United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

J.D., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Danville, VA, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 16-1293 

Issued: August 26, 2016 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Alan J. Shapiro, Esq., for the appellant1

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 June 3, 2016 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from a May 9, 2016 

decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) affirming the prior denial 

of an occupational disease claim. The appeal was docketed as No. 16-1293. 

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

decision. In this case, by decision dated August 27, 2015, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for a 

left shoulder condition and left carpal tunnel syndrome sustained on or before October 20, 2009. 

On September 4, 2015 counsel requested a telephonic hearing, conducted on March 30, 2016. 

He asserted that because OWCP accepted a left shoulder sprain under File No. xxxxxx076 due to 

the same work factors, OWCP should approve the present claim. OWCP issued the May 9, 2016 

decision under the present claim. OWCP’s hearing representative explained that in adjudicating 

the present claim, she reviewed unspecified medical evidence in File No. xxxxxx076 “and 

copied a November 21, 2014 report into the instant claim.” She recommended that OWCP 

                                                             1

 In all cases in which a representative has been authorized in a matter before the Board, no claim for a fee for 

legal or other service performed on appeal before the Board is valid unless approved by the Board. 20 C.F.R. 

§ 501.9(e). No contract for a stipulated fee or on a contingent fee basis will be approved by the Board. Id. An 

attorney or representative’s collection of a fee without the Board’s approval may constitute a misdemeanor, subject 

to fine or imprisonment for up to one year or both. Id.; see also 18 U.S.C. § 292. Demands for payment of fees to a 

representative, prior to approval by the Board, may be reported to appropriate authorities for investigation. 
2

consider doubling the present claim with File No. xxxxxx076. However, OWCP did not double 

the two files. 

The record forwarded to the Board demonstrates that OWCP considered evidence from 

File No. xxxxxx076 in adjudicating the present claim, including adding a report from File No. 

xxxxxx076 to the present case record under File No. xxxxxx789. The Board does not have 

access to File No. xxxxxx076. The Board therefore finds this case is not in posture for a 

decision, as the record before the Board is incomplete and does not permit an informed 

adjudication of the case by the Board. Thus, the case must be remanded to OWCP to combine 

the claim files. OWCP procedures provide for doubling claims when correct adjudication of the 

issues depends on frequent cross-reference between files.2 Upon remand, it should combine File 

No. xxxxxx076 with the instant case, File No. xxxxxx789. After combining the two records, 

OWCP should consider all relevant evidence regarding whether appellant sustained left upper 

extremity conditions as claimed. It should then issue an appropriate merit decision. 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the May 9, 2016 decision of the Office of Workers’ 

Compensation Programs be set aside and the case remanded for further proceedings consistent 

with this order of the Board. 

Issued: August 26, 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 See Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, File Maintenance and Management, Chapter 

2.400.8(c) (February 2000).