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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D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
D.G. (ECAB 10-2267): Wrist impairment award remanded for impartial examination
D.G., a postal letter carrier, disputed a ten percent right arm award for an accepted wrist injury. Her physician calculated twelve percent impairment, while OWCP's medical adviser calculated ten percent using different grade modifiers. The Board found a medical conflict over the rating and ordered…
J.H. and Department of the Navy, Nellis Air Force Base, NV
J.H. (ECAB 10-2223): Carpal tunnel termination affirmed in part and remanded
J.H., a federal employee with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, challenged termination of compensation. The Board found the original termination supported, but the later evidence left open whether residuals of the accepted left hand condition continued. It affirmed OWCP's decision in part…
E.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Santa Clarita, CA
E.R. (ECAB 10-2140): Receptionist wage capacity reduction reversed
E.R., a postal employee, had her compensation reduced based on an assumed ability to work as a receptionist. OWCP relied on a physician's older opinion that predated her back surgery. The Board found no current medical assessment considering both work related and preexisting conditions when the…
H.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC
H.C. (ECAB 10-2119): Schedule award reconsideration refusal remanded
H.C., a VA radiology technician, sought reconsideration of when an additional schedule award should start. Counsel raised a new legal argument that OWCP's chosen start date conflicted with its procedures and disadvantaged her. The Board found that argument sufficient to require a merits review. It…
R.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Rosiclare, IL
R.H. (ECAB 10-2028): Emotional condition claim denial affirmed
R.H., a postal worker, linked emotional symptoms to alleged supervisor harassment and overwork. The Board found insufficient corroboration that harassment occurred or that her workload was excessive. Without a proven compensable work factor, the claim could not succeed. It affirmed OWCP's denial.
S.D. and Department of the Army, Communications Security Logistics Activity, Fort Huachuca, AZ
S.D. (ECAB 10-1391): Early arrival premises injury denial affirmed
S.D., an Army employee, fell on the employer's premises well before her workday began. She had arrived early for a preferred parking space and was reading in the lobby. The Board found that this personal activity was not reasonably incidental to her work or of substantial benefit to the employer…
Tecta America New England, LLC
Unprotected roof-edge work results in serious citation
Two Tecta roofing employees worked near the edge of a commercial roof about 20 feet above the ground without tying off their available fall-protection equipment. The working foreman's knowledge of the condition was imputed to the company. Tecta argued that the conduct was unpreventable because it…
Kingwood Mining Company, LLC
Reopening motions withdrawn without prejudice
Kingwood Mining had asked the Commission to reopen two final penalty assessments, and the Secretary opposed both requests. After ceasing operations at the mine, Kingwood sought to withdraw the reopening motions so it could pursue a global settlement of outstanding MSHA penalties. The Commission…
Carmeuse Lime and Stone
Reopening denied as more than one year late
Carmeuse Lime and Stone said it timely mailed a contest form, but MSHA had no record or independent evidence that the form was sent. The $8,000 balance appeared on later monthly assessments, and Carmeuse received collection notices in March and December 2010. Even after the first collection notice…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Kenneth R. Wilder v. Private Investigation and Counter Intelligence Services, Inc. and Bledsoe Coal Corporation
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Kenneth R. Wilder v. PICI and Bledsoe Coal (FMSHRC KENT 2011-1224-D): Temporary reinstatement compliance compelled
PICI and Bledsoe Coal responded to Kenneth Wilder's temporary reinstatement order by proposing economic reinstatement terms that Wilder and the Secretary had not accepted. Judge L. Zane Gill held that an ALJ may approve an agreed economic-reinstatement arrangement but cannot impose one without the…
R.L. and Department of State, American Embassy, Budapest, Hungary
R.L. (ECAB 10-2412): Overpayment waiver denial affirmed
R.L., a State Department employee, sought waiver of a $15,372.70 compensation overpayment. The Board found that his available retirement and other assets exceeded the waiver resource limit. He did not show that recovery would defeat the purpose of FECA or violate equity and good conscience. It…
J.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Huntington, WV
J.K. (ECAB 10-2355): Two disability period denials affirmed
J.K., a VA employee, claimed that an accepted 2008 injury disabled him during two periods in October 2009. His medical reports did not adequately explain how the accepted condition caused total disability on those dates, and they did not address a separate later fall. The Board found the medical…
Y.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Embarcadero Postal Center, San Francisco, CA
Y.S. (ECAB 10-2325): Compensation termination reversed after accepted recurrence
Y.S., a postal employee, had an accepted recurrence of disability after an earlier work injury. OWCP later terminated compensation using a medical opinion based on a statement that assumed a disputed injury had resolved. The Board found that opinion unreliable and that OWCP had not properly…
N.M. and Architect of the Capitol, U.S. Botanical Garden, Washington, DC
N.M. (ECAB 10-2217): Late reconsideration request denial affirmed
N.M., a Botanical Garden employee, sought reconsideration more than a year after two merits decisions. She argued that medical examiners may not have received the full case record. The Board found no evidence that they lacked an adequate history or that OWCP had clearly erred. It affirmed the…
R.B. and Department of Commerce, Census Bureau Partnership, Dallas, TX
R.B. (ECAB 10-2195): Employment overpayment and fault findings affirmed
R.B., a Census Bureau employee, received total disability compensation during periods when she also worked as a chaplain. OWCP calculated a $1,563.91 overpayment after accounting for her earning capacity. The Board found that she failed to report material work information and was at fault, making…
G.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Waltham, MA
G.W. (ECAB 10-2194): Wage termination affirmed but asbestos care restored
G.W., a postal employee, had accepted asbestos related lung findings. An impartial examiner supported the conclusion that those findings no longer disabled him from work, so the Board upheld termination of wage loss benefits. The examiner still identified asbestos related pleural changes that could…
D.H. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Miles City, MT
D.H. (ECAB 10-2176): Benefits termination reversed over deficient examiner report
D.H., a VA employee, challenged termination of benefits based on an impartial examiner's report. He and a physician testified that he had spoken with that examiner before the examiner was selected. OWCP did not ask the examiner about that possible prior contact. The Board found that OWCP could not…
I.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, NJ
I.C. (ECAB 10-2087): Suitable work benefits termination reversed
I.C., a TSA employee, declined an offered job that OWCP considered suitable under one physician's restrictions. His treating physicians identified additional spinal conditions and different work limits. The Board found a medical conflict about his capacity that OWCP had not resolved through an…
E.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Air Mail Center, New Orleans, LA
E.L. (ECAB 10-1946): Premium reimbursement affirmed and wage capacity remanded
E.L., a postal employee, disputed both health insurance premium reimbursement and a wage capacity calculation. The Board found that OWCP correctly reimbursed $895.05 in premiums. It found that OWCP had not adequately explained the pay rate used to calculate wage earning capacity, especially its…
D.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Portland International Airport, Portland, OR
D.M. (ECAB 10-1723): Airport exit injury claim remanded for premises inquiry
D.M., an airport employee, tripped over a passenger's roller bag after ending her shift and answering another passenger's question. OWCP denied the claim because it considered the accident site off premises after she signed out. The Board found that OWCP had not established the boundaries of the…
Long Branch Energy
Late penalty petitions dismissed
The Secretary filed seven Long Branch Energy penalty petitions between about seven and eleven months after the Commission's 45-day deadline. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that District 4's generic claims of increased contests, a backlog, and limited clerical staffing did not establish adequate…
B & B Underground Contractors
Excavation and gas-cylinder violations yield $8,000 penalty
B & B Underground Contractors operated a deep boring pit for a wastewater pipeline project in Alabama. The judge affirmed a serious violation for unsecured gas cylinders and found that the pit's only ramp was unsafe and more than 25 feet from employees' work area. Water was accumulating in the pit…
Stellar Management Group d/b/a QSI
Eye protection required during poultry-equipment rinsing
Stellar Management employees used high-pressure, heated water to clean poultry-processing equipment without eye protection. The spray blasted and splashed bone, blood, and chicken particles from equipment while employees worked within three or four feet. The judge found a serious eye hazard and…
C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
C.S. (ECAB 11-0081): Knee disability recurrence denial affirmed
C.S., a postal employee, had accepted knee abrasions and strain from a 2008 injury. She later claimed a recurrence of total disability beginning in March 2010. The Board found that her physician did not provide a well reasoned opinion connecting that later disability to the accepted injury. It…
E.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Newtown, PA
E.O. (ECAB 11-0075): Denial of larger right leg award upheld
E.O., a postal employee, sought more than the ten percent right leg impairment award OWCP granted on January 29, 2010. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser explained the rating under the applicable impairment guide and that the opposing reports did not establish a greater impairment. No…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, New Towne Post Office, Rockford, IL
J.B. (ECAB 11-0073): Reduced hours disability claim remanded, arm award affirmed
J.B., a postal employee with an accepted left thumb condition, lost four hours a day of modified work when the employer cut his schedule. OWCP did not obtain an answer to whether the full time assignment had been withdrawn, so the Board returned the wage loss issue for further development. No new…
C.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Charlotte, NC
C.L. (ECAB 11-0068): Ten percent shoulder award affirmed
C.L., a postal employee, sought more than ten percent impairment for his left arm. His physician's higher estimate used state guidelines or did not properly apply the federal impairment guide. OWCP's medical adviser supported the ten percent rating under the sixth edition. The Board affirmed the…
B.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Springfield, IL
B.G. (ECAB 10-2392): Five percent awards for each arm affirmed
B.G., a postal employee with accepted bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, sought more than five percent impairment for each arm. The Board found that the medical record supported the awards under the sixth edition of the impairment guide. That edition applied when OWCP decided the award, even though…
V.P. and Department of Defense, Defense Distribution Depot, Red River, Texarkana, TX
V.P. (ECAB 10-2381): Additional leg impairment award denied
V.P., a Defense Department employee, had already received an award for 40 percent left leg impairment. He requested an increase based on later reports about back pain and sciatica. Those reports did not evaluate additional permanent leg impairment from the accepted injuries. The Board affirmed the…
B.A. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Fayetteville Veterans Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
B.A. (ECAB 10-2356): Emotional condition claim denial affirmed
B.A., a VA employee, linked emotional symptoms to meeting minute transcription, revisions and alleged mistreatment by a superior. The Board found that she had not established the claimed work pressure or harassment with sufficient facts. Without a proven compensable employment factor, the claim…
N.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Elyria, OH
N.K. (ECAB 10-2214): Knee medical benefits termination reversed
N.K., a postal employee, had an accepted right knee ligament tear. OWCP ended medical benefits using a second impartial examiner's report without first seeking clarification from the original impartial examiner. The Board found that procedure improper and excluded the later report. Without it, OWCP…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Milford, CT
R.S. (ECAB 10-2131): Part time wage capacity finding reversed
R.S., a postal carrier, had worked full time when injured but later held a modified position for twenty hours a week. OWCP used that part time job to set his wage earning capacity without explaining why it fairly represented the capacity of a worker injured in a full time job. The Board found the…
R.D. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Los Angeles, CA
R.D. (ECAB 10-2044): Memory loss consequential injury denial affirmed
R.D., an immigration enforcement employee, claimed that memory loss and dementia decades later resulted from a 1988 work related vehicle accident. His physician did not give a well reasoned explanation linking the later conditions to that injury or address relevant intervening medical history. The…
Heritage Coal & Natural Resources, LLC
Reopening denied without prejudice for lack of proof
Heritage Coal said it timely contested a proposed penalty, but it supplied no documentation or explanation showing that either the citation or assessment was contested on time. MSHA had no record of a contest, and Heritage did not explain why it waited about four months after the delinquency notice…
City of Fitchburg Wastewater Treatment Facilities Commission
In re City of Fitchburg Wastewater Treatment Facilities Commission (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 10-14): petition dismissed with prejudice
The City of Fitchburg Wastewater Treatment Facilities Commission filed a petition for review involving NPDES Permit No. MA0100986. The City later filed a notice withdrawing its petition. The parties agreed to an Administrative Order for Compliance that they said would resolve the appeal without…
D.O. and Department of the Navy, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
D.O. (ECAB 11-0398): Late reconsideration request denial affirmed
D.O., a Navy employee, sought reconsideration years after the last merits decision. He argued that OWCP had accepted a back condition and paid for its treatment. The Board found no evidence that this assertion showed error in the earlier decision ending disability and medical benefits for accepted…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Southeastern, PA
D.B. (ECAB 11-0287): Disability recurrence denial affirmed
D.B., a postal employee with accepted neck and arm conditions, claimed a recurrence of disability beginning in September 2009. Her physician's reports did not establish a spontaneous worsening of the accepted conditions at that time. The Board noted that a claimed aggravation from current duties…
M.O. and U.S. Postal Service, North Shepherd Station, Houston, TX
M.O. (ECAB 11-0259): Disability denial reversed and overpayment recalculation ordered
M.O., a postal employee, returned to modified work and then stopped again after two days. OWCP denied further disability compensation without adequately supporting that finding. She had received total disability payments while working, so an overpayment existed, but its amount and period depended…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Islandia, NY
A.D. (ECAB 11-0168): Shoulder claim and reconsideration denials affirmed as modified
A.D., a postal employee, claimed injury after bending to pick up a tray. The Board found that the medical record established diagnoses, correcting OWCP's finding on that point, but did not contain a reasoned opinion connecting them to the incident. His reconsideration submission added no relevant…
J.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Van Nuys, CA
J.K. (ECAB 11-0159): Wage capacity modification denial affirmed
J.K., a postal employee with accepted right shoulder conditions, stopped working years after a wage capacity determination based on a modified carrier job. She sought modification because her condition had worsened. The Board found her later medical reports did not adequately explain how the…
W.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dallas, TX
W.M. (ECAB 10-2345): Fourteen percent awards for both arms affirmed
W.M., a postal employee, sought higher impairment awards after receiving fourteen percent for each arm. Some new medical reports had no impairment rating, while the supported guide calculation did not exceed the amounts already awarded. The Board found no medical basis for additional compensation…
P.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Dominick V. Daniels Processing & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
P.D. (ECAB 10-2249): Arm schedule awards remanded for impairment review
P.D., a postal employee, disputed awards of two percent right arm and seven percent left arm impairment. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser had not addressed whether preexisting impairments in the same limbs affected the rating of accepted arm contusions. The sixth edition of the…
R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Woodburn, OR
R.S. (ECAB 10-2221): Emotional condition claim denial affirmed
R.S., a postal employee, attributed emotional symptoms to alleged supervisor harassment and other workplace matters. The Board found that he had not established a compensable employment factor from the incidents presented. Benefit findings by other federal agencies did not decide entitlement under…
E.K. and U.S. Postal Service, New Providence Post Office, New Providence, NJ
E.K. (ECAB 10-1920): Consequential neck and wrist claim denial affirmed
E.K., a postal employee, claimed that a prior work injury caused cervical radiculopathy and right wrist carpal tunnel syndrome requiring surgery. Her physicians and OWCP's adviser disagreed on causation. The Board gave special weight to an impartial examiner's reasoned opinion against a work…
J.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Diego, CA
J.F. (ECAB 10-1605): Clerk wage capacity modification denial affirmed
J.F., a postal employee with accepted shoulder conditions, challenged wage capacity based on a constructed general clerk job. His later physician's note did not explain a material change in the accepted conditions that prevented restricted work. He also lacked medical evidence that hand conditions…
Archon Construction
Unprotected trench violation affirmed as repeat
Two Archon employees entered a six-foot-deep trench with steep walls and no cave-in protection to cut an existing sewer pipe. The judge found that the foreman knew the trench's physical condition, even though he mistakenly believed it was less than five feet deep. That mistaken belief prevented a…
Harris Trucking, LLC
Final assessment reopened
Harris Trucking asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the request and the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded the matter to the Chief Administrative…
Pacific Rock, Inc.
Final assessment reopened
Pacific Rock asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the request and the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded the matter to the Chief Administrative Law…
United States Department of the Interior
In re United States Department of the Interior (EAB RCRA 11-02(C), CAA 11-02(C), TSCA 11-04(C), and SDWA 11-01(C)): $234,844 compliance settlement approved
The Environmental Appeals Board ratified a Consent Agreement between EPA and the United States Department of the Interior covering requirements under RCRA, the Clean Air Act, TSCA, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. The agreement requires compliance audits, an environmental management system, and a…
Avenal Power Center, LLC
In re Avenal Power Center, LLC (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 11-02, 11-03, 11-04, and 11-05): review denied
Avenal Power Center, LLC received a permit to build and operate a 600-megawatt natural-gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in California. Four petitioner groups challenged the PSD permit, including the authority of the issuing official, the decision to grandfather the permit from certain newer air…
Lincoln Contracting & Equipment Company, Inc.
Final assessment reopened
Lincoln Contracting & Equipment asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the request and the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded the matter to the Chief…
Homer City Coal Processing Corporation
Guardrail violations reduced and $450 assessed
MSHA cited Homer City after finding eight unsecured railings around feeder boxes and alleging an inadequate daily examination at its coal cleaning plant. Judge John Kent Lewis found that the openings beside and into the boxes were covered by the guarding standard, but the Secretary barely proved…
Olivue Sand & Gravel
Final assessment reopened
Olivue Sand & Gravel asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the request and the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded the matter to the Chief…
L.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Harrisburg, PA
L.B. (ECAB 11-1202): Hearing abandonment finding affirmed
L.B., a postal employee, requested a hearing after OWCP denied an injury claim. OWCP notified her of a telephone hearing, but she did not call in, ask for a postponement, or explain her absence within ten days. The Board could review the abandonment finding only and affirmed it. It did not decide…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Rocky Mount Carrier Annex, Rocky Mount, NC
T.H. (ECAB 11-0689): Injury claim reconsideration denial affirmed
T.H., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reconsider an earlier ruling that a reported incident was outside the performance of duty. The Board could review only the refusal to reopen. Her submission did not address the reason for the earlier denial with a new relevant argument or evidence. It affirmed…
R.W. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Cumberland Fossil Plant, Cumberland City, TN
R.W. (ECAB 11-0310): Back disability recurrence and hearing denials affirmed
R.W., a TVA employee with an accepted back injury, claimed a later recurrence of disability. The Board found no probative medical opinion connecting the claimed disability to that injury. His oral hearing request was filed more than thirty days after OWCP's decision, and OWCP reasonably declined a…
B.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, San Francisco, CA
B.E. (ECAB 11-0242): Partial disability recurrence denial affirmed
B.E., a postal worker with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, sought wage loss after his work hours dropped from eight to four a day. The medical record did not show that his condition worsened enough to require shorter hours. He also did not show that the limited duty job became more demanding. The…
L.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Stoutsville, MO
L.P. (ECAB 11-0238): Denial of larger shoulder award upheld
L.P., a postal employee, sought more than the five percent left arm award OWCP issued on January 26, 2010 for a shoulder injury. The Board found that the diagnosis based rating supported five percent. A separate range of motion calculation was lower and could not be added to that rating. It…
M.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, PA
M.S. (ECAB 11-0116): Twenty percent arm award affirmed
M.S., a postal employee with accepted right wrist, shoulder and carpal tunnel conditions, sought more than twenty percent right arm impairment. The Board found that the applicable impairment guide did not support a higher award. It rejected the argument that an earlier guide edition applied because…
P.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Broadview Heights Veterans Medical Center, Brecksville, OH
P.P. (ECAB 11-0111): Cervical condition and surgery denials affirmed
P.P., a VA employee, sought acceptance of further cervical conditions and authorization for surgery after an accepted work injury. An impartial examiner found the degenerative changes unrelated to the injury and did not find the proposed surgery medically warranted. The Board gave that opinion…
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.