⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Second Circuit hears Marjan Apostolovski's workers' compensation appeal against DynCorp. While fueling helicopters and vehicles at a military base in Afghanistan, he says grenade attacks left him with sleep problems and other psychological symptoms. His doctors diagnosed trauma-related conditions, but DynCorp's psychologist disputed any work-related psychological injury. An administrative law judge denied benefits, and the Labor Department's Benefits Review Board affirmed. His lawyer, Jon Robinson of Strongpoint Law Firm, will challenge that denial. The Defense Base Act extends federal workers' compensation law to certain overseas jobs supporting the United States. Section twenty A presumes a claim is work-related once the worker shows a harm and working conditions that could cause it. The employer must then produce substantial evidence—evidence a reasonable person could accept—to rebut that presumption. Producing evidence is not yet persuading the judge: only afterward is the whole record weighed, with the worker bearing the ultimate burden of proof. The legal sufficiency question gets de novo review—a fresh look, without deferring to the agency's legal answer.

Apostolovski v. United States Department of Labor (No. 25-2168) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, argued September 21, 2026.