United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

M.B., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Lansing, MI, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 14-1567 

Issued: August 13, 2015 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Alan J. Shapiro, Esq., for the appellant 

Office of Solicitor, for the Director 

ORDER REMANDING CASE 

Before: 

COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge 

MICHAEL E. GROOM, Alternate Judge 

JAMES A. HAYNES, Alternate Judge 

On July 7, 2014 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from a decision of the 

Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) dated May 9, 2014 which denied 

appellant’s claim for a right knee injury as untimely filed. 

The Board finds that this case is not in posture for decision. 

 Appellant, a 44-year-old mail handler, filed a Form CA-2 claim for occupational disease 

on January 14, 2014 alleging that she developed a right knee condition causally related to factors 

of her federal employment. She stated that she first became aware that she had sustained a right 

knee condition on January 21, 2002. Appellant’s supervisor noted on the claim form that 

appellant was still working as a letter carrier on a mail route. 

Appellant submitted a three-page statement, received by OWCP on February 7, 2014, 

explaining why she delayed filing her claim for a right knee condition. She asserted that she was 

not familiar with the claims process and that the employment establishment failed to inform her 

about the process. Appellant stated that she did not initially file a claim because she had no reason 

to believe that such extensive damage was done to her right knee at the time she sustained the 

injury January 2002. She advised that through the years she was capable of doing her job despite 

increased swelling and pain; it was only recently that she realized she would require surgery to 
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repair damage to her right knee caused by her alleged 2002 work injury. Appellant noted that she 

had undergone knee surgery in July 2013 and had returned to full duty in December 2013. 

Appellant also detailed the duties she continued to perform as a letter carrier. She asserted 

that the job requirements and associated duties of a city letter carrier were the primary cause of her 

many knee injuries. These included: (1) exiting the vehicle to the right, stepping down out of the 

vehicle and planting her right foot first, carrying a mail satchel which usually weighed 

approximately 35 pounds, frequently onto wet, icy, snowy, or leaf covered curbs, grass, or other 

uneven surfaces, which put the right knee in a position of twisting, pivoting, and generally 

stabilizing and absorbing the shock of load bearing; (2) climbing the steps to residential homes to 

reach the mailbox, carrying a mail satchel which usually weighed approximately 35 pounds, with 

those residential steps occasionally being wet, icy, uneven, loose, or lightly sprinkled with snow, 

which put her right knee in a load bearing position; (3) walking, squatting, stooping, and kneeling 

to retrieve mail from containers, picking up mail or parcels for delivery, delivering mail to low 

door slots, frequently while bearing weight, which caused strain and wear to her knee; and 

(4) loading and unloading of the vehicle with mail. 

By letter dated February 25, 2014, OWCP advised appellant that she needed to submit 

additional factual and medical evidence in support of her claim. It stated that appellant had 30 

days to submit the requested information. 

By decision dated May 9, 2014, OWCP denied appellant’s claim, finding that she failed to 

file a timely claim under section 8122. It noted that the date of injury was January 21, 2002 and 

that she filed her claim for compensation on January 14, 2014. OWCP further stated that there 

was no evidence that her immediate supervisor had no actual knowledge within 30 days of the date 

of injury. 

Section 8122(a) of FECA states, “An original claim for compensation for disability or 

death must be filed within three years after the injury or death.”1

 The Board has held that, if an 

employee continues to be exposed to injurious working conditions, the time limitation begins to 

run on the last date of this exposure.2 

In the present case, appellant stated that she became aware of her right knee condition -- 

and its relationship to her federal employment on January 21, 2002. She, however, continued to 

work as letter carrier until the day she filed the claim. Appellant’s supervisor verified on the 

reverse of the claim form that on January 14, 2014 appellant was still working as a letter carrier. 

As she continued to be exposed to the alleged conditions of employment until the date the claim 

was filed, this claim was timely filed. 

In her February 7, 2014 statement, appellant set forth in detail the specific occupational 

factors to which she attributes her condition, thereby raising the issue of whether she has 

established a prima facie case of fact of injury. In light of the fact that OWCP has not 

 1 Id. at § 8122(a). 

2 J.P., 59 ECAB 178 (2007); Linda J. Reeves, 48 ECAB 373 (1997). 
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considered this issue, it must be considered on remand. After OWCP has developed the case 

record to the extent it deems necessary, a de novo decision shall be issued. 

CONCLUSION 

The Board finds that appellant’s occupational disease claim was timely filed within the 

applicable time limitation provisions of FECA. The Board finds that the case is not in posture 

for decision with regard to the issue of whether she sustained a right knee injury in the 

performance of duty. 

ORDER 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the May 9, 2014 decision of the Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs is set aside, and the case is remanded for further action consistent with 

this decision.3

Issued: August 13, 2015 

Washington, DC 

 

 Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 James A. Haynes, Alternate Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

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 Michael E. Groom, Alternate Judge, participated in the preparation of this order but was no longer a member of 

the Board effective December 27, 2014.