A.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC (Board decision, June 26, 2015)

ECAB final decision. The Board ordered reissue of its May 5, 2015 decision after finding that the original was mailed to an incorrect address. The companion reissued decision affirms OWCP’s wage-earning capacity ruling. 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

The Board had prepared a decision affirming OWCP’s wage-earning capacity ruling in A.D.’s case. Its clerk mailed that decision to an incorrect address. The Board held that the mailing error meant the decision had not been properly issued and ordered it reissued. The order did not change the underlying ruling.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: FECA, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq., Board decision issuance.
• Outcome: May 5, 2015 Board decision ordered reissued after a mailing error.
• Key point: Mailing to an incorrect address prevented proper issuance of the original decision.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
A.D., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 14-0253
) Issued: June 26, 2015
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
)
MEDICAL CENTER, Fayetteville, NC, Employer )
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Ditty S. Bhatti, Esq., for the appellant
Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER

Before:
COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Alternate Judge
JAMES A. HAYNES, Alternate Judge

The Board issued a decision and order in the above-entitled matter on May 5, 2015. By that decision, the Board affirmed a May 16, 2013 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), finding that OWCP made a proper finding regarding appellant’s wage-earning capacity. However, the Clerk of the Board inadvertently misaddressed the May 5, 2015 decision, and mailed it to an incorrect address.

In Bertha Keeble,1 the Board, citing to Ralph W. Moody,2 noted that a decision of the Board is issued when it is filed and mailed, and that the presumption will be that this was accomplished on the date the decision is dated.3 The Board found in Keeble that, as the decision was mailed to an incorrect address, such decision was not issued. Consequently, the Board ordered that the decision be reissued.

Similarly, in the instant case, the Board inadvertently addressed and mailed the May 5, 2015 decision to an incorrect address. As in Keeble, since the Board mailed the

1
45 ECAB 355 (1994).
2
44 ECAB 375 (1993).
3
See supra note 1 at 356. See also S.B., Docket No. 14-749 (issued September 12, 2014).
May 5, 2015 decision to an incorrect address, the Board concludes that such decision was not properly issued and must be reissued.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Board’s May 5, 2015 decision is reissued.

Issued: June 26, 2015
Washington, DC

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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

James A. Haynes, Alternate Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

2