N.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mesa, AZ (Board decision, May 25, 2011)

ECAB final decision later set aside on reconsideration. The Board’s May 25, 2011 order set aside OWCP’s April 29, 2010 denial and remanded the knee claim. The Board later set aside this order on reconsideration. Its November 3, 2011 order is the operative disposition. See the [later order](10-1747-order-commission.md). The Board’s reconsideration process is governed by 20 C.F.R. § 501.7(a).

Plain-English summary

N.C. appealed an OWCP denial of a right knee injury claim. This order found that OWCP had accepted an aggravated knee sprain one day before a hearing representative affirmed the earlier denial without addressing the acceptance. The Board returned the case for review of that apparent inconsistency. On reconsideration, the Board found the acceptance belonged to a separate claim file, set aside this May order, and issued a new remand order requiring combined review of the two claims.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Federal Employees’ Compensation Act claim review, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
• Outcome: May 25, 2011 remand order later set aside on reconsideration; see the November 3, 2011 order.
• Key point: This order is historical; the later Board order governs the combined knee claims.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
N.C., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 10-1747
) Issued: May 25, 2011
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE,
)
Mesa, AZ, Employer
)
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Appellant, pro se
Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:
RICHARD J. DASCHBACH, Chief Judge
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Judge
COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge

On June 21, 2010 appellant filed an application for review from an April 29, 2010 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, which found that the medical evidence was insufficient to establish her claim for a traumatic injury.

The Board has duly considered the matter and finds that the case is not in posture for a decision and must be remanded to the Office. In the case of William A. Couch,1 the Board held that, when adjudicating a claim, the Office is obligated to consider all evidence properly received by the Office before a final decision is issued. In the present case, following an initial denial on December 11, 2009, the Office accepted appellant’s claim for aggravation of a right knee sprain on April 28, 2010. But on April 29, 2010, an Office hearing representative affirmed the December 11, 2009 denial of the claim. A review of the hearing representative’s April 29, 2010 decision demonstrates that she did not consider the April 28, 2010 claim acceptance as she never referenced it or purported to rescind it. Accordingly, the case will be remanded to the Office to enable it to properly consider all of the evidence in the record at the time of the April 29, 2010 decision. Following this and any further development deemed necessary, the Office shall issue an appropriate merit decision on appellant’s claim.

1
41 ECAB 548 (1990).
 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the April 29, 2010 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs is set aside. The case is remanded to the Office for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: May 25, 2011
Washington, DC

Richard J. Daschbach, Chief Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Alec J. Koromilas, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

2