United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

T.W., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, RALEIGH 

PROCESSING & DISTRIBUTION CENTER, 

Raleigh, NC, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 15-1135 

Issued: August 26, 2015 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se 

Office of Solicitor, for the Director 

DECISION AND ORDER 

Before: 

CHRISTOPHER J. GODFREY, Chief Judge 

COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge 

JAMES A. HAYNES, Alternate Judge 

JURISDICTION 

On April 23, 2015 appellant filed a timely appeal of a January 28, 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 to 

consider the merits of the case.2

ISSUE 

The issue is whether appellant has met her burden of proof to establish a right shoulder 

injury in the performance of duty on December 12, 2014, as alleged. 

 1

 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.

2

 Following the January 28, 2015 decision, appellant submitted additional evidence in support of her claim. As 

OWCP has not reviewed this evidence in reaching a final decision, the Board may not consider this evidence for the 

first time on appeal. 20 C.F.R. § 501.2(c)(1). 
2

FACTUAL HISTORY 

On December 12, 2014 appellant, then a 37-year-old mail handler, filed a traumatic 

injury claim alleging on that date she was reaching above her head attaching labels when she 

injured her right shoulder. In a statement dated December 12, 2014, she asserted that she was 

attaching labels and her right shoulder was hurting when she lifted it. 

Appellant’s supervisor controverted the claim as appellant had been complaining of 

shoulder pain on December 11, 2014 and was taking over-the-counter medication for the pain. 

The supervisor did not believe appellant’s allegation of a traumatic injury on 

December 12, 2014. 

On December 16, 2014 OWCP requested that appellant provide additional factual and 

medical evidence in support of her claim. No response was received. 

By decision dated January 28, 2015, OWCP denied appellant’s claim as she had failed to 

submit sufficient factual evidence to establish that an employment event occurred on 

December 12, 2014, as alleged. It found that she had failed to provide a detailed personal 

statement clarifying the date of injury and how her right shoulder injury occurred. OWCP 

further noted that appellant failed to provide any medical evidence of a diagnosed condition due 

to her employment. 

LEGAL PRECEDENT 

An employee seeking benefits under FECA3

 has the burden of establishing the essential 

elements of his or her claim by the weight of the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence, 

including the fact that the individual is an “employee of the United States” within the meaning of 

FECA and that the claim was timely filed within the applicable time limitation period of FECA, 

that an injury was sustained in the performance of duty as alleged and that any disability or 

specific condition for which compensation is claimed is causally related to the employment 

injury.4 These are the essential elements of each and every compensation claim regardless of 

whether the claim is predicated upon a traumatic injury or an occupational disease.5

OWCP defines a traumatic injury as, “[A] condition of the body caused by a specific 

event or incident, or series of events or incidents, within a single workday or shift. Such 

condition must be caused by external force, including stress or strain which is identifiable as to 

time and place of occurrence and member or function of the body affected.”6

 To determine 

whether a federal employee has sustained a traumatic injury in the performance of duty, it must 

first be determined whether a “fact of injury” has been established. First, the employee must 

submit sufficient evidence to establish that he or she actually experienced the employment 

 3

 5 U.S.C. §§ 8101-8193. 

4 Kathryn Haggerty, 45 ECAB 383, 388 (1994); Elaine Pendleton, 41 ECAB 1143 (1989). 

5 Victor J. Woodhams, 41 ECAB 345 (1989). 

6

 20 C.F.R. § 10.5(ee). 
3

incident at the time, place, and in the manner alleged.7

 Second, the employee must submit 

sufficient evidence, generally only in the form of medical evidence, to establish that the 

employment incident caused a personal injury.8

 The Board has held that medical opinions that 

are speculative or equivocal in character diminish the probative value of the medical opinion.9

ANALYSIS 

The Board finds that appellant has failed to meet her burden of proof to establish a 

traumatic injury claim, as alleged. 

Appellant alleged that she sustained a traumatic injury to her right shoulder on 

December 12, 2014 while applying labels above her head in the performance of duty. 

Appellant’s supervisor controverted her claim, asserted that when requesting the traumatic injury 

claim form appellant stated that she had right shoulder pain on December 11, 2014 which 

required her to take medication. OWCP requested that appellant clarify the factual basis of her 

claim and provide medical evidence of a diagnosed condition in a letter dated 

December 16, 2014, but appellant did not present any additional factual evidence or any medical 

evidence in support of a right shoulder injury. OWCP denied her claim on January 28, 2015. 

The Board further finds that appellant has not met her burden of proof to establish an 

injury due to her federal employment as she has submitted no medical evidence in support of her 

claim.10

Appellant may submit new evidence or argument with a written request for 

reconsideration to OWCP within one year of this merit decision, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 8128(a) 

and 20 C.F.R. §§ 10.605 through 10.607. 

CONCLUSION 

The Board finds that appellant has not met her burden of proof to establish a right 

shoulder injury in the performance of duty on December 12, 2014, as alleged. 

 7 John J. Carlone, 41 ECAB 354 (1989). 

8 J.Z., 58 ECAB 529 (2007). 

9

 A.G., Docket No. 12-659 (issued August 22, 2012); D.D., 57 ECAB 734, 738 (2006). 

10 T.M., Docket No. 13-0577 (issued June 13, 2013) (finding that the claimant failed to submit any medical 

evidence and therefore failed to prima facie establish her claim for compensation as the result of a traumatic injury. 
4

ORDER 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the January 28, 2015 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed. 

Issued: August 26, 2015 

Washington, DC 

 

 Christopher J. Godfrey, Chief Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 James A. Haynes, Alternate Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board