A.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Springdale Postal Annex (Board decision, June 15, 2026)

ECAB remand decision. The Board set aside OWCP's September 12, 2025 decision and remanded for the second opinion report; a later nonmerits decision was moot. 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 mail processing clerk sought wage loss compensation after an accepted injury. OWCP scheduled a second opinion examination but decided the claim before receiving the doctor's report. The Board held that OWCP had to complete the medical development it initiated. It directed OWCP to obtain the report and decide the wage loss claim anew.

Decision snapshot

• Authority: Federal Employees' Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.; 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c), 501.3.
• Outcome: Wage loss denial set aside; missing second opinion report required.
• Key point: OWCP could not decide the wage loss claim while a requested second opinion report was outstanding.

Full text (ECAB public release)

United States Department of Labor
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

________
)
A.B., Appellant
)
)
and ) Docket No. 26-0345
) Issued: June 15, 2026
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, SPRINGDALE
)
POSTAL ANNEX, Springdale, OH, Employer
)
__________ )

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

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:
ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge
JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge
VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On February 27, 2026 appellant filed a timely appeal from a September 12, 2025 merit decision and a January 2, 2026 nonmerit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards docketed the appeal as No. 26-0345.

On March 3, 2025 appellant, then a 36-year-old part-time postal support employee mail processing clerk, filed a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on March 22, 2025 she injured her neck and right arm while using a pallet jack to move a gaylord in the performance of duty. She stopped work on March 23, 2025, and returned on March 31, 2025. OWCP accepted the claim for neck muscle strain. It paid wage-loss compensation on the supplemental rolls from May 25 through June 28, 2025.

Appellant filed claims for wage-loss compensation (Form CA-7) for disability from work from July 26 through August 25, 2025.

On August 22, 2025 OWCP referred appellant, together with a statement of accepted facts (SOAF), the medical record, and list of questions, to Dr. Albert E. Becker, a Board-certified orthopedic surgeon, for a second opinion evaluation on the nature and extent of appellant’s injury- related residuals and any ongoing disability. The appointment was scheduled for September 11, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.
By decision dated September 12, 2025, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for wage-loss compensation for the period July 26, 2025 and continuing as the medical evidence of file did not establish that she was disabled from work as a result of the accepted March 22, 2025 employment injury.

On December 23, 2025 appellant via OWCP’s Employees’ Compensation Operations & Management Portal (ECOMP), requested an oral hearing before a representative of OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review.

By decision dated January 2, 2026, OWCP denied appellant’s hearing request, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 8124(b). It found that appellant was not entitled to a hearing as a matter of right as her request for an oral hearing was not made within 30 days of the September 12, 2025 decision. OWCP further exercised its discretion and determined that the issue in the case could equally well be addressed by requesting reconsideration and submitting additional evidence to OWCP.

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

OWCP scheduled a second opinion evaluation with Dr. Becker for September 11, 2025 to determine the status of appellant’s accepted conditions and ongoing disability. However, prior to receiving a report from Dr. Becker, it issued a merit decision on September 12, 2025. OWCP should have obtained Dr. Becker’s second opinion report prior to the issuance of the September 12, 2025 decision. Once OWCP undertakes development of the medical evidence, it has the responsibility to do so in a manner that will resolve the relevant issues in the case.1

Accordingly, the case shall be remanded to enable OWCP to secure and review the report obtained from Dr. Becker, its second opinion physician. Following this and other such further development as deemed necessary, it shall issue a de novo decision regarding appellant’s wage- loss compensation claim.2 Accordingly,

1
See Order Remanding Case, C.S., Docket No. 24-0732 (issued August 24, 2023); M.B., Docket No. 21-0060 (issued March 17, 2022); D.S., Docket No. 19-0292 (issued June 21, 2019), C.R., Docket No. 17-0964 (issued September 9, 2019). 2 The Board notes that during the pendency of this appeal, OWCP issued a decision dated April 20, 2026 expanding acceptance of the claim to include temporary degenerative cervical disc disease. This decision is null and void as the Board and OWCP may not simultaneously exercise jurisdiction over the same underlying issue in a case on appeal. 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c)(3), 10.626; see e.g., M.C., Docket No. 18-1278 (issued March 7, 2019); Lawrence Sherman, 55 ECAB 359, 360 n.4 (2004); Douglas E. Billings, 41 ECAB 880 (1990).

2
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the September 12, 2025 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs is set aside, and this case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this order of the Board. The January 2, 2026 decision is set aside as moot.

Issued: June 15, 2026
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

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