S.G. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration Medical Center, Murfreesboro, TN (Board decision, March 2, 2015)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP’s June 9, 2014 denial and returned the claim for consideration of medical records received that day. Whether the occupational disease claim is compensable remains unresolved. A party may petition the Board for reconsideration within 30 days of issuance unless this order specifies another period, under 20 C.F.R. § 501.7(a).

Plain-English summary

S.G. submitted medical records for an occupational disease claim. OWCP received them on the day it denied the claim, but the denial said she had submitted no evidence and did not address the records. The Board held that OWCP had to consider evidence received before issuing its decision, even if it arrived on the same day. It set aside the denial and returned the claim for a new merits decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: OWCP duty to consider evidence received before its decision, as described in William A. Couch and Linda Johnson.
• Outcome: Occupational claim denial set aside; case remanded for review of omitted records.
• Key point: OWCP had to consider medical records received on the date of its decision.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
S.G., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 15-18
) Issued: March 2, 2015
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,
)
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION,
)
MEDICAL CENTER, Murfreesboro, TN,
)
Employer
)
__________ )

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

ORDER REMANDING CASE

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

On October 2, 2014 appellant filed a timely appeal from a June 9, 2014 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) denying her occupational disease claim.

The Board has duly considered the matter and finds that the case is not in posture for a decision and must be remanded to OWCP. In the case of William A. Couch,1 the Board held that when adjudicating a claim, OWCP is obligated to consider all evidence properly submitted by a claimant and received by it before the final decision is issued.

In this case, appellant filed an occupational disease claim on April 29, 2014. In a May 6, 2014 letter, OWCP advised her of the type of medical evidence needed to establish her claim. Appellant submitted a variety of medical records dated from February through April 2014. OWCP received these records on June 9, 2014.

In its June 9, 2014 decision, OWCP denied appellant’s claim, finding that she submitted no evidence in response to its May 6, 2014 request. It did not address the medical records she

1
41 ECAB 548 (1990). submitted that were received on June 9, 2014.2 For this reason, the case will be remanded to OWCP to enable it to properly consider all the evidence submitted prior to the June 9, 2014 decision. Following such further development as OWCP deems necessary, it shall issue an appropriate merit decision on the claim.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs dated June 9, 2014 is set aside. The case record is remanded to OWCP for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: March 2, 2015
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
See Linda Johnson, 45 ECAB 439, 440 (1994) (where the Board held that it is necessary that OWCP review all evidence submitted by a claimant and received by OWCP prior to issuance of its final decision and noted that this principle applies with equal force when evidence is received by OWCP the same day a final decision is issued).

2