A.N. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, City of Industry, CA (Board decision, February 6, 2023)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP's June 11, 2021 denial and returned the claim to OWCP. OWCP must combine the current back injury file with the earlier accepted back injury file, then issue a new decision on causal relationship; the Board did not decide entitlement. 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). FECA compensation decisions are generally not subject to court review under 5 U.S.C. § 8128(b).

Plain-English summary

A postal custodian claimed that he injured his lower back while straightening up after mopping beneath a machine. OWCP accepted that the 2020 work incident occurred but denied the claim for lack of medical proof of causation. He also had an earlier accepted back injury claim involving a lumbar sprain, disc herniation, and aggravation of degenerative disc disease. The Board found that evidence from the earlier file was missing from the current record. It set aside the denial and ordered OWCP to combine both files before making a new decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Federal Employees' Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
• Outcome: June 11, 2021 denial set aside; claim remanded for combined-file review and new decision.
• Key point: OWCP must consider the prior accepted back injury file when evaluating a later lower back claim.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
A.N., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 21-1099
) Issued: February 6, 2023
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE,
)
City of Industry, CA, Employer
)
__________ )

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

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge
JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge
JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

On July 14, 2021 appellant filed a timely appeal from a June 11, 2021 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards docketed the appeal as No. 21-1099.

On August 14, 2020 appellant, then a 64-year-old laborer custodian, filed a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on July 13, 2020 he injured his lower back when he stood upright from a bending position mopping a spill underneath an automated package processing system (APPS) machine while in the performance of duty.1 He stopped work on July 14, 2020 and returned to work on July 21, 2020.

By decision dated September 30, 2020, OWCP denied appellant’s claim. It found that he had not established causal relationship between the accepted July 13, 2020 employment incident and his diagnosed conditions.

1
Appellant has a previously accepted May 10, 2015 traumatic injury claim for sprain of lumbar back OWCP File No. xxxxxx640. On December 8, 2016 OWCP expanded the acceptance of this claim to include acute lumbar disc herniation and permanent aggravation of the degenerative disc disease. On December 10, 2020 appellant requested reconsideration and submitted new evidence. By decision dated March 2, 2021, OWCP denied modification of its September 30, 2020 decision.

On April 1, 2021 appellant again requested reconsideration and submitted new evidence.
By decision dated June 11, 2021, OWCP denied modification of its March 2, 2021 decision.

The Board has duly considered the matter and concludes that this case is not in posture for decision. OWCP’s procedures provide that cases should be administratively combined when correct adjudication of the issues depends on frequent cross-referencing between files.2 For example, if a new injury is reported for an employee who previously filed an injury claim for a similar condition or the same part of the body, doubling is required.3 In the instant case, appellant has an accepted claim for sprain of lumbar back, acute lumbar disc herniation, and permanent aggravation of the degenerative disc disease under OWCP File No. xxxxxx640. He subsequently filed the present traumatic injury claim alleging that he reinjured his lower back under OWCP File No. xxxxxx455. The evidence pertaining to his previously accepted claim under OWCP File No. xxxxxx640, however, is not part of the case record presently before the Board.

For a full and fair adjudication, the Board finds that the case must be remanded to OWCP to administratively combine the case records for OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx640 and xxxxxx455, so it can properly determine whether appellant has established that his diagnosed lower back conditions were causally related to the accepted July 13, 2020 employment incident.4 Following this and other such further development as deemed necessary, OWCP shall issue a de novo decision on the merits of appellant’s claim.

2
Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, File Maintenance and Management, Chapter 2.400.8(c) (February 2000). See also C.M., Docket No. 20-1451 (issued July 26, 2021). 3 Id.; see P.B., Docket No. 19-1532 (issued April 30, 2020); L.H., Docket No 18-1777 (issued July 2, 2019).
4
See S.N., Docket No. 20-0208 (issued June 15, 2020); J.N., Order Remanding Case, Docket No. 19-1847 (issued April 30, 2020).

2
 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the June 11, 2021 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs is set aside and this case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: February 6, 2023
Washington, DC

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

Janice B. Askin, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

3