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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Road Fork Development Company, Inc.
Late section 110(c) petition rejected and hearing continuance denied
MSHA repeatedly changed course on whether to pursue a section 110(c) case related to Road Fork Development's pending penalty dockets and filed its petition nearly two years after the underlying events. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that the Secretary did not adequately explain the service delay…
J.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
J.H. (ECAB 11-0114): Overpayment amount upheld, fault remanded
J.H., a postal processing clerk, received total disability payments after returning to full-time limited duty. The Board agreed that the extra 11 days of payment created a $1,213.04 overpayment. The money arrived by direct deposit, and OWCP had not shown that she knew or should have known at…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Woonsocket, RI
B.S. (ECAB 11-0048): Hip arthritis claim remanded for medical development
B.S., a postal letter carrier, attributed arthritis in both hips to years of walking, stairs, and truck use. His physician diagnosed the condition and gave an opinion that the work aggravated it, but did not fully explain the mechanism. The Board found that the opinion raised a sufficient inference…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, White Plains, NY
M.B. (ECAB 11-0043): Late reconsideration refusal affirmed
M.B., a postal worker, sought another review of an earlier benefit termination. Her reconsideration request came more than a year after the latest merits ruling. The Board found that the materials did not show clear evidence of error that would allow reopening despite the delay. It affirmed OWCP's…
F.N. and Department of the Air Force, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, TX
F.N. (ECAB 11-0021): Pre-employment moving injury outside FECA
F.N. alleged a shoulder injury while packing for a move to start a federal teaching position. The Board found that she had not yet begun federal employment when the incident occurred. A job offer for work beginning later did not make her a federal employee at the time of the injury. It affirmed…
A.C. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Coatesville, PA
A.C. (ECAB 10-2396): Shoulder injury and hearing appeal denied
A.C., a VA nursing assistant, claimed a left shoulder injury from an August 2009 workplace incident. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately establish an injury caused by that event. It also found that he abandoned his requested oral hearing. The Board affirmed both OWCP…
W.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Kansas City, MO
W.M. (ECAB 10-2247): Twenty-five percent finger impairment award stands
W.M., a VA plumber, had an accepted right hand injury and received an award for 25 percent impairment of his middle finger. He sought an increase after later surgery. The Board found that the submitted medical report described healing and motion but did not provide an adequate impairment rating…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, East Austin, TX
D.B. (ECAB 10-2168): Scheduled impairment needs further medical opinion
D.B., a postal employee, had accepted abdominal, hernia, and nerve conditions from a work injury. Physicians discussed hernia and nerve impairment, but the record did not clarify whether the accepted condition caused impairment of a scheduled leg or other covered member. The Board held that OWCP…
R.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Jackson, MS
R.L. (ECAB 10-2123): Ten percent right arm impairment award affirmed
R.L., a postal clerk, had an accepted right rotator cuff tear and underwent surgery. He sought an award above 10 percent permanent impairment of the right arm. The Board reviewed the competing ratings and found that the medical evidence supported the existing percentage. It affirmed the award.
M.W. and Department of the Air Force, Michigan Air National Guard, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, MI
M.W. (ECAB 10-2022): Back injury and recurrence claims denied
M.W., an Air National Guard mechanic, filed a recurrence claim for disability from an accepted 2008 back injury. OWCP treated his June 2009 account as a new traumatic injury claim as well. The Board found that the evidence did not establish the new work injury. It also found no proven change in his…
Matter of Juan RAMON MARTINEZ
California assault offense is a crime of violence
The Board reviewed the appeal of a Honduran lawful permanent resident convicted in California of assault with intent to commit a felony. It held that a conviction under California Penal Code section 220 is categorically a crime of violence under both parts of 18 U.S.C. § 16 because the offense…
E.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hewitt, NJ
E.H. (ECAB 10-2385): Five percent right arm award affirmed
E.H., a postal rural carrier, had accepted right shoulder sprain and rotator cuff tear. He sought an award above five percent right arm impairment and argued that OWCP should have used an earlier edition of the impairment guides. The Board found that the sixth edition applied to the decision and…
L.L. and Department of the Air Force, Maintenance Department, Offutt Air Force Base, NE
L.L. (ECAB 10-2384): Early arrival on base outside performance of duty
L.L., an Air Force maintenance supervisor, was injured on base after arriving about 90 minutes before his shift to get breakfast. The Board found that his presence on the premises that early for a personal purpose was outside a reasonable interval before work. Being on a base road alone did not…
H.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Logistics and Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
H.V. (ECAB 10-2363): Hearing loss claim requires impartial opinion
H.V., a postal mail handler and equipment operator, claimed hearing loss after workplace noise exposure. His physician and OWCP's referral physician disagreed about whether the left ear loss was caused by the work. The Board found an unresolved medical conflict that required an impartial examiner…
C.F. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Reno, NV
C.F. (ECAB 10-2316): Hip condition recurrence claim denied
C.F., a Bureau of Land Management horse wrangler, had an accepted left hip and leg injury after a horse knocked him down in 1998. Years later he sought treatment for worsening hip problems and a possible replacement. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately connect the later…
T.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Monroe Regional Airport, Monroe, LA
T.H. (ECAB 10-2180): Withdrawal of light duty did not change wage capacity
T.H., an airport security screener, worked a modified position after accepted neck and back injuries. Her employer later withdrew that light-duty assignment. The Board found that a standing wage-earning capacity ruling measured her capacity to earn, not the particular wages she lost when the job…
S.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
S.L. (ECAB 10-2174): Sixth edition impairment guides properly applied
S.L., a postal clerk with accepted right cubital tunnel syndrome, challenged the edition of the impairment guides used to decide her award. She had requested the award before OWCP changed editions, but the agency decided the claim after the sixth edition took effect. The Board held that OWCP…
S.J. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Gainesville, AL
S.J. (ECAB 10-2135): Late record review and reconsideration requests denied
S.J., an Army Corps employee with an accepted back injury, sought review of earlier compensation decisions. The Board found that the request for written record review missed its deadline. It also found that the later reconsideration request was untimely and did not show clear evidence of error. It…
B.C. and Department of Agriculture, Ottumwa, IA
B.C. (ECAB 10-2067): New physician reports require merits review
B.C., a federal food inspector, sought renewed review of a disability claim. He submitted new physician reports stating that the accepted injury prevented full-time food inspector duties. The Board held that these reports were relevant new evidence, even if they might not ultimately prove the…
W.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center, Kalamazoo, MI
W.R. (ECAB 10-1880): Knee injury benefit termination reversed
W.R., a postal employee, had an accepted aggravation of right knee osteoarthritis. OWCP relied on an impartial physician to end benefits. The Board found that his brief, speculative report did not say when the aggravation ceased and did not clearly establish that the accepted residuals or…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Peter L. Dunne v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LP
Temporary economic reinstatement continued
Peter L. Dunne received temporary economic reinstatement after Vulcan Construction Materials discharged him and MSHA investigated his discrimination complaint. MSHA later concluded that no discrimination occurred, but Dunne filed his own section 105(c)(3) complaint. The Commission affirmed the…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Petersburg, FL
R.P. (ECAB 11-0005): Emotional claim reconsideration refusal affirmed
R.P., a postal customer service supervisor, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied an emotional condition claim. The Board found that he did not present a new legal argument or evidence relevant to the missing compensable employment factor. Medical reports alone did not address that threshold…
H.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, West Palm Beach, FL
H.S. (ECAB 10-2413): Right wrist schedule award denied
H.S., a VA medical technician, had accepted right wrist and carpal tunnel conditions and underwent surgery. Her physician rated whole person impairment but did not adequately calculate impairment of a scheduled arm member under the applicable guides. FECA did not authorize a schedule award for…
E.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bellmawr, NJ
E.C. (ECAB 10-2397): Leg impairment must be rerated under sixth edition
E.C., a postal mail handler, disputed his left leg impairment rating after an earlier Board remand. OWCP waited until after the sixth edition of the impairment guides took effect but used the fifth edition to reassess the award. The Board held that the edition in force when OWCP decided the matter…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Shasta, CA
R.C. (ECAB 10-2371): Late reconsideration refusal affirmed
R.C., a postal clerk with accepted neck and back conditions, requested review of earlier benefit rulings. Her February 2010 request came more than a year after the last merits decision. The Board found that the materials did not show clear evidence of error that would permit late reconsideration…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
R.M. (ECAB 10-2364): Arm impairment must be rerated under sixth edition
R.M., a postal employee, sought increased awards for both arms. After a prior remand, OWCP used a specialist rating under the fifth edition of the impairment guides in decisions issued after the sixth edition took effect. The Board held that the newer edition governed the calculation. It directed…
J.J. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Widows Creek Fossil Plant, Stevenson, AL
J.J. (ECAB 10-2347): Two percent hearing loss award affirmed
J.J., a retired Tennessee Valley Authority laborer, claimed hearing loss from work noise. A referral specialist found work-related bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, and OWCP calculated a two percent binaural award. The Board found that the medical and audiometric evidence did not establish a…
T.C. and Department of the Navy, Commander Fleet Forces CMD Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
T.C. (ECAB 10-2307): New shoulder rating requires merits decision
T.C., a Navy employee with accepted arm conditions, supplied a new physician report rating permanent impairment in both shoulders. OWCP treated his submission as an untimely request to reconsider an older award denial. The Board found that he was seeking a new schedule award based on current…
Y.L. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Chamblee, GA
Y.L. (ECAB 10-2278): Injury claim remanded for overlooked reports
Y.L., an IRS collections representative, claimed shoulder, arm, and back injuries after tables fell against her at work. Before deciding the claim, OWCP received two reports with diagnoses relating to the reported incident. Its hearing representative did not address them and said the physician gave…
O.H. and Department of the Air Force, Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, OH
O.H. (ECAB 10-2245): Late reconsideration refusal affirmed
O.H., an Air Force employee, sought another review of an older compensation claim. The Board found that his April 2010 reconsideration request was filed too late and did not demonstrate clear evidence of error in the prior merits rulings. It affirmed OWCP's refusal to reopen the matter.
S.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Callahan, FL
S.L. (ECAB 10-2230): Schedule award denial affirmed
S.L., a postal clerk, sought a schedule award after an accepted lumbar injury and surgery. The Board found no proven permanent impairment of either leg under the applicable impairment guides. A whole-person or back rating could not support a schedule award, and another doctor’s leg ratings lacked a…
B.T. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, East Boston, MA
B.T. (ECAB 10-2117): Left arm award denial returned for impartial examination
B.T., a transportation security screener, sought a schedule award for her left arm after accepted shoulder and related injuries. Her physician rated her left arm impairment at 20 percent, while OWCP’s physicians found no ratable impairment. The Board found an unresolved conflict in the medical…
L.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Glens Falls, NY
L.H. (ECAB 10-2045): Emotional condition claim denial affirmed
L.H., a postal mail handler, attributed an emotional condition to alleged harassment and disciplinary actions at work. The Board found that she had not established a compensable work factor. The record did not show error or abuse in the personnel actions, and the alleged harassment was not…
D.N. and Department of Defense, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
D.N. (ECAB 10-2042): Two days of wage-loss compensation allowed
D.N., an Air Force base secretary, sought to change an earlier wage-earning capacity finding and obtain compensation for later periods of disability. The Board found no sufficient basis to modify the capacity finding. It found that medical evidence supported disability on May 26 and 27, 2008, but…
K.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Warren Post Office, Warren, MI
K.D. (ECAB 10-1954): Refusal to reopen compensation claim affirmed
K.D., a postal letter carrier, asked OWCP to reconsider its earlier termination of compensation for an accepted emotional condition. The Board could review only OWCP’s refusal to reopen the claim, not the underlying merits. His arguments repeated earlier claims, and the medical report added no…
National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 145 (Union) and United States Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Laredo, Texas (Agency)
NTEU Chapter 145 and Customs and Border Protection Laredo (FLRA 0-AR-4492): Reconsideration of grievance remand denied
An arbitrator dismissed an employee's suspension grievance because the employee had earlier filed an Equal Employment Opportunity complaint. The Authority set that dismissal aside and remanded after concluding that the formal complaint was untimely and therefore did not bar the grievance under 5…
INR-WV Operating, LLC
Accounting errors excused and assessments reopened
INR-WV Operating's safety director identified which penalties to contest and sent the assessment forms through the company's normal payment process. The accounting department prepared checks for the uncontested penalties but failed to submit the contest forms to MSHA or return them to the safety…
Cemex California Cement, LLC
Final penalty assessment reopened and remanded
Cemex California Cement asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for…
ASARCO LLC
Final penalty assessments reopened and remanded
ASARCO asked the Commission to reopen two proposed penalty assessments that had become final orders after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the requests. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened both assessments and remanded them for proceedings on…
Milestone Materials Division/Mathy Construction Company
Final penalty assessment reopened and remanded
Milestone Materials Division/Mathy Construction Company asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Thurman Wayne Pruitt v. Grand Eagle Mining, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement granted after safety complaints
Thurman Wayne Pruitt reported a large diesel-fuel spill to MSHA and later raised concerns about unsafe mobile equipment and missing truck lights before Grand Eagle Mining discharged him. Grand Eagle relied on Pruitt's admitted safety violations, including working without lockout and fall…
CAM Mining, LLC
Final penalty assessment reopened and remanded
CAM Mining asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the 30-day contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for proceedings on the…
Matter of Roberto Carlos BUSTAMANTE
A section 212(h) waiver cannot overcome the cancellation bar
The Board reviewed a Mexican national's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him removable and denied cancellation of removal. The respondent had been convicted in Florida of possessing not more than 20 grams of marijuana, an offense treated as a controlled-substance offense under the…
Y.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park, IL
Y.W. (ECAB 10-2404): Late reconsideration refusal affirmed
Y.W., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of a denied occupational disease claim. OWCP found the request late. The Board could review only that refusal, not the underlying claim. It found that the application did not show clear evidence of error in the prior merits decision and affirmed the…
M.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
M.M. (ECAB 10-2326): Termination of injury benefits affirmed
M.M., a Veterans Affairs employee, received benefits after a fall at work. His treating physician and OWCP’s physician disagreed about whether the work-related conditions persisted. An impartial physician attributed continuing symptoms to underlying conditions and found that the temporary work…
V.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Cardiss Collins Facility, Chicago, IL
10-2297: Wage claim returned for treatment-time review
V.H., a postal clerk, claimed continuation of pay and wage-loss compensation after an accepted work-related sinus condition. The Board found that the medical evidence did not establish total disability for the claimed period. The record still required a decision on wages lost while obtaining…
D.L. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Camp Pendleton, CA
10-2291: Wage capacity reduction reversed
D.L., a commissary worker, challenged OWCP’s reduction of her compensation based on a proposed social services aide position. The Board found that OWCP had not established that the position fit her education and licensing qualifications. It also had not shown that the job was reasonably available…
J.H. and Department of Housing and Urban Development, St. Louis, MO
10-2145: Termination of wage-loss benefits affirmed
J.H., a Housing and Urban Development employee, challenged the termination of wage-loss compensation for accepted back conditions. Her treating physician and OWCP’s referral physician disagreed about her capacity for work. The Board found that an impartial physician gave a reasoned opinion that she…
R.H. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
10-2139: Hearing-loss schedule award denial affirmed
R.H., a Navy shipyard employee, sought a schedule award for hearing loss and disputed the frequencies used to rate it. The Board found that OWCP’s medical adviser applied the prescribed formula to his audiogram. The resulting hearing loss was zero percent for schedule award purposes. It affirmed…
A.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Hines, IL
10-2108: Termination of injury benefits affirmed
A.B., a Veterans Affairs nurse, received benefits after a ceiling tile struck her head at work. The treating and OWCP referral physicians disagreed about continuing effects of the injury. The Board found that an impartial examiner gave a reasoned opinion that the work-related effects had ended and…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Dayton, OH
10-2066: Additional right arm award denied
T.B., a postal employee, sought a larger schedule award for a previously accepted right arm injury. A physician proposed a higher rating using an older edition of the impairment guides. The Board found that the evidence under the applicable sixth edition did not establish impairment greater than…
Y.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Plainfield, NJ
Y.P. (ECAB 10-1930): Termination of injury benefits affirmed
Y.P., a postal letter carrier, received benefits for an accepted left knee contusion and lumbar strain after a workplace injury. OWCP ended his compensation and medical benefits effective May 10, 2008. The Board found that an impartial physician's opinion supported the finding that the accepted…
Cranesville Aggregate Companies, Inc., d/b/a Scotia Bag Plant; and Cranesville Block Company, Inc.
Discovery orders narrowed and cases resumed
Cranesville sought internal OSHA memoranda and depositions of three Mine Safety and Health Administration employees to support a jurisdictional defense. The Commission held that two OSHA memoranda were protected in full by the work-product privilege and should not have been disclosed, even in…
LaFarge North America, Inc.
Defaults and dismissals vacated after timely answer
A chief judge dismissed two LaFarge North America contest proceedings and allowed the related penalty case to enter default because the Commission file did not show an answer. LaFarge produced a copy of its answer and a signed certificate of service showing that counsel had sent it within 30 days…
Black Beauty Coal Company
Dust citation reduced, two safety citations vacated, and settlements approved
Black Beauty Coal contested three citations at its underground Air Quality mine and settled the other 31 violations in the docket. Judge Margaret A. Miller vacated a roof-control-plan citation because credible testimony showed that a continuous miner's pump motor was off before the operator entered…
Matter of Ronald S. SALOMON
Six-month suspension for wide-ranging misconduct
The Board reviewed reciprocal discipline against an immigration attorney who had been disciplined in New York and by the Second Circuit for neglecting client matters, missing deadlines, making false statements, and other misconduct. The Board also found that he violated an immediate suspension…
A.P. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistics Base, Albany, GA
A.P. (ECAB 11-0152): Wage capacity issue returned for merits decision
A.P., a Marine Corps logistics worker, submitted medical evidence of disability after an earlier wage-earning capacity determination. OWCP treated his filing as a reconsideration request and denied it. The Board held that the evidence required OWCP to decide whether the prior wage capacity…
D.D. and Department of Defense, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, MD
D.D. (ECAB 11-0107): Gate-arm injury claim denial affirmed
D.D., a Defense Department chart assembler, reported that a gate arm struck him while he left work on a motorcycle. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred at work but denied the injury claim. The Board found that the medical reports did not adequately connect his claimed back, neck and shoulder…
E.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Boston, MA
E.S. (ECAB 10-2403): Wage capacity modification request returned
E.S., a Veterans Affairs employee, submitted medical evidence of disability after an earlier wage-earning capacity determination. OWCP treated her filing as a late reconsideration request. The Board held that it should have been considered a request to modify the wage capacity finding, which had no…
R.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Tampa, FL
R.W. (ECAB 10-2393): Reconsideration refusal affirmed
R.W., a postal employee, asked OWCP to reopen his denied emotional condition claim. The Board could review only the refusal to reconsider, not the underlying merits. His request offered no new legal argument or factual evidence relevant to a compensable work factor. The Board affirmed OWCP’s…
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.