K.G. and U.S. Postal Service, South Suburban Processing & Distribution Center, Bedford Park, IL (Board decision, September 27, 2023)

ECAB final decision dismissing appeal. The Board dismissed the appeal after the requested signed authorization for counsel was not supplied. It did not decide the injury claim merits. Under 20 C.F.R. § 501.6(d), this order becomes final 30 days after issuance. 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 worker appealed OWCP’s denial of her occupational disease claim and named an attorney on the appeal form. The attorney had not signed the form consenting to representation. The Board’s clerk requested signed authorization and warned that the appeal would be dismissed if none arrived. No response came within the allotted period, so the Board dismissed the appeal.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: ECAB representation rule, 20 C.F.R. § 501.9(b).
• Outcome: Appeal dismissed for failure to provide signed authorization.
• Key point: A named representative must sign the required authorization for a Board appeal to proceed.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
K.G., Appellant
)
)
Docket No. 23-0575
and ) Issued: September 27, 2023
)
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, SOUTH SUBURBAN )
PROCESSING & DISTRIBUTION CENTER, )
Bedford Park, IL, 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
PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On March 7, 2023 appellant filed a timely appeal from a November 4, 2022 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) which found that she had not met her burden of proof to establish a medical condition causally related to the accepted factors of her federal employment. She completed an AB-1 Form identifying Alan J. Shapiro, Esquire, as counsel to represent her on the appeal; however, counsel did not sign the AB-1 Form consenting to represent appellant. The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 23- 0575.

By letter dated March 17, 2003, the Clerk of the Appellate Boards informed counsel and appellant of the requirements of section 501.9(b) of the Board’s Rules of Procedure.1

The Clerk of the Appellate Boards requested that a signed authorization be submitted by counsel to the Board within 30 days of the date of the letter or that the appeal would be dismissed.

No response was received within the time allotted. Accordingly,

1
20 C.F.R. § 501.9(b).
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the appeal docketed as No. 23-0575 is dismissed. 2

Issued: September 27, 2023
Washington, DC

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

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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

2
The Board’s decisions and orders are “final upon the expiration of 30 days from the date of their issuance.” 20 C.F.R. § 501.6(d).

2