C.M. and Department of the Army, Installation Management Command, Fort Carson, CO (Board decision, March 8, 2023)

ECAB final decision. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of a final adverse OWCP decision within its jurisdiction. It did not decide any compensation claim. 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

An Army worker appealed from what she described as a July 29, 2022 OWCP decision. The record instead contained a Board order of that date and no final adverse OWCP decision issued within the Board's review period. The Board dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. It said her filing might also be treated separately as a petition to reconsider the earlier Board order.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c), 501.3(a), 501.3(e).
• Outcome: Appeal dismissed; any reconsideration of the earlier Board order reserved for separate review.
• Key point: A Board order cannot substitute for a final adverse OWCP decision as the basis for an appeal.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
C.M., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 22-1249
) Issued: March 8, 2023
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY,
)
INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT
)
COMMAND, Fort Carson, CO, 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
VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On August 26, 2022 appellant filed an appeal from a purported July 29, 2022 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned Docket No. 22-1249.

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 This jurisdiction encompasses any final decision issued by OWCP within 180 days of the date appellant filed her appeal. 2 The case record as transmitted to the Board does not contain a final adverse decision of OWCP issued within 180 days from the date of docketing of the current appeal.3 The only decision found in the case record dated July 29, 2022 is a Board order assigned

1
5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.; 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3(a).
2
20 C.F.R. § 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 the OWCP.” 3
Id.
Docket Nos. 22-0145 and 20-1647.4 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 Docket No. 22-1249 must be dismissed. Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the appeal docketed as Docket No. 22-1249 is dismissed.5

Issued: March 8, 2023
Washington, DC

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

Janice B. Askin, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

4
The Boards decisions and orders are “final upon the expiration of 30 days from the date of their issuance.” 20 C.F.R. § 501.6(d).
5
To the extent that appellant’s August 26, 2022 appeal may be construed as a timely petition for reconsideration of the Board’s July 29, 2022 order in Docket No. 22-0145, the Board notes that the petition for reconsideration will be separately considered under Docket No. 22-0145. See id. at § 501.7(a).

2