United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

T.J., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Goose Creek, SC, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

Docket No. 16-1697 

Issued: January 6, 2017 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se 

Office of Solicitor, for the Director 

DECISION AND ORDER 

Before: 

CHRISTOPHER J. GODFREY, Chief Judge 

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge 

COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge 

JURISDICTION 

On August 23, 2016 appellant filed a timely appeal from an April 18, 2016 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 over the merits of this case. 

ISSUE 

The issue is whether appellant has met her burden of proof to establish an injury or 

medical condition causally related to factors of her federal employment. 

FACTUAL HISTORY 

On March 4, 2016 appellant, then a 49-year-old sales and service associate/window clerk, 

filed an occupational disease claim (Form CA-2) alleging that she sustained an injury or medical 

condition on or about January 11, 2016. She indicated that she had a magnetic resonance 

 1

 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq. 
2

imaging (MRI) scan appointment with her surgeon, who confirmed that she had three herniated 

discs and fused discs from work. Appellant stopped working on March 2, 2016. She had 

previously injured her lower back in the performance of duty on June 14, 2004, which OWCP 

accepted for lumbar sprain and lumbar intervertebral disc displacement under OWCP File No. 

xxxxxx171. 

In a February 17, 2016 attending physician’s report (Form CA-20), Dr. George H. 

Khoury, a neurosurgeon, noted that appellant’s back “went out.” The date of injury was 

December 1, 2015. Dr. Khoury provided results on examination appellant on February 8, 2016 

and noted that appellant’s MRI scan showed a previous fusion at L4-5. He also noted that 

appellant had a very mild bulging disc at L5-S1 on the left. Dr. Khoury diagnosed acute lumbar 

radiculopathy and bulging disc at L5-S1 on the left. 

In a March 15, 2016 letter, OWCP advised appellant of the deficiencies in her claim and 

requested additional factual and medical evidence. This request included responding to a 

questionnaire which inquired about the particular job activities that appellant believed 

contributed to her condition. OWCP also requested a narrative report from appellant’s physician 

explaining how employment activities either caused, contributed to, or aggravated her medical 

condition. Appellant was afforded 30 days to submit the requested information. 

OWCP subsequently received emergency department treatment records from 

March 17, 2016. Dr. Christopher A. McCrae, Board-certified in emergency medicine, indicated 

that appellant presented to the emergency department requesting a steroid shot for acute 

worsening of right hip pain. Appellant was noted to have chronic low back pain with herniated 

disc status post fusion. The previous day, she reportedly had gone to an urgent care facility due 

to acute atraumatic exacerbation of chronic low back pain. Appellant reported receiving an 

intramuscular Toradol shot. She also reported that her Toradol injections were usually 

accompanied by a steroid shot, but that was not the case with her most recent injection. Since 

receiving the shot, appellant experienced worsening right hip pain that radiated into her right 

lower extremity. Dr. McCrae provided an impression of acute right hip pain and adverse 

reaction to a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). 

In a March 28, 2016 letter, the employing establishment controverted appellant’s claim. 

It noted that under File No. xxxxxx171, date of injury June 14, 2004, she had been rehabilitated 

into a clerk position from a rural carrier position on March 4, 2006. Appellant performed those 

duties until she went out for additional surgery and was placed on the periodic rolls. The 

employing establishment further indicated that appellant later returned to her rehabilitated 

position as a clerk, and has remained in that position. 

The employing establishment also provided a copy of a May 7, 2012 report from 

Dr. Michael A. Taormina, a Board-certified neurologist, who performed a second opinion 

examination under File No. xxxxxx171. Dr. Taormina diagnosed chronic lower back pain and 

status post L4-5 discectomy and fusion. At the time, he opined that appellant’s June 14, 2004 

work injury had resolved without residuals from the lumbar sprain or aggravation of lumbar disc 

displacement, and that she was capable of performing her duties as a clerk. 
3

By decision dated April 18, 2016, OWCP denied appellant’s claim as the evidence of 

record failed to establish that she was injured in the performance of duty. It noted that appellant 

had not provided any factual or medical documentation that would support her having been 

injured while performing the duties of her position. 

LEGAL PRECEDENT 

A claimant seeking benefits under FECA has the burden of proof to establish the essential 

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

including that an injury was sustained in the performance of duty as alleged and that any specific 

condition or disability claimed is causally related to the employment injury.2

To establish that an injury was sustained in the performance of duty in an occupational 

disease claim, a claimant must submit: (1) medical evidence establishing the presence or 

existence of the disease or condition for which compensation is claimed; (2) a factual statement 

identifying employment factors alleged to have caused or contributed to the presence or 

occurrence of the disease or condition; and (3) medical evidence establishing that the diagnosed 

condition is causally related to the identified employment factors.3

 

The claimant must establish all of the elements of her claim in order to prevail. She must 

prove the time, place, and manner of the alleged incident, and a resulting personal injury.4

A physician’s opinion on whether there is a causal relationship between the diagnosed 

condition and the implicated employment factors must be based on a complete factual and 

medical background.5 Additionally, the physician’s opinion must be expressed in terms of a 

reasonable degree of medical certainty, and must be supported by medical rationale, explaining 

the nature of the relationship between the diagnosed condition and appellant’s specific 

employment factors.6

ANALYSIS 

On her March 4, 2016 claim form (Form CA-2), appellant indicated that her surgeon 

confirmed that she had three herniated discs from working. However, she did not describe how 

her work as a sales and service associate/window clerk either caused or contributed to her 

claimed lumbar condition. In his February 17, 2016 report, Dr. Khoury diagnosed acute lumbar 

radiculopathy and bulging disc at L5-S1 on the left. However, he did not provide an opinion 

regarding the cause of appellant’s lumbar condition. The Board has held that medical evidence 

 2

 20 C.F.R. § 10.115(e), (f); see Jacquelyn L. Oliver, 48 ECAB 232, 235-36 (1996). 

3 Victor J. Woodhams, 41 ECAB 345, 352 (1989). 

4 See C.C., Docket No. 15-1866 (issued December 11, 2015). 

5 Supra note 3. 

6 Id. 
4

which does not offer any opinion regarding the cause of an employee’s injury is of limited 

probative value on the issue of causal relationship.7

On March 15, 2016 OWCP advised appellant of the need for factual and medical 

evidence to support her claimed lumbar condition. Appellant did not respond to the development 

questionnaire regarding the employment-related activities that she believed caused or contributed 

to her claimed condition. She did not provide any specific information describing exactly how 

she was injured in the performance of duty. Moreover, the March 17, 2016 emergency 

department treatment records did not identify an employment-related condition arising on or 

about January 11, 2016, as appellant alleged in her Form CA-2. Dr. McCrae noted that appellant 

had chronic low back pain with herniated disc status post fusion with an acute worsening of right 

hip pain. He reported that she wanted a steroid injection for the acute worsening of right hip 

pain. Dr. McCrae did not indicate that appellant’s current right hip complaints were employment 

related.8 

Appellant failed to provide a description of the employment activities that she believed 

either caused or aggravated her lumbar condition. As such, she failed to meet her burden of 

proof to establish that an injury occurred in the performance of duty.9

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. 

 7 C.B., Docket No. 10-0144 (issued July 27, 2010); D.I., 59 ECAB 158 (2007); Robert Broome, 55 ECAB 39 

(2004); Anna C. Leanza, 48 ECAB 115 (1996). 

8 Id. 

9 D.S., Docket No. 16-0756 (issued September 12, 2016). 
5

CONCLUSION 

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

sustained a lumbar condition causally related to factors of her federal employment. 

ORDER 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the April 18, 2016 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed. 

Issued: January 6, 2017 

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