United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

S.B., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Los Angeles, CA, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

Docket No. 15-1499 

Issued: October 16, 2015 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Brett Blumstein, Esq., for the appellant 

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 July 1, 2015 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal of a February 3, 2015 

adverse letter from the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), which declined to 

review her claim for a schedule award. The Board docketed the appeal as No. 15-1499. 

On October 15, 2004 OWCP accepted a claim for a right knee strain. On June 22, 2007 

appellant filed a Form CA-7 claim for a schedule award for the right lower extremity. In 

decisions dated April 29 and September 30, 2009, December 6, 2011, December 5, 2012, and 

February 6, 2014, OWCP denied her schedule award claim. Appellant, through counsel, filed 

another claim for a schedule award. In support of her claim, she submitted additional medical 

evidence, including an August 19, 2014 report and impairment evaluation from Dr. Jacob E. 

Tauber, Board-certified in orthopedic surgery, who found that she had a seven percent right 

lower extremity impairment pursuant to the American Medical Association, Guides to the 

Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (sixth edition). In its February 3, 2015 letter, OWCP 

stated that the schedule award was not payable at that time as it was currently in a denied status. 

On appeal counsel argues that appellant should be able to apply for a schedule award at 

any time, relying on the Board’s decision in R.P., Docket No. 10-1123 (issued January 25, 2011). 

In that case, appellant filed a schedule award claim subsequent to OWCP’s previous denial of his 

claim for a schedule award and submitted a new medical report and impairment evaluation 
2

containing an impairment rating. The Board reversed OWCP’s decision, which denied the claim 

on the basis that the claim was untimely and failed to show clear and convincing evidence of 

error.

1

 The Board found that a claimant may seek an increased schedule award at any time, if the 

evidence established that appellant sustained an increased impairment at a later date, causally 

related to the accepted injury. 

The Board has duly considered the matter and finds that, in accordance with relevant case 

law and regulations, the case should be remanded for adjudication of appellant’s schedule award 

claim. As previously noted, a claimant may seek an increased schedule award if the evidence 

establishes that he or she sustained increased impairment at a later date causally related to the 

accepted employment injury.2 

As appellant filed a claim for an additional schedule award and submitted new medical 

evidence in support of the claim, OWCP was incorrect in failing to adjudicate and process the 

claim. The Board will therefore remand the case for a de novo decision which will address the 

medical evidence submitted in support of the employee’s claim of permanent impairment. 

Following such further development as OWCP deems necessary, it shall issue an appropriate 

decision on the merits. 

 1

 The Board notes that OWCP, as it did in this case, sent appellant a letter which acknowledged receipt of her 

schedule award claim and referred her to the appeal rights included with the decision denying her schedule award 

claim. 

2 See Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Schedule Awards and Permanent Disability Claims, 

Chapter 2.808.7(b) (January 2010). 
3

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the case record is remanded to the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs for further proceedings consistent with this order of the 

Board. 

Issued: October 16, 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