T.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Roseland Post Office, Chicago, IL (Board decision, August 1, 2014)

ECAB remand decision and order. The Board set aside OWCP’s January 31, 2014 denial of an additional schedule award. OWCP must combine the relevant claim files, assess the full record, and issue a new decision; entitlement to an additional award remains unresolved. Under 20 C.F.R. § 501.6(d), this Board order becomes final 30 days after issuance. A party may petition the Board for reconsideration within 30 days unless this order 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

T.P., a postal carrier technician, sought an additional schedule award for an accepted left foot and ankle injury. OWCP denied the request based on a prior 28 percent left leg award in another claim file. The Board did not have the prior file in the record and could not determine whether another award was due. It set aside the denial and directed OWCP to combine the files, consider the evidence together, and make a new decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: OWCP case file combination procedure cited in the order.
• Outcome: Additional award denial set aside; case remanded for a combined-record decision.
• Key point: The Board could not review the award issue without the earlier claim file OWCP relied on.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
T.P., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 14-914
) Issued: August 1, 2014
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, ROSELAND POST
)
OFFICE, Chicago, IL, Employer
)
__________ )

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

ORDER REMANDING CASE
Before:
PATRICIA HOWARD FITZGERALD, Acting Chief Judge COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Alternate Judge

On March 12, 2014 appellant filed a timely appeal of a January 31, 2014 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) concerning the denial of an additional schedule award. The Board assigned Docket No. 14-914.

On April 10, 2010 appellant, then a 54-year-old carrier technician, filed a traumatic injury claim alleging that on April 8, 2010 she injured her left foot while casing mail. OWCP accepted the claim for left tibialis tendinitis, left plantar fibromatosis, left Achilles tendinitis and left Achilles tendon rupture. On March 18, 2013 appellant filed a claim for a schedule award. By decision dated September 9, 2013, OWCP found the evidence insufficient to establish that appellant was entitled to an additional schedule award. It noted that she had previously been issued a schedule award for a 28 percent permanent impairment to her left lower extremity under File No. xxxxxx872 and that therefore she was not entitled to an increased impairment. By decision dated January 31, 2014, OWCP denied modification.

The Board has duly considered the matter and concludes that the case is not in posture for a decision. OWCP procedures provide that cases should be doubled when a new injury is reported 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.1 As OWCP based the denial of appellant’s claim for a schedule award granted under File No. xxxxxx872, the Board concludes that OWCP should have doubled the case files in accordance with its procedures. As the record before the Board does not contain evidence from the prior claim referenced by OWCP, the Board is unable to properly address and adjudicate the schedule award issue. On remand, OWCP should combine the present case record, OWCP File No. xxxxxx929, with OWCP File No. xxxxxx872. After combining these case records, OWCP should consider the evidence contained in the combined case record and, following any necessary further development, issue a de novo decision on the issue of whether appellant is entitled to an additional schedule award. Accordingly, the January 31, 2014 decision denying appellant’s claim for a schedule award should be set aside.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs dated January 31, 2014 is set aside and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: August 1, 2014
Washington, DC

Patricia Howard Fitzgerald, Acting Chief Judge Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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

1
Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Doubling Case Files, Chapter 2.400.8(c)(1) (February 2000); See T.M., Docket Nos. 09-1090 & 09-2226 (issued March 8, 2010).

2