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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P.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board upholds denial of late hearing request (ECAB 24-0447)
A VA employee sought an OWCP oral hearing after a decision concerning his longstanding injury claim. The request arrived more than 30 days after the decision. The Board found OWCP reasonably declined to grant a hearing in its discretion and affirmed the denial without reviewing the underlying claim…
S.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board orders merits review of exposure claim (ECAB 23-1113)
A VA health system specialist sought reconsideration of a denied occupational disease claim involving cancer and alleged workplace exposure. She argued that employer records about the exposure were incomplete or altered. The Board found the argument new and relevant to causation, without deciding…
D.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board upholds retirement benefit overpayment (ECAB 21-0187)
A VA employee received FECA wage-loss and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service without a required offset. The Board upheld a $3,424.05 overpayment from September 2017 through October 2019, although he was without fault. Because he had not supplied the requested…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Southeast Mining, LLC
Mine-fire report ordered produced with redactions
After a fire at Peabody's Shoal Creek Mine, the Secretary sought the company's internal investigation report in discovery. The judge found that the report was prepared in anticipation of litigation and therefore qualified as work product. She nevertheless held that the Secretary had substantial…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies injury claim after mail truck collision (ECAB 24-0733)
A postal carrier reported back symptoms after a rear-end collision involving his mail truck. OWCP accepted the March 9, 2024 work incident, but the Board found no qualifying physician report establishing a diagnosed condition connected with it. A form with an illegible signature and nurse reports…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds light duty wage-loss termination (ECAB 24-0732)
A postal mail processor was offered a temporary modified job within her medical restrictions. The Board found the position remained available and would have paid the wages of her injury-date job, while no reasoned medical evidence showed she could not perform it. Although she accepted the position…
D.O. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders reasons for lumbar reconsideration denial (ECAB 24-0565)
A postal mail dock clerk sought reconsideration of a denial of additional lumbar conditions beyond an accepted sprain. OWCP called the request untimely and insufficient to show clear error, but its decision did not give adequate findings and reasons about the submitted evidence. The Board set aside…
F.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board rejects late asthma reconsideration (ECAB 24-0484)
A VA program analyst asked OWCP to reconsider a denied asthma claim involving alleged perfume and cologne exposure. The request was filed after the applicable deadline. The Board found her statements and additional records did not raise a substantial question about the earlier denial and affirmed…
L.L. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Board denies permanent impairment award (ECAB 24-0332)
An IRS employee sought a schedule award after several accepted conditions stemming from a workplace fall. The Board gave special weight to an impartial examiner who found a normal examination and no ratable permanent impairment of a scheduled body part under the applicable guides. It affirmed…
Shanker, Chief, Div. of Enforcement, OLMS, USDOL v. Patent Office Professional Association
Shanker v. Patent Office Professional Association (DOL ARB 2023-0001): Supervised union-election result certified
The Board had found that the Patent Office Professional Association violated federal union-election law and ordered a new presidential election supervised by the Office of Labor-Management Standards. After the original deadline was replaced and then extended, the supervised election was held on…
T.T. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds federal retirement offset debt (ECAB 24-0701)
A postal letter carrier received FECA wage-loss and Social Security retirement benefits attributable to federal service without the required offset. The Board upheld a $23,677.92 overpayment from August 2022 through November 2023, although she was without fault. It also upheld denial of waiver and…
O.E. and Department of the Navy
Board rounds hearing award up to three percent (ECAB 24-0653)
A Navy shipyard painter sought a larger schedule award for work-related hearing loss. The Board agreed with the medical calculation of 2.5 percent binaural impairment but held OWCP’s rounding policy required it to be rounded up to three percent. It affirmed the decision as modified.
D.H. and U.S. Postal Service
Board reverses termination over unsuitable job offer (ECAB 24-0539)
A postal letter carrier with accepted back, neck, shoulder, wrist, and other conditions was offered modified work. OWCP ended her wage-loss and schedule award benefits after she refused the offer. The Board found OWCP had not established that the commute fit her medical travel and sitting…
W.U. and Department of the Army
Board reverses large VA benefit overpayment (ECAB 21-0530)
An Army law enforcement employee received FECA benefits for a civilian back injury and VA disability benefits for a service-connected back condition. OWCP treated the payments as prohibited duplicate benefits and assessed a $742,190.73 overpayment. The Board found the VA had clarified its increase…
C.V. and Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service
Board denies knee injury claim for lack of medical causation (ECAB 24-0716)
A Forest Service technician reported hurting his right knee while walking on rocky terrain at work. The work incident was accepted, but the Board found no reasoned physician opinion linking a diagnosed condition to it. Reports from nonphysician providers and diagnostic scans alone did not establish…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies schedule award after cervical injury (ECAB 24-0709)
A postal rural carrier sought a schedule award after accepted cervical conditions and surgery. A second-opinion surgeon found no sensory or motor loss from spinal nerve impairment, and the district medical adviser agreed with his zero-percent upper-extremity rating. The Board held that the record…
S.W. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies lower-extremity impairment award (ECAB 24-0634)
A postal carrier with an accepted lumbar sprain sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of her legs. An impartial medical examiner found no lower-extremity sensory or motor deficits and no ratable impairment under the applicable guides. The Board gave his reasoned opinion special weight…
M.L. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Board orders medical review of hearing award claim (ECAB 24-0717)
An FBI special agent sought a schedule award after hearing and vestibular symptoms following exposure to nearby explosives at work. A physician rated vestibular impairment using later medical reports, but OWCP did not send that evidence to a district medical adviser for review. The Board set aside…
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service
Board rejects late emotional-condition reconsideration (ECAB 24-0695)
A postal mail handler asked OWCP to revisit a 1999 denial of his emotional-condition claim. The Board found the request was late and his argument about employer attendance at a hearing did not show clear error in the earlier merits decision. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim without…
G.N. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board rejects injury claim from public parking lot (ECAB 24-0684)
A VA clinic health aide said a bird struck her head and she fell in a shopping mall parking lot while leaving work. The Board found the lot was open to the public and employees were neither required to use it nor assigned spaces there. Because the lot was outside the employer’s premises, the…
B.A. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds denial of merit reconsideration (ECAB 24-0622)
A postal mail handler sought reconsideration of an earlier claim decision. The Board found his request did not show a legal error or provide relevant new evidence warranting a review of the merits. In particular, new physician assistant notes could not supply the required medical opinion under…
S.R. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies work-related carpal tunnel claim (ECAB 24-0540)
A postal sales and distribution employee alleged that her work caused bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The Board found the submitted physician evidence did not explain how the accepted work duties caused or aggravated the condition. Physical therapist notes, unsigned records, and diagnostic…
D.C. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders fuller review of disability recurrence (ECAB 23-1141)
A postal rural carrier associate sought benefits for a claimed recurrence of disability after an accepted lower-back injury. The Board found OWCP had not adequately developed whether her condition worsened or whether available limited-duty work changed or was withdrawn. It directed OWCP to obtain…
C.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board orders development of workplace COVID exposure (ECAB 23-0870)
A VA inventory management specialist claimed he contracted COVID-19 through workplace exposure. The Board found OWCP had not requested information from the employer needed to determine whether exposure occurred at work. It set aside the denial and ordered further development and a new decision…
Secretary of Labor v. C&C Leasing & Excavating, Inc.
Owner's hospitalization justified reopening
C&C's owner normally sent proposed assessments to a safety consultant for review. While the owner was repeatedly hospitalized because of illness, he failed to forward this assessment and the contest deadline passed. The company responded by designating another employee to handle assessments during…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Final penalties mooted order contests
Morton Salt timely contested four MSHA orders but did not separately contest the later proposed penalties tied to those orders. The penalties became final, and the Commission denied with prejudice a separate motion to reopen them. Morton Salt did not appeal that denial or respond to a later…
Gary D. Fridley v. Elk Run Coal Company
Fridley v. Elk Run Coal (BRB 22-0482 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Gary Fridley worked underground in coal mines for 28.33 years and received an award of black lung benefits. Elk Run Coal appealed the judge's findings that Fridley was totally disabled by a respiratory impairment and that the company had not rebutted the 15-year presumption. The Board held that the…
Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL v. Next Level Security Service, LLC
Overtime penalties increased to $124,968.70
Next Level Security Service and related entities operated a security-guard business that willfully underpaid overtime to 73 employees. The Wage and Hour Division originally assessed $151,050 in civil penalties, while an administrative judge reduced that figure to $36,440 based partly on individual…
Bauche v. Masimo Corp.
SOX complaint dismissals affirmed
John Bauche alleged that Masimo retaliated against him under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act through litigation, a criminal referral and press release, blacklisting, and decisions not to rehire him. The Board held that earlier rulings made the civil-lawsuit and criminal-referral claims untimely as discrete…
S.J. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses postal worker late appeal (ECAB 24-0779)
A postal worker appealed a September 8, 2023 OWCP decision on July 15, 2024. The 180-day filing deadline expired on March 6, 2024. The Board found no documented compelling circumstance for the delay and dismissed the appeal without deciding the underlying claim.
M.C. and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Board dismisses late OSHA employee appeal (ECAB 24-0772)
An OSHA employee appealed a July 29, 2023 OWCP decision on July 18, 2024. The 180-day deadline expired on January 25, 2024. The Board found no documented compelling circumstance excusing the late filing and dismissed the appeal without reaching the claim merits.
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses late appeal of December 12 ruling (ECAB 24-0761)
A postal worker appealed a December 12, 2023 OWCP decision on July 10, 2024. The 180-day deadline for that decision expired on June 9, 2024. With no documented compelling circumstance for the late filing, the Board dismissed the appeal without deciding the underlying claim.
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses late appeal of December 2023 ruling (ECAB 24-0756)
A postal worker appealed a December 20, 2023 OWCP decision on July 10, 2024. The 180-day deadline expired on June 17, 2024. The Board found no documented compelling circumstance for the delay and dismissed this appeal without reaching the underlying claim.
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board dismisses appeal filed after 180-day deadline (ECAB 24-0725)
A postal worker appealed a January 12, 2023 OWCP decision on June 27, 2024. The 180-day filing deadline had passed on July 11, 2023. The Board found no documented compelling circumstance excusing the delay and dismissed the appeal without reviewing the compensation merits.
R.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board orders medical review of respiratory and back claims (ECAB 24-0691)
A postal electronic technician attributed respiratory symptoms to workplace exposure to chickens and eggs and a lumbar condition to physical job duties. The Board found that physician reports supporting a work connection called for further development. It set aside OWCP’s denial and directed…
A.G. and Department of the Army, Defense Health Agency
Board denies bilateral arm condition claim (ECAB 24-0647)
An Army printing services specialist attributed arm conditions to work that included handling heavy boxes and cubicle equipment. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately explain how the accepted work factors caused or aggravated the diagnosed conditions. It affirmed OWCP’s denial.
M.A. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies knee injury claim without diagnosis (ECAB 24-0617)
A postal mail handler said she struck her right knee while moving wires at work in January 2018. The Board accepted the reported incident but found the medical evidence did not establish a diagnosed condition linked to it. It affirmed OWCP’s injury claim denial.
C.C. and Department of the Navy
Board orders combination of related knee claim files (ECAB 24-0604)
A retired Navy engineering technician claimed bilateral knee arthritis from years of climbing in and out of tanks. He also had an earlier accepted right-knee injury claim in a separate file. The Board held that the overlapping knee records needed to be combined for a fair decision. It set aside the…
T.E. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds denial of merit reconsideration (ECAB 24-0575)
A postal letter carrier asked OWCP to reopen an earlier injury claim. The Board found her request did not meet any regulatory ground for merit reconsideration. The additional medical material did not address the particular issue underlying the earlier denial. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to reopen…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies claimed disability from back condition (ECAB 24-0574)
A postal rural carrier sought wage-loss compensation beginning December 23, 2020 after an accepted work injury. The Board found that the medical records did not adequately establish that the accepted condition disabled her from work during the claimed period. Diagnostic studies alone did not…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service
Board denies additional injury conditions and wage loss (ECAB 24-0552)
A postal mail processing clerk fell at work and sought to add right hip and lumbar conditions to her accepted injury claim. She also claimed disability compensation for May 23 through July 21, 2023. The Board found the medical reports did not adequately explain a causal link between the fall and…
A.M. and U.S. Postal Service
Board upholds denials of recurrence and expanded claim (ECAB 24-0413)
A postal carrier sought further treatment and disability benefits after an accepted work injury and asked to add cervical and left shoulder conditions to his claim. The Board found the evidence did not establish a related recurrence of treatment needs, the additional conditions, or disability…
H.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies workplace emotional-condition claim (ECAB 24-0375)
A VA pharmacy technician attributed an emotional condition to management handling of her harassment and retaliation complaints and to claimed workplace harassment. The Board found no corroborated management error or abuse and no adequate evidence that the alleged harassment occurred. Because no…
Secretary of Labor v. Saiia Construction Co., LLC
Headlights alone did not safely illuminate quarry work
Saiia began quarry work before sunrise using only the lights mounted on its haul trucks and excavator. The judge credited testimony that those lights did not adequately reveal the dump edge, berm condition, haul-road turns, or people approaching equipment. He held that the conditions violated the…
Wanda J. Woodard (on behalf of and widow of Edward C. Woodard) v. Stone Mountain Trucking Company
Woodard v. Stone Mountain Trucking (BRB 23-0497 and 23-0498): miner and survivor denials remanded
Wanda Woodard pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim after an administrative law judge denied both. The judge found that the miner was not totally disabled by a respiratory or pulmonary impairment, which also defeated a possible presumption and derivative survivor…
Wanda J. Woodard (on behalf of and widow of Edward C. Woodard) v. Stone Mountain Trucking Company
Woodard v. Stone Mountain Trucking (BRB 23-0497 and 23-0498): miner and survivor denials remanded
Wanda Woodard pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim after an administrative law judge denied both. The judge found that the miner was not totally disabled by a respiratory or pulmonary impairment, which also defeated a possible presumption and derivative survivor…
Phyllis J. Brown (on behalf of and widow of Kermit Q. Brown) v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Brown v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 23-0311 and 23-0488 BLA): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Phyllis J. Brown pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim against Clinchfield Coal Company. The administrative law judge credited Kermit Brown with 27.48 years of qualifying coal mine employment, found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, applied the fifteen…
Phyllis J. Brown (on behalf of and widow of Kermit Q. Brown) v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Brown v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 23-0311 and 23-0488): miner and survivor benefits affirmed
Phyllis Brown pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim after an administrative law judge awarded both. The miner had 27.48 years of qualifying coal mine employment, and the judge found that pulmonary function studies and medical opinions established total disability…
Vollendorf v. Blue Northern Distributing
STAA settlement approved
Clifton Vollendorf alleged that Blue Northern Distributing retaliated against him in violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act. An administrative judge ruled for Vollendorf, and the company petitioned the Board for review before the parties settled. The Board reviewed the agreement…
T.M. and Department of the Army
Board denies continuation of pay for late COVID notice (ECAB 24-0729)
An Army administrative specialist sought continuation of pay for COVID-19 diagnosed in November 2021. Her claim was treated as a traumatic injury under the rules then applicable, but she did not file an approved notice until April 2024. The Board held that she missed the 30-day notice period and…
B.K. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Board upholds injury denial and abandoned hearing (ECAB 24-0728)
A Customs and Border Protection agent sought benefits for a claimed left testicle condition attributed to work factors. The Board found no qualifying medical diagnosis connected with those factors. It also upheld OWCP’s finding that he abandoned an oral hearing after receiving notice but failing to…
J.J. and Department of the Air Force
Board denies back injury claim for lack of causation (ECAB 24-0724)
An Air Force geospatial specialist reported low-back pain and right-leg numbness after moving survey equipment at work. The Board found the medical reports did not adequately link a diagnosed condition to the accepted incident. A physician assistant report and a scan predating the incident did not…
Y.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs
Board denies COVID claim without qualifying diagnosis (ECAB 24-0723)
A VA nurse claimed COVID-19 from exposure to patients and staff at work. The Board accepted the workplace exposure but found the medical evidence did not establish a COVID-19 diagnosis causally related to it. It affirmed OWCP’s denial.
G.B. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency
Board rejects second overpayment hearing requests (ECAB 24-0652)
A Defense Logistics Agency worker received a prerecoupment hearing before OWCP finalized an overpayment decision. He then requested more hearings after the final ruling. The Board held that the hearing right did not extend to a second hearing on a final overpayment decision and affirmed both…
V.D. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Board orders impartial review of limb impairment (ECAB 24-0532)
A Homeland Security employee sought additional schedule award compensation for impairment of both legs and arms. Her physician’s assessment conflicted with OWCP’s second-opinion physician and district medical adviser. The Board set aside OWCP’s decision and directed an impartial specialist to…
A.L. and Department of the Army
Board rejects late injury-claim reconsideration (ECAB 24-0364)
An Army food service worker sought reconsideration of an earlier injury claim ruling. The Board found the request was filed outside the applicable period and did not show clear evidence of error in the earlier merits decision. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim.
Luke Maiden, Jr. v. Consol Mining Company, LLC
Maiden v. Consol Mining (BRB 23-0458 BLA): black lung benefits award affirmed
Luke Maiden had 19 years of coal mine employment, and an administrative law judge awarded him black lung benefits after finding a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The employer challenged the finding that it had failed to rebut the 15-year presumption. The Board held that the judge properly…
Chaseon R. Riley v. Cargill, Incorporated
Riley v. Cargill (BRB 23-0190): Longshore benefits denial affirmed
Chaseon Riley fell while working as a barge cover handler for Cargill and later sought disability and medical benefits for a spinal condition. The judge found Riley had invoked the Longshore Act's presumption that an injury is work related, but that the employer rebutted it with a neurosurgeon's…
Randall R. Fuller v. Har Lee Coal Company, Incorporated
Fuller v. Har Lee Coal (BRB 23-0169 BLA): black lung benefits denial affirmed
Randall Fuller sought black lung benefits after 15.26 years of underground coal mine employment. The judge found that conflicting x-ray readings and the other evidence did not establish complicated pneumoconiosis, and that Fuller had not established a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The…
Kane K. Ahuna v. SSA Pacific, Incorporated
Ahuna v. SSA Pacific (BRB 22-0373): wage loss finding remanded
Kane Ahuna injured his neck while working as a longshore mechanic for SSA Pacific and later moved to lighter winch board work. A judge found that he had no loss of wage earning capacity and denied permanent partial disability benefits. The Board upheld her calculation of his preinjury average…
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.