C.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Columbus, OH (Board decision, August 3, 2015)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP's November 25, 2014 disability decision and remanded for combined-file review. OWCP must decide the underlying claim after the ordered proceedings; the Board did not resolve entitlement to benefits. 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

C.R., a postal letter carrier, claimed disability after an accepted knee and elbow injury. The hearing representative relied on a medical report from a separate knee claim file that was absent from the record before the Board. The Board directed OWCP to combine the two related files and reconsider the disability claim using the complete record. It did not decide entitlement to the disputed wage loss.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq..
• Outcome: November 25, 2014 decision set aside; disability claim remanded for combined-file review.
• Key point: The Board could not review disability without the related knee claim file referenced below.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
C.R., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 15-0737
) Issued: August 3, 2015
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE,
)
Columbus, OH, 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
PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge

On February 16, 2015 appellant, through counsel, filed an appeal of a November 25, 2014 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), in claim number xxxxxx096. By that decision an OWCP hearing representative affirmed OWCP’s February 26, 2014 decision denying her claim for disability beginning October 19, 2013.1 The appeal was docketed as 15-737.

In the November 25, 2014 decision, an OWCP hearing representative referred to a report completed by Dr. Charles May, a family practitioner, in claim number xxxxxx601, and indicated that he saw appellant for bilateral injuries to both knees on September 26, 2013 and related her complaints and physical findings to an injury on February 25, 2009.2 The hearing representative questioned why Dr. May had issued reports implicating both the July 2013 incident and the 2009 injury as the cause of appellant’s condition. She also directed that the claimant’s knee injury cases be combined or that the appropriate documents be placed in the instant claim. Claim number xxxxxx601 is not in the record before the Board.

1
OWCP accepted that appellant, a letter carrier sustained a contusion and strain to the right knee and right elbow in the performance of duty on July 16, 2013.
2
The report is not in the record before the Board.
 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.3 As the hearing representative referenced appellant’s knee claim in claim number xxxxxx601, 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 claim number xxxxxx601 referenced by the hearing representative, the Board is unable to properly address and adjudicate the matter. On remand, OWCP should combine the present case record, claim number xxxxxx096, with claim number xxxxxx601. After combining these two case records, it should consider the evidence contained in the combined case record and, following any necessary further development, issue an appropriate merit decision on the issue of whether appellant is entitled to compensation for disability beginning October 19, 2013.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the November 25, 2014 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs be set aside and the case remanded to OWCP for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: August 3, 2015
Washington, DC

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

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

3
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