United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

L.J., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, PROCESSING & 

DISTRIBUTION CENTER, Little Rock, AR, 

Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 15-0853 

Issued: July 20, 2015 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se 

Office of Solicitor, for the Director 

DECISION AND ORDER 

Before: 

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge 

COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge 

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Alternate Judge 

JURISDICTION 

On March 10, 2015 appellant filed a timely appeal from a February 3, 2015 merit 

decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). Pursuant to the Federal 

Employees’ Compensation Act1

 (FECA) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3, the Board has 

jurisdiction over the merits of the case. 

ISSUES 

The issues are: (1) whether appellant received an overpayment in compensation in the 

amount of $930.27; and (2) whether OWCP properly denied waiver of the overpayment. 

On appeal appellant generally asserts that she did nothing to cause an overpayment. 

 1

 5 U.S.C. §§ 8101-8193. 
2

FACTUAL HISTORY 

On March 1, 2011 OWCP accepted that appellant, then a 50-year-old mail processing 

clerk, sustained aggravation of right thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint degenerative arthritis, 

localized primary osteoarthritis of the right thumb and other joint derangement of the right hand. 

The claim was adjudicated by OWCP under claim number xxxxxx356. 

On March 13, 2013 appellant filed an occupational disease claim, stating that repetitive 

trauma at work caused a left hand injury. The March 13, 2013 claim was adjudicated by OWCP 

under claim number xxxxxx743. In a September 7, 2012 treatment note, Dr. Kevin J. Collins, a 

Board-certified physiatrist, advised that appellant had overuse syndrome of the bilateral 

shoulders, elbows, and wrists. In reports dated April 15, 2013, he reported physical examination 

findings and diagnosed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), chronic pain, cumulative trauma 

from repetitive motion, and myofascial pain syndrome. Dr. Collins provided restrictions to 

appellant’s physical activity, stating she could not grasp, pull, tie, cut or lift magazines or 

newspapers with the right hand or with the left hand after four hours. He recommended that she 

do simple grasping with each hand alternatively for four hours and rest both hands every hour 

and a half. 

Under claim number xxxxxx356, appellant filed claims for intermittent compensation for 

the period April 15 to 19, 2013. She indicated that she attended a four-hour doctor’s 

appointment on April 15, 2013 and that she worked part time from April 18 through May 3, 2013 

because full-time work was not available. Under this claim, on May 7, 2013 OWCP paid 

appellant compensation totaling $930.27.2

In an overpayment memorandum dated May 22, 2013, OWCP determined that appellant 

had received an overpayment of compensation in the amount of $930.27 because she had been 

inappropriately paid compensation under her right thumb claim number xxxxxx356 when her 

doctor’s appointment and work restrictions were based on her bilateral CTS, under claim number 

xxxxxx743, which had not been accepted at that time. The memorandum was assigned to a 

senior claims examiner on May 23, 2013. 

On May 23, 2013 under claim number xxxxxx743, OWCP accepted employment-related 

right CTS.3

 

On May 25, 2013 a senior claims examiner approved the overpayment memorandum. 

In correspondence dated June 10, 2013, OWCP advised appellant that future 

compensation claims should be submitted under claim number xxxxxx743. It specifically stated, 

“the medical evidence currently in file demonstrates your associated disability results from the 

right CTS and nonwork-related bilateral shoulder conditions.” 

 2

 The payment included $84.76 for a medical appointment on April 15, 2013 and $845.51 for intermittent 

compensation for April 20 through May 3, 2013, for total compensation of $930.27. 

3

 The record indicates that appellant has two additional claims: xxxxxx640 accepted for right wrist tenosynovitis, 

and xxxxxx450 denied, claiming bilateral shoulder and left elbow conditions. These claims are not before the 

Board. 
3

Under claim number xxxxxx356, by letter dated June 25, 2013, OWCP issued a 

preliminary determination that appellant had received an overpayment in compensation in the 

amount of $930.27 for April 15, 2013 and April 20 through May 3, 2013 because she was paid 

compensation for attending a medical appointment and because the employing establishment was 

unable to provide full-time work based on her restrictions. It found that the loss of wages were 

not due to the condition accepted under claim number xxxxxx356 but were due to a condition 

accepted under claim number xxxxxx743. OWCP found appellant not at fault in the creation of 

the overpayment. Appellant was provided an overpayment action request form and an 

overpayment questionnaire and was given 30 days to submit a response. 

Appellant timely requested a prerecoupment hearing and submitted an overpayment 

questionnaire that was left blank. In an attached letter, she referred to the June 10, 2013 letter 

advising that future compensation claims should be submitted under claim number xxxxxx373 

and asked that the paperwork filed under claim number xxxxxx356, the subject of the 

overpayment, be placed in the xxxxxx743 file. 

Beginning May 4, 2013 appellant was paid intermittent compensation under claim 

number xxxxxx743. 

On October 22, 2013 claim numbers xxxxxx356 and xxxxxx743 were doubled, with the 

former becoming the master file. 

By letter dated January 15, 2014, OWCP informed appellant that a telephone hearing was 

scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on February 24, 2014. The notice was sent to her address of record in 

Jacksonville, Arkansas. Appellant submitted nothing further and did not telephone OWCP at the 

appointed time. In a March 20, 2014 decision, an OWCP hearing representative found that 

appellant had abandoned her request for a hearing.4

On February 3, 2015 OWCP finalized the preliminary overpayment decision, finding that 

appellant received an overpayment in compensation in the amount of $930.27 and, while she was 

not at fault, she was not entitled to waiver of the overpayment because she did not provide the 

requested information to justify waiver. Repayment was due in full. 

LEGAL PRECEDENT 

Section 8129(a) of FECA provides, in pertinent part: 

“When an overpayment has been made to an individual under this subchapter 

because of an error of fact or law, adjustment shall be made under regulations 

prescribed by the Secretary of Labor by decreasing later payments to which an 

individual is entitled.”5

 

 4

 On December 2, 2014 appellant filed a claim for a September 14, 2014 recurrence under the xxxxxx743 file. 

The recurrence claim was accepted on January 27, 2015. 

5

 5 U.S.C. § 8129. 
4

ANALYSIS 

The Board finds this case is not in posture for decision on the issue of whether appellant 

received an overpayment of compensation. In an overpayment decision, the Board must first 

determine whether an overpayment occurred by examining the underlying OWCP decision.6

In a preliminary determination dated June 25, 2013, OWCP found that an overpayment of 

$930.27 existed because appellant received compensation under claim number xxxxxx356 for 

attending a medical appointment on April 15, 2013 and because the employing establishment 

was unable to provide full-time work based on her restrictions for the period April 20 through 

May 3, 2013. OWCP found that paid benefits were not due to the condition accepted under 

claim number xxxxxx356 but were due to a condition accepted under claim number xxxxxx743. 

It found appellant not at fault in the creation of the overpayment. The record, however, fails to 

adequately describe whether the benefits would have been payable or were already paid under 

claim number xxxxxx743. The Board notes that under the claim number xxxxxx743, appellant 

began receiving intermittent compensation beginning May 4, 2013 due to the accepted condition 

of right CTS. 

In response to the June 25, 2013 preliminary overpayment finding, appellant requested 

that the paperwork filed under claim number xxxxxx356 be transferred to claim number 

xxxxxx743 claim. On October 22, 2013 the claims were doubled, and on February 3, 2015 

OWCP finalized the overpayment determination. 

Given the doubling of the case records and their relationship to an overpayment, the case 

will therefore be remanded to OWCP for further development on the fact of overpayment, to be 

followed by an appropriate decision.7

CONCLUSION 

The Board finds that the case is not in posture for decision regarding whether appellant 

received an overpayment of compensation. 

 6 William E. McCarty, 54 ECAB 525 (2003). 

7 See generally, M.S., Docket No. 13-560 (issued May 10, 2013). In view of the Board’s disposition on fact of 

overpayment, it is premature for the Board to consider whether OWCP properly found appellant not entitled to 

waiver. 
5

ORDER 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the February 3, 2015 decision of the Office of 

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

proceedings consistent with this opinion of the Board. 

Issued: July 20, 2015 

Washington, DC 

 

 Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Alec J. Koromilas, Alternate Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board