United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

C.M., Appellant 

and 

INDEPENDENT AGENCIES, U.S. EQUAL 

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 

COMMISSION, Washington, DC, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 16-1616 

Issued: July 14, 2017 

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se 

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 August 8, 2016 appellant filed a timely application for review from a March 17, 2016 

nonmerit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) denying her 

request for reconsideration as the request was untimely filed and failed to demonstrate clear 

evidence of error. The Clerk of the Appellate Boards docketed the appeal as No. 16-1616. 

The Board notes that on March 11, 2015 an OWCP hearing representative affirmed a 

March 10, 2014 OWCP decision denying appellant’s claim for an emotional condition because 

she had not established a compensable factor of employment. On March 10, 2016 OWCP 

received appellant’s reconsideration request.1

The Board has considered the matter and finds that the March 10, 2016 request 

constituted a timely request for reconsideration. OWCP regulations at 20 C.F.R. § 10.607(a), 

provide that an “application for reconsideration must be received within one year of the date of 

the OWCP decision for which review is sought.” In this case, while appellant articulated that she 

was requesting reconsideration of the March 10, 2014 decision, the most recent merit decision on 

 1

 By letter dated March 11, 2016, appellant corrected grammatical and formatting errors in her March 10, 2016 

request for reconsideration. She also added an e-mail address of the employing establishment’s representative to 

show the method of service to him. 
2

the same issue was dated March 11, 2015. Appellant’s request for reconsideration was received 

by OWCP on March 10, 2016. Because appellant’s request for reconsideration was received on 

March 10, 2016, the Board finds that it was timely filed. 

Because appellant filed a timely reconsideration request, OWCP should have reviewed 

her request under the standard for a timely request.2

 The clear evidence of error standard utilized 

by OWCP in its March 17, 2016 decision is appropriate only for untimely reconsideration 

requests.3

 The Board will set aside OWCP’s March 17, 2016 decision and remand the case for 

an appropriate final decision on appellant’s timely request for reconsideration. 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the March 17, 2016 decision of the Office of 

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

consistent with this order of the Board. 

Issued: July 14, 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 

 2 See 20 C.F.R. § 10.606(b)(3). 

3 Id. at § 10.607(b).