R.N. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, St. Augustine, FL (Board decision, December 22, 2015)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP’s February 6, 2015 overpayment decision and remanded for a complete record and a new merits decision. Whether R.N. owes the claimed overpayment 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

R.N. appealed an OWCP decision finding a $38,389.73 overpayment and denying waiver. The Board received only the first page of that decision, without the memorandum explaining its reasons or the enclosure describing recovery. It held that it could not review the decision on an incomplete record. The Board set the decision aside and directed OWCP to reconstruct the record and issue a new merits decision to preserve appeal rights.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
• Outcome: February 6, 2015 overpayment decision set aside; case remanded.
• Key point: The Board needed the complete decision and its attachments to review the overpayment finding.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
R.N., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 15-1682
) Issued: December 22, 2015
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY,
)
TRANSPORATAION SECURITY
)
ADMINISTRATION, St. Augustine, FL,
)
Employer
)
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Ronald S. Webster, 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 August 4, 2015 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal of a February 6, 2015 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The appeal was docketed as No. 15-1682.

The Board has duly considered the matter and finds that the case is not in posture for decision as the case record submitted to the Board is incomplete. The imaged record forwarded to the Board contains only the first page of the February 6, 2015 final decision on appeal. This page indicates that OWCP found an overpayment of $38,389.73 due to an incorrect pay rate, and waiver of the overpayment was denied. The single page is clearly not the entire decision, as it refers to an enclosed memorandum providing the “reasons” for the decision. OWCP also indicated that the overpayment would be recovered “in the manner described in the attached enclosure.”

A proper review of the case and adjudication of the issues by the Board requires a complete record of the relevant evidence.1 The record is incomplete as the actual decision on

1
See Terence M. Gore, Docket No. 94-0464 (issued June 26, 1995). appeal has not been properly imaged, identified, and submitted to the Board as part of the case record. The case will be remanded to OWCP for proper reconstruction and assemblage of the record. After such proper assemblage of the record, OWCP should issue a merit decision to protect appellant’s appeal rights.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs dated February 6, 2015 is set aside and the case remanded to OWCP for action consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: December 22, 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

2