United States Department of Labor 

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

__________________________________________ 

S.G., Appellant 

and 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, FEDERAL 

BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS, 

Minneapolis, MN, Employer 

__________________________________________ 

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Docket No. 16-1683 

Issued: January 3, 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 

COLLEEN DUFFY KIKO, Judge 

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge 

JURISDICTION 

On August 15, 2016 appellant filed a timely appeal from a July 28, 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.2

ISSUE 

The issue is whether appellant has met his burden of proof to establish more than 50 

percent binaural hearing loss. 

On appeal appellant contends that he is entitled to an additional schedule award. 

 

 1 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.

2

 The Board notes that appellant submitted additional evidence on appeal. However, the Board may only review 

evidence that was in the record at the time OWCP issued its final decision. See 20 C.F.R. § 501.2(c)(1); M.B., 

Docket No. 09-176 (issued September 23, 2009); Sandra D. Pruitt, 57 ECAB 126 (2005). 
2

FACTUAL HISTORY 

On September 10, 1998 appellant, then a 55-year-old special agent, filed an occupational 

disease claim (Form CA-2) alleging hearing loss caused by exposure to loud noise in his 

employment. He became aware of his condition and of its relationship to his employment on 

January 1, 1982.3

On April 2, 1999 OWCP accepted the claim for binaural hearing loss. 

In a December 17, 1999 decision, OWCP granted appellant a schedule award for 28 

percent binaural hearing impairment. The period of the award ran for 56 weeks from 

December 3, 1998 to December 30, 1999. Thereafter, OWCP continued to authorize medical 

treatment, including hearing aids, for the accepted condition. 

In a July 14, 2015 progress note, Dr. James E. Kuderer, an otolaryngologist, noted 

appellant’s exposure to noise during his military service and while working at the employing 

establishment. He also noted appellant’s medical history and reported findings on physical 

examination. Dr. Kuderer found that appellant appeared well, but he was obviously frustrated 

with his hearing. Appellant’s head was normocephalic and atraumatic. An otoscopy revealed 

patent external canals with intact and mobile tympanic membranes. There was no middle ear 

effusion. Anterior rhinoscopy showed a midline septum without turbinate hypertrophy or 

rhinorrhea. There was no trismus and appellant had average dentition. The tongue was fully 

mobile. Uvula was midline. The posterior oropharynx was clear. Appellant’s neck was soft 

without lymphadenopathy and the trachea was midline. Dr. Kuderer assessed mild-to-profound 

sensorineural bilateral hearing loss, worse in the right ear than the left ear. He advised that the 

likely etiology was due to significant noise exposure and acoustic trauma which was evidenced 

by 48 years of audiometry and appellant’s workplace and military noise exposure. Dr. Kuderer 

noted that appellant had been using hearing aids for a long time and was having more difficulty 

with them. He recommended cochlear implantation. 

An audiogram performed on August 21, 2015 by Kirsten J. Brock, an audiologist, 

demonstrated testing at 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 hertz (Hz) and revealed decibel losses of 15, 

30, 90, and 95, respectively in appellant’s right ear. On the left appellant’s decibel losses at the 

above levels were 20, 45, 90, and 100, respectively. 

On May 4, 2016 appellant filed a claim for an additional schedule award (Form CA-7). 

The medical record, including the reports of Dr. Kuderer and Ms. Brock, and a statement 

of accepted facts were referred to an OWCP district medical adviser (DMA). On May 25, 2016 

the DMA applied the hearing loss formula from the American Medical Association, Guides to 

the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (A.M.A., Guides) (6th ed. 2009). He added the right 

decibel losses to reach 230 and averaged this sum to reach 57.5. The DMA then subtracted the 

fence of 25 as directed by the A.M.A., Guides to reach 32.5 and multiplied this amount by 1.5 to 

reach a monaural loss on the right of 48.75 percent. He followed the same procedure with the 

audiographic results of appellant’s left ear to calculate a total of 255 decibel losses. The DMA 

averaged this sum to reach 63.75. He then subtracted the fence of 25 as directed by the A.M.A., 

 3

 On December 31, 1998 appellant retired from the employing establishment. 
3

Guides to reach 38.75 decibels and multiplied this amount by 1.5 to reach a monaural loss of 

58.125 percent on the left. The DMA then multiplied the 48.75 percent right ear hearing loss by 

5, added the 58.125 percent left ear hearing loss, and divided the total by 6, for a total of 50.3 

percent binaural hearing loss. From the 50.3 percent binaural impairment, he subtracted the 

previously awarded 28 percent binaural impairment, to find that appellant had an additional 22.3 

percent binaural impairment. The DMA determined that appellant had reached maximum 

medical improvement (MMI) on August 21, 2015, the date of the most recent audiogram. He 

indicated that hearing aids should be authorized. 

By decision dated July 28, 2016, OWCP issued an additional schedule award for 22.3 

percent binaural hearing loss, as appellant had previously been paid an award for 28 percent 

binaural hearing loss. The increased award was for 44 weeks of compensation and ran from 

August 21, 2015 to June 23, 2016. 

LEGAL PRECEDENT 

The schedule award provision of FECA4

 and its implementing regulations set forth the 

number of weeks of compensation payable to employees sustaining permanent impairment from 

loss or loss of use, of scheduled members or functions of the body. FECA, however, does not 

specify the manner in which the percentage of loss of a member shall be determined. The 

method used in making such determination is a matter which rests in the sound discretion of 

OWCP. For consistent results and to ensure equal justice, the Board has authorized the use of a 

single set of tables so that there may be uniform standards applicable to all claimants. The 

A.M.A., Guides (6th ed. 2009), has been adopted by OWCP for evaluating schedule loss and the 

Board has concurred in such adoption.5

OWCP evaluates industrial hearing loss in accordance with the standards contained in the 

A.M.A., Guides. Using the frequencies of 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 Hz, the losses at each 

frequency are added up and averaged. Then, the fence of 25 decibels is deducted because, as the 

A.M.A., Guides points out, losses below 25 decibels result in no impairment in the ability to hear 

everyday speech under everyday conditions.6 The remaining amount is multiplied by a factor of 

1.5 to arrive at the percentage of monaural hearing loss. The binaural loss is determined by 

calculating the loss in each ear using the formula for monaural loss; the lesser loss is multiplied 

by five and then added to the greater loss and the total is divided by six to arrive at the amount of 

the binaural hearing loss. The Board has concurred in OWCP’s adoption of this standard for 

evaluating hearing loss.7

 

 4 Supra note 1. 

5 See Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Schedule Awards and Permanent Disability Claims, 

Chapter 2.808.5a (February 2013); see also Part 3 -- Medical, Schedule Awards, Chapter 3.700, Exhibit 1 

(January 2010). 

6 See A.M.A., Guides 250. 

7 E.S., 59 ECAB 249 (2007); Reynaldo R. Lichetenberger, 52 ECAB 462 (2001). 
4

ANALYSIS 

OWCP accepted that appellant sustained binaural hearing loss due to noise exposure at 

work. On December 17, 1999 he received a schedule award for 28 percent binaural loss of 

hearing. Appellant requested an additional schedule award for binaural hearing loss. By 

decision dated July 28, 2016, OWCP awarded appellant an additional 22 percent binaural 

hearing loss, for a total impairment of 50 percent. 

The Board finds that appellant has not established a schedule award greater than 50 

percent binaural hearing impairment. 

Appellant submitted an August 21, 2015 audiogram from Ms. Brock, an audiologist. 

Testing at 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 Hz revealed decibel losses of the right ear as 15, 30, 90, 

and 95, respectively. Testing on the left ear, revealed decibel losses at the above levels as 20, 45, 

90, and 100, respectively. 

FECA procedures relating to the evaluation of schedule awards provide that the file 

should be routed to OWCP’s DMA for an opinion concerning the nature and percent of 

impairment.8 Accordingly, OWCP referred appellant’s case to a DMA. 

On May 25, 2016 OWCP’s DMA utilized the decibel losses found by Ms. Brock with 

regard to hearing loss as found on the August 21, 2015 audiogram. He determined that appellant 

had reached MMI as of the date of this audiogram. The DMA found that he had an additional 

22.3 percent binaural hearing impairment, totaling 50.3 percent binaural hearing loss. He 

properly applied OWCP standardized procedures to Ms. Brock’s audiogram which recorded 

frequency levels at the 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 Hz and revealed decibel losses of 15, 30, 90, 

and 95, respectively in the right ear for a total decibel loss of 230. The DMA then followed 

established procedures and divided this total by 4 which resulted in an average loss of 57.5 

decibels and subtracted the fence of 25 decibels to equal 32.5 decibels. He then multiplied this 

by the established factor of 1.5 to result in a 48.75 percent monaural hearing loss for the right 

ear. The DMA then properly followed the same procedure on the left, noting that the test results 

at the frequencies of 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 Hz revealed decibel losses of 20, 45, 90, and 

100 decibels, respectively, for a total of 255 decibels. He divided this by 4, for an average 

hearing loss of 63.75 decibels, subtracted the fence of 25 decibels to equal 38.75 decibels, and 

multiplied this by the established factor of 1.5, for a 58.125 percent monaural hearing loss for the 

left ear. The DMA then multiplied the 48.75 percent right ear hearing loss by 5, added the 

58.125 percent left ear hearing loss, and divided the total by 6, for a total of 50.3 percent binaural 

hearing loss which is rounded to 50 percent. He subtracted the previously awarded 28 percent 

binaural impairment, to find that appellant had an additional 22 percent binaural impairment. 

Thus, the Board finds that OWCP’s DMA applied the proper standards to the August 21, 

2015 audiogram. The result is a 50.3 percent binaural hearing loss which is rounded to 50 

percent. Appellant previously received a scheduled award totaling 28 percent binaural hearing 

 8 See supra note 5 at Chapter 2.808.6e (February 2013). 
5

loss. OWCP, therefore, properly determined that he was entitled to a schedule award for an 

additional 22 percent binaural loss.9

On appeal, appellant contends that he is entitled to an additional schedule award. As 

discussed above, the weight of the medical evidence of record only establishes entitlement to a 

total 50 percent binaural hearing impairment. Appellant has not submitted any medical evidence 

establishing that he is entitled to a schedule award in addition to that previously received. 

Appellant may request a schedule award or increased schedule award based on evidence 

of a new exposure or medical evidence showing progression of an employment-related condition 

resulting in permanent impairment or increased impairment. 

CONCLUSION 

The Board finds that appellant has not met his burden of proof to establish that he has 

more than 50 percent binaural hearing loss. 

 9

 While OWCP’s decision advised that the new award was for 22.3 percent, the number of weeks covered by the 

award, 44, indicates that the award was for 22 percent. This is calculated by multiplying 22 percent times the 

maximum 200 weeks of compensation, under 5 U.S.C. § 8107(c)(13)(B), for 100 percent binaural hearing loss. 

This, 22 percent times 200, yields 44 weeks of compensation. Rounding the percentage down from 22.3 to 22 

percent is consistent with OWCP procedures which provide that fractions should be rounded down from .49 or up 

from .50. See Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 3 -- Medical, Schedule Awards, Chapter 3.700.4(b)(2) 

(January 2010). 
6

ORDER 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the July 28, 2016 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed. 

Issued: January 3, 2017 

Washington, DC 

 

 Christopher J. Godfrey, Chief Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Colleen Duffy Kiko, Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board 

 

 Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge 

 Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board