United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

C.R., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Bronx, NY, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 16-0250 

Issued: May 2, 2016 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Stephen Larkin, 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 November 29, 2015 appellant, through her representative, filed a timely application 

for review of an October 28, 2015 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs 

(OWCP), which denied her request for reconsideration without conducting a merit review. In its 

October 28, 2015 decision, OWCP found that appellant’s reconsideration request, received on 

March 17, 2015, was insufficient to warrant a merit review of the claim. 

The Board notes that most recent merit decision in this case is OWCP’s February 5, 2015 

decision. On March 17, 2015 OWCP received appellant’s reconsideration request. It did not 

issue a decision on appellant’s request for reconsideration until October 28, 2015, over seven 

months after the request was made. The Board finds that appellant is entitled to a merit review 

of her case. When a reconsideration decision is delayed beyond 90 days, and the delay 

jeopardizes the claimant’s right to review of the merits of the case by the Board, OWCP should 

conduct a merit review.1

 Appellant had 180 days, or until August 4, 2015, to appeal OWCP’s 

February 5, 2015 merit decision to the Board.2 The Board finds that OWCP’s delay of over 

seven months in issuing a decision on appellant’s reconsideration request effectively precluded 

 1

 Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Reconsiderations, Chapter 2.1602.7.a (October 2011). 

2 See 20 C.F.R. § 501.3(e). 
2

appellant from appealing OWCP’s most recent merit decision on her claim to the Board. Had 

OWCP acted upon appellant’s request within 90 days, appellant would have been able to seek 

review of OWCP’s February 5, 2015 merit decision before the Board.3

Accordingly, the Board will set aside OWCP’s October 28, 2015 decision and remand the 

case for OWCP to issue an appropriate decision on the merits of the claim in order to preserve 

appellant’s appeal rights. 

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

Workers’ Compensation Programs is set aside and the case remanded for further action 

consistent with this order. 

Issued: May 2, 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 See Geoma R. Munn, 50 ECAB 242 (1999); Joseph L. Cabral, 44 ECAB 152 (1992); Debra E. Stoler, 43 ECAB 

561 (1992); Carlos Tola, 42 ECAB 337 (1991) (remanding cases for merit review where OWCP delayed issuance of 

reconsideration decisions).