United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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R.E., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, SANDPOINT ANNEX, 

Sandpoint, ID, Employer

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Docket No. 19-1583

Issued: May 27, 2020

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Alternate Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On July 19, 2019 appellant filed a timely appeal from a January 23, 2019 merit decision of 

the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards 

docketed the appeal as No. 19-1583.1

On December 18, 2011 appellant, then a 66-year-old rural carrier, filed an occupational 

disease claim (Form CA-2) alleging that he sustained C6 nerve radiculopathy, dysfunctional upper 

right extremity mechanics, cervical radiculitis, right rotator cuff impingement syndrome, and right 

cervical and thoracic myofascial pain causally related to factors of his federal employment,

including aggravation of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle incident on June 15, 2010 due to his 

limited-duty federal assignment. OWCP accepted the claim for temporary aggravation of C7 

radiculopathy and neck sprain on March 5, 2012, and expanded acceptance of the claim on 

 

1 The Board notes that appellant submitted additional evidence on appeal. However, the Board’s Rules of Procedure 

provides: “The Board’s review of a case is limited to the evidence in the case record that was before OWCP at the 

time of its final decision. Evidence not before OWCP will not be considered by the Board for the first time on appeal.”

20 C.F.R. § 501.2(c)(1). Thus, the Board is precluded from reviewing this additional evidence for the first time on 

appeal. Id.
2

April 12, 2012 to include brachial neuritis or radiculitis and right rotator cuff syndrome. OWCP 

assigned this claim OWCP File No. xxxxxx832.2

Under OWCP File No. xxxxxx345, OWCP paid appellant compensation on the 

supplemental rolls for the period June 15, 2010 through April 6, 2012. Under OWCP File No. 

xxxxxx832, it paid compensation on the supplemental rolls for the period April 7 through May 4, 

2012 and on the periodic rolls from May 6, 2012 through March 31, 2018.

A Notice of Personnel Action (Form SF-50) indicated that appellant was medically

separated from the employing establishment on September 20, 2013 and that he was covered under 

the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).

On March 15, 2018 OWCP received a Social Security Administration (SSA) FERS/SSA 

Dual Benefit Calculation Form. SSA provided appellant’s SSA rate with FERS and his SSA rate 

without FERS from February 2007 through December 2017. It advised that he was entitled to 

retirement benefits subject to SSA/FERS offset from February 2007 through the date of the 

response. This form provided inconsistent SSA rates with FERS, for example: as of 

February 2007 appellant’s SSA rate with FERS was listed as $1,073.50; as of May 2007 $129.00; 

as of June 2007 $1,073.50; as of December 2007 $1,098.20; as of January 2008 $1,109.50; as of 

April 2008 $270.00; $1,109.50 as of May 2008; $1,173.80 as of December 2008; $1,184.50 as of 

January 2009; $140.00 as of August 2009; $1,184.50 as of September 2009; $1,201.70 as of 

January 2010; and $557.20 as of June 2010. No explanation was provided on this form as to why 

the SSA rate with FERS was significantly reduced and was less than the SSA rate without FERS 

for various periods of time. 

By letter dated April 18, 2018, OWCP forwarded a recomputation request to SSA, asking 

that it clarify the listed amounts from January 2007 to December 2010 as several of the FERS rates 

appeared to be incorrect. 

SSA did not respond to OWCP’s request for clarification.

In an e-mail dated April 18, 2018, an OWCP claims examiner related that appellant was 

overpaid because an SSA/FERS offset was not applied to payments from January 1, 2011 through 

March 31, 2018, per the March 15, 2018 calculations received from the SSA. The claims examiner 

noted that appellant’s SSA disability benefits automatically converted to retirement benefits on 

January 1, 2011. In an attached FERS offset calculation of the same date, OWCP calculated the 

amount of compensation that appellant should have received from January 1, 2011 through 

March 31, 2018 with a FERS offset to find an overpayment of compensation in the amount of 

$20,741.54.

 

2 Under OWCP File No. xxxxxx345, OWCP accepted a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) for neck sprain, lumbar 

sprain, adjustment reaction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and C6 radiculopathy as related to a motor vehicle incident 

in the performance of duty on June 15, 2010. Under OWCP File No. xxxxxx609, it accepted an occupational disease 

claim (Form CA-2) for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome as related to factors of appellant’s federal employment with 

a date of injury of August 20, 2010. These claim files have been administratively combined with OWCP File No. 

xxxxxx832 serving as the master file. 
3

On April 26, 2018 OWCP advised appellant of its preliminary determination that he 

received an overpayment of compensation in the amount of $20,741.54 because it failed to offset 

the portion of the SSA benefits that he had received due to his federal service from his FECA

benefits. It further notified him of its preliminary determination that he was at fault in the creation 

of the overpayment, as he knowingly accepted a payment that he knew or should have known was 

incorrect.

On May 24, 2018 appellant requested a prerecoupment hearing with OWCP’s Branch of 

Hearings and Review. The prerecoupment hearing was held on November 9, 2018.

By decision dated January 23, 2019, OWCP’s hearing representative finalized the

preliminary overpayment determination and found an overpayment of compensation had been 

created in the amount of $20,741.54 for the period January 1, 2011 through March 31, 2018 

because OWCP had failed to offset appellant’s compensation payments for the portion of 

appellant’s SSA age-related retirement benefits that were attributable to his federal service. She 

found that appellant was at fault in the creation of the overpayment and thus ineligible for 

consideration of waiver of recovery of the overpayment. Therefore appellant determined that

recovery of the overpayment would be made by deducting $100.00 from appellant’s continuing 

compensation payments every 28 days.

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

decision. A claimant cannot receive concurrent compensation for wage loss and SSA age-related 

retirement benefits attributable to federal service for the same period.3 On March 15, 2018 SSA 

completed a FERS/SSA Dual Benefit Calculation Form and reported that appellant had received

retirement benefits subject to SSA/FERS offset from February 2007 through the date of the 

response. OWCP requested clarification from SSA regarding apparent errors in the listed amounts 

from January 2007 to December 2010, as several of the figures appeared to incorrectly list SSA 

rates with FERS. SSA did not respond to the request for clarification. It thereafter determined 

that appellant’s SSA age-related retirement benefits were subject to SSA/FERS offset as of 

January 1, 2011, whereas SSA had reported appellant’s receipt of age-related retirement benefits 

as of February 2007.

The Board has held that, in overpayment cases, it is essential that OWCP provide the 

recipient of compensation with a clear statement showing how the overpayment was calculated.4 

With respect to the duration and amount of the overpayment, the Board finds that OWCP has not 

adequately explained how the period and amount of the overpayment was determined in light of 

the discrepancies in the evidence provided by SSA as to when appellant began to receive SSA agerelated retirement benefits and the SSA rate with FERS.5

Accordingly, the case will be remanded to OWCP for it to request clarification from SSA 

regarding the amount, of age-related retirement benefits appellant received based on his federal 

 

3 20 C.F.R. § 10.421(d); FECA Bulletin No. 97-09 (February 3, 1997); see also A.C., Docket No. 18-1550 (issued 

February 21, 2019); N.B., Docket No. 18-0795 (issued January 4, 2019).

4 See J.M., Docket No. 18-1505 (issued June 21, 2019); Teresa A. Ripley, 56 ECAB 528 (2005).

5 E.T., Docket No. 19-1046 (issued December 31, 2019). 
4

service.6 Upon receipt of that information, it shall then determine whether he received an 

overpayment of compensation, the period and amount of the overpayment, and whether he was 

with fault in its creation. Following this and any further development deemed necessary, OWCP 

shall issue a de novo decision.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the January 23, 2019 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: May 27, 2020

Washington, DC

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

 

6

Id.