United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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D.M., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, MARINE 

CORPS BASE, Quantico, VA, Employer

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Docket No. 19-1929

Issued: August 3, 2020

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Alan J. Shapiro, Esq., for the appellant1

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

CHRISTOPHER J. GODFREY, Deputy Chief Judge

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

On September 17, 2019 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from a June 3, 

2019 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP).2 The Clerk of 

the Appellate Boards docketed the appeal as No. 19-1929. 

On October 5, 2015 appellant, then a 61-year-old supervisory audiovisual specialist, filed 

a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on September 4, 2015 he sustained lumbar 

back pain, muscle strain, hypertension, and a contusion after he fell on office steps and slipped 

 

1

In all cases in which a representative has been authorized in a matter before the Board, no claim for a fee for legal 

or other service performed on appeal before the Board is valid unless approved by the Board. 20 C.F.R. § 501.9(e). 

No contract for a stipulated fee or on a contingent fee basis will be approved by the Board. Id. An attorney or 

representative’s collection of a fee without the Board’s approval may constitute a misdemeanor, subject to fine or 

imprisonment for up to one year or both. Id.; see also 18 U.S.C. § 292. Demands for payment of fees to a 

representative, prior to approval by the Board, may be reported to appropriate authorities for investigation.

2 OWCP continued to receive evidence following its June 3, 2019 decision. 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

onto his back while in the performance of duty. He did not stop work. OWCP assigned this claim 

OWCP File No. xxxxx897. 

On January 18, 2019 appellant filed a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on 

January 15, 2019 he hit his head and injured his back when he slipped on ice walking from a road 

to a walkway while in the performance of duty. He stopped work on January 15, 2019. OWCP 

assigned this claim OWCP File No. xxxxxx142.

Appellant submitted medical evidence in support of his claim regarding injury on 

January 15, 2019.

By decision dated March 19, 2019, OWCP denied appellant’s January 2019 traumatic 

injury claim finding that the medical evidence of record was insufficient to establish a medical 

condition causally related to the accepted January 15, 2019 employment incident. 

On March 26, 2019 appellant requested a review of the written record by an OWCP hearing 

representative. OWCP continued to receive medical evidence.

By decision dated June 3, 2019, OWCP’s hearing representative affirmed OWCP’s 

March 19, 2019 decision finding that the medical evidence of record was insufficient to establish 

causal relationship between appellant’s diagnosed lumbar conditions and the accepted January 15, 

2019 employment incident. The hearing representative noted that OWCP File No. xxxxxx897, 

appellant’s prior 2015 claim for a back injury, should be combined with the instant claim, as some 

of the medical reports of record in the current claim referenced his 2015 injury. 

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

decision. 

OWCP’s procedures provide that cases should be administratively combined when correct 

adjudication of the issues depends on frequent cross-referencing between case files.3 For example, 

if a new injury case is reported for an employee who previously filed an injury claim for a similar 

condition or the same part of the body, doubling is required.4

In the June 3, 2019 decision, OWCP’s hearing representative indicated that it would be 

appropriate for the cases to be doubled as medical reports in the current claim referenced medical 

evidence pertaining to the 2015 claim. 

For a full and fair adjudication, the case must be returned to OWCP to administratively 

combine the current case record with OWCP File No. xxxxxx897. Following this and such other 

further development as it deems necessary, OWCP shall issue a de novo decision. Accordingly,

 

3 R.R., Docket No. 19-0368 (issued November 26, 2019); Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, File

Maintenance & Management, Chapter 2.400.8c (February 2000).

4

Id.
3

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the June 3, 2019 decision of the Office of Workers’

Compensation Programs is set aside and the case is remanded for further action consistent with 

this order of the Board.

Issued: August 3, 2020

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Christopher J. Godfrey, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board