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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R.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Lansdowne Post Office
Board returns back-injury claim for accurate medical review (ECAB 24-0410)
A postal worker sought acceptance of additional back conditions after an earlier work injury. OWCP’s second-opinion physician received a statement of accepted facts that misidentified which 2015 procedure OWCP had authorized. The Board found the resulting opinion lacked probative value. It directed…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Chino Hills Post Office
Board grants withdrawal of postal worker’s appeal (ECAB 24-0374)
A postal worker appealed OWCP’s February 2, 2024 decision. The Board assigned the appeal docket number 24-0374. She later asked to withdraw the appeal in a June 14, 2024 letter. The Board granted that request and dismissed the appeal without reaching the merits of OWCP’s decision.
R.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Ysleta Post Office
Board denies larger knee impairment award (ECAB 24-0309)
A postal city carrier sought more than the 10 percent permanent impairment awards previously granted for each lower extremity. One new medical report assigned 23 percent impairment to each leg based on supposed knee replacements, but the record did not show either surgery occurred. A second opinion…
T.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Mid Island Processing & Distribution Center
Board affirms denial of postal driver’s stress claim (ECAB 23-0675)
A postal tractor trailer operator attributed depression and panic attacks to supervisor conduct involving pallet-jack duties, training, and alleged harassment. The Board treated the work assignments and training dispute as personnel matters requiring proof of employer error or abuse. It found no…
Angel Gandarilla v. National Steel & Shipbuilding Company
Gandarilla v. National Steel & Shipbuilding (BRB 23-0215): attorney fee amount returned for review
Angel Gandarilla pursued Longshore Act benefits after injuries while working for National Steel & Shipbuilding. The parties eventually agreed to additional weekly compensation for his back injury, and a district director awarded his lawyer $27,506.68 in fees and costs payable by the employer. The…
R.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command
Board denies increased hearing-loss award (ECAB 24-0600)
A Navy employee sought an increase over his existing schedule award for 59 percent binaural hearing loss. The Board reviewed the audiogram and the medical adviser’s rating under the applicable impairment guides. That evidence supported an impairment rating rounded to 59 percent. It found no proof…
S.T. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Board denies renewed treatment for FBI investigator’s shoulder (ECAB 24-0519)
An FBI criminal investigator sought treatment for renewed right shoulder symptoms following an accepted 2010 injury. The medical report described arthritis and suggested a possible connection to the old injury, while also calling for further diagnostic work. The Board found that opinion too…
M.F., claiming as widow of E.F., and Department of Interior, Fort Belknap Bureau of Indian Affairs
Board returns employee death claim for medical review (ECAB 24-0518)
The widow of a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee sought benefits after his death during work on heavy equipment in a remote location. A physician suggested that heat, physical effort, and delayed access to help contributed to the death. The Board found the opinion insufficient to prove causation by…
T.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Lake Worth Post Office
Board denies postal worker’s undiagnosed condition claim (ECAB 24-0496)
A Lake Worth postal worker sought compensation for a condition she attributed to accepted work factors. Her supporting medical report was signed by a physician assistant. The Board held that such a report could not establish a medical diagnosis under FECA because its author was not a physician as…
D.G. and Department of the Army, 3rd Infantry Division, Law Enforcement Command
Board upholds denials of repeated hearing requests (ECAB 24-0286)
An Army employee repeatedly requested an oral hearing or written-record review of a claim. She had already used a hearing representative review and therefore had no further hearing as of right on the same matter. OWCP considered the later requests under its discretion and pointed to reconsideration…
Matter of H-C-R-C-
Credibility and torture issues remanded
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent’s applications for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. It held that applicants bear the burden of establishing their own credibility and that no statute or precedent requires an Immigration Judge to find testimony…
James J. Bush v. Yellow Rose Coal, LLC
Bush v. Yellow Rose Coal (BRB 24-0096): black lung benefits award affirmed
James Bush filed a new black lung claim after an earlier claim was denied for lack of total disability. The parties agreed that he had 26 years of underground coal mine work. An administrative law judge found that medical opinions established a disabling respiratory impairment despite test results…
Monroe F. Cottrell v. Dunkard Mining Company
Cottrell v. Dunkard Mining (BRB 24-0075): denial of modification and benefits affirmed
Monroe Cottrell worked 32 years in underground coal mining and sought modification after his black lung claim was denied. He died while the claim was pending, and his widow continued it for his estate. The administrative law judge found that the evidence did not establish total disability or…
Dennis J. Thompson v. Panther Creek Mining
Thompson v. Panther Creek Mining (BRB 23-0383): denial of black lung benefits affirmed
Dennis Thompson appealed without a lawyer after an administrative law judge denied his black lung claim. The parties agreed that he had 24 years of qualifying coal mine work. The Board upheld the judge's finding that the evidence did not establish complicated pneumoconiosis: one x-ray showed only…
Sandra Schilpp on behalf of the Estate of James E. Lyle v. Energy West Mining Company
Schilpp v. Energy West Mining (BRB 23-0262): black lung benefits award affirmed after remand
James Lyle had 28 years of underground coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. An earlier appeal to a federal court required an administrative law judge to reconsider testimony from Energy West Mining's medical expert about whether Lyle's lung disease was related to coal…
Freddie J. Brock v. Lucky Branch Coal Company, Incorporated
Brock v. Lucky Branch Coal (BRB 23-0191): black lung benefits award and operator liability affirmed
Freddie Brock had 11.9 years of qualifying coal mine work and sought black lung benefits. An administrative law judge found that x-rays, CT scans, and medical opinions established complicated pneumoconiosis, triggering an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. Lucky Branch…
Stevie L. Young v. Bounty Mining Corporation
Young v. Bounty Mining (BRB 23-0171): black lung benefits denial returned for new findings
Stevie Young appealed without a representative after an administrative law judge denied his black lung claim. The Board found that the judge had treated his agreement to at least 6.94 years of coal mine work as an agreement to exactly that amount, without resolving his claim of about nine years. It…
G.H. and Department of the Navy, Naval Facility Engineering Command
Board upholds Navy worker’s retirement benefit overpayment (ECAB 24-0495)
A Navy employee received FECA wage-loss payments and Social Security retirement benefits without the required offset. OWCP found a $2,802.38 overpayment even though he was not at fault. The Board upheld OWCP’s refusal to waive recovery and found that the $359.18 deduction every 28 days accounted…
M.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sioux Falls
Board denies postal worker’s knee condition claim (ECAB 24-0466)
A Sioux Falls postal worker attributed her right knee condition to years of lifting, walking, and other postal duties. A physician instead related the condition to preexisting osteoarthritis and an earlier nonwork meniscal injury. Other records gave no usable medical causation opinion. The Board…
K.B. and Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau
Board reverses rescission of census worker’s accepted injury (ECAB 24-0441)
A Census Bureau worker was injured while traveling by motorcycle for a work assignment. OWCP later rescinded acceptance, arguing that her route through residential streets took her outside the course of employment. The Board found no evidence that this route was a personal deviation or that…
C.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Dallas Processing & Distribution Center
Board denies increased left leg impairment award (ECAB 24-0422)
A Dallas postal worker sought a higher permanent impairment award for her left lower extremity. OWCP’s medical adviser calculated an impairment rating under the applicable guides. The Board found that evaluation well reasoned and found no medical evidence supporting more than the 11 percent already…
A.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Wilmette Post Office
Board denies claimed disability and larger leg award (ECAB 24-0411)
A Wilmette postal worker sought wage-loss compensation for several periods and more than the two percent impairment already awarded for her right leg. The Board found the medical evidence did not establish disability for those periods or greater permanent impairment. It also upheld OWCP’s refusal…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Pittsburgh Post Office
Board orders impartial review of left leg impairment (ECAB 24-0086)
A Pittsburgh postal worker sought more than the one percent permanent impairment award for her left leg. Her physician rated impairment at 12 percent based on a skin condition, while OWCP’s medical adviser used a knee rating method and found one percent. The Board found the conflicting medical…
L.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Humble Post Office
Board recognizes work factors in postal worker’s stress claim (ECAB 23-0925)
A Humble postal worker reported emotional distress after an assault and her assignment back to a route near the assailant. The Board found the assault and the employer’s unreasonable return to the route were compensable work factors. OWCP had not considered medical causation because it found none…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. MOSenecaManufacturer, LLC d/b/a American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0251): Review directed on discrimination and interference law
The Commission directed review on its own initiative of the ALJ's May 23, 2024 decision in Robert Baumann's case against American Tripoli. It identified a possible legal error concerning the meaning and application of the Mine Act's discrimination and interference protections. The review would also…
Mazenko v. Pegasus Aircraft Management, LLC
Aviation-safety complaint remanded
Stirling Mazenko, an experienced pilot, repeatedly told Pegasus Aircraft Management that a Gulfstream aircraft lacked letters of authorization he believed were required for minimum-equipment-list and surveillance operations in foreign airspace. Pegasus terminated him the day after his last message…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Bedford Park Post Office
Board recognizes lumbar diagnosis and returns injury claim (ECAB 24-0524)
A Bedford Park postal worker reported a September 2023 workplace incident and a lumbar strain. His physician diagnosed the strain and related it to the incident. The Board found the diagnosis established, reversing OWCP on that threshold issue. It returned the case for OWCP to evaluate medical…
L.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Upstate New York Healthcare System, Buffalo VA Medical Center
Board denies right leg impairment award (ECAB 24-0517)
A VA worker sought a schedule award for permanent impairment of her right leg. Her physician assessed temporary impairment but did not provide a permanent impairment rating under the applicable guides. OWCP sought more evidence and scheduled a second-opinion exam, which she did not attend or…
J.N. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Security Division
Board denies FBI worker’s hearing-loss award (ECAB 24-0508)
An FBI employee sought a schedule award after OWCP accepted his hearing loss and tinnitus as work-related. The Board reviewed audiometric readings and the medical adviser’s calculation. The loss in each ear was below the threshold for a ratable award, and tinnitus could not be added without ratable…
J.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Albany
Board orders complete shoulder motion measurements (ECAB 24-0504)
An Albany postal worker sought more than the three percent impairment award for her left upper extremity. Her physician and OWCP’s medical adviser rated impairment under a diagnosis-based method. The record lacked the three sets of shoulder range-of-motion measurements needed to evaluate the…
M.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Peachtree Processing & Distribution Center
Board returns shoulder impairment award for full measurement (ECAB 24-0499)
An Atlanta postal worker sought more than a five percent impairment award for her left upper extremity. A referral physician measured the affected shoulder, but OWCP’s medical adviser found that the comparison measurements for the opposite shoulder were missing. The Board found OWCP had not…
M.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Cleveland
Board denies expansion of postal worker’s back claim (ECAB 24-0148)
A Cleveland mail processing clerk asked OWCP to expand a 2003 accepted thoracic strain claim to cover degenerative disc disease and spondylolisthesis in the lumbar spine. An impartial medical examiner reviewed imaging and the clinical record and found no work-related connection. The Board gave the…
M.P. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Department of Public Works
Board denies Army worker’s recurrence and claim expansion (ECAB 23-1131)
An Army motor vehicle operator sought renewed total-disability benefits after an accepted 2012 fall and asked to add tinnitus, nystagmus, and concussion to his claim. The Board found the medical evidence did not adequately link later disability or those additional conditions to the accepted injury…
Glen Anderson v. Red Ash Sales Company Incorporated
Anderson v. Red Ash Sales (BRB 23-0042): black lung benefits award and operator finding returned
An administrative law judge credited Glen Anderson with 18.75 years of coal mine work and awarded black lung benefits under the 15-year presumption. The judge also held Red Ash Sales responsible for payment. A Board majority vacated both findings because this Fourth Circuit case required the judge…
L.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, John J. Cochran VA Medical Center
Board seeks independent opinion on nurse’s shoulder claim (ECAB 24-0572)
A VA nurse claimed that years of patient handling caused a left shoulder condition. Her treating physician linked the diagnosed conditions to repetitive work, while OWCP’s second-opinion physician rejected a work connection. The Board found a conflict between these medical opinions. It directed…
P.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland
Board upholds right knee claim denial and reconsideration refusals (ECAB 24-0563)
A Cleveland postal worker claimed a right knee condition from work activity. Her medical reports either gave no causation opinion or offered only a tentative link to work. The Board found the medical evidence insufficient to establish the claim. Her reconsideration requests did not present a new…
S.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration
Board orders impartial review of upper extremity impairment (ECAB 24-0522)
A TSA employee sought a schedule award exceeding 12 percent permanent impairment of each upper extremity. Her physician rated impairment higher than OWCP’s referral physician and medical adviser, including disputed effects from a cervical spine condition. The Board found a medical conflict…
D.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Phoenix General Mail Facility
Board upholds refusal to reopen postal claim (ECAB 24-0476)
A Phoenix postal worker asked OWCP to reconsider an earlier claim decision. Her request identified no legal error or new legal argument. A physician’s report supplied with the request described the alleged work activity only vaguely and did not bear on the underlying issue. The Board found none of…
A.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Pittsburgh
Board recognizes postal vehicle collision and returns injury claim (ECAB 24-0242)
A Pittsburgh postal carrier reported that another vehicle struck her postal vehicle and she was thrown from it. Her claim form misstated the date by one day, but contemporaneous medical records and other evidence supported an August 16, 2023 collision during work. The Board found the incident…
K.P. and Department of the Army, Evans Army Community Hospital
Board reverses denial of timely written-record review (ECAB 23-1177)
An Army hospital nurse asked for review of the written record after an OWCP decision. OWCP called the request late, but had not retained a postmark or other delivery mark. The dated request fell within the 30-day deadline. The Board held it timely, reversed the denial, and set aside the underlying…
W.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lexington
Board accepts postal work factors and returns hip claim (ECAB 23-0585)
A Lexington postal worker described walking, twisting, and getting in and out of a vehicle as work duties that contributed to left hip symptoms. The employer did not refute his account. The Board found those duties established as employment factors, reversing OWCP on that factual issue. It sent the…
Gregory W. Hagy v. Wahtahshi Land & Coal Company, Incorporated
Hagy v. Wahtahshi Land & Coal (BRB 23-0404): benefits denial returned for disability review
Gregory Hagy appealed without a representative after an administrative law judge denied his later black lung claim. The judge accepted more than 15 years of qualifying coal mine work but found Hagy had not proved total disability. The Board upheld the judge's finding that the pulmonary function and…
S.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Baychester Post Office
Board upholds denial of left ankle surgery authorization (ECAB 24-0571)
A postal worker sought authorization for an April 2022 left ankle arthroscopic procedure. Her treating physicians did not adequately explain why surgery was needed for the accepted work injury. An OWCP second-opinion physician found that the surgery addressed preexisting instability rather than the…
W.M. and Department of the Navy, Naval Support Facility
Board denies Navy worker’s hearing-loss award (ECAB 24-0515)
A Navy worker had accepted work-related hearing loss and tinnitus and sought a schedule award. Audiometric results yielded zero percent ratable hearing loss under the applicable impairment guides. The Board agreed with OWCP’s medical adviser that tinnitus could not produce an award without ratable…
E.S. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection
Board denies larger right leg impairment award (ECAB 24-0494)
A Customs and Border Protection employee sought a larger schedule award for permanent impairment of his right leg. OWCP’s medical adviser rated the accepted knee condition at three percent under the applicable impairment guides. The Board found the adviser’s method supported by the medical record…
P.V. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Board upholds IRS worker’s $88,787 overpayment (ECAB 24-0452)
A former IRS agent received FECA wage-loss compensation along with Social Security retirement benefits for years without the required offset. OWCP calculated an $88,787.22 overpayment, for which he was without fault. The Board found he did not qualify for waiver and upheld recovery by deducting…
R.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Tinley Park Post Office
Board rejects overpayment but denies three disability days (ECAB 24-0253)
A postal worker received augmented benefits while supporting a niece and said she also supported her minor daughter. The niece was not an eligible dependent without adoption, but OWCP had not adequately evaluated evidence of support for the daughter. The Board found the claimed $3,330.78…
D.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee
Board upholds two late reconsideration denials (ECAB 24-0230)
A Milwaukee postal worker requested reconsideration of earlier disability and claim-expansion rulings after the ordinary deadline. The Board found the new submissions did not demonstrate clear error in the prior decisions, including the rejection of added conditions after accepted COVID-19…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Morris Post Office
Board upholds $7,898 augmented-benefits overpayment (ECAB 22-1248)
A Morris postal worker received augmented FECA compensation during a period when he had no qualifying dependent. OWCP calculated a $7,898.11 overpayment, though he was without fault. The Board upheld the amount, denied waiver on the record, and approved recovery through $138.46 deductions every 28…
Sally Keene v. K & R Contractors, LLC
Keene v. K & R Contractors (BRB 23-0477): widow's survivor benefits award affirmed
Sally Keene sought survivor's benefits after her husband Michael, a miner who had been awarded black lung benefits, died. An administrative law judge found that she qualified for automatic survivor entitlement under the Black Lung Benefits Act. K & R Contractors argued that the miner's award was…
Thomas R. Culbertson v. Extra Energy, Incorporated
Culbertson v. Extra Energy (BRB 23-0471): black lung benefits award affirmed
Thomas Culbertson worked underground and at surface coal mines, including as an excavator and dozer operator. An administrative law judge credited at least 15 years of qualifying coal mine work and found him totally disabled, triggering the 15-year presumption. Extra Energy challenged whether his…
Roy Lee Breedlove v. Canada Coal Corporation
Breedlove v. Canada Coal (BRB 23-0463): benefits denial returned again for disability findings
Roy Lee Breedlove had 21 years of qualifying coal mine work, but an administrative law judge denied his later black lung claim for lack of total disability. An earlier Board decision directed the judge to determine the demands of Breedlove's usual coal mine work and explain how she weighed two…
Jamie Hamilton v. ICG Knott County, LLC
Hamilton v. ICG Knott County (BRB 23-0450): operator liability for black lung award affirmed
ICG Knott County agreed that Jamie Hamilton had complicated pneumoconiosis from coal mine work but challenged its responsibility for paying his black lung benefits. Hamilton had worked for ICG before becoming a mine inspector for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. ICG argued that his later…
Randall R. McGlothlin v. J K & G Coal Corporation
McGlothlin v. J K & G Coal (BRB 23-0369): black lung benefits award affirmed
Randall McGlothlin had about 13.4 years of coal mine work. An administrative law judge found that x-rays established complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggers an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. J K & G Coal challenged the judge's treatment of conflicting x-ray…
Donald R. Mullins v. Sapphire Coal Company
Mullins v. Sapphire Coal (BRB 23-0352): black lung benefits award affirmed
Donald Mullins had 28.69 years of qualifying coal mine work and sought benefits after a prior claim was denied. An administrative law judge found that an exercise blood gas study and medical opinions established a disabling respiratory impairment, triggering the 15-year presumption. Sapphire Coal…
Paul King v. Enterprise Mining Company, LLC
King v. Enterprise Mining (BRB 23-0272): benefits denial returned for disability findings
Paul King appealed without a representative after an administrative law judge denied his black lung claim. The Board upheld the finding that the evidence did not establish complicated pneumoconiosis. It returned the separate total disability issue because the judge used the wrong height table for a…
George E. Bevins v. Trojan Mining & Processing
Bevins v. Trojan Mining (BRB 23-0254): black lung benefits award affirmed
George Bevins had more than 15 years of qualifying coal mine work and sought black lung benefits. An administrative law judge found him totally disabled based on a medical opinion and treatment records, triggering the 15-year presumption. Trojan Mining challenged a qualifying blood gas study used…
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bedford Park
Board upholds $29,880 compensation overpayment (ECAB 24-0497)
A Bedford Park postal worker received FECA wage-loss benefits and Social Security retirement benefits without the required offset. OWCP calculated a $29,880.23 overpayment. Although she was without fault, the Board found her financial evidence incomplete because it omitted her spouse’s finances and…
C.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Gateway Carrier Annex
Board denies postal carrier’s lumbar condition claim (ECAB 24-0493)
A Jacksonville postal carrier attributed a lumbar condition to years of carrying mail and walking at work. Some physicians gave no opinion on causation, while others linked the condition to work without explaining how the duties caused it. The Board found the medical reasoning insufficient to…
J.H. and Department of the Army, Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center, Rock Island
Board denies Army worker’s hearing-loss award (ECAB 24-0432)
An Army employee sought a schedule award for occupational hearing loss. The medical adviser applied the relevant audiogram to the impairment guides and found no ratable hearing loss. The Board accepted that calculation and found no evidence supporting a compensable impairment. It 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.