United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

B.S., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Cleveland, OH, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 16-0352 

Issued: April 14, 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 December 18, 2015 appellant filed a timely appeal from a November 20, 2015 

nonmerit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Board 

docketed the appeal as 16-0352. In its November 20, 2015 decision upon reconsideration, 

OWCP declined to review the merits of appellant’s claim and affirmed its prior decision of 

April 21, 2014, which denied appellant’s claim for consequential injury arising from her 

accepted October 9, 1996 injury. It stated that appellant had not submitted sufficient evidence to 

warrant review of this decision. 

The Board has duly considered the matter and notes that, in the case of William A. 

Couch,

1

 it held that, when adjudicating a claim, OWCP is obligated to consider all evidence 

properly submitted by a claimant and received by OWCP before the final decision is issued. On 

reconsideration appellant submitted progress notes dating from January 13 through October 13, 

2015 from her treating physician, Dr. Arsel Ahmad, Board-certified in physical medicine and 

rehabilitation. OWCP further requested and received a physician’s second opinion, from 

Dr. Donald C. Mann, Board-certified in neurology, dated July 28, 2015, in which the second 

opinion physician discussed findings of residuals of an accepted condition (reflex sympathetic 

dystrophy) in both appellant’s arm and leg. These reports were received prior to OWCP’s 

November 20, 2015 decision. 

 1

 41 ECAB 548 (1990). 
2

In its November 20, 2015 decision, OWCP stated: “The evidence submitted and 

reviewed in support of your reconsideration request includes your statement and a medical report 

dated April 1, 2015. [. . .] The medical evidence submitted with your request consists of a report 

from Jared Stefanko, DO, dated April 1, 2015, showing progress notes and treatment 

recommendations for left shoulder and scapular pain and left cervical radiculopathy.”2

While OWCP is not required to list every piece of evidence submitted to the record, it is 

clear that neither the numerous reports submitted from appellant’s treating physician from 

January 13 through October 13, 2015, nor the second opinion report requested by OWCP itself, 

were reviewed before the issuance of its November 20, 2015 decision. Whether it receives 

relevant evidence on the date of the decision or several days before, such evidence must be 

considered.3

 In this case, each of these reports were received well in advance of OWCP’s 

November 20, 2015 decision. As the Board’s decisions are final as to the subject matter 

appealed, it is crucial that all evidence relevant to the subject matter of the claim properly 

submitted to OWCP be reviewed and addressed.4

 Accordingly, the case is remanded for proper 

review of the evidence and, following any necessary further development, the issuance of an 

appropriate final decision. 

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

Compensation Programs dated November 20, 2015 is set aside and the case remanded for further 

action consistent with this order of the Board. 

Issued: April 14, 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 

 2

 This purported April 1, 2015 medical report from Dr. Stefanko could not be located in the case record. 

3 J.I., Docket No. 12-1062 (issued December 12, 2012); William McKennon, 51 ECAB 145 (1999). 

4 See Yvette N. Davis, 55 ECAB 475 (2004).