R.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Miami Post Office (Board decision, February 26, 2025)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP’s rejection of a reconsideration request and returned the case for review under the timely-request standard. The underlying foot claim 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). FECA compensation decisions are generally not subject to court review under 5 U.S.C. § 8128(b).

Plain-English summary

A postal carrier sought reconsideration after OWCP denied a foot injury claim involving a package lifted from a truck. OWCP received the request on August 1, 2024, exactly one year after its August 1, 2023 merits decision, but treated it as late. The Board held that the request was timely and that OWCP had applied the wrong standard. It set aside the rejection and remanded for a new reconsideration decision.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: FECA; 20 C.F.R. § 10.607(a).
• Outcome: Untimeliness ruling set aside; reconsideration request remanded for review.
• Key point: A request received one year after the merits decision met the reconsideration filing deadline.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
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R.W., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 25-0289
)
Issued: February 26, 2025
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, )
Miami, FL, Employer
)
__________ )

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record
Wayne Johnson, Esq., for the appellant1
Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge
PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

On February 3, 2025 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from an August 7, 2024 nonmerit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 25-0289.

On March 5, 2021 appellant, then a 62-year-old city carrier, filed a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on February 24, 2021 he sustained a right foot condition when he lifted a package out of the back of a truck and felt pain in his right foot while in the performance of duty. He stopped work on February 25, 2021.

In support of his claim, appellant submitted medical evidence.

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 authorities for investigation.
By decision dated May 6, 2021, OWCP denied appellant’s traumatic injury claim, finding that the medical evidence of record was insufficient to establish that the diagnosed medical conditions were caused or aggravated by the accepted February 24, 2021 employment incident.

On May 6, 2022 appellant, through counsel, requested reconsideration and submitted additional medical evidence.

By decision dated July 29, 2022, OWCP denied modification of the May 6, 2021 decision.

On July 29, 2023, appellant, through counsel, requested reconsideration. By decision dated August 1, 2023, OWCP denied modification of the July 29, 2022 decision.

On August 1, 2024, appellant, through counsel, requested reconsideration. By decision dated August 7, 2024, OWCP denied appellant’s August 1, 2024 request for reconsideration, finding that it was untimely filed, and failed to demonstrate clear evidence of error.

The Board, having duly considered this matter, finds that this case is not in posture for decision.

Section 10.607(a) of OWCP’s implementing regulations provides that a request for reconsideration must be received by OWCP within one year of the date of the decision for which review is sought. 2 One year following OWCP’s August 1, 2023 merit decision was August 1, 2024. Because OWCP received his reconsideration request on August 1, 2024, the Board finds that it was timely filed. 3 The clear evidence of error standard utilized by OWCP in its August 7, 2024 decision is appropriate only for untimely reconsideration requests. 4 Therefore, the Board shall set aside OWCP’s August 7, 2024 decision and remand the case for an appropriate decision applying the correct standard for timely requests for reconsideration. Accordingly,

2
20 C.F.R. § 10.607(a). The one-year period begins on the next day after the date of the original contested decision.
For merit decisions issued on or after August 29, 2011, a request for reconsideration must be received by OWCP within one year of OWCP’s decision for which review is sought. Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Reconsiderations, Chapter 2.1602.4a (September 2020). 3 See Order Remanding Case, T.B., Docket No. 23-0784 (issued November 2, 2023); Order Remanding Case, S.J., Docket No. 23-0179 (issued May 23, 2023); Order Remanding Case, B.W., Docket No. 20-1512 (issued August 24, 2021). 4 See 20 C.F.R. § 10.607(b); see also id.

2
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the August 7, 2024 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: February 26, 2025
Washington, DC

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

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

Janice B. Askin, Judge
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

3