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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L.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Cardiss Collins Post Office
Postal worker's increased shoulder award returned for examination (ECAB 26-0356)
A postal mail handler had received a four percent left arm schedule award after an accepted shoulder injury. She later submitted a new physician's report rating impairment at ten percent. OWCP denied an increase without arranging the second opinion evaluation required by its procedures for the new…
V.N. and U.S. Postal Service, North Texas Processing & Distribution Center
Postal carrier's reconsideration request denied (ECAB 26-0355)
A postal city carrier asked OWCP to reconsider denial of an occupational disease claim. Her request presented no new legal point, and the new medical reports substantially repeated reports already considered. The Board found they did not meet the criteria for reopening the merits. It affirmed the…
D.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Lexington-Liberty Road Post Office
Postal carrier's wage loss termination reversed (ECAB 26-0321)
A postal city carrier received compensation for accepted neck conditions. OWCP ended wage loss based on a second opinion that did not adequately address accepted cervical radiculopathy or bilateral trapezoid strain. The statement of accepted facts supplied to the doctor also omitted one of the…
C.S. and Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration
MSHA worker's spine claim returned for specialist review (ECAB 26-0317)
A Mine Safety and Health Administration employee attributed spinal symptoms to accepted work factors despite preexisting conditions. His physician explained that prolonged sitting aggravated the conditions, though the opinion was not fully reasoned. The Board found it sufficient to require OWCP to…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Nicholas Rubio v. Castle Mountain Venture
Blanket settlement seal vacated
The Secretary and Castle Mountain settled a miner discrimination complaint, and the operator asked to seal the entire settlement based on an unspecified business interest and a separate confidentiality agreement with the miner. The Administrative Law Judge granted that request over the Secretary's…
Winston E. Hall v. Consol of Kentucky, Incorporated
Hall v. Consol of Kentucky (BRB 25-0187): Black lung benefits award affirmed
Winston Hall filed a new black lung claim after a prior denial. The judge found 17 years of qualifying coal mine work and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, which allowed Hall to invoke a statutory presumption that pneumoconiosis caused his disability. Consol of Kentucky challenged the…
Jimmie Warren v. IDS/Constellis Group
Warren v. IDS/Constellis Group (BRB 24-0382): Permanent disability award returned for medical review
Jimmie Warren worked as an emergency medical technician for IDS/Constellis in Afghanistan and claimed a work-related psychological injury. The judge awarded permanent total disability benefits beginning in May 2022. The employer appealed, arguing that the judge had overlooked medical evidence about…
C.V. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration
Airport officer's neck and shoulder injury claim denied (ECAB 26-0312)
A transportation security officer reported neck, shoulder, and arm symptoms while lifting luggage bins. OWCP accepted the incident, but the medical reports either gave no causation opinion or checked a causation box without explaining the connection. The Board found that evidence insufficient to…
R.C. and Department of the Navy, Charleston Naval Shipyard
Shipyard worker's wage loss and medical benefit termination reversed (ECAB 26-0309)
A former Navy shipyard painter received benefits for accepted physical and neurocognitive conditions. OWCP relied on two second opinion doctors to end them. One did not adequately explain why accepted physical residuals had ended; the other failed to address the accepted cognitive condition as…
L.D. and Department of the Air Force, Travis Air Force Base
Air Force scientist's bilateral arm award returned for complete rating (ECAB 26-0303)
An Air Force scientist sought larger schedule awards for both arms after accepted wrist conditions. The doctors rating his impairment did not address whether a preexisting multiple sclerosis condition contributed impairment in the same arms. The Board explained that a schedule award rates total…
S.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Middle Grove Post Office
Postal carrier's disability reconsideration returned for full evidence review (ECAB 26-0302)
A postal rural carrier associate sought disability compensation for an accepted back sprain. After an earlier Board decision, OWCP received new medical reports and employer information about unavailable restricted work. Its later reconsideration decision listed only material submitted with the…
United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration and Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO
Federal Aviation Administration and PASS (FLRA 0-AR-5807): Authority sets aside excused-absence award
Three Federal Aviation Administration employees at higher risk from COVID-19 requested excused absences for days when they had to perform mission-critical work on site. An arbitrator found that the agency violated the collective-bargaining agreement, an agency memorandum, and policy by denying…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Brek Pinkerton v. RMC Mining Development, LLC, et al.
Default reopening denied
Matthew Head asked the Commission to reopen a default decision finding Mine Act discrimination and imposing a $30,000 civil penalty plus $88,497 in damages. He argued that he missed notices sent to an old business email, misunderstood which respondent would handle the case, and believed parts of…
Norma Mae Willis (on behalf of and survivor of Cecil Willis) v. Apogee Coal Company, LLC
Willis v. Apogee Coal (BRB 24-0256 and 25-0027): Trust Fund directed to pay benefits
Norma Mae Willis pursued black lung benefit claims on behalf of, and as survivor of, Cecil Willis. After a federal appeals court ruling on Arch Resources' liability as a self-insurer, the Board dismissed Apogee Coal and Arch from payment responsibility. The Director of the Office of Workers'…
Norma Mae Willis (on behalf of and survivor of Cecil Willis) v. Apogee Coal Company, LLC
Willis v. Apogee Coal (BRB 24-0256 and 25-0027): Trust Fund directed to pay benefits
Norma Mae Willis pursued black lung benefit claims on behalf of, and as survivor of, Cecil Willis. After a federal appeals court ruling on Arch Resources' liability as a self-insurer, the Board dismissed Apogee Coal and Arch from payment responsibility. The Director of the Office of Workers'…
A.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Niles Post Office
Postal supervisor's stress claim returned for employer evidence (ECAB 26-0266)
A postal customer service supervisor claimed a work-related emotional condition. OWCP asked the employer for detailed responses and witness statements about the alleged events. The employer's response did not adequately answer those questions, and no witness statements arrived. The Board found the…
D.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, New York Harbor Healthcare System
VA nurse's additional pain condition claim returned for impartial report (ECAB 26-0197)
A VA nurse sought to add complex regional pain syndrome to an accepted injury claim following a workplace vaccination. An earlier Board ruling identified conflicting medical opinions and directed an impartial examination. OWCP denied expansion before receiving that examiner's report. The Board…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service, San Bernardino Main Post Office
Postal carrier's disability recurrence claim returned for targeted medical opinion (ECAB 26-0098)
A postal city carrier claimed renewed total disability beginning in February 2007 after accepted work conditions. OWCP obtained second opinions years later, but did not ask the doctors whether the accepted injury caused disability during that specific earlier period. The Board found the record…
Albert Passalaqua v. Bath Iron Works Corporation
Passalaqua v. Bath Iron Works (BRB 24-0338): Lung condition included in new disability review
Albert Passalaqua worked for Bath Iron Works for 31 years and sought permanent total disability benefits for several conditions, including breathing problems. The judge denied those benefits and found that an employer's doctor had rebutted the presumption that Passalaqua's lung condition was…
Tom L. Mays v. Huntington Ingalls, Incorporated (Avondale Operations)
Mays v. Huntington Ingalls (BRB 24-0304): Medical reimbursement returned for findings
Tom Mays had a work injury while employed by Avondale Operations and later sought reimbursement for medical travel, parking, and other expenses. A third-party settlement gave the employer a credit against its liability, but the amount of that credit and its effect on medical expenses remained…
Adm'r, Wage & Hour Div., USDOL v. Ace Amusements
H-2B violations affirmed in part and remanded in part
Ace Amusements and Midway West Amusements operated carnivals and received certification to employ H-2B workers. After investigating, the Department of Labor found violations involving wages, worker placement, and cooperation with the investigation. The ALJ found twelve violations, reversed the…
R.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Braintree Post Office
Postal carrier's hearing request deemed abandoned (ECAB 26-0348)
A postal letter carrier requested an oral hearing on a disability claim. OWCP mailed notice of the scheduled hearing to his address of record. He did not attend or give an adequate explanation under the applicable procedure. The Board affirmed OWCP's finding that he had abandoned the hearing…
P.J. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Prison worker's larger leg award returned for new impartial rating (ECAB 26-0332)
A federal prison materials handler sought a larger left leg schedule award after hip replacement. His treating physician and OWCP's medical adviser gave conflicting impairment ratings. The impartial examiner did not sufficiently explain his application of the medical guides, leaving the conflict…
E.R. and U.S. Postal Service, North Reading Processing & Distribution Center
Postal worker's intermittent disability claim denied (ECAB 26-0315)
A postal mail handler sought intermittent wage loss after an accepted left lower leg injury. A physician limited his daily work hours but did not explain how the accepted injury caused the claimed disability beginning in November 2025. The Board found the medical record insufficient to link the…
T.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Jacksonville Post Office
Postal carrier's request for larger foot impairment awards denied (ECAB 26-0296)
A postal city carrier sought larger schedule awards for foot conditions associated with walking his delivery route. The Board reviewed the medical impairment calculation for arthritis of the big toe joints. It found no supported rating greater than the eight percent already awarded for either leg…
V.T. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration
Airport worker's shoulder claim returned to combine related files (ECAB 26-0325)
A Transportation Security Administration worker appealed a decision involving shoulder and wrist conditions. Two earlier files also involved those body areas, but they had not been combined with the current claim. The Board found that a fair decision required access to all three files. It directed…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Draper Post Office
Postal carrier's back claim and late written review request denied (ECAB 26-0310)
A rural carrier attributed a back condition to repetitive lifting at work. The Board found the medical evidence did not establish a condition caused by the accepted job factors. She requested written review more than 30 days after OWCP's merits decision, and OWCP reasonably declined to grant it as…
M.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center
VA psychiatrist's suitable work penalty reversed (ECAB 26-0281)
A VA psychiatrist received benefits after an accepted back injury. OWCP penalized him for refusing a job it deemed suitable, relying on an impartial medical opinion. The statement of accepted facts given to that doctor omitted an accepted right femur condition. The Board found the opinion could not…
T.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Ontario Terminal Handling Services
Postal worker's stress claim returned for missing witness responses (ECAB 26-0277)
A postal transportation specialist claimed a work incident aggravated a preexisting stress condition. An earlier Board remand called for statements from supervisors who knew about the alleged contractor confrontation. OWCP received a general response from another supervisor but not the requested…
S.H. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Station Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps clerk's expanded injury and reconsideration requests denied (ECAB 26-0168)
A Marine Corps clerk asked OWCP to add lumbar disc disease and left hip osteoarthritis to an accepted fall injury. The Board found her physician's report did not adequately explain how the fall caused or aggravated those conditions. Her later reconsideration request supplied no relevant new…
Matter of S-E-M-Z-
Family social distinction generally measured countrywide
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of statutory withholding of removal to a Honduran applicant who feared MS-13 gang members because she opposed their recruitment of her daughter. The Board held that the social-distinction element of a family-based particular social…
Prkic v. Sezzle, Inc.
Appeal dismissed for lack of supporting evidence
Maria Prkic asked the Administrative Review Board to intervene after her Sarbanes-Oxley Act case had been remanded to the ALJ for further proceedings. She claimed that the ALJ had issued a favorable decision on April 10, 2026, but the ARB found no evidence that such an order existed. The Board…
A.R. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Medical Center
Prison therapist's wrist condition claim denied (ECAB 26-0340)
A federal prison corrective therapist attributed bilateral wrist conditions to years of cell door work, emergency responses, and typing. His physician described different injury histories, including a separate desk lifting event, and did not adequately explain how the accepted repetitive duties…
E.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Murphy Road Carrier Annex
Postal carrier's crash-related injury claim denied (ECAB 26-0339)
A postal city carrier reported neck and back symptoms after her vehicle was rear-ended at work. OWCP accepted the collision but denied a medical condition caused by it. The Board found that the reports diagnosing pain and muscle strain did not adequately establish the necessary causal connection to…
R.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Pleasant Ridge Annex
Postal carrier's knee claim returned for specialist medical review (ECAB 26-0333)
A postal city carrier felt sudden left knee pain while delivering a parcel. A physician diagnosed a meniscus tear and related it to the work incident, but her explanation was not fully reasoned. The Board found the report sufficient to require OWCP to develop the medical record further. It returned…
V.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Woodlawn Post Office
Postal carrier's knee claim and late written review request denied (ECAB 26-0298)
A postal city carrier attributed severe left knee osteoarthritis to his work. An MRI showed the condition but did not explain whether work caused it, and the Board found no adequate medical causation evidence. He also asked for written review after the 30-day deadline. The Board affirmed the claim…
C.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Minneapolis Processing & Distribution Center
Postal worker's schedule award reconsideration request denied (ECAB 25-0806)
A postal mail processing clerk sought reconsideration of existing left arm and right leg impairment awards. She did not present a new legal argument or medical evidence relevant to a higher impairment rating. The Board held that the request did not meet the criteria for merits reconsideration. It…
Matter of I-S-M-
Identity finding upheld and relief denied
The Board dismissed an appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. It upheld the finding that the respondent had not credibly established his identity or nationality, citing inconsistent names…
Matter of J-O-A-
Health care fraud barred withholding, CAT denied
The Board reviewed a Nigerian respondent's case after a federal conviction for health care fraud and a remand from the Third Circuit. It held that the conviction was for a particularly serious crime because the statute requires fraudulent conduct and the respondent's offense caused a $2.65 million…
L.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Biloxi VA Medical Center
VA nurse's arm rating returned; other limb ratings upheld (ECAB 26-0173)
A VA nurse sought larger schedule awards for impairment in both arms and legs. The Board upheld the existing left arm and leg ratings. For the right arm, the medical adviser did not say whether a separate one percent wrist rating should be added to the existing 13 percent shoulder rating. The Board…
B.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Mid-Island New York Processing and Distribution Center
Postal truck driver's schedule award pay rate upheld (ECAB 26-0143)
A postal tractor trailer operator challenged the pay rate used for a later schedule award on an accepted injury. He had received no wage loss compensation for disability from that injury. The Board held that OWCP properly used his pay at the July 2005 injury date and that the requested cost of…
Riverdale Mills Corporation
EAJA fee application denied
Riverdale Mills manufactures coated wire mesh at a facility in Northbridge, Massachusetts. The underlying OSHA cases followed an employee's serious injury in a coating line and produced a mixed merits decision that affirmed three citation items and vacated several lockout/tagout and…
Ervin Polk v. Ports America Gulfport, Incorporated
Polk v. Ports America Gulfport (BRB 24-0386): Disability and medical rulings affirmed
Ervin Polk was injured when a crane lifted his truck with a cargo container and then dropped it at the Port of Gulfport. The judge found work-related neck and shoulder injuries, awarded a period of disability benefits and continuing necessary medical care, but rejected a separate psychological…
Ivica Trajkovski v. Fluor Conops, Limited
Trajkovski v. Fluor Conops (BRB 24-0362): Respiratory claim returned for settlement review
Ivica Trajkovski worked for Fluor Conops in Afghanistan and later settled a claim involving a psychological condition and related physical symptoms. He then brought a respiratory injury claim. The judge dismissed it without a hearing, finding the settlement covered the new claim. The Board found…
A.F. and Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco VA Medical Center
VA officer's knee condition claim denied (ECAB 26-0338)
A VA personnel officer linked bilateral knee conditions and a left knee cyst to a workplace fall years earlier. Her doctors diagnosed knee disorders and attributed them to the fall, but the Board found their causal explanations insufficient. Other submitted reports lacked usable signatures or a…
E.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Provo Processing & Distribution Center
Postal clerk's back claim and late hearing request denied (ECAB 26-0292)
A postal clerk reported low back symptoms after bending to pull tubs of mail. The principal diagnosis came from a chiropractor who did not document an x-ray finding of subluxation, so his report did not qualify as competent medical evidence under FECA. Her hearing request arrived one day after the…
M.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Miami General Mail Facility
Postal driver's wage loss denial returned for a reasoned decision (ECAB 26-0215)
A former postal tractor trailer operator filed claims for wage loss compensation. OWCP denied them in a brief decision without explaining the evidence or its reasoning. The Board held that OWCP had to make factual findings and state why it accepted or rejected the claims. It returned the matter for…
C.T. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Coast Guard worker's retirement benefit overpayment upheld (ECAB 25-0666)
A Coast Guard Academy worker received FECA wage loss compensation and Social Security age-related retirement benefits attributable to federal service over the same period. OWCP had not applied the required offset and found a $27,099.40 overpayment, although the worker was without fault. The Board…
United States Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration (Agency) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 1653 (Union)
FAA and AFSCME Local 1653 (FLRA 0-AR-6076): Restroom-change bargaining award upheld
The FAA redesignated several single-occupancy restrooms from gender-neutral to single-sex without notifying AFSCME Local 1653. An arbitrator found that the agency violated the labor agreement's notice and bargaining provision and ordered bargaining over the change's impact. The Authority denied the…
Secretary of Labor v. Ramaco Resources, LLC
Six late penalty contests reopened
Ramaco sought to reopen six proposed penalty assessments after its notices of contest were filed one day late. The assessments had been forwarded to the company's vice president of law five days after receipt, and he mistakenly calculated the deadline from the forwarding date. The Secretary did not…
Matter of N-A-G-C-
Bond order vacated for applicant for admission
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision releasing a Salvadoran respondent from custody on a $4,000 bond. The respondent had entered the United States without admission or parole, had previously been designated an unaccompanied child, and had an approved Special…
M.M. and Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Metropolitan Detention Center
Retired prison officer's benefit termination reversed (ECAB 26-0306)
A retired correctional officer received benefits for an accepted work aggravation of bilateral hip osteoarthritis. OWCP ended them based on a second opinion that the aggravation had resolved. The doctor did not adequately explain why it had ended despite the continuing hip condition. The Board…
J.L. and U.S. Postal Service, New Orleans Post Office
Postal worker's expanded back claim returned for full evidence review (ECAB 26-0300)
A postal mail handler asked OWCP to add lumbar conditions after a workplace fall. OWCP decided the request without reviewing several reports in its file describing spinal stenosis, degeneration, and radiculitis. The Board held it had to consider and address relevant evidence received before…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Corbin Post Office
Postal worker's appeal withdrawn and dismissed (ECAB 26-0238)
A postal worker appealed an OWCP merits decision and a later nonmerits decision. The worker subsequently asked to withdraw the appeal. The Board granted that request and dismissed the case without reaching either underlying decision.
eMagin Corporation
In re eMagin Corporation (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 26-02C): self-disclosed chemical violations settled
eMagin Corporation voluntarily disclosed that it had imported ten chemical substances between 2020 and 2025 before submitting required Premanufacture Notices or low-volume exemption applications. EPA also alleged that eMagin failed to submit required import certifications and manufactured…
Matter of I-U-V
Withholding grant vacated and protection claims remanded
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision granting withholding of removal to a Russian national. The Board held that harm experienced while a person is a minor does not automatically constitute persecution and must be assessed with the…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Duncan Post Office
Postal carrier's expanded knee and ankle claim returned for medical clarification (ECAB 26-0040)
A rural postal delivery specialist sought to add knee arthritis and left foot and ankle osteoarthritis to an accepted injury claim. OWCP's referral doctor said the work factors did not aggravate her conditions but did not adequately explain his conclusion. The Board also found the statement of…
S.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Monmouth Post Office
Postal worker's reconsideration request denied (ECAB 25-0655)
A postal city delivery specialist sought reconsideration after OWCP disputed whether a June 2024 incident occurred at work as claimed. She submitted new medical reports, but they did not address the factual dispute over the event. The Board found no qualifying new legal argument or relevant…
M.L. and Department of the Army, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant
Army worker's wage earning capacity review returned (ECAB 24-0584)
An Army equipment operator requested renewed total wage loss compensation after an earlier formal wage earning capacity decision. He submitted evidence of increased disability. OWCP did not evaluate the request under the criteria for changing that earlier determination. The Board directed OWCP to…
National Treasury Employees Union (Union) and Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
NTEU and Federal Trade Commission (FLRA 0-NG-3732): Interim agreement disapproval upheld
NTEU and the Federal Trade Commission signed an interim labor agreement the day before the 2025 presidential inauguration. The incoming FTC chairman disapproved it within thirty days, relying on a presidential memorandum concerning agreements executed near a change in administration. The Authority…
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.