S.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Absecon, NJ (Board decision, February 27, 2013)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP’s June 8, 2012 denial of S.B.’s emotional-condition claim and directed it to combine the related case records. Whether the claim will be accepted remains unresolved. A party may petition the Board for reconsideration within 30 days of issuance unless the order specifies another period, under 20 C.F.R. § 501.7(a).

Plain-English summary

S.B., a postal employee, sought compensation for an emotional condition she attributed to workplace harassment and bullying. OWCP denied the claim and said several alleged work factors had been raised in an earlier claim. The Board found it could not tell whether the earlier file contained relevant evidence or whether OWCP had addressed all of the current allegations. It set aside the denial and ordered OWCP to combine the files and issue a new decision. The opinion calls the OWCP decision June 12 once, but its opening and order identify June 8.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Need for the full related case record to adjudicate the appeal.
• Outcome: June 8, 2012 denial set aside; case remanded for combined files and a new merits decision.
• Key point: The earlier emotional-condition file could contain evidence needed to decide this claim.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
S.B., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 12-1434
) Issued: February 27, 2013
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE,
)
Absecon, NJ, 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
COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge
PATRICIA HOWARD FITZGERALD, Judge

On June 22, 2012 appellant filed a timely appeal of a June 8, 2012 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The appeal was docketed as No. 12-1434.

The June 8, 2012 OWCP decision denies appellant’s February 15, 2011 claim for an emotional condition. OWCP noted that she had claimed harassment and bullying from management and other employees, including a noose that was hanging in the office. In the June 12, 2012 decision, it reviewed the evidence of record and found that appellant had not established that the claimed emotional condition occurred during the performance of duty. As part of its conclusion, OWCP stated that “most of your claimed factors of employment, including the noose and the harassment by management in 2010 have already been claimed under your other claim for an emotional condition filed on January 24, 2010 (case file number xxxxxx247).”

The Board finds that, if appellant has filed a prior claim with similar allegations, then the case records must be combined for a proper adjudication of the issues. It is not clear whether there is relevant evidence as to the alleged work factors discussed in the present case that are located in the prior claim. It is also unclear as to whether all of appellant’s current allegations have been adjudicated in the prior claim. As the Board noted in R.W., all the records pertaining to the claim are necessary for complete consideration and adjudication of the issues presented on appeal.1 The case will be remanded for proper consolidation of the case records. After such further development as OWCP deems necessary, it should issue an appropriate merit decision to protect appellant’s appeal rights.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs dated June 8, 2012 is set aside and the case remanded for further action consistent with this decision of the Board.

Issued: February 27, 2013
Washington, DC

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

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia Howard Fitzgerald, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

1
Docket No. 12-287 (issued July 26, 2012) (case was remanded for proper consolidation of case records).

2