R.N. and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Medical Center, Cheyenne, WY (Board decision, November 9, 2020)

ECAB final decision. Appeal dismissed. 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).

Plain-English summary

R.N. appealed a purported January 22, 2020 OWCP decision. The Board found no decision of that date in the record. The latest recorded decision was dated September 5, 2018, more than 180 days before the appeal was docketed. It dismissed the appeal because it lacked a timely final adverse decision to review.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Board appeal period and final adverse decision requirement, 20 C.F.R. § 501.3.
• Outcome: Appeal dismissed.
• Key point: The record contained no reviewable OWCP decision issued within the appeal window.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
R.N., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 20-0627
) Issued: November 9, 2020
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, VA
)
MEDICAL CENTER, Cheyenne, WY, Employer
)
__________ )

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

ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL

Before:
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge
JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge
PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Alternate Judge

On January 27, 2020 appellant filed an appeal from a purported January 22, 2020 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned Docket No. 20-0627.

The Board has duly considered the matter and notes that the Board has jurisdiction to review final adverse decisions of OWCP issued under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act.1 There is no decision of record dated January 22, 2020. The most recent decision of record is dated September 5, 2018. The case record as transmitted to the Board therefore does not contain a final adverse decision of OWCP issued within 180 days from the docketing of the current appeal.2

As there is no final adverse decision issued by OWCP over which the Board may properly exercise jurisdiction, the Board concludes that the appeal docketed as No. 20-0627 must be dismissed. Accordingly,

1
5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.; 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3(a).
2
Id. at § 501.3(e) provides in pertinent part: “Any notice of appeal must be filed within 180 days from the date of issuance of a decision of OWCP.”

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the appeal docketed as No. 20-0627 is dismissed.

Issued: November 9, 2020
Washington, DC

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

Janice B. Askin, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Alternate Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

2