United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

E.G., Appellant 

and 

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, PUGET 

SOUND NAVAL SHIPYARD, Bremerton, WA, 

Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 15-0736 

Issued: July 29, 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 February 2, 2015 appellant filed an application for review of a January 2, 2015 

decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), adjudicating his hearing 

loss claim in OWCP claim number xxxxxx831. In the decision, OWCP denied appellant’s claim 

for bilateral hearing loss finding that the condition was not causally related to factors of his 

federal employment. The appeal was docketed as No. 15-736. 

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

decision. The instant claim, number xxxxxx831, involves a hearing loss claim that appellant 

filed on July 22, 2014, after he retired from the employing establishment effective July 3, 2014. 

The record indicates that appellant has two prior claims for employment-related hearing loss. 

Claim number xxxxxx660 was accepted for hearing loss.1

 Claim number xxxxxx744 was also 

accepted for binaural hearing loss and, on June 13, 1995, OWCP granted appellant a schedule 

award for 50 percent binaural hearing loss. OWCP administratively combined claim number 

xxxxxx744 with the instant claim, into master claim number xxxxxx831. However, the record 

before the Board does not contain claim number xxxxxx660. As claim number xxxxxx660 

 1

 This claim file is not presently before the Board. It is not clear if the acceptance in claim number xxxxxx660 

was for hearing loss in one or both ears, or if appellant received a schedule award under this claim. 
2

involves the same occupational disease, hearing loss, evidence contained therein will necessarily 

bear directly on appellant’s claim in this case.2 Furthermore, OWCP’s January 2, 2015 decision, 

which found that appellant’s hearing loss was not employment related, did not acknowledge that 

it had previously accepted the same condition in the two other claims. It is important for OWCP 

to fully consolidate the claims to ensure that all germane evidence is properly considered and 

that appropriate findings of fact are made. Accordingly, for a full and fair adjudication, all 

OWCP claims pertaining to appellant’s hearing loss should be combined.3

The Board will remand the case to OWCP to combine claim number xxxxxx660 with 

master claim number xxxxxx831. Following this and such other development as deemed 

necessary, OWCP shall issue an appropriate merit decision on appellant’s claim. 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the January 2, 2014 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is set aside and the case record remanded for further action 

consistent with this order of the Board. 

Issued: July 29, 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 

 2 See K.A., Docket No. 13-207 (issued April 12, 2013). 

3 R.A., Docket No. 14-1828 (issued February 25, 2015). See Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, 

File Maintenance and Management, Chapter 2.400.8(c) (February 2000) (cases should be doubled when correct 

adjudication of the issues depends on frequent cross-reference between files such as where a new injury case is 

reported for an employee who previously filed an injury claim for a similar condition or the same part of the body).