E.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Clover Post Office, Clovis (Board decision, December 11, 2023)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP's March 28, 2023 denial and directed it to combine related claim files before issuing a new decision. Whether any workplace factor caused a compensable condition 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 former postal carrier attributed migraines and psychiatric symptoms to her work environment. OWCP denied her latest claim after finding no compensable work factor. The Board found that three earlier claims involved similar migraine and emotional conditions and should be reviewed with the new claim. It set aside the denial and directed OWCP to combine the files and issue a new decision using the full record. The Board did not decide whether the alleged workplace factors or medical conditions were compensable.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Federal Employees' Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
• Outcome: Claim denial set aside; related files ordered combined for review.
• Key point: Related injury claims must be considered together when proper adjudication depends on cross-referencing their records.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
E.F., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 23-0639
)
Issued: December 11, 2023
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, CLOVER POST )
OFFICE, Clovis, CA, Employer
)
__________ )

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

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:
PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

On March 28, 2023 appellant filed a timely appeal from a March 28, 2023 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 23-0639.

On January 10, 2023 appellant, then a 59-year-old unassigned regular (former city letter carrier), filed an occupational disease claim (Form CA-2) alleging that she developed migraines, panic and anxiety attacks, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to factors of her federal employment. She noted that she had three prior claims for the same conditions, and that a hostile and unsafe work environment in the office had caused exacerbation of those conditions.1 Appellant noted that she first became aware of her claimed conditions and realized

1
Appellant previously filed a Form CA-2 alleging a stressful and harmful work environment, which OWCP adjudicated under OWCP File No. xxxxxx975. She further referenced a prior traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) occurring while in the performance of duty on June 4, 2019, resulting in migraine headaches, nausea, light and noise sensitivity, and extremity weakness, which OWCP adjudicated under OWCP File No. xxxxxx026. Appellant also filed a Form CA-2 alleging a negative and hostile work environment in the office resulting in migraines, panic and anxiety attacks, and depression, which OWCP adjudicated under OWCP File No. xxxxxx 663. By decisions dated January 3 and July 26, 2019, and November 1, 2021, respectively, OWCP denied the claims. It administratively combined OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx975, xxxxxx026, and xxxxxx663, with the latter designated as the master file. their relationship to her federal employment on November 11, 2021. She stopped work on July 28, 2022.

In a January 9, 2023 statement, appellant described feelings of anxiety, fear, and panic and sensitivity to noise, flashing lights, and environmental factors that she experienced while in the workplace since December 2016.

OWCP received various medical records detailing treatment that appellant received for a diagnosis of PTSD due to a history of sexual trauma while serving in the military, and for migraines and emotional difficulties that she attributed to her work environment with the employing establishment. In a February 21, 2023 narrative report, Dr. James McClelland, a clinical psychologist, diagnosed appellant with PTSD and major depressive disorder, and indicated that workplace stressors had intensified the depressed mood and symptoms associated with her past military trauma. He recommended that she be permitted to work from home.

By decision dated March 28, 2023, OWCP denied appellant’s claim, finding that the evidence of record was insufficient to establish a compensable employment factor. It concluded, therefore, that the requirements had not been met to establish an injury as defined by FECA.

The Board has duly considered the matter and finds that th is case is not in posture for decision.

OWCP’s procedures provide that cases should be combined when correct adjudication depends on cross-referencing between files and where two or more injuries occur to the same part of the body. 2 As appellant’s claims under OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx975, xxxxxx026, and xxxxxx663 also alleged migraine headaches and emotional conditions due to her work environment, these claims shall be administratively combined with the present claim, OWCP File No. xxxxxx539, for a full and fair adjudication. This will allow OWCP to consider all relevant claim files and accompanying evidence in developing her claims.3

Following this and other such further development as deemed necessary, OWCP sh all issue a de novo decision.4

2
Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, File Maintenance and Management, Chapter 2.400.8c (February 2000).
3
D.J., Docket No. 20-0997 (issued November 20, 2020); S.D., Docket No. 19-0590 (issued August 28, 2020).
4
M.B., Docket No. 20-0770 (issued January 5, 2021); R.G., Docket No. 19-1755 (issued July 7, 2020); L.M., Docket No. 19-1490 (issued January 29, 2020).

2
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the March 28, 2023 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: December 11, 2023
Washington, DC

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

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

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

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