vacated and penalty case reopened
Florida CRI defaulted after the Commission did not receive an answer to the Secretary's penalty petition. The operator said it had responded promptly in 2009 but apparently sent the answer to an MSHA conference representative instead of filing it with the Commission, and it did not receive later…
C.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
C.H. (ECAB 12-69): Related exposure claims sent back for consolidation
C.H., a Customs and Border Protection worker, attributed sinus and breathing conditions to exposure to fumes, dust, and other substances at work. OWCP denied one claim and later refused to reopen it, even though C.H. had repeatedly pointed to medical evidence in several related claim files. The…
C.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
C.H. (ECAB 11-1458): Related exposure and shoulder claims sent back for consolidation
C.H., a Customs and Border Protection worker, claimed that workplace fumes caused several symptoms and that repeated fingerprinting injured his shoulder. OWCP denied the claim without considering records from his other claims involving similar exposure and shoulder allegations. The Board found…
H.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
H.C. (ECAB 11-1424): Written record review request denied
H.C., a Postal Service worker with accepted back and leg conditions, had previously litigated the termination of compensation and related review requests. After a Board decision in March 2011, he sought review of the written record from OWCP. The Board held that OWCP's hearing branch had no…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, North Little Rock, AR
C.W. (ECAB 11-1338): $24,017.94 overpayment and waiver denial upheld
C.W., a Postal Service maintenance manager, received disability compensation for accepted emotional conditions. OWCP used the wrong date in its cost-of-living calculation and paid $24,017.94 more than the amount due. The Board upheld the calculation and agreed that C.W. was without fault. It also…
S.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Park Forest, IL
S.K. (ECAB 11-1171): Occupational finger condition claim denied
S.K., a Postal Service mail processor, claimed that repetitive sorting and handling mail caused a right ring finger tendon problem. The Board accepted the described job duties but found no reasoned medical explanation connecting them to the diagnosed tendon condition. Some medical reports instead…
E.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
E.L. (ECAB 11-1116): Schedule award claim not reopened
E.L., a Postal Service mail processor, had an accepted low back sprain and sought a schedule award for leg impairment. OWCP denied the award after finding the medical evidence insufficient to show ratable impairment from the accepted condition. He later submitted a reconsideration form but gave no…
E.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Southern Maryland Bulk Mail Center, Capital Heights, MD
E.H. (ECAB 11-985): Extremity impairment award sent back for impartial review
E.H., a Postal Service mail handler, had accepted cervical conditions and received a schedule award for seven percent impairment of each leg. Physicians used different methods to assess impairment from his cervical condition, and the Board found their conflicting opinions had similar weight. It…
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Amityville, NY
R.R. (ECAB 11-919): Neck injury claim denied after incident accounts differed
R.R., a Postal Service mail clerk, said she injured her neck while retrieving mail from an overhead container. OWCP denied the claim because the evidence did not establish that the incident occurred as alleged. The Board found material differences among her accounts of when and how the pain began…
S.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
S.E. (ECAB 11-834): Additional knee impairment award rescinded
S.E., a Postal Service carrier, received a schedule award for 54 percent left leg impairment after an accepted knee injury. Following knee replacement surgery, OWCP briefly found that he qualified for an additional 37 percent award, then rescinded that finding. The Board held that the current…
R.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI
R.J. (ECAB 11-811): Arm impairment award sent back for a complete record
R.J., a VA medical center worker, received schedule awards for impairment of both arms. OWCP relied on a physician's report and its medical adviser's opinions when deciding the ratings, but those reports were missing from the record sent to the Board. The Board found that it could not review the…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Louisville, KY
R.H. (ECAB 11-536): Hip injury claim denied after conflicting accounts
R.H., a Postal Service clerk, said she tripped on raised carpet at work and injured her right hip. The record also contained a doctor's account of a garden incident and conflicting statements about whether she fell at work. She reported the claimed work incident several months later. The Board…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 103 (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Long Beach, California (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 103 and CBP (FLRA 0-AR-4748): Probationary termination grievance barred
Customs and Border Protection terminated an employee hired through the Federal Career Intern Program during her probationary period. The union grieved the termination. An arbitrator first found the grievance arbitrable but later reconsidered and dismissed it before deciding its merits. The…
United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island, California (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1680 (Union)
Terminal Island prison and AFGE Local 1680 (FLRA 0-AR-4179): Interim exceptions dismissed
Correctional officers at Terminal Island sought overtime pay for work before and after their shifts. After an earlier Authority remand to clarify which officers performed compensable work and for how long, the arbitrator ruled that he could also consider overtime claims arising after his first…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Truck-scale guardrail ruling vacated and remanded
MSHA cited Lakeview Rock Products because its elevated truck scales had eight-inch rub rails rather than berms or guardrails reaching the 20-to-24-inch mid-axle height of trucks using them. An ALJ granted summary decision to Lakeview and vacated the citation after finding that the Secretary had not…
Cordero Mining, LLC
Discrimination remedies stayed in part
An ALJ found that Cordero Mining unlawfully discharged Cindy Clapp for safety complaints and ordered reinstatement, back pay, file correction, notice posting, and a $40,000 penalty within 14 days. Cordero sought a stay so it could use the Mine Act's review period, and the Secretary did not oppose…
L.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Alvin, TX
L.C. (ECAB 11-1344): Compensation suspension reversed for lack of notice
L.C., a Postal Service worker receiving compensation for accepted arm conditions, was directed to attend medical examinations. OWCP proposed suspension based on alleged obstruction of a December 2009 examination, then suspended benefits after she missed a different examination in January 2011. The…
C.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Grand Rapids, MI
C.D. (ECAB 11-1327): Hearing request treated as abandoned
C.D., a Postal Service rural carrier with an accepted back sprain, requested a telephone hearing after OWCP declined to add a hernia to his claim. OWCP mailed notice of the hearing more than 30 days before its scheduled date. The Board found that C.D. neither joined the call nor requested a…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lancaster, PA
M.H. (ECAB 11-1200): Shoulder injury claim returned for medical review
M.H., a Postal Service clerk, reported right shoulder pain after pushing and pulling mail containers at work on July 14, 2008. OWCP denied her injury claim because it found the medical evidence insufficient to establish a work connection. The Board found that the doctors’ opinions supported such a…
C.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, McAllen, TX
C.M. (ECAB 11-1191): Back injury denial upheld for lack of medical explanation
C.M., a transportation security officer, said he hurt his back while picking up a shoe that fell from an x-ray belt at work. OWCP accepted that the November 5, 2010 incident occurred but denied his injury claim. The Board found that reports signed only by a physician assistant, a nurse, or a…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland Heights, OH
T.B. (ECAB 11-1154): Termination of shoulder injury benefits upheld
T.B., a Postal Service letter carrier, had an accepted right shoulder injury from lifting boxes in 1996. OWCP terminated her compensation effective September 29, 2010 after an impartial orthopedic surgeon concluded that the accepted conditions had resolved and she could return to her prior duties…
V.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
V.P. (ECAB 11-1091): Missed telephone hearing treated as abandoned
V.P., a Postal Service carrier, requested a telephone hearing after OWCP denied his occupational disease claim. OWCP mailed a hearing notice to his address more than 30 days before the scheduled call. He did not join the call, request a postponement, or report a problem within the following 10…
V.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dunham Springs, LA
V.C. (ECAB 11-1021): Impartial medical examiner selection must be redone
V.C., a Postal Service rural letter carrier, received a schedule award for five percent impairment of each arm after an impartial medical examination. She challenged the selection of an examiner about 285 miles from her home. The Board found that OWCP had not documented how its rotating selection…
S.T. and Department of Defense, National Geological Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, MD
S.T. (ECAB 11-723): Wage-loss case returned after notice failure
OWCP terminated S.T.’s wage-loss benefits in May 2009 and later refused to change that decision. Her attorney had submitted a response to the proposed termination, but OWCP said no response had arrived and did not send him the termination decision. The Board held that OWCP had not properly issued…
C.Y. and U.S. Postal Service, Oak Street Station, Kissimmee, FL
C.Y. (ECAB 11-668): Emotional condition claim denied
C.Y., a Postal Service letter carrier, claimed that management harassment caused anxiety and chest pain. The Board reviewed his accounts of supervisory conversations, work assignments, and alleged verbal abuse. It found that a witness’s description of a heated discussion did not establish abuse…
J.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution, Chicago, IL
J.G. (ECAB 11-593): Shoulder condition recurrence not established
J.G. had an accepted left shoulder injury from Postal Service work in 1997. She claimed that the condition recurred in August 2010 and required further care. Her physician reported shoulder findings and recommended additional imaging, but the Board found that he did not sufficiently explain how the…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indianapolis, IN
T.B. (ECAB 11-447): Part-time job could not measure full-time earning capacity
T.B., a Postal Service city letter carrier, had an accepted work condition and later worked a modified schedule of four hours a day. OWCP used that part-time job to determine her wage-earning capacity and then denied her request to change the determination. The Board held that OWCP should consider…
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.