United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

Y.R., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Bedford Park, IL, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 15-123 

Issued: May 1, 2015 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se 

Office of Solicitor, for the Director 

ORDER REMANDING CASE 

Before: 

CHRISTOPHER J. GODFREY, Chief Judge 

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge 

COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge 

 On October 15, 2014 appellant timely filed an appeal from an April 18, 2014 decision of 

the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP).1

 In this decision, OWCP denied her 

claim on the grounds that her request for reconsideration was untimely filed and did not show 

clear evidence of error in OWCP’s prior merit decision dated May 25, 2010. The Board assigned 

Docket No. 15-123. 

 In a July 25, 2008 decision, OWCP reduced appellant’s entitlement to compensation to 

zero based on its determination that her actual wages as a modified city carrier fairly and 

reasonably represented her wage-earning capacity.2

 In a May 25, 2010 decision, it denied her 

claim for recurrence of disability beginning January 20, 2010. By decision dated January 28, 

2011, OWCP reversed its July 25, 2008 wage-earning capacity determination on the grounds that 

the modified city carrier position constituted odd-lot or make shift work. It advised appellant 

 1

 Under the Board’s Rules of Procedure, an appeal must be filed within 180 days from the date of issuance of an 

OWCP decision. An appeal is considered filed upon receipt by the Clerk of the Appellate Boards. See 20 C.F.R. 

§ 501.3(e)-(f). One hundred and eighty days from April 18, 2014, the date of OWCP’s last decision, was 

October 15, 2014. Since using October 22, 2014, the date the appeal was received by the Clerk of the Appellate 

Boards would result in the loss of appeal rights, the date of the postmark is considered the date of filing. The date of 

the U.S. Postal Service postmark is October 15, 2014, rendering the appeal timely filed. See 20 C.F.R. § 501.3(f)(1). 

2

 In May 1998, OWCP had accepted that appellant, then a 32-year-old regional mail carrier, sustained bilateral 

carpal tunnel syndrome due to the performance of her work duties over time. 
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that, consequently, claims for compensation beginning September 18, 2009 might be payable and 

asked her to submit CA-7 forms for any claimed periods of compensation. In CA-7 forms filed 

on August 26 and 30, 2011, appellant claimed entitlement to wage-loss compensation covering 

the period February 26, 2010 to February 4, 2011. 

In a March 10, 2014 letter, appellant referenced a February 10, 2014 informational letter 

in which OWCP indicated that her claim for compensation beginning February 26, 2010 was 

governed by its May 25, 2010 decision denying a claim for recurrence of disability beginning 

January 20, 2010. In its April 18, 2014 decision, OWCP interpreted appellant’s March 10, 2014 

letter as an untimely request for reconsideration of its May 25, 2010 decision. It then determined 

that appellant had not shown clear evidence of error in the May 25, 2010 decision. 

 The Board finds that OWCP misinterpreted appellant’s March 10, 2014 letter as an 

untimely request for reconsideration of its May 25, 2010 decision. Appellant’s March 10, 2014 

letter constituted her attempt to have OWCP address her claim for entitlement to wage-loss 

compensation for the period February 26, 2010 to February 4, 2011. She filed this claim after 

OWCP reversed its July 25, 2008 wage-earning capacity determination and advised her that she 

should file CA-7 forms if she wished to claim wage-loss compensation for any period beginning 

September 18, 2009. 

 Therefore, appellant has a claim for wage-loss compensation for the period February 26, 

2010 to February 4, 2011 which has not yet been properly addressed by OWCP. The case is 

remanded to OWCP for consideration of this claim, to be followed by the issuance of an 

appropriate merit decision on the matter. 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the April 18, 2014 decision of the Office of 

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

proceedings consistent with this order of the Board. 
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Issued: May 1, 2015 

Washington, DC 

 

 Christopher J. Godfrey, Chief Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board