United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

P.G., Appellant 

and 

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Lithia Springs, GA, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 16-0938 

Issued: January 11, 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 April 4, 2016 appellant filed a timely application for review from a November 2, 

2015 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of 

the Board docketed the appeal as No. 16-0938. 

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

decision and must be remanded to OWCP. In the case of William A. Couch,

1

 the Board held that 

when adjudicating a claim, OWCP is obligated to consider all evidence properly submitted by a 

claimant and received by OWCP before the final decision is issued. 

In this case, appellant was injured in a work-related February 25, 2011 motor vehicle 

accident. She stopped work on the date of injury. On April 15, 2011 OWCP accepted 

appellant’s claim for sprain of the neck and sprain of the back, lumbar region. It paid 

compensation for various hours of wage loss from April 13 to August 12, 2011. On February 25, 

2014 OWCP expanded the accepted conditions to include lumbar radiculitis and displacement 

lumbar intervertebral disc at L4/5 and L5/S1 without myelopathy. It authorized a right L5-S1 

laminotomy and discectomy performed on March 23, 2015 by Dr. Eric I. Francke, a Board-

 1

 41 ECAB 548 (1990). 
2

certified orthopedic surgeon. The record does not indicate that OWCP paid any further wageloss compensation under the present claim. 

On August 26, 2015 appellant filed a Form CA-7 for compensation for leave without pay 

commencing February 25, 2011 and submitted medical evidence which addressed her cervical 

and lumbar conditions, work capacity, and work restrictions. In a September 8, 2015 letter, 

OWCP advised appellant of the deficiencies of her claim and requested that she respond to its 

inquiries. It noted that the evidence of record indicated that she had stopped work on March 23, 

2015 due to her surgery on that date. OWCP also noted that there was conflicting evidence 

about the dates appellant had stopped work and the leave she had used during the claimed period 

of disability which required clarification. It noted that the employing establishment had stated 

that she had not returned to work following a new injury she sustained on February 19, 2013 

under OWCP File No. xxxxxx080.2

 Appellant was afforded 30 days to submit the requested 

information. 

By letters dated September 11, 2015, OWCP requested that Dr. Yong S. Lee, a Boardcertified physiatrist, and Dr. Francke respond to several questions regarding their August 26, 

2015 opinion that appellant was capable of performing modified work. In response, the 

physicians submitted medical reports which addressed appellant’s lumbar and cervical 

conditions, work capacity, and work restriction. OWCP also received an August 6, 2015 

functional capacity evaluation (FCE) which revealed that appellant had not met the medium 

physical demand level required for her previous position as a mail carrier. In a November 2, 

2015 decision, it denied appellant’s claim for compensation commencing February 25, 2011. 

OWCP found that the evidence of record was insufficient to establish disability commencing 

February 25, 2011 due to her accepted employment-related injuries. It noted that no further 

evidence had been received in response to its September 8, 2015 development letter. 

The Board finds that OWCP, in its November 2, 2015 decision, had not reviewed the 

medical records submitted by Dr. Lee and Dr. Francke or the August 6, 2015 FCE which were 

received prior to and on the same date as its decision.3

 In their submission, the physicians 

provided a response to OWCP’s request for medical evidence regarding appellant’s claim for 

disability. For this reason, the case will be remanded to OWCP to enable it to properly consider 

all the evidence submitted at the time of the November 2, 2015 decision. Following such further 

development as OWCP deems necessary, it shall issue a de novo decision on appellant’s claim. 

 2

 Under File No. xxxxxx080, the Board, in an August 23, 2016 decision, affirmed an OWCP hearing 

representative’s December 9, 2014 decision denying appellant’s occupational disease claim (Form CA-2). Docket 

No. 15-1345 (issued August 23, 2016). File No. xxxxxx080 is not before the Board on the present appeal. 

3 See M.B., Docket No. 09-17 (issued September 23, 2009); Yvette N. Davis, 55 ECAB 475 (2004); Linda 

Johnson, 45 ECAB 439, 440 (1994) (evidence received the same day on which OWCP issues its final decision must 

be considered). 
3

ORDER 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the November 2, 2015 decision of the Office of 

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

proceedings consistent with this order of the Board. 

Issued: January 11, 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