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.

60,101 decisions and counting · Latest decision October 28, 2026
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COMM

C.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, New York Stewart International Airport

Board requires OWCP to decide TSA employee’s disability recurrence (ECAB 24-0080)

On an earlier appeal, the Board ordered OWCP to decide whether a TSA employee had a recurrence of disability beginning September 4, 2014. OWCP instead addressed recurrence of a medical condition. The Board set aside that part of its decision and remanded again for a decision on disability and any…

February 29, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

D.M. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol

Board orders reasoned reconsideration ruling in Border Patrol claim (ECAB 23-1154)

A Border Patrol employee sought reconsideration of a prior OWCP decision. OWCP rejected the request without adequately describing the submitted evidence or explaining why it showed no clear error. The Board set aside that ruling and ordered findings of fact and reasons under the governing…

February 29, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

National Treasury Employees Union and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

NTEU and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FLRA 0-AR-5904): Authority upholds once-per-pay-period reporting rule

The FDIC expanded home-based telework but later required all teleworking employees to report to their official duty stations at least once per pay period. NTEU alleged that the reporting rule violated the revised telework article and repudiated the agreement. An arbitrator found the article…

February 29, 2024 ·FLRA
Upheld
COMM

Association of Civilian Technicians, Kentucky Long Rifle Chapter 83 and United States Department of the Army, National Guard Bureau, Kentucky Army National Guard

ACT Kentucky Long Rifle Chapter 83 and Kentucky Army National Guard (FLRA 0-AR-5823): Authority upholds technician-separation policy

The National Guard Bureau replaced a personnel rule that had allowed dual-status technicians who lost military membership to remain employed while disability-retirement claims were pending. After the Kentucky Army National Guard applied the new rule and separated a technician, the union alleged…

February 29, 2024 ·FLRA
Upheld
COMM

Penneco Environmental Solutions, LLC

In re Penneco Environmental Solutions, LLC (EAB UIC Appeal No. 23-01): Motion to dismiss denied

Penneco Environmental Solutions, LLC sought a permit for a Class II-D commercial disposal injection well for fluids produced in oil and gas operations in Pennsylvania. Protect PT and Three Rivers Waterkeeper challenged EPA Region 3's permit decision. Penneco moved to dismiss the petition as…

February 28, 2024 ·EPA EAB
Procedural
COMM

Fagan v. Department of the Navy

Environmental whistleblower subpoenas denied

Shannon Fagan, a former Navy environmental-law attorney, alleged that the Navy fired her for activity protected by federal environmental whistleblower laws. Before the merits hearing, she asked the administrative judge to subpoena former Navy employees for deposition and hearing testimony. The…

February 28, 2024 ·DOL ARB
Affirmed
COMM

J.S. and Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs

Board dismisses late appeal by Labor Department employee (ECAB 24-0363)

A Labor Department employee appealed a July 2022 OWCP decision in February 2024. The Board held that the appeal was filed beyond its 180-day deadline. It dismissed the appeal without reviewing the compensation claim.

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Procedural
COMM

S.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Farley Retail Unit

Board dismisses postal employee’s late appeal (ECAB 24-0362)

A postal employee appealed two OWCP decisions dated May and July 2023. The Board found that both 180-day appeal periods expired before the February 2024 filing. It dismissed the appeal without reaching the underlying claims.

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Procedural
COMM

D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Frisco City

Board dismisses late appeal from 2022 postal decision (ECAB 24-0351)

A postal employee appealed a December 2022 OWCP decision in February 2024. The Board held that the filing came after the 180-day appeal deadline, which expired in June 2023. It dismissed the appeal without reviewing the merits.

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Procedural
COMM

P.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford

Board dismisses postal worker’s appeal filed after adjusted deadline (ECAB 24-0343)

A postal employee appealed an August 2023 OWCP decision. The 180th day fell on a Sunday, so the Board calculated the next Monday as the filing deadline. The appeal was filed after that date. The Board dismissed it without reaching the merits.

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Procedural
COMM

S.P. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration

Board dismisses appeal from proposed wage-capacity change (ECAB 24-0099)

A TSA employee appealed OWCP’s notice proposing to modify a prior wage-capacity determination. The Board held that the notice was only a proposal and not a final adverse decision. It dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without deciding the wage-capacity issue.

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Procedural
COMM

S.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kansas City

Board denies postal custodian’s foot-condition claim (ECAB 24-0064)

A postal custodian attributed bilateral foot conditions to increased hours and time spent standing at work. Her physician listed diagnoses and general causes but did not explain how her particular duties caused or aggravated them. The Board found that a checked causation box and diagnostic tests…

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Affirmed
COMM

E.H. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Board dismisses appeal from informational OWCP letter (ECAB 23-1190)

A Navy shipyard employee appealed an August 2023 OWCP letter. The Board found that the letter only provided information and was not a final adverse decision. It dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without reviewing the underlying compensation dispute.

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Procedural
COMM

V.R. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service

Board denies IRS employee’s emotional condition claim (ECAB 23-1075)

An IRS bankruptcy specialist attributed an emotional condition to management’s handling of accommodation requests and alleged harassment. The Board found no evidence of error or abuse in the administrative actions and insufficient corroboration of harassment. Without a compensable work factor, it…

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Affirmed
COMM

B.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital

Board remands VA nurse’s disability claim for omitted reports (ECAB 23-1048)

A VA nurse sought compensation related to an accepted back injury. OWCP denied the claim without addressing two timely physician reports that specified work restrictions. The Board set aside the decision and ordered OWCP to review those reports and issue a new decision. The disability claim remains…

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

C.T. and U.S. Postal Service, North Texas Processing and Distribution Center

Board accepts postal worker’s account of package-lifting incident (ECAB 23-0381)

A postal employee said she felt back pain while bending to retrieve a package at work. The Board found that her account was consistent and unrefuted, establishing that the incident occurred during duty. OWCP had not reviewed medical causation because it rejected the incident. The Board reversed…

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

S.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Carol Stream Post Office

Board orders impartial examination for postal worker’s disability claim (ECAB 22-1034)

A postal worker sought wage-loss compensation after an accepted knee injury. OWCP had recognized a conflict between her physician and its second opinion examiner about continuing injury effects and work capacity but never obtained the required impartial examination. The Board set aside the…

February 28, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

United States Department of the Army, Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, Arizona Army National Guard and Association of Civilian Technicians, Chapter 61

Arizona Army National Guard and ACT Chapter 61 (FLRA 0-AR-5860): Authority denies technician-separation reconsideration

The Arizona Army National Guard and its union negotiated renewable four-month extensions for dual-status technicians who lost military membership while disability-retirement claims were pending. The agency later rescinded that provision, and the Authority set aside an arbitrator's contrary contract…

February 28, 2024 ·FLRA
Procedural
COMM

Madeline Russell, widow of Garnet Russell v. GHB Coals, Incorporated

Russell v. GHB Coals (BRB 23-0173 BLA): survivor award remanded over employment calculation

Madeline Russell received survivor benefits after a judge found that her late husband had twenty years of qualifying coal mine employment and a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the disability finding. It could not uphold the employment calculation because the judge had not…

February 27, 2024 ·BRB
Remanded
COMM

Derek Hyman v. CP&O, LLC

Hyman v. CP&O (BRB 23-0049): permanent total disability award affirmed

Derek Hyman sustained a leg amputation in a work-related forklift accident and received treatment for psychological symptoms. His employer later reduced payments to permanent partial disability after a labor market survey identified jobs based on physical restrictions. The judge credited medical…

February 27, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

Carol Facemire v. Juliana Mining Company, Incorporated

Facemire v. Juliana Mining (BRB 23-0004 BLA): benefits award affirmed

Juliana Mining challenged a black lung benefits award to Carol Facemire. She had 14.40 years of coal mine employment, short of the fifteen years needed for the statutory presumption. The judge instead found that medical opinions established a disabling obstructive lung disease caused in part by…

February 27, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

Ollie C. Dye, on behalf of and widow of Charles W. Dye v. Meadows Coal Company

Dye v. Meadows Coal (BRB 22-0545 and 22-0546 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed

Ollie Dye continued her late husband's black lung claim and filed a survivor claim. The judge credited 19.38 years of qualifying coal mine employment and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, triggering the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the designation of Meadows Coal as…

February 27, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

Ollie C. Dye, on behalf of and widow of Charles W. Dye v. Meadows Coal Company

Dye v. Meadows Coal (BRB 22-0545 and 22-0546 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed

Ollie Dye continued her late husband's black lung claim and filed a survivor claim. The judge credited 19.38 years of qualifying coal mine employment and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment, triggering the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the designation of Meadows Coal as…

February 27, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

Cathy Robinson v. Long Branch Energy

Robinson v. Long Branch Energy (BRB 22-0531 BLA): survivor claim dismissal remanded

Cathy Robinson filed a subsequent survivor claim after her earlier claim was denied as abandoned. The judge dismissed the new claim because he thought she could not show a change in a condition related to her late husband's health. The Board held that the judge had to allow her to try to establish…

February 27, 2024 ·BRB
Remanded
COMM

Thomas L. Pruitt, Jr., on behalf of the Estate of Ruby Pruitt v. Commonwealth Resources, Incorporated

Pruitt v. Commonwealth Resources (BRB 22-0412 BLA): modification denied

Ruby Pruitt received a survivor's black lung benefits award after the death of her husband, a miner; her son later acted for her estate. Commonwealth Resources sought to reopen the award, but had not reimbursed the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund for benefits paid under the effective order. A…

February 27, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

O.R. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration

Board denies TSA employee’s lumbar injury claim (ECAB 24-0184)

A TSA employee sought to link a lumbar condition to an accepted 2014 work incident. The Board found that a physician attributed symptoms to an earlier 2013 injury without explaining how the 2014 incident caused or aggravated the condition. Other reports did not address causation for that incident…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Affirmed
COMM

K.P. and Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control

Board denies CDC worker’s off-duty injury claim in Kenya (ECAB 24-0065)

A CDC employee on permanent assignment in Nairobi reported being assaulted after leaving a festival at 2 a.m. The Board found that she was outside work hours, was not on temporary-duty travel, and had not attended the festival for work. It affirmed OWCP’s conclusion that the incident was not in the…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Affirmed
COMM

K.W. and U.S. Postal Service, West Avenue Carrier Annex

Board grants postal worker full response period on claim development (ECAB 24-0049)

OWCP requested additional evidence from a postal employee but denied the claim before the 60-day response period expired. The Board held that the employee was entitled to the full period under the amended rule. It set aside the denial and ordered OWCP to allow a response and decide the claim again.

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

T.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Princeton

Board orders review of omitted records in postal claim (ECAB 23-1200)

A postal employee sought reconsideration in a claim involving an accepted injury. OWCP issued a decision without addressing timely physician reports and an MRI scan in the record. The Board set aside the ruling and ordered OWCP to consider that evidence and issue a new decision.

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Taylorsville Post Office

Board reverses termination of postal worker’s injury benefits (ECAB 23-1156)

OWCP ended a postal employee’s wage-loss and medical benefits after a second opinion examiner found her accepted injuries resolved. The Board found that OWCP had not finished developing whether additional knee conditions belonged in the accepted claim, and the examiner did not address an earlier…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Vacated
COMM

C.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Gary Post Office

Board orders merit review after delayed reconsideration decision (ECAB 23-1128)

OWCP denied a postal mail handler’s knee injury claim after she reported slipping on a bolt at work. She sought reconsideration and supplied medical reports, but OWCP waited 150 days before issuing a nonmerit denial. That delay passed OWCP’s 90-day goal and left her original appeal deadline…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing and Distribution Center

Board orders a clear accounting of alleged overpayment (ECAB 23-1074)

OWCP said a postal employee received a $6,475.87 overpayment because it used the wrong weekly pay rate. It listed payment periods and totals but did not adequately explain how it calculated the compensation she should have received. The Board set aside the overpayment decision and directed OWCP to…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

K.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham VA Medical Center

Board orders further shoulder impairment evaluation (ECAB 23-0901)

A VA employee sought a schedule award for upper extremity impairment. His physician’s shoulder range-of-motion measurements were incomplete, and OWCP relied on a diagnosis-based rating of five percent. After OWCP asked for additional measurements and did not receive them, its procedures required a…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

E.E. and U.S. Postal Service, La Crosse Post Office

Board orders review of omitted disability evidence (ECAB 23-0677)

A postal worker sought wage-loss compensation for a back condition that OWCP had accepted in part. OWCP denied the disability claim without addressing all evidence received before its decision, including an orthopedic surgeon’s report. The Board set that decision aside and directed OWCP to review…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

J.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, West Haven VA Medical Center

Board upholds denial of continuation of pay (ECAB 23-0447)

A VA food service worker sought continuation of pay after reporting a work-related COVID-19 infection. The Board identified November 4, 2022 as the date of her last workplace exposure. She filed her injury claim on January 11, 2023, more than 30 days later. The Board affirmed OWCP’s denial because…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Affirmed
COMM

H.W. and Department of the Air Force, Vandenberg Air Force Base

Board dismisses appeal for lack of a final adverse decision (ECAB 23-0263)

An Air Force employee appealed OWCP’s November 2022 action. That action vacated an earlier suspension of benefits, so it was not a final adverse decision. The Board found no other appealable final adverse decision in the relevant period and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Procedural
COMM

C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Edgewood Post Office

Board orders a new impairment evaluation (ECAB 22-1260)

A postal employee sought additional schedule award compensation for impairment of several limbs. OWCP sent its second opinion doctor a statement of accepted facts that omitted prior schedule awards for the right arm, left hand, left thumb, and right leg. The Board found that this incomplete record…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Ontario Post Office

Board remands claim expansion but upholds disability denial (ECAB 22-1209)

A postal worker sought to add shoulder conditions to an accepted injury claim and sought wage-loss benefits beginning August 10, 2019. A doctor’s opinion did not establish the additional conditions but warranted further medical development, so the Board remanded that issue. The disability evidence…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Mixed result
COMM

H.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Calverton National Cemetery

Board reverses termination of compensation benefits (ECAB 22-1114)

OWCP terminated a VA employee’s compensation benefits based on a second opinion about his ability to perform an offered job. The statement of accepted facts given to that doctor omitted an accepted right shoulder sprain. Because the doctor’s opinion lacked that critical condition, it could not…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Vacated
COMM

C.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Rio Rancho Post Office

Board orders missing second opinion on disability (ECAB 21-1424)

A postal worker sought wage-loss compensation for several periods. OWCP’s second opinion doctor said she was totally disabled but did not specify when that disability began. OWCP requested a supplemental report, then denied the claims before receiving it. The Board set aside three decisions and…

February 27, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

United States Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and National Treasury Employees Union

Customs and Border Protection and NTEU (FLRA 0-AR-5836): Authority upholds COPRA night-premium award

Customs officers regularly scheduled for nightwork lost Customs Officer Pay Reform Act premiums when they used at least eight hours of parental or COVID-19 emergency leave in a pay period. An arbitrator held that the agency had improperly imported the Federal Employees Pay Act's eight-hour…

February 27, 2024 ·FLRA
Upheld
COMM

R.L. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Air Marshal Service

Board orders combined review of knee injury files (ECAB 24-0041)

A federal air marshal received a schedule award for left knee impairment after a passenger seat struck his knee. He also had an earlier accepted claim involving both knees. The Board found that OWCP needed to combine the claim files to evaluate impairment on a complete record. It set aside the…

February 26, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

Matter of Mogtabi Hassan AZRAG

An unexplained state-court conviction vacatur does not support reopening

The Board reviewed a motion to reopen by a Sudanese lawful permanent resident whose state court had vacated two theft convictions and accepted a new plea. It held that a respondent seeking immigration relief must show that a state court vacated the convictions because of a substantive or procedural…

February 23, 2024 ·BIA
Procedural
COMM

Hanwha Cimarron LLC

In re Hanwha Cimarron LLC (EAB CAA Appeal No. 24-02C): HFC import settlement approved

Hanwha Cimarron LLC imported 780 kilograms of the HFC blend R-407C in 60 cylinders. The shipment arrived on June 21, 2022, and the compliance activity was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA alleged that Hanwha imported the bulk regulated substances without expending the required consumption or…

February 23, 2024 ·EPA EAB
Settled
COMM

Wanda F. Thompson, on behalf of Harold Thompson v. Geupel Construction Company, Incorporated

Thompson v. Geupel Construction (BRB 22-0504 BLA): benefits award affirmed

Wanda Thompson continued her late husband's black lung claim after he died while it was pending. The judge credited seventeen years of qualifying coal mine employment and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld the finding that medical opinions supported total disability…

February 23, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

Robert L. Holmes v. Marine Repair Services, Incorporated

Holmes v. Marine Repair Services (BRB 22-0465): Longshore benefits denial affirmed

Robert Holmes, a refrigerator mechanic, reported pulmonary symptoms after an exposure aboard a ship and later sought benefits for a claimed psychological injury. His employer accepted the pulmonary injury but disputed the psychological claim and disability compensation. The Board upheld the judge's…

February 23, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

M1 Support Services, LP v. Administrator, Wage and Hour Div., USDOL

Pension contributions belong in wage determinations

M1 Support Services provided aircraft maintenance under federal service contracts and contributed to a union pension plan for covered employees. After the plan entered critical status, M1 and the union agreed to supplemental contributions under a rehabilitation plan. The Board upheld the…

February 23, 2024 ·DOL ARB
Affirmed
COMM

A.M. and U.S. Postal Service, St. Louis Post Office

Board reverses suspension after undelivered notice (ECAB 24-0152)

A postal vehicle operations assistant missed an OWCP medical examination, and OWCP suspended his wage-loss and medical benefits. The proposed suspension notice was returned as undeliverable, leaving him without the required 14 days to explain his absence. The Board reversed the suspension. It also…

February 23, 2024 ·ECAB
Vacated
COMM

M.L. and Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Board orders review of omitted ankle injury evidence (ECAB 24-0107)

A Treasury police officer sought wage-loss compensation after injuring his left ankle during a perimeter check. OWCP’s hearing representative denied payment for part of the claimed period without addressing medical evidence submitted with his request for written-record review. The Board set aside…

February 23, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
COMM

E.T. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service

Board reverses life insurance premium overpayment ruling (ECAB 24-0106)

OWCP said a former IRS revenue officer owed $22,856.74 because premiums for postretirement basic life insurance had not been deducted from her compensation. The record contained an election form but no effective date for the coverage. Without documentation of when the election took effect, OWCP had…

February 23, 2024 ·ECAB
Vacated
COMM

T.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Shirley A. Chisholm Post Office

Board upholds denial of disability and expanded injury claim (ECAB 23-1039)

A postal letter carrier hurt her right hand and arm when a mailbox came out of a wall. She later sought wage-loss compensation and acceptance of additional shoulder, elbow, and wrist conditions. The Board found that the medical evidence did not adequately explain how the accepted injury caused…

February 23, 2024 ·ECAB
Affirmed
COMM

D.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Pasco Service and Delivery Center

Board reverses termination of postal worker’s benefits (ECAB 23-1000)

OWCP ended a postal worker’s wage-loss and medical benefits after a second opinion doctor found her accepted conditions resolved. The statement of accepted facts sent to that doctor omitted accepted ulnar nerve lesions and other conditions. The Board found the opinion could not support termination…

February 23, 2024 ·ECAB
Vacated
COMM

S.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration

Board reverses denial of written-record review (ECAB 23-0501)

A VA employee requested written-record review of an OWCP decision. OWCP rejected the request as late, even though her request form was dated within the 30-day period and the record did not establish a later filing date. The Board reversed the timeliness ruling and set aside the underlying merits…

February 23, 2024 ·ECAB
Vacated
COMM

V.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Ventura Post Office

Board orders medical clarification on disability recurrence (ECAB 23-0425)

A postal worker claimed that worsening conditions from an accepted injury left her unable to work. OWCP’s referral doctor described worsening spine and shoulder problems but did not say whether they caused disability from the claimed date. The Board set aside the denial and required OWCP to obtain…

February 23, 2024 ·ECAB
Remanded
ALJ

Secretary of Labor v. Thunder Basin Coal Company, LLC

Secretary of Labor v. Thunder Basin Coal Company (FMSHRC WEST 2023-0157): Ground-control-plan citation vacated

MSHA cited Thunder Basin Coal after an inspector saw dozer and haul-truck tire marks near a berm at the Black Thunder Mine and concluded that the ground control plan did not adequately address rollover and breakthrough hazards. Mine witnesses testified that the berm was stable, the tire impressions…

February 22, 2024 ·David P. Simonton ·FMSHRC
Citations vacated
COMM

Secretary of Labor v. Chad Buus, employed by United States Steel - Minnesota Ore Operations

Secretary of Labor v. Chad Buus (FMSHRC LAKE 2024-0016): Timely emailed contest prevented finality

Chad Buus timely emailed a contest of an individual penalty assessment to MSHA. The agency received the filing but did not assign or process it, causing the assessment to appear final. After the error was identified, MSHA processed the contest and agreed that reopening was moot. The Commission held…

February 22, 2024 ·FMSHRC
Remanded
COMM

Leslie C. Sturgill v. Paramont Coal Company, Virginia, LLC

Sturgill v. Paramont Coal (BRB 23-0216 BLA): benefits award affirmed after remand

Paramont Coal challenged a renewed black lung benefits award to Leslie Sturgill after an earlier Board remand. The miner's 28.7 years of coal mine employment, including at least fifteen underground, had already been affirmed. On remand, the judge found a December 2018 pulmonary function study valid…

February 22, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

James E. VanHoose v. Bizzack Construction, LLC

VanHoose v. Bizzack Construction (BRB 23-0158 BLA): disability finding remanded

James VanHoose appealed the denial of his black lung claim, and Bizzack Construction cross-appealed its potential liability. The judge found VanHoose had not proved total respiratory disability. The Board held that the judge had not adequately considered whether breathing limitations prevented the…

February 22, 2024 ·BRB
Remanded
COMM

Kenneth E. Hedrick v. Green Branch Mining Incorporated

Hedrick v. Green Branch Mining (BRB 23-0006 BLA): benefits award affirmed

Green Branch Mining challenged its designation as the operator liable for Kenneth Hedrick's black lung benefits and disputed the merits of the award. The judge credited 15.25 years of underground coal mine employment, and the parties agreed Hedrick was totally disabled by a respiratory impairment…

February 22, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed
COMM

Charles Jolley v. Drummond Company, Incorporated

Jolley v. Drummond Company (BRB 22-0512 BLA): benefits award affirmed

Drummond Company challenged a black lung benefits award to Charles Jolley on his subsequent claim. The parties stipulated to at least twenty-three years of qualifying coal mine employment. The Board upheld the judge's findings that pulmonary function studies and medical opinions established total…

February 22, 2024 ·BRB
Affirmed

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.