N.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Charles, MO (Board decision, September 26, 2014)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP’s January 23, 2014 denial of N.L.’s back injury claim and returned it for three related claim files to be combined and a new decision issued. Whether the new injury claim is compensable remains unresolved. Under 20 C.F.R. § 501.6(d), this Board order becomes final as to the appealed decision 30 days after issuance. A party may petition the Board for reconsideration within 30 days unless the order specifies another period, under 20 C.F.R. § 501.7(a).

Plain-English summary

N.L., a postal rural carrier, claimed a back injury after turning and bending to retrieve mail. OWCP denied the claim because it found no medical evidence establishing a causal link to work. Its hearing representative also noted two earlier back claims. The Board found that the earlier claim files were not fully in the record before it, although OWCP relied on them. It set aside the denial and directed OWCP to combine all three files, develop the record as needed, and issue a new decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: FECA claim administration, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.; OWCP file-combination procedures.
• Outcome: January 23, 2014 back injury denial set aside and remanded.
• Key point: Prior claims for similar back conditions had to be combined with the current file for a complete review.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
N.L., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 14-864
) Issued: September 26, 2014
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE,
)
St. Charles, MO, Employer
)
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Alan J. Shapiro, Esq., for the appellant
Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:
CHRISTOPHER J. GODFREY, Chief Judge
COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge
PATRICIA HOWARD FITZGERALD, Judge

On March 7, 2014 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal of a January 23, 2014 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) denying her traumatic injury claim. The Board assigned Docket No. 14-864.

On November 2, 20121 appellant, then a 33-year-old rural carrier, filed a traumatic injury claim alleging that on October 1, 2012 she injured her lower lumbar disc when she stood up after turning around and bending down to get mail. By decision dated June 14, 2013, OWCP denied appellant’s claim on the grounds that the medical evidence failed to establish a causal relationship between the diagnosed condition and the October 1, 2012 work incident. By decision dated January 23, 2014, an OWCP hearing representative affirmed the June 14, 2013 decision. OWCP’s hearing representative noted that appellant had filed two prior claims for a back condition. Under File No. xxxxxx603, OWCP had accepted neck and lumbar sprain while File No. xxxxxx195 had been denied.

The Board has duly considered the matter and concludes that the case is not in posture for decision. OWCP procedures provide that cases should be doubled when a new injury is reported

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Appellant noted that the form was signed on February 7, 2013, but that her original traumatic injury claim was dated November 2, 2012. for an employee who previously filed an injury claim for a similar condition and further indicates that the cases should be doubled as soon as the need to do so becomes apparent.2 As OWCP’s hearing representative referenced prior decisions in which OWCP had accepted one claim for a back condition and denied the other back claim, OWCP should have combined the case files in accordance with its procedures.

As the record before the Board does not contain all the evidence from the prior claims, other than some medical evidence from the accepted claim, the Board is unable to properly address and adjudicate the issue of appellant’s current traumatic injury under OWCP File No. xxxxxx436

On remand, OWCP should combine the present case record, OWCP File No. xxxxxx436, with OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx195 and xxxxxx603. After combining these case records on remand, and following any necessary further development, OWCP shall issue a de novo decision. Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs dated January 23, 2014 is set aside, and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: September 26, 2014
Washington, DC

Christopher J. Godfrey, Chief Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia Howard Fitzgerald, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

2
Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Doubling Case Files, Chapter 2.400.8(c)(1) (February 2000).

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