United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

G.W., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Houston, TX, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

Docket No. 15-0654 

Issued: April 19, 2016 

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 January 16, 2015 appellant filed a timely appeal from a July 31, 2014 merit decision 

of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) concerning a schedule award claim 

for her shoulder and cervical spine conditions. The Board assigned Docket No. 15-0654.1

In the July 31, 2014 decision, an OWCP hearing representative awarded 11 percent 

permanent impairment for the right shoulder condition and 0 percent permanent impairment for 

the cervical condition. The hearing representative noted, however, that as appellant had already 

received 6 percent permanent impairment for right carpal tunnel syndrome, under File No. 

xxxxxx112, appellant was awarded only an additional 10 percent impairment for the right upper 

extremity.2

 1

 By order dated July 24, 2015, the Board denied appellant’s request for oral argument. 

2

 On November 7, 2011 appellant, then a 55-year-old carrier technician, filed an occupational disease claim 

alleging that she experienced pain in her right shoulder and cervical spine as a result of her employment. She first 

became aware of her condition and realized it resulted from her employment on March 1, 2011. OWCP accepted 

appellant’s claim for right shoulder sprain, right shoulder impingement, and supraspinatus tear and cervical disc 

degeneration. 
2

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

decision. OWCP procedures provide that cases should be doubled when a new injury is reported 

for an employee who previously filed an injury claim for a similar condition and further indicates 

that the cases should be doubled as soon as the need to do so becomes apparent.3

 As OWCP has 

reduced the current award based on a rating she previously received for right carpal tunnel 

syndrome, it should have doubled the case files in accordance with its procedures. 

As the record before the Board does not contain evidence from the prior claim referenced 

by OWCP and pertinent to her request for a schedule award for her right shoulder condition, the 

Board is unable to properly address and adjudicate the current schedule award issue. On remand, 

OWCP should combine the present case record, File No. xxxxxx728, with File No. xxxxxx112. 

After combining these two case records, it should consider the evidence contained in the 

combined case record and, following any necessary further development, issue an appropriate

decision. Accordingly, the July 31, 2014 decision affirming the additional impairment of 10 

percent for the right upper extremity should be set aside. 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision of the Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs dated July 31, 2014 is set aside and the case remanded for further 

proceedings consistent with this order of the Board. 

Issued: April 19, 2016 

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 

 3

 Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Doubling Case Files, Chapter 2.400.8(c)(1) 

(February 2000).