United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

L.B., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Chicago, IL, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 15-0951 

Issued: October 20, 2015 

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 

COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge 

JAMES A. HAYNES, Alternate Judge 

On March 19, 2015 appellant filed a timely application for review of a February 19, 2015 

merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) which denied her 

occupational disease claim. 

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

decision and must be remanded to OWCP. In William A. Couch,

1

 the Board held that, when 

adjudicating a claim, OWCP is obligated to consider all evidence properly submitted by 

appellant and received before the final decision is issued. In this case, appellant filed an 

occupational disease claim (Form CA-2) alleging that she sustained carpal tunnel syndrome 

causally related to her federal employment and submitted an October 15, 2014 narrative 

statement describing her alleged injury, a September 2, 2014 medical report from Dr. Anton J. 

Fakhouri, an attending Board-certified orthopedic surgeon, and a second page of Dr. Fakhouri’s 

July 15, 2014 report. In a December 5, 2014 letter, OWCP notified appellant of the deficiencies 

of her claim and requested additional factual and medical evidence. It afforded her 30 days to 

submit additional evidence and respond to its inquiries. In response, appellant submitted two 

pages of Dr. Fakhouri’s July 15, 2014 report and his August 12 and October 7, 2014 reports, and 

an August 20, 2014 electromyogram/nerve conduction study report from Lisa V. DePasquale, a 

 1

 41 ECAB 548 (1990). 
2

physical therapist and Board-certified electromyographer. She resubmitted Dr. Fakhouri’s 

September 2, 2014 report. 

In a February 19, 2015 decision, OWCP denied appellant’s occupational disease claim, 

finding that the medical evidence was insufficient to establish that the claimed medical condition 

was causally related to the accepted work event(s). It stated that she did not submit any 

additional medical evidence in response to its December 5, 2014 developmental letter. OWCP 

further stated that an August 12, 2014 report from Dr. Dadhija Patel, a Board-certified internist, 

did not provide an opinion explaining whether appellant’s diagnosed bilateral left wrist and left 

thumb conditions were causally related to her federal employment. 

The Board finds that OWCP, in its February 19, 2015 decision, did not review the 

medical evidence appellant submitted along with her Form CA-2 and all the medical evidence 

she submitted in response to its December 5, 2014 developmental letter which addressed her 

claimed conditions. OWCP only addressed the August 12, 2014 report which it attributed to 

Dr. Patel rather than Dr. Fakhouri who authored the report. Accordingly, the case will be 

remanded to OWCP to enable it to properly consider all the evidence submitted at the time of the 

February 19, 2015 decision. Following such further development as OWCP deems necessary, it 

shall issue a de novo decision on appellant’s claim. 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the February 19, 2015 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs be set aside and the case remanded to OWCP for further 

proceedings consistent with this order. 

Issued: October 20, 2015 

Washington, DC 

 

 Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 James A. Haynes, Alternate Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board