S.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Oak Park Post Office, Oak Park, MI (Board decision, July 17, 2023)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP's October 31, 2022 schedule award denial and directed OWCP to combine related claim files before issuing a new decision. Entitlement to an award 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

A postal letter carrier sought a schedule award tied to an accepted 2002 knee and back injury. She had later filed other claims involving her left lower extremity, but OWCP had not combined the claim files. The Board concluded that a full review of permanent impairment required OWCP to examine the related files together. It set aside the denial and ordered OWCP to combine the files, develop the record as needed, and issue a new decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: OWCP's file management procedure requiring related claims to be combined when adjudication depends on cross-reference.
• Outcome: Schedule award denial set aside; case remanded for combined record and new decision.
• Key point: OWCP must consider the related injury claim files together before deciding permanent impairment.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
S.A., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 23-0184
)
Issued: July 17, 2023
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, OAK PARK POST )
OFFICE, Oak Park, MI, Employer
)
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Alan J. Shapiro, Esq., for the appellant1
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 November 18, 2022 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from an October 31, 2022 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned Docket No. 22-0184 to the appeal.

On December 31, 2002 appellant, then a 43-year-old letter carrier, filed a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on that date she stepped onto a porch and experienced a sharp pain on her left side, from her lower back down to her foot, and fell while in the performance of duty.2 Appellant did not stop work. OWCP accepted her claim for left knee contusion and temporary aggravation of pre-existing degenerative disc disease.

1
In all cases in which a representative has been authorized in a matter before the Board, no claim for a fee for legal or other service performed on appeal before the Board is valid unless approved by the Board. 20 C.F.R. § 501.9(e). No contract for a stipulated fee or on a contingent fee basis will be approved by the Board. Id. An attorney or representative’s collection of a fee without the Board’s approval may constitute a misdemeanor, subject to fine or imprisonment for up to one year or both. Id.; see also 18 U.S.C. § 292. Demands for payment of fees to a representative, prior to approval by the Board, may be reported to appropriate authoritie s for investigation. 2 OWCP assigned the present claim OWCP File No. xxxxxx801. Appellant subsequently filed an August 28, 2008 traumatic injury claim under OWCP File No. xxxxxx515 for an injury to her left knee and both palms, which OWCP processed as a short form closure. Additionally, it denied a November 6, 2013 occupational disease claim under OWCP File No. xxxxxx594 for bilateral foot conditions, finding that the claim was untimely filed. Appellant’s claims have not been administratively combined by OWCP. On March 2, 2020 appellant filed a claim for compensation (Form CA-7) for a schedule award. By decision dated April 16, 2020, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for a schedule award.

On April 24, 2020 appellant, through counsel, requested a telephonic hearing before a representative of OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review, which was held on August 12, 2020. By summary decision dated August 21, 2020, OWCP’s hearing representative set aside the April 16, 2020 decision and remanded the case for further medical development.

By de novo decision dated May 20, 2022, OWCP again denied appellant’s claim for a schedule award. In its decision, it referenced “a contusion in 2002 and 2008.”

On May 25, 2022 appellant, through counsel, requested a telephonic hearing before a representative of OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review, which was held on August 18, 2022. By decision dated October 31, 2022, OWCP’s hearing representative affirmed the May 20, 2022 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. 3 For example, if a new injury case 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. 4 Herein, appellant filed a traumatic injury claim on December 31, 2002, assigned OWCP File No. xxxxxx801, which was accepted for left knee contusion and temporary aggravation of preexisting degenerative disc disease and is the claim presently before the Board. She subsequently filed two claims for left lower extremity conditions, assigned OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx515 and xxxxxx594.

For a full and fair adjudication, the case must be returned to OWCP to administratively combine the current case record, OWCP File No. xxxxxx801, with OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx515 and xxxxxx594, so it can review all appellant’s relevant claim files in determining whether appellant has submitted sufficient evidence to establish that she sustained permanent impairment to a scheduled member due to an accepted condition. Following this and such further development as OWCP deems necessary, it shall issue a de novo decision. Accordingly,

3
Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, File Maintenance and Management, Chapter 2.400.8c (February 2000).
4
Id.; S.G., Docket No. 21-0396 (issued September 27, 2021); R.L., Docket No. 20-0901 (issued July 27, 2021); M.E., Docket No. 21-0094 (issued May 27, 2021); L.M., Docket No. 19-1490 (issued January 29, 2020); L.H., Docket No 18-1777 (issued July 2, 2019).

2
 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the October 31, 2022 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs is set aside and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: July 17, 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