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.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Apple Valley, CA
R.L. (ECAB 09-0663): Mail tub incident established, injury claim still denied
R.L., a Postal Service distribution clerk, reported that mail tubs were placed on her right forearm while she worked in April 2008. The Board accepted that the incident occurred. It held that the physician assistant's and physical therapist's notes could not establish medical causation under FECA's…
R.J. and Department of Defense, Pentagon, Washington, DC
R.J. (ECAB 09-0613): Cervical injury records did not establish a schedule award
R.J., a Department of Defense employee, sustained a neck injury during a work training exercise, and OWCP later accepted cervical strain and a C5-6 disc condition. He sought a schedule award for permanent impairment. The Board explained that FECA does not pay a schedule award for the spine itself…
P.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Manchester Veterans Hospital, Manchester, NH
P.D. (ECAB 09-0544): Thirty-eight percent leg impairment rating upheld
P.D., a Veterans Affairs hospital worker, had received schedule awards totaling 38 percent permanent impairment of his right leg. An impartial orthopedic surgeon rated 25 percent for knee joint narrowing and 17 percent for ligament laxity, which combined to 38 percent under the applicable medical…
J.W. and Department of the Navy, Philadelphia Navy Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA
J.W. (ECAB 09-0375): Orthopedic benefits terminated after impartial examination
J.W., a Navy shipyard insulator, had an accepted lumbar strain after a 1992 workplace injury. His treating physicians reported continuing disability, while an OWCP referral surgeon attributed his symptoms to degenerative spine disease. An impartial orthopedic surgeon concluded that the accepted…
J.G. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, East Elmhurst, NY
J.G. (ECAB 09-0280): Overpayment confirmed, amount sent back for recalculation
J.G., a part-time Transportation Security Administration screener, received wage-loss compensation calculated as if she had worked 40 hours a week. The Board agreed that this produced an overpayment. OWCP calculated a debt of $11,073.87 by treating her preinjury schedule as 30 hours a week, but the…
Johnson Controls, Inc.
In re Johnson Controls, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 09-01Ca): consent agreement approved
The United States and Johnson Controls, Inc., including York International Corporation and Environmental Technologies, Inc., consented to entry of a Final Order in a Clean Air Act penalty matter. The parties agreed to comply with their signed Consent Agreement. The Board approved and incorporated…
B.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Parma, OH
B.O. (ECAB 09-2171): Reduced work hours lacked medical support for added compensation
B.O., a Postal Service rehabilitation clerk, had accepted back conditions and ongoing medical benefits. She reported increased pain and depression and said she could no longer work eight hours a day. Her physician reduced her schedule to four hours daily in June 2008. The Board found that the…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Marysville, WA
J.B. (ECAB 09-0838): Back injury claim lacked qualifying medical evidence
J.B., a Postal Service carrier, reported lower back pain while servicing a lock box in May 2008. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred but denied the injury claim for lack of medical evidence connecting a condition to it. The Board held that the chiropractor's form report did not count as a…
J.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Carol Stream, IL
J.W. (ECAB 09-0801): Rotator cuff report did not establish a work-related injury
J.W., a Postal Service casual clerk, sought compensation for a right rotator cuff tear she attributed to dust and chemical fumes at work. After an earlier denial, she submitted a neurologist's report stating that her work duties caused the tear. The Board found the report insufficient because it…
N.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Raleigh, NC
N.M. (ECAB 09-0789): Back and left foot conditions not linked to work or accepted foot claim
N.M., a Postal Service mail processing clerk, had an accepted claim for right foot metatarsalgia. She asked OWCP to accept lower back and left foot conditions, attributing them to prolonged standing and other duties or to the accepted foot condition. The Board found that the podiatrist's reports…
C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Connellsville, PA
C.R. (ECAB 09-0720): Artwork sale did not establish forfeiture of compensation
C.R., a Postal Service letter carrier receiving compensation after a work injury, sold three drawings to an undercover agent for $600. OWCP said he knowingly failed to report earnings from selling art, forfeited compensation for December 19, 2005 through March 19, 2007, and owed $37,862.30. A…
P.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Coppell, TX
P.B. (ECAB 09-0565): No added right leg schedule award after prior awards
P.B., a Postal Service letter carrier, injured her right knee stepping off a curb and sought another schedule award for permanent leg impairment. Her physician and OWCP’s medical adviser each rated the current right leg impairment at 22 percent, based on knee arthritis and a partial meniscectomy…
B.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Roanoke, VA
B.P. (ECAB 09-0507): Five percent arm award upheld with later improvement date
B.P., a Postal Service mail processor with accepted right carpal tunnel syndrome, challenged a schedule award based on five percent permanent impairment of her right arm. Two physicians estimated 10 percent but did not explain those ratings under the required impairment guide. The Board accepted…
J.S. and U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, St. Louis, MO
J.S. (ECAB 09-0461): Wage loss and medical benefits ended after accepted conditions resolved
J.S., a former Army Corps deck hand, had accepted cervical strain and carpal tunnel conditions from a 1984 injury. OWCP had reduced his wage-loss benefits based on later security guard earnings, then found that he no longer had wage loss or medical treatment needs from the accepted conditions. The…
Matter of Hilario Antonio GARCIA-GARCIA
Immigration Judge may modify release conditions
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision about the conditions of a respondent's release from custody. The respondent had asked to replace participation in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program with a monetary bond, and he filed his…
D.C. and Department of the Navy, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Pearl Harbor, HI
D.C. (ECAB 09-0813): Back injury claim lacked a supported medical diagnosis
D.C., a Navy shipyard painter leader, reported back pain after shoveling sand grit at work. The Board accepted that the shoveling happened but found the medical evidence did not establish a compensable back injury caused by it. His doctor reported back pain, checked a box connecting it to work, and…
R.T. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, San Jose, CA
R.T. (ECAB 09-0757): Recurrence of disability from accepted back sprain unproved
R.T., a TSA security screener, had an accepted lumbar sprain and returned to light duty. He later claimed he could no longer work because of back and leg symptoms, along with right knee pain. The Board found that his doctor's reports did not explain how the accepted sprain had changed so that he…
L.O. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, San Juan, PR
L.O. (ECAB 09-0746): Later wage-loss claim lacked evidence tied to accepted sprain
L.O., a Veterans Affairs nurse, had an accepted lumbar sprain from lifting a patient in 2001 and sought wage-loss compensation for a period beginning in 2004. The Board found no physician's report addressing the claimed years of disability and explaining how the accepted injury caused her inability…
E.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sayville, NY
E.F. (ECAB 09-0722): Paid leave and disability compensation created an overpayment
E.F., a Postal Service letter carrier, received disability compensation for a period when the agency also paid her annual or sick leave. OWCP found that the overlapping payments created a $10,954.64 overpayment and that she was at fault for accepting the compensation check. The Board held that FECA…
R.T. and Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals Service, New York, NY
R.T. (ECAB 09-0675): Wage-loss suspension upheld for missing earnings report
R.T., a former deputy marshal receiving compensation for an accepted back injury, did not return the earnings and employment report that OWCP mailed to her address of record. OWCP suspended her wage-loss benefits after the 30-day response period. The Board found that the request was correctly…
T.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Washington Bulk Mail Center, Washington, DC
T.R. (ECAB 09-0604): Overpayment and $500 monthly recovery upheld
T.R., a Postal Service worker, received full disability compensation after returning to part-time work and also received an augmented rate after he no longer had an eligible dependent. OWCP calculated a $61,975.57 overpayment and found him at fault. The Board held that he knew or should have known…
K.N. and Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration, Price, UT
K.N. (ECAB 09-0577): Accepted hearing loss did not support a schedule award
K.N., a Mine Safety and Health Administration training specialist, had an accepted claim for hearing loss from workplace noise and sought a schedule award. A physician attributed high-frequency loss to noise exposure, but the Board found that the audiogram produced no ratable impairment under the…
J.G. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, Chicago, IL
J.G. (ECAB 09-0456): Emotional condition claim lacked medical link to accepted training
J.G., a Customs and Border Patrol seized property specialist, claimed that work aggravated his preexisting post-traumatic stress disorder. OWCP accepted that he attended a physical training exercise in March 2004, but found no medical opinion explaining how it caused or worsened his condition. The…
B.T. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
B.T. (ECAB 09-0355): Coworker conduct did not establish a compensable work factor
B.T., a Postal Service sales and service clerk, attributed an emotional condition to alleged harassment by a coworker and management's response. Several coworkers described remarks and incidents, but the Board found their accounts lacked enough context to establish harassment as a compensable work…
Reynolds Packaging KAMA, Inc.
Lockout violations reduced to serious
Reynolds employees entered between sections of plastic-sheet production machines to clean rollers and restart material after production disruptions. The company treated this work as minor servicing and relied on movable aluminum blocks instead of machine-specific lockout procedures. The judge held…
4 State Trucks
Order-picker fall and retraining violations affirmed
4 State Trucks used powered order pickers to retrieve parts from warehouse shelves as high as 23 feet. An employee who was not tied off fell about 15 feet from an elevated order picker and later died from his injuries. The judge held that the order picker's work pad was a platform covered by the…
Secretary of Labor v. Jacob Mining Company, LLC
Reopening denied for insufficient explanation
Jacob Mining sought to reopen five penalty assessments because it said it did not know that penalty amounts could be contested and could not afford to pay them. The Commission found that Jacob's brief explanation did not adequately explain its missed deadlines; the assessment forms had set out…
Secretary of Labor v. Knox Creek Coal Corporation
Allegedly mailed contest sent for good-cause review
Knox Creek said it timely returned its assessment form identifying the citations it wished to contest, but MSHA had no record of receiving the form. The company paid an amount that left exactly the balance it claimed to have contested and sought reopening shortly after receiving a delinquency…
Secretary of Labor v. KenAmerican Resources, Inc.
Isolated mail-handling error excused
KenAmerican missed a penalty-contest deadline after the employee who received the assessment failed to forward it and later resigned. A mine foreman discovered the assessment after MSHA sent a delinquency notice, investigated, and supported the reopening request with an affidavit. Although the…
M.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
M.K. (ECAB 09-0799): Late reconsideration request did not show clear error
M.K., a Postal Service distribution clerk, sought reconsideration of an OWCP decision concerning an alleged workplace fume exposure and respiratory condition. Her October 2008 request came more than one year after the last merits decision in October 2006. The Board held that the late request…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
R.M. (ECAB 09-0787): Reconsideration evidence did not reopen recurrence claim
R.M., a Postal Service letter carrier with accepted foot, knee, elbow, and back sprains, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied a claimed recurrence of disability. The Board found that the new neck records concerned a condition outside the accepted claim and did not connect it to the work injury…
W.D. and Department of the Army, Fort Bragg, NC
W.D. (ECAB 09-0700): Supervisory disputes did not establish a compensable work factor
W.D., an Army human resources specialist, attributed an emotional condition to disputes about leave, access to a work password, a project meeting, and alleged mistreatment by his supervisor. The Board classified the leave, access, and meeting issues as administrative or supervisory matters. It…
P.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Wallingford, CT
P.B. (ECAB 09-0681): Back condition claim and later review requests denied
P.B., a Postal Service clerk, reported back and leg symptoms from repeated bending and lifting mail trays. The Board accepted that her job involved those tasks but found her physician's reports did not diagnose a specific back condition with a reasoned explanation linking it to work. It also held…
L.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Terry Post Office, Terry, MS
L.S. (ECAB 09-0630): Repeated arguments did not reopen emotional condition claim
L.S., a Postal Service postmaster, sought reconsideration after OWCP denied his emotional condition claim for insufficient medical evidence connecting it to accepted work factors. He challenged the referral psychiatrist's evaluation, disputed how OWCP treated understaffing, and resubmitted work and…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Hamtramck Finance Station, Hamtramck, MI
A.J. (ECAB 09-0429): Supervisor assignment did not establish a compensable work factor
A.J., a Postal Service sales and service clerk, attributed anxiety and stress to a coworker's promotion to temporary supervisor and to management's response to their prior conflict. The Board treated the promotion and work assignment as administrative matters and found no evidence that management…
C.D. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Fossil Fuel Plant, Drakesboro, KY
C.D. (ECAB 09-0329): Lung disease claim lacked a supported link to federal work exposure
C.D., a retired Tennessee Valley Authority machinist, claimed that exposure to coal dust and asbestos at work caused pneumoconiosis and breathing problems. His physician diagnosed occupational pneumoconiosis, but the Board found that the report did not adequately explain its conclusion in light of…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Erie, PA
A.W. (ECAB 09-0249): Insurance premium shortfall created a recoverable overpayment
A.W., a Postal Service letter carrier receiving disability compensation, had too little withheld for federal life insurance premiums. OWCP calculated a $473.96 overpayment and found she had not caused the deduction error. The Board affirmed the amount because OWCP owed the full premiums despite its…
B.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Columbus, OH
B.K. (ECAB 09-0059): No schedule award for impairment linked to accepted injuries
B.K., a Postal Service worker, sought a schedule award after accepted neck and back strains and fibromyalgia. Her physician and an OWCP examiner disagreed over whether she had permanent impairment from those injuries, leading to a referee examination. The Board gave special weight to the referee…
Acies Group, LLC
Five repeat scaffold violations affirmed
An OSHA officer observed a worker on the unguarded upper level of an Acies scaffold at a New Jersey exterior-finishing project. The scaffold was not fully planked, lacked proper access and cross bracing, had no fall protection, and had not been adequately inspected by a competent person. Acies…
J.F. White Contracting Company
Repeat crane-swing violation affirmed
J.F. White operated a crane in a narrow roadway work zone without a physical barricade around the rotating counterweight's swing radius. Employees worked nearby, and the company used two spotters, audible alarms, and flashing lights to keep people away. The judge agreed that a conventional…
Sinochem (U.S.A.), Inc.
In re Sinochem (U.S.A.), Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 09-04C): $37,267 consent penalty ordered
EPA and Sinochem (U.S.A.), Inc. signed and consented to entry of a Consent Agreement in a TSCA penalty matter. The Environmental Appeals Board incorporated that agreement by reference into its Final Order. The Board ordered Sinochem to comply with the agreement and assessed a civil penalty of…
M.D. and Department of the Interior, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Porter, IN
M.D. (ECAB 09-0514): Wage reduction reversed for unproved clerk qualifications
M.D., a former equipment operator with accepted elbow and knee conditions, received wage-loss benefits while pursuing vocational rehabilitation. OWCP reduced those benefits on the premise that he could earn $432 a week as a customer complaint clerk. The Board found that the record did not show he…
Action Concrete Construction, Inc.
Late-contest default set aside and remanded
Action Concrete filed its notice of contest 13 days late and attributed the delay to its president's serious illness and difficulty locating counsel after the attorney moved. An administrative law judge dismissed the notice when the company did not respond to the Secretary's motion and affirmed…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Philadelphia, PA
M.M. (ECAB 09-0830): Late reconsideration request did not show clear error
M.M., a Postal Service letter carrier, sought reconsideration of a denial concerning neck, back, and shoulder symptoms he attributed to work in July 2005. He filed the request in August 2008, more than a year after the last merits decision. The Board held that the request therefore had to show…
R.C. and Department of the Army, Libby Army Airfield, Fort Huachuca, AZ
R.C. (ECAB 09-0773): Right ear hearing loss produced no additional schedule award
R.C., an Army air traffic control specialist, had an accepted noise-related bilateral hearing loss claim and previously received a schedule award for 71 percent left ear impairment. He sought an award for his right ear as well. The Board applied the adopted hearing loss formula and found zero…
F.M. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Widows Creek Fossil Plant, Chattanooga, TN
F.M. (ECAB 09-0758): Hearing loss not medically linked to federal work noise
F.M., a Tennessee Valley Authority equipment technician, had documented hearing loss and exposure to loud noise at federal work. The Board found that his audiograms were not accompanied by a physician's explanation linking the loss to that work. An OWCP referral physician reviewed the history and…
O.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Atlanta, GA
O.M. (ECAB 09-0736): Medical reports did not explain a work-related injury
O.M., a Postal Service worker, sought benefits for back, joint, and foot conditions he attributed to years of lifting, bending, and standing. A physician said those duties increased degenerative changes but did not explain how specific work factors affected specific diagnosed conditions in light of…
R.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Denver, CO
R.D. (ECAB 09-0605): Part-time work made total disability payment an overpayment
R.D., a Postal Service worker with accepted arm conditions, returned to part-time work but received a payment calculated for total disability covering the same period. She notified OWCP about the $2,340.24 payment and offered to return it. The Board nonetheless found fault because she accepted the…
W.C. and Department of the Army, Huntington, WV
W.C. (ECAB 09-0473): Late reconsideration did not address the recurrence ruling
W.C., a former Army worker with accepted back injuries, requested reconsideration years after OWCP's most recent merits decision denying a recurrence of disability. He submitted a later lumbar x-ray and challenged a physician's opinion used in an earlier termination of benefits. The Board found the…
M.C. and Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Oklahoma City, OK
M.C. (ECAB 09-0393): Later conditions were not linked to a resolved wrist injury
M.C., an FAA instructor, fell through raised floor tiles at work in December 2002 and sustained an accepted right wrist contusion and sprain. Her wrist sprain had resolved by January 2003, but she sought treatment beginning in 2007 for wrist, finger, and nerve conditions. OWCP denied that the later…
L.O. and Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Limestone, ME
L.O. (ECAB 09-0332): Workplace dispute recognized, but medical link unproved
L.O., a Defense Finance & Accounting Service employee, claimed that a February 2008 confrontation with a coworker caused chest pain and emotional distress. OWCP denied his claim because it did not consider the confrontation a compensable work factor. Two coworkers witnessed the encounter and…
B.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, West Bloomfield, MI
B.S. (ECAB 09-0195): Earlier benefit termination did not bar a later impairment claim
B.S., a postal worker with accepted cervical conditions, sought a schedule award for right arm impairment. OWCP denied the claim because it had terminated her earlier benefits after finding no continuing injury residuals in 2004. Her physician rated a 20 percent right arm impairment in 2006, and an…
Secretary of Labor v. Big River Mining, LLC
Late contest sent for good-cause review
Big River missed a penalty-contest deadline while its safety director was away and said the assessment never reached him after he returned. The Secretary opposed reopening, arguing that unreliable internal procedures do not justify relief and noting two other late contests involving assessments…
Secretary of Labor v. Taft Production Company
Disputed assessment receipt sent for factfinding
Taft said it had no record of receiving a proposed assessment and later paid the penalties by mistake after receiving an outstanding-balance notice. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but produced a FedEx record showing delivery to the operator and a signature by S. Brandon. The Commission…
Secretary of Labor v. Knife River
Misdirected penalty contest reopened
Knife River intended to contest proposed penalties but misunderstood the assessment instructions and mailed its contest to the Commission instead of MSHA. It discovered the mistake after receiving a delinquency notice and immediately contacted MSHA. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Equipment and escapeway rulings split
MSHA cited conditions involving an interrupted escapeway lifeline, electrical cables and outlets, shop lighting, a missing rock bar, and airborne track-entry dust at Jim Walter's No. 7 Mine. Judge Avram Weisberger affirmed the lifeline violation because a six-foot gap through an airlock was not…
Secretary of Labor v. Clean Energy Mining Company
Reopening request moot because assessment was never received
Clean Energy asked to reopen a proposed penalty assessment, but both parties agreed that the assessment had been returned to MSHA undelivered. Because the operator never received it, the 30-day contest period never began and the assessment never became a final Commission order. The Commission…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Robert Gatlin v. KenAmerican Resources, Inc.
Layoff may toll temporary reinstatement
Robert Gatlin was temporarily reinstated after alleging that KenAmerican discharged him for refusing work he believed was unsafe. The mine later idled and laid off most of its workforce, including Gatlin, but the judge required his economic reinstatement to continue under any circumstances. The…
Sidney Coal Company, Inc.
Ventilation violations reduced to non-S&S
Sidney Coal operated two continuous miners without the line curtains required by its approved ventilation plan, leaving little air movement and visible suspended coal dust at both faces. Judge Michael E. Zielinski affirmed both violations and found high negligence and unwarrantable failure because…
Matter of Binsar SILITONGA
Arriving-alien adjustment belongs to USCIS
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of adjustment of status to an arriving alien. It held that Immigration Judges generally have no jurisdiction over an arriving alien's adjustment application, except in the narrow advance-parole…
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.