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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D.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Doris Miller VA Medical Center
Board dismisses appeal without a reviewable OWCP decision (ECAB 24-0124)
A VA employee sought review of a purported March 2023 OWCP decision. The record sent to the Board contained neither that decision nor another final adverse decision issued within the 180-day appeal period. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without deciding the compensation…
L.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Frederick Post Office
Board reverses suspension after mailed notice failed (ECAB 24-0023)
OWCP suspended a postal carrier’s compensation benefits after a notice of proposed suspension was mailed to her last known address. The notice was returned as undeliverable, so she did not receive the required 14-day opportunity to explain her position. The Board reversed the suspension and…
V.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Shreveport Annex
Board orders two elbow claim files combined (ECAB 24-0018)
A postal employee reported continuing right elbow problems after an earlier accepted injury. OWCP treated her report as a new occupational disease claim, denied it, and later denied her hearing request. The Board found that OWCP needed to combine the earlier and current elbow files for a full…
L.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center
Board orders second opinion on shoulder and neck injury claim (ECAB 23-1134)
A VA employee filed a traumatic injury claim for shoulder and neck conditions following a workplace lifting incident. Her physician linked the conditions to that incident, but the Board found the opinion insufficient to establish the claim on its own. It found the report sufficient to require more…
K.S. and U.S. Postal Service, New Orleans Post Office
Board orders review of medication authorization request (ECAB 23-1085)
A postal employee sought continued coverage for Esgic tablets used to treat symptoms of an accepted injury. His doctor submitted a medication authorization request and supporting report before OWCP denied coverage. OWCP did not address those documents in its decision. The Board set the denial aside…
G.C. and U.S. Postal Service, South Hackensack Post Office
Board upholds termination of wage-loss and medical benefits (ECAB 23-0663)
OWCP ended a postal employee’s wage-loss and medical benefits after finding that her accepted injury no longer caused disability or residuals. The Board found that OWCP met its burden to terminate benefits and that the employee’s evidence did not establish continuing entitlement. It affirmed the…
M.T. and Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Board upholds denial of added head injury condition (ECAB 23-0251)
An Agriculture Department employee sought to add a head condition to an accepted claim after a workplace fall. Her doctor attributed the condition to the fall but did not explain the medical mechanism or address the absence of head complaints for several months. The Board found the medical evidence…
E.P., claiming as widow of P.P., and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Board upholds denial of survivor benefits (ECAB 22-0895)
The widow of an Army Corps employee sought survivor benefits, alleging that his death was related to an accepted workplace injury. A doctor identified an accepted pulmonary embolism as a partial cause of death but did not explain the medical basis for that conclusion. The Board found the evidence…
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2023-0015): Stay request denied
Grimes Rock asked the judge to stay three enforcement proceedings while the Ninth Circuit considered a related temporary-reinstatement appeal. The company argued that the court of appeals had exclusive jurisdiction and that its ruling could undermine the orders on which MSHA's citations and…
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2022-0334): Discovery limited to the disputed enforcement actions
The Secretary asked the judge to stop Grimes Rock from seeking discovery about MSHA inspections conducted in December 2023 and January 2024. The underlying cases concerned citations and an order issued in August 2022 after Grimes Rock allegedly failed to comply with temporary-reinstatement payment…
Secretary of Labor v. Leesville Land, LLC
One assessment time-barred, nine reopened after staffing change
Leesville Land sought to reopen ten assessments missed by a former safety director who had limited contest experience and did not understand the assessment process. After MSHA warned that the mine's enforcement history was trending toward pattern-of-violations consideration, Leesville hired an…
R.K. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Pittsburgh VA Medical Center
Board dismisses appeal without final adverse OWCP decision (ECAB 24-0186)
A VA employee appealed a purported November 2023 OWCP decision. The record sent to the Board did not contain that final adverse decision or another final adverse decision issued within 180 days of the appeal. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without ruling on the underlying…
J.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham VA Medical Center
Board orders related shoulder injury files combined (ECAB 24-0108)
A VA nurse claimed a right shoulder injury, while two other OWCP files concerned the same shoulder. OWCP denied the current claim after considering it on its own. The Board found that the related claim files needed to be combined for a complete review. It set aside the denial and directed OWCP to…
C.L. and U.S. Postal Service, North Augusta Post Office
Board orders impartial examination for knee impairment rating (ECAB 23-1165)
A postal employee sought more than the 23 percent left leg impairment previously awarded. Her treating physician rated impairment at 31 percent, while another physician rated it at 23 percent. The Board found an unresolved conflict in medical opinion over the knee rating. It set aside OWCP’s…
G.N. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration
Board upholds termination of wage-loss and medical benefits (ECAB 23-0763)
OWCP ended a transportation security employee’s wage-loss and medical benefits after its medical examiner found no remaining disability or residuals from the accepted injury. The Board credited that opinion and found the employee’s later reports did not establish continuing entitlement. It affirmed…
J.A. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Board upholds refusal to reconsider knee injury claim (ECAB 23-0650)
A Customs and Border Protection employee sought reconsideration of a denied knee injury claim. He supplied a personal narrative but no new medical evidence addressing the disputed causal relationship. The Board found that the submission met none of the regulatory grounds for reopening the merits…
E.F. (nee G.) and U.S. Postal Service, Anaheim Post Office
Board orders fuller job history and medical review for back claim (ECAB 23-0620)
A postal employee sought acceptance of a low back condition related to her work duties. The statement of accepted facts sent to OWCP’s doctor described modified jobs without the underlying offers in the record and omitted an earlier accepted position. The Board found the medical opinion and…
M.H. and Department of the Army, Picatinny Arsenal
Board upholds denial of emotional condition claim (ECAB 23-0467)
An Army employee sought compensation for an emotional condition related to a compensable workplace factor. One medical document was unsigned, and another doctor did not explain how that workplace factor caused the diagnosed condition. The Board found the medical evidence insufficient to establish…
M.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Board orders reasons for denying hearing loss award (ECAB 23-0118)
A Customs and Border Protection officer sought a schedule award for hearing loss linked to workplace noise. OWCP denied the award by saying the loss was not ratable, but it did not explain its evaluation of the submitted evidence. The Board set aside the denial and directed OWCP to issue findings…
Avonell Isaac, widow of Lonzo Isaac v. Agipcoal USA Incorporated
Isaac v. Agipcoal USA (BRB 22-0438 BLA): survivor benefits award affirmed
Avonell Isaac sought survivor benefits after her husband died without having filed a lifetime black lung claim. The judge found that he had more than fifteen years of qualifying coal mine employment and was totally disabled by a respiratory impairment when he died. The Board upheld the disability…
Lamm v. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co.
FRSA appeal dismissed after district-court filing
Matt Lamm asked the Board to review an administrative judge's denial of his Federal Railroad Safety Act complaint. While the appeal was pending, he filed an original action for de novo review in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and provided the Board with a…
C.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Coronado Station Post Office
Board orders combined review of emotional condition files (ECAB 24-0208)
A postal supervisor challenged OWCP’s rescission of an accepted emotional condition claim. A separate earlier claim also involved an emotional condition and alleged workplace discrimination. The Board found that the files needed to be combined for a complete review. It set aside OWCP’s latest…
R.M. and Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas
Board dismisses appeal without a final adverse decision (ECAB 24-0133)
A Justice Department employee sought to appeal a purported November 2023 OWCP decision. The transmitted record did not contain that decision or another final adverse decision within the 180-day review period. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without deciding the underlying…
K.W. and Peace Corps, Peace Corps Volunteer Services
Board orders review of omitted disability evidence (ECAB 24-0130)
A Peace Corps volunteer sought compensation for disability associated with an accepted Lyme disease condition. OWCP denied the claim without addressing medical reports in the record from dates within the claimed compensation period. The Board set aside the decision and directed OWCP to consider the…
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Portland Post Office
Board orders related lumbar injury files combined (ECAB 24-0117)
A postal carrier sought acceptance of a lumbar condition following a later work incident. His record included several earlier lumbar injury claims, some accepted, but OWCP decided the current claim without combining them. The Board set aside the denial and directed OWCP to combine the related files…
J.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Belmont Post Office
Board dismisses appeal at employee’s request (ECAB 24-0051)
A postal employee appealed an OWCP nonmerit decision, then sent the Board a written request to withdraw the appeal. The Board granted that request and dismissed the appeal. It did not decide the compensation issue.
J.D. and U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Board orders right knee claims combined (ECAB 23-1199)
A postal inspection employee injured his right ankle and knee in a workplace fall. OWCP denied the current injury claim while two earlier files already contained accepted right knee conditions. The Board set aside the denial and ordered OWCP to combine all related right knee files before issuing a…
G.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Winfield Post Office
Board grants agency request to revisit shoulder claim (ECAB 23-1102)
A rural postal carrier appealed OWCP’s denial of a left shoulder condition. OWCP’s Director asked the Board to remand because another file had apparently accepted a left shoulder condition even though the shoulder injury belonged to the current file. The Board granted the motion, set aside the…
W.W. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service
Board orders further medical review of PTSD disability claim (ECAB 23-0676)
An IRS employee sought wage-loss compensation for a period after an accepted post-traumatic stress disorder claim. His treating doctor linked his symptoms and work restrictions to that condition, but the Board found the opinion not fully reasoned. It found the report sufficient to require more…
A.N. (a.k.a. A.S.) and U.S. Postal Service, Westerville Post Office
Board accepts workplace incident and orders medical review (ECAB 22-0194)
A postal carrier reported back pain after twisting to lift a package from his truck during a delivery route. OWCP had rejected the account of the incident and had not evaluated the medical evidence. The Board found the work incident established, reversed OWCP’s denial, and remanded for review of…
United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Winston-Salem, North Carolina and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 25
VA Winston-Salem and AFGE Local 25 (FLRA 0-AR-5923): Authority upholds overtime within promotion make-whole remedy
A VA employee's career-ladder promotion was delayed after the agency failed to give required advance notice of performance deficiencies and develop a tailored assistance plan. An arbitrator backdated the promotion, ordered make-whole relief, and retained jurisdiction over remedy issues. In a…
Secretary of Labor v. ITAC
Assessment reopened despite stale address
ITAC moved in 2009 without updating its MSHA address, and a 2023 assessment was delivered to the former location and signed for by an unidentified recipient. An employee looking for missing packages recovered the assessment on May 25, and ITAC contacted MSHA on the next business day and moved to…
Kovarik v. Groundwater & Environmental Services, Inc.
Pipeline matter administratively closed
An administrative judge dismissed Jaromir Kovarik's Pipeline Safety Improvement Act complaint with prejudice. Kovarik moved the judge to reconsider and sent a copy of that motion through the Board's filing system, which caused an ARB case number to be assigned. The judge then granted…
Saini v. Hospital Care Consultants, Inc.
H-1B case remanded to correct litigation costs
An administrative judge found that Hospital Care Consultants violated H-1B program requirements and awarded Vinay Saini remedies, attorney fees, and litigation costs. After both sides petitioned the Board for review, Saini identified a calculation error in the cost award. Because the appeal had…
B.R. and U.S. Postal Service, NW Rochester Processing and Distribution Center
Board dismisses appeal filed beyond 180 days (ECAB 24-0290)
A postal employee appealed an OWCP decision issued July 12, 2023. The 180-day deadline was January 8, 2024, but the appeal was filed January 29. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without reaching the claim’s merits.
K.P. and Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco National Cemetery
Board dismisses appeal filed after review deadline (ECAB 24-0262)
A VA employee appealed an October 2021 OWCP nonmerit decision in January 2024. The Board’s 180-day filing period had expired in April 2022. It dismissed the appeal as untimely without deciding the underlying compensation matter.
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Warren Post Office
Board orders review of overlooked ankle report (ECAB 24-0259)
A postal carrier sought reconsideration of a decision about his accepted ankle injury. OWCP said a report his lawyer cited was missing, but an earlier Board order had identified a date error and the relevant report was in the record under its correct date. OWCP still failed to review it. The Board…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Kearny Post Office
Board upholds bilateral arm impairment ratings (ECAB 23-1021)
A postal employee sought schedule award compensation above four percent impairment of her right arm and eight percent of her left arm. OWCP used an impartial medical examiner to resolve conflicting impairment opinions. The Board found no basis in the record for higher ratings and affirmed the award…
K.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Meadowbrook Post Office
Board corrects reconsideration deadline error (ECAB 23-0979)
A postal employee sought reconsideration of a denied shoulder and thumb injury claim. OWCP treated her request as late and applied the stricter clear-evidence-of-error standard. The Board found that her initial request arrived within one year of the last merits decision. It reversed two OWCP…
D.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Board upholds emotional condition and reconsideration denials (ECAB 23-0852)
A Homeland Security employee sought compensation for an alleged workplace harassment incident and later sought reconsideration. The Board found he had not established a compensable employment factor for the claimed emotional condition. It also found his reconsideration submissions repeated earlier…
L.M. and Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Board reverses termination based on inconsistent medical opinion (ECAB 23-0560)
OWCP terminated a National Park Service employee’s wage-loss and medical benefits after a second opinion examination. The examiner described continuing shoulder findings but did not explain how those findings supported a conclusion that all work-related disability and residuals had ended. The Board…
S.S. and Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration
Board orders specialist review of back condition claim (ECAB 23-0450)
An FDA employee sought acceptance of several lumbar conditions that she attributed to years of sitting and lifting heavy work materials. Her doctor described a possible medical mechanism, but the Board found the opinion not fully reasoned. It found the report sufficient to require further…
A.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Crenshaw Imperial Post Office
Board upholds suspension and overpayment but remands waiver (ECAB 23-0437)
OWCP suspended a postal employee’s wage-loss benefits after he failed to return an earnings report. It also found a $16,926.74 overpayment from undeducted life insurance premiums. The Board upheld the suspension and overpayment finding. It set aside the waiver ruling because OWCP had not considered…
Billy D. Bailey v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Bailey v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 23-0270 BLA): benefits award affirmed
Clinchfield Coal challenged the award of black lung benefits to Billy Bailey on his subsequent claim. The judge credited 17.42 years of underground coal mine employment and a totally disabling respiratory impairment, triggering the fifteen-year presumption. The Board upheld the judge's reasons for…
Paul L. Jones v. Gateway Eagle Mining, LLC
Jones v. Gateway Eagle Mining (BRB 23-0261 BLA): benefits and carrier liability affirmed
Paul Jones received black lung benefits based on complicated pneumoconiosis, which triggers an irrebuttable presumption of total disability due to the disease. Gateway Eagle Mining and its carrier disputed which insurer was liable, arguing that the disease began before Rockwood's coverage started…
Alice Napier, widow of Randy Napier v. Shamrock Coal Company Incorporated
Napier v. Shamrock Coal (BRB 23-0238 BLA): survivor award on modification affirmed
Alice Napier sought modification of an earlier denial of survivor benefits. A new judge credited her late husband with twenty-one years of qualifying coal mine employment and found he had been totally disabled by a respiratory impairment. The Board upheld that finding based on treatment and…
Irene Fossat, widow of Ronald A. Fossat v. Sunnyside Coal Company
Fossat v. Sunnyside Coal (BRB 23-0157 BLA): derivative survivor award affirmed
Irene Fossat received survivor benefits because her husband had been found eligible for black lung benefits when he died. Sunnyside Coal argued that his benefits award had not become final because its appeal was pending in federal court. The Board held that finality of the miner's award was not…
Ethel M. Dingus, widow of Thelmar N. Dingus v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs
Dingus v. Director, OWCP (BRB 23-0139 BLA): survivor denial remanded
Ethel Dingus filed a survivor claim after her husband died, and her daughter continued it after Ethel died. The judge credited fifteen years of underground coal mine employment but found the miner was not totally disabled by a respiratory impairment. The Board held that the valid qualifying…
Don R. Hawkins v. Paramont Coal Corporation
Hawkins v. Paramont Coal (BRB 23-0061 BLA): benefits award affirmed
Paramont Coal challenged a black lung benefits award to Don Hawkins, who had 14.068 years of coal mine employment. That was short of the fifteen years needed for the statutory presumption. The judge found legal pneumoconiosis and total disability due to it based on medical opinions, while finding…
Gene T. Kiser v. Clinchfield Coal Company
Kiser v. Clinchfield Coal (BRB 23-0033 BLA): benefits award affirmed
Clinchfield Coal challenged a black lung benefits award to Gene Kiser on his subsequent claim. The judge credited 15.17 years of underground coal mine employment and found a totally disabling respiratory impairment. The Board upheld those findings and Kiser's use of the fifteen-year presumption. It…
Julio Gutierrez Vivanco v. Triple Canopy, Incorporated
Gutierrez Vivanco v. Triple Canopy (BRB 22-0498): Defense Base Act denial affirmed
Julio Gutierrez Vivanco sought Defense Base Act benefits for a psychological condition he attributed to security work in Iraq. The judge found that the employer rebutted the statutory work-related injury presumption. Weighing the evidence as a whole, she gave greater weight to a psychiatrist's…
Leroy Bowman v. U.S. Steel Mining Company, LLC
Bowman v. U.S. Steel Mining (BRB 22-0471 BLA): benefits denial remanded under rebuttal rule
Leroy Bowman appealed without representation after a judge denied his subsequent black lung claim. The parties stipulated to at least twenty-nine years of underground coal mine work, and the Board upheld the finding of total respiratory disability. That triggered the fifteen-year presumption. The…
R.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Fort Worth Processing and Distribution Center
Board dismisses appeal filed after deadline (ECAB 24-0289)
A postal employee appealed a July 14, 2023 OWCP decision on January 29, 2024. The 180-day appeal period ended January 10, 2024. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without reviewing the underlying claim.
J.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Eagle Rock Station
Board dismisses appeal filed nine days late (ECAB 24-0254)
A postal employee appealed a July 13, 2023 OWCP decision on January 18, 2024. The 180-day appeal period ended January 9, 2024. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without deciding the underlying claim.
R.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Fort Worth Post Office
Board dismisses appeal beyond 180 days (ECAB 24-0229)
A postal employee appealed a January 4, 2023 OWCP decision on January 4, 2024. The 180-day filing period had ended July 3, 2023. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without reviewing the compensation issue.
B.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Ozone Park Carrier Annex
Board dismisses appeal of older OWCP decision (ECAB 24-0215)
A postal employee appealed a July 2021 OWCP decision in December 2023. The 180-day appeal period had ended in January 2022. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without deciding the compensation issue.
H.C. and U.S. Postal Service, El Centro Post Office
Board dismisses appeal years after deadline (ECAB 24-0199)
A postal employee appealed a May 2017 OWCP decision in December 2023. The 180-day filing period had ended in October 2017. The Board dismissed the appeal as untimely without reaching the compensation claim.
R.R. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Pittsburg VA Medical Center
Board dismisses appeal after requested withdrawal (ECAB 24-0045)
A VA employee appealed an October 2023 OWCP decision through counsel. The employee later asked the Board in writing to withdraw the appeal. The Board granted the request and dismissed the appeal without deciding the compensation issue.
V.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Weathers Post Office
Board orders full response period for disability evidence (ECAB 23-1013)
A postal supervisor sought wage-loss compensation linked to an accepted injury. OWCP gave her 30 days to supply more evidence, then denied the claim before the current regulation’s 60-day response period had elapsed. The Board set aside the later decision and ordered OWCP to apply the full response…
G.V. and U.S. Postal Service, West Palm Beach Processing and Distribution Center
Board upholds lateness finding but orders reasons on reconsideration (ECAB 23-1005)
A postal employee asked OWCP to reconsider a prior merits denial more than one year after it was issued. The Board agreed that the request was late. OWCP, however, did not explain why the submission failed the clear-evidence-of-error standard for late requests. The Board set aside that part of the…
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.