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.
H.W. and Department of the Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base, Midwest City, OK
H.W. (ECAB 11-1198): Hearing loss claim found timely and sent back
H.W., a former Air Force aircraft engine mechanic, filed a hearing loss claim in 2010 after leaving the job in 2000. OWCP denied it as filed outside FECA’s three-year period and then refused reconsideration. The Board found that annual workplace hearing tests had identified a hearing shift and gave…
B.F. and U.S. Postal Service, General Mail Facility, Oklahoma City, OK
B.F. (ECAB 11-1181): Late reconsideration request denied
B.F., a postal worker, claimed a right shoulder injury from repetitive mail handling duties. OWCP denied the claim in July 2007 for insufficient medical proof. He sought reconsideration in September 2010 and supplied later reports supporting a work connection. The Board held the request was more…
L.W. and Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
L.W. (ECAB 11-1069): Reconsideration refused without new evidence
L.W., a Veterans Affairs practical nurse, reported falling from a chair onto her knee while picking up a bandage. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied her injury claim because she had not submitted medical evidence of a resulting injury. She requested reconsideration without…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
R.S. (ECAB 11-0935): New disability claim denied, existing benefits restored
R.S., a mail carrier, had an accepted right knee injury and received compensation while doing limited duty. He claimed total disability after his knee buckled in March 2010, and OWCP later terminated his compensation based on an impartial examiner’s opinion that the work injury had resolved. The…
R.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Resource Center, Los Angeles, CA
R.B. (ECAB 11-0498): Untimely reconsideration request properly denied
R.B., a Veterans Affairs counseling therapist, claimed that a hostile work environment caused cancer and an emotional condition. OWCP denied compensation for lack of medical evidence linking the conditions to accepted work factors. His attorney said he sought reconsideration in February 2009 and…
Service Oil, Inc.
In re Service Oil, Inc. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 11-01): penalty reduced to $14,529.24
Service Oil, Inc. was cited for storm water violations during construction of a truck stop in Fargo, North Dakota. The Board had previously affirmed a $35,640 penalty, but the Eighth Circuit vacated and remanded the penalty for recalculation after invalidating one liability basis. On remand, the…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Ballard Carrier Annex, Seattle, WA
J.W. (ECAB 11-1475): Chest symptom claim denied without a diagnosis
J.W., a postal customer services supervisor, reported shortness of breath and chest discomfort after inspecting an outdoor route in snowy weather. OWCP accepted that he worked outside that day but denied the claim because the medical records did not diagnose a resulting condition. The Board treated…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Louis, MO
S.H. (ECAB 11-1409): Compensation termination for foot injury upheld
S.H., a postal letter carrier, received compensation after an accepted left foot sprain and several fractures. OWCP terminated benefits after its examining surgeon concluded that the accepted injuries had resolved and she could return to work. The Board found his opinion reasoned and based on the…
F.W. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Oak Harbor, WA
F.W. (ECAB 11-1348): New medical reports require claim review
F.W., a Navy supply technician, claimed a fungal infection from exposure to bird droppings and other materials in a warehouse. OWCP had denied the claim for insufficient evidence that work caused the condition and later refused to reopen it. The Board found that one physician’s report had reached…
T.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brockton, MA
T.A. (ECAB 11-1188): Overpayment confirmed, waiver sent back
T.A., a postal worker receiving FECA compensation, also received Social Security retirement benefits attributable in part to federal service. OWCP had not offset that portion for more than nine years and calculated a $4,685.42 overpayment. The Board upheld the amount; OWCP had found T.A. was not at…
S.A. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
S.A. (ECAB 11-1124): Hearing aids approved despite no ratable impairment
S.A., a Navy shipyard employee, had accepted hearing loss from workplace noise but a zero percent rating under the schedule award formula. OWCP denied both a monetary schedule award and hearing aids, then rejected his late request for review of the written record. The Board upheld the zero percent…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newark, NJ
J.H. (ECAB 11-0607): Thirteen percent leg impairment award upheld
J.H. had an accepted right knee injury and sought a schedule award for permanent leg impairment. His physician initially rated the impairment at 19 percent under the fifth edition of the AMA Guides, then rated it at 13 percent under the sixth edition. OWCP granted a 13 percent award. The Board…
Mining & Property Specialists
One-dollar penalty vacated for fuller findings
Mining & Property Specialists kept a personnel carrier's electrical examination book at its office 9.1 miles from the mine rather than at the mine site. An ALJ affirmed the record-availability violation but reduced the Secretary's proposed $100 penalty to one dollar based on the company's…
Matter of Javier Jesus ESPINOSA GUILLOT
Cuban adjustment counts as admission
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Cuban respondent who had adjusted status to lawful permanent resident under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act. The respondent had later been convicted of trafficking in cannabis and was charged with…
K.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Suburban Processing & Distribution Center, Gaithersburg, MD
K.J. (ECAB 11-1618): Unsigned notes did not reopen back injury claim
K.J., a postal clerk, claimed a back injury after a mail tray handle broke at work. OWCP accepted the incident but denied the claim because the medical evidence did not adequately connect a diagnosed condition to it. After an earlier Board remand and another merits denial, K.J. submitted unsigned…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Center, Memphis, TN
L.P. (ECAB 11-1343): Emotional condition claim denied over personnel actions
L.P., a postal mail processing clerk, attributed depression and other symptoms to reassignment, reduced hours, leave disputes, and treatment by supervisors. OWCP denied her claim because she had not established a compensable work factor. The Board found that her allegations concerned administrative…
B.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Memphis, TN
B.W. (ECAB 11-1261): Two late reconsideration requests denied
OWCP terminated B.W.’s compensation in 1992 after finding she refused an offer of suitable work, and last decided the merits in 1993. She again sought reconsideration twice in 2011, arguing that the old job offer was invalid. The Board found both requests far outside the one-year filing period. It…
E.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Raleigh, NC
E.T. (ECAB 11-1239): Leg impairment schedule award denied
E.T., a retired postal distribution clerk, had an accepted lumbar disc condition and lower extremity radicular syndrome. She sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of her legs. OWCP’s medical adviser found no objective evidence of leg radiculopathy on the most recent examination and rated…
R.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, South Hackensack, NJ
R.G. (ECAB 11-1145): Knee impairment rating sent for independent examination
R.G., a postal letter carrier, received an eight percent schedule award for permanent left leg impairment after accepted knee conditions. Dr. Becan rated impairment at 18 percent based on moderate patellar instability, while OWCP’s medical adviser rated it at eight percent based on mild…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Bulk Mail Facility, Philadelphia, PA
A.J. (ECAB 11-0984): Medical benefit termination reversed
A.J., a postal mail handler, had accepted chest wall, clavicle, sternum, and related conditions after a 1999 vehicle accident at work. OWCP stopped his medical benefits based on a second opinion physician’s report that questioned whether the accepted fractures were supported by the record. The…
L.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Vehicle Maintenance Facility, Capitol Heights, MD
L.H. (ECAB 11-0900): Attorney fee approval upheld
L.H., a postal vehicle maintenance worker, disputed the fee his former attorney requested for work on a schedule award claim. He said the agreed fee was $2,500 and objected to an additional $4,342.29 balance. The Board found that he had signed a retainer agreement specifying an hourly rate, a…
Barnhart, Inc.
Settlement approved after construction-safety decision
OSHA cited Barnhart, the controlling contractor on a Marine Corps barracks renovation, for electrical, floor-hole, fall-protection, training, and inspection issues involving its subcontractors. The appended judge's decision had affirmed three items involving temporary cords, uncovered floor holes…
United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Drum, New York (Agency) and National Association of Government Employees, Local R2-61 (Union)
Fort Drum and NAGE Local R2-61 (FLRA 0-AR-4683): Weekend bus-driver overtime upheld
Fort Drum scheduled motor vehicle operators for twelve-hour shifts on Saturdays and Sundays but declined to pay overtime after the first eight hours. An arbitrator found that the parties' agreement required overtime for work beyond eight hours a day and ordered past and ongoing time-and-a-half…
Cordero Mining, LLC
Retaliatory discharge found with reinstatement and $40,000 penalty
Shovel operator Cindy Clapp repeatedly raised safety concerns about blocked equipment visibility, unmanned dozers, uncontrolled dust, and a procedure requiring overloaded haul trucks to turn and dump near the coal face. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that supervisors responded with hostility…
Allen Barry and Tim Barry d/b/a Allen Barry Livestock
In re Allen Barry and Tim Barry d/b/a Allen Barry Livestock (EAB CWA Appeal No. 11-07): reconsideration granted and penalty order vacated
An EPA administrative law judge found Allen Barry and Tim Barry d/b/a Allen Barry Livestock in default for failing to file the required prehearing materials or a signed consent agreement and assessed a $75,000 penalty for violations of an NPDES permit. The EAB later elected to review the matter on…
A.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Southwest Carrier Annex, Chicago, IL
A.B. (ECAB 11-1237): Knee injury claim denied for lack of medical explanation
A.B., a postal city carrier, reported slipping on ice and falling on steps while delivering mail. OWCP accepted the March 1, 2010 incident but denied his left knee injury claim. The Board found that the doctors who diagnosed a meniscus tear marked form questions to indicate a work connection…
J.H. and Department of the Army, Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, GA
J.H. (ECAB 11-1211): Back injury benefit termination upheld
J.H., an Army equipment mechanic, received compensation for an accepted back strain and aggravation of arthritis after lifting batteries in 1970. OWCP ended compensation and medical benefits after a later examination found the work-related conditions had resolved. The Board found that the examining…
D.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, West Bloomfield, MI
D.K. (ECAB 11-1143): Knee injury denial upheld after new report
D.K., a postal letter carrier, reported slipping on a ramp at work and later having a torn left knee meniscus. OWCP denied the claim, and the Board had twice upheld the denial for insufficient medical proof of causation. On reconsideration, D.K. submitted a physician’s report linking the tear to…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Baltimore, MD
D.D. (ECAB 11-1102): Asthma benefit termination reversed
D.D., a former postal letter sorting machine operator, received compensation for an accepted aggravation of preexisting asthma. OWCP terminated wage-loss and medical benefits based on an impartial specialist’s opinion that the work-related aggravation had ended. The Board found that the specialist…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
S.W. (ECAB 11-0895): Insurance premium overpayment confirmed, waiver sent back
S.W., a postal clerk receiving FECA compensation, kept basic and optional federal life insurance coverage. OWCP missed some premium deductions and found it had overpaid her $1,591.58. The Board upheld that amount and noted OWCP found her without fault. It found that OWCP’s hearing representative…
M.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
M.W. (ECAB 11-0836): Emotional condition denial upheld with narrower work factors
M.W., a Veterans Affairs cashier, attributed anxiety and panic symptoms to her workload and workplace disputes. OWCP treated her report of feeling overwhelmed by the workload and not getting promised help as a compensable factor, but denied the claim for insufficient medical proof. The Board found…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cherry Hill, NJ
J.M. (ECAB 11-0402): Eleven percent shoulder impairment award upheld
J.M., a postal letter carrier, had accepted right shoulder conditions after a fall at work. His physician rated his permanent arm impairment at 21 percent using the fifth edition of the AMA Guides, while later reviewers rated it at 11 percent using the sixth edition. OWCP granted the 11 percent…
21st Century Roofing Systems, Inc.
Roof fall citations affirmed by default
OSHA observed 21st Century Roofing employees working near the edge of a low-slope roof without adequate fall protection. The warning line was only about 2.5 to 4 feet from the edge instead of the required 6 feet, and employees worked outside it near a roughly 25-foot drop without a safety monitor…
Tilcon New York, Inc.
Timely response defeated default
Tilcon New York was treated as being in default after failing to answer a penalty petition. The operator showed that it had timely responded to the later show-cause order, although its filing contained a typographical error in the docket number, and that it had reached a settlement with the…
Junction City Mining Company, LLC
Unreceived show-cause order defeated default
Junction City Mining failed to answer a penalty petition, and the Chief Judge entered a default through a show-cause order. The operator said it never received that order or other correspondence before a delinquency notice arrived. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission held that the…
Matter of Judith Elma CAMARILLO
Notice to appear triggers the stop-time rule
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal after an Immigration Judge granted cancellation of removal to a lawful permanent resident from Guatemala. The Board held that service of a notice to appear ends continuous residence under the stop-time rule even when the notice does not yet state the date and time of…
Melrose Quarry & Asphalt, LLC
Two defaults vacated after management transition
Melrose Quarry failed to answer two penalty petitions, resulting in final default orders. Its current management said it was working through three years of citations left unhandled by prior management and obtained the penalty petitions only after contacting the Solicitor's Office after default…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Nashville, TN
T.J. (ECAB 11-1810): Late hearing request denied
T.J., a postal worker with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, received arm schedule awards and had wage-loss and medical benefits terminated in earlier decisions. She requested an oral hearing in May 2011 without identifying which decision she wanted reviewed. The Board found the request…
L.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kearny, NJ
L.D. (ECAB 11-1146): Disability claim sent back for medical explanation
L.D., a postal distribution clerk, sought disability compensation for March 15 through September 28, 2007 based on accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. An earlier Board decision had directed OWCP to develop the medical evidence on whether that condition kept her from working. Her physician…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sacramento, CA
M.H. (ECAB 11-1117): Continuing compensation denied after injury benefits ended
M.H., a postal clerk, sought compensation for medical problems and lost wages after her benefits for a 2003 neck and left shoulder injury ended. An earlier Board decision had upheld the termination, leaving her to prove that later conditions or disability were related to the injury. Her physician…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
C.G. (ECAB 11-1087): Left arm claim and reconsideration denial affirmed
C.G., a postal letter carrier, claimed that carrying mail and using a push cart on a new route caused left shoulder and forearm problems. Her physician attributed the condition to prolonged carrying of a mail satchel over her left shoulder, but C.G. said she had not carried it that way. The Board…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Galvin, WA
T.B. (ECAB 11-983): Reconsideration denials affirmed without claim review
T.B., a postmaster, claimed a back injury from moving mail and packages in 1998, but filed her claim in 2009. OWCP denied the claim as untimely in an earlier merit decision. The Board could review only her later reconsideration denials because she appealed more than 180 days after the merit…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Washington, DC
T.W. (ECAB 11-867): Back injury claim denied for lack of medical explanation
T.W., a postal letter carrier, reported back pain after lifting a tray from a mail tub at work on August 25, 2010. OWCP accepted that the lifting incident happened but denied the injury claim because the medical evidence did not explain its connection to his back condition. The Board found that…
A.R. and Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Springfield, VA
A.R. (ECAB 11-345): Driveway fall before commute outside performance of duty
A.R., a Drug Enforcement Administration investigator, fractured his right arm when he slipped on ice in his driveway while clearing snow and frozen doors from an assigned government vehicle. He had permission to use the vehicle between home and work and argued that clearing it was required…
G.N. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Chicago, IL
G.N. (ECAB 11-1140): Leg impairment awards sent back for new ratings
G.N., a Veterans Affairs food service worker, received schedule awards for impairment from an accepted right ankle fracture and lumbar condition. After an earlier Board remand, OWCP rated her right leg at 10 percent and left leg at 4 percent, subtracting amounts already paid. The Board found that…
P.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office
P.C. (ECAB 11-1040): Knee injury claim denied over conflicting accounts
P.C., a postal window clerk, said she hurt her left knee while kneeling to retrieve receipt paper from a low cabinet in December 2009. The Board accepted that she knelt by the cabinet but found conflicting accounts of whether and how she twisted or struck her knee. Her supervisor disputed part of…
K.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
K.C. (ECAB 11-1025): Repayment of $1,234.10 benefit overpayment affirmed
K.C., a postal mail handler receiving wage-loss benefits, also received administrative leave wages for November 8 through 20, 2010. The Board found that the overlapping payments created a $1,234.10 FECA overpayment. Although OWCP found him without fault, he did not provide the requested financial…
M.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
M.D. (ECAB 11-928): Wage-loss termination reversed over medical conflict
M.D., a postal mail handler, received wage-loss benefits after OWCP accepted a recurrence of disability related to her neck and right elbow injury. Her treating physician reported continuing symptoms and substantial work restrictions, while OWCP’s examiner found almost no objective impairment and…
N.P. and Department of the Army, Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA
N.P. (ECAB 11-883): Disability compensation denied for two claimed periods
N.P., an Army language instructor, had accepted neck and lumbar sprains after a fall at work in December 2008. She sought wage-loss benefits for two later periods when she said she could not work. The Board found that her physicians’ notes did not adequately explain why the accepted strains…
Z.Z. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Compton, CA
Z.Z. (ECAB 11-835): Reconsideration denied without reopening stress claim
Z.Z., a postal letter carrier, sought compensation for an emotional condition he attributed to treatment by his supervisors. OWCP had denied the claim because he had not established a compensable workplace factor. The Board could review only OWCP’s later refusal to reconsider, since the appeal came…
J.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Toledo, OH
J.E. (ECAB 11-711): Back injury, consequential condition, and surgery claims denied
J.E., a postal clerk with an accepted 1987 back injury, claimed that pushing a mail cart in 2001 caused a new back injury, urinary incontinence, and a need for surgery. Earlier Board remands required OWCP to obtain an adequate impartial medical opinion. The new impartial specialist found no…
L.B. and Department of the Army, Health Services Command, Fort Gordon, GA
L.B. (ECAB 11-517): Left leg impairment claim returned for new evaluation
L.B., a former Army food service worker, sought a larger schedule award for left leg impairment following an accepted back injury. She had already received an award for six percent impairment of that leg. A referral physician rated impairment at 14 percent using a spine table, but a schedule award…
ICG Beckley, LLC
Late penalty petition accepted and stays denied
MSHA filed one penalty petition slightly more than three months after the Commission's 45-day deadline, citing a high contest rate and limited staff. ICG Beckley sought dismissal and argued that fading witness memories caused prejudice. Judge David F. Barbour accepted the late petition because the…
Active Minerals Intl., LLC
Equipment violations upheld, training citation vacated, $77,000 assessed
A contractor's loader operator was fatally run over after an unsecured passenger accidentally released the parking brake while the loader was stopped on an inclined ramp. Judge Priscilla M. Rae affirmed violations for transporting a passenger without a secure seat, leaving the loader bucket raised…
Amfire Mining Company, LLC
Mailed contest mishap excused and assessment reopened
Amfire sought to reopen a penalty assessment after MSHA had no record of receiving its contest for Citation No. 8012006. The company's safety director said he mailed that contest in the same envelope as another contest that MSHA did receive. He discovered the delinquency while reviewing MSHA's Mine…
Lone Mountain Processing, Inc.
Stay of penalty payment denied pending appeal
Lone Mountain appealed an order that had denied its request to reopen three final penalty assessments. It asked the Commission to stay payment of the penalties or allow payment into an escrow account while the appeal proceeded. The Commission found no new or compelling basis showing that Lone…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Emergency request to narrow roof-fall order denied
A large roof fall struck and damaged scaling equipment operated by a miner at Pattison Sand's underground mine. MSHA issued a section 103(k) order barring activity in unbolted and unmeshed areas south of crosscut L, and Pattison asked for an immediate ruling that would vacate or narrow the order…
Fittstone, Inc.
MSHA jurisdiction upheld over local gravel operation
Fittstone argued that MSHA lacked jurisdiction because its Oklahoma limestone gravel operation did not substantially affect interstate commerce. Judge L. Zane Gill held that local economic activity may be regulated when similar activity in the aggregate affects interstate commerce. He found that…
Capital Quarries Company, Inc.
Incomplete contest form excused and assessment reopened
Capital Quarries timely sent MSHA a contest form for a proposed assessment containing one citation but failed to attach the citation check-off sheet. MSHA treated the submission as incomplete rather than as a penalty contest, and the assessment became final. Capital said it intended to contest the…
Melvin E. Muncy v. Elkay Mining Company
Muncy v. Elkay Mining Company (BRB 11-0187): surface work at underground mine reconsidered
Melvin Muncy had a totally disabling respiratory impairment and nearly 16 years of coal mine work. A judge denied benefits after excluding 11 months of aboveground work at an underground mine from the 15 years needed for a statutory presumption. The Board held that such work counts without a…
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.