B.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Brooklyn, NY (Board decision, April 24, 2014)

ECAB final decision. The Board set aside OWCP’s decision and remanded the case. Under 20 C.F.R. § 501.6(d), this Board decision becomes final 30 days after issuance unless the Board fixed a different period in it. A party may petition the Board for reconsideration within 30 days of issuance unless this decision specifies another period, under 20 C.F.R. § 501.7(a). FECA compensation decisions are generally not subject to court review under 5 U.S.C. § 8128(b).

Plain-English summary

B.O. appealed OWCP decisions concerning her injury claims. The Board found that the record omitted the origin and development of the traumatic injury claim and that several related claim files needed to be consolidated. It set aside the January 11, 2013 decision and remanded the case for reconstruction of the record and a new decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: FECA, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
• Outcome: January 11, 2013 decision set aside; case remanded for record reconstruction and a new decision.
• Key point: The Board could not adjudicate the appeal on an incomplete and unconsolidated claim record.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
B.O., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 13-1135
) Issued: April 24, 2014
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE,
)
Brooklyn, NY, 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
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Alternate Judge

On April 10, 2013 appellant filed an application for review of Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs’ (OWCP) decisions dated January 11 and March 18, 2013. The appeal was docketed as No. 13-1135.

The Board, having reviewed the case record submitted by OWCP, finds that the record is incomplete. The record lacks documentation regarding the origin and development of the traumatic injury claim which is the subject of the instant appeal. While OWCP’s decisions in this case make reference to a November 8, 2012 traumatic injury, the record contains no documentation of this alleged incident. In addition, it must be consolidated with three other case files which are inextricably intertwined with the facts in this case. Appellant indicates in her appeal that she has filed an occupational disease claim, a traumatic injury claim and a recurrence claim and that she stopped work due to alleged injury on several occasions. The instant record must be consolidated and clarified in order to have an informed adjudication of this case. The case record before the Board is incomplete.

Accordingly, the case file does not include a significant portion of the record pertaining to the history and development of appellant’s claim, as is required for an informed adjudication of this case. As all the records pertaining to appellant’s claim are necessary for complete consideration and adjudication of the issue raised on appeal, the Board, therefore, finds that the appeal docketed as No. 13-1135 is not in posture for a decision as the Board is unable to render an informed adjudication of the case. The January 11, 2013 decision will be set aside and remanded for reconstruction and consolidation of the case records to include the entire case file pertaining to claim file numbers xxxxxx018, xxxxxx826, xxxxxx970 and xxxxxx318. The district office should be instructed to research its records and ascertain whether appellant filed a Form CA-1 traumatic injury claim in November 2013, and whether she submitted any evidence in support of such a claim. After such further development as OWCP deems necessary, it should issue an appropriate decision to protect appellant’s appeal rights. Once OWCP obtains this information, clarifies the instant record and composes a new statement of accepted facts, it should then issue a de novo decision resolving all of the pertinent issues in this case.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT this case is remanded for reconstruction and consolidation of the case records.

Issued: April 24, 2014
Washington, DC

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

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Alec J. Koromilas, Alternate Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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