D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Woodland Post Office (Board decision, June 2, 2025)

ECAB final decision. The Board dismissed the appeal because the cited OWCP decisions were not final adverse decisions. The disability claim was not resolved by this order. 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 worker appealed March 2025 OWCP decisions that vacated an earlier disability denial. The Board held those decisions were not final adverse rulings it could review. It dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction without deciding the disability claim.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Federal Employees' Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
• Outcome: Appeal dismissed for lack of a final adverse OWCP decision.
• Key point: OWCP's vacation of an earlier denial did not create an appealable adverse decision.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
D.S., Appellant
)
)
Docket No. 25-0515
and ) Issued: June 2, 2025
)
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, WOODLAND POST )
OFFICE, Woodland, MS, 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 April 30, 2025 appellant sought an appeal from purported final adverse March 20, 2025 decisions of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 25-0515.

The Board, having duly considered the matter, 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 By decisions dated March 20, 2025, OWCP vacated a March 29, 2021 decision denying a claimed period of disability. Therefore, the March 20, 2025 decisions were not final adverse decisions. Section 501.2(c)(2) of the Board’s Rules of Procedure provides: “There will be no appeal with respect to any interlocutory matter decided (or not decided) by OWCP during the pendency of a case.”3 Consequently, the case record as transmitted to the Board does not contain a final adverse decision of OWCP issued within 180

1
5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.; 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3(a).
2
Id. at § 501.3(e), which provides in pertinent part: “Any notice of appeal must be filed within 180 days from the date of issuance of a decision of OWCP.” 3
Id. at § 501.2(c)(2). days from the date of docketing of the current appeal. 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 No. 25-0515 must be dismissed. 4 Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the appeal docketed as No. 25-0515 is dismissed.

Issued: June 2, 2025
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 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