United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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B.C., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, BUREAU OF 

PRISONS, FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL 

COMPLEX, Yazoo City, MS, Employer

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Docket No. 20-1231

Issued: January 28, 2021

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Alan J. Shapiro, Esq., for the appellant1

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS

Before:

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Alternate Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On June 1, 2020 appellant, through counsel, filed an appeal from a purported April 23, 

2020 decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the 

Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 20-1231.

In a motion to dismiss dated June 16, 2010, the Director of OWCP requested that the Board 

dismiss appellant’s appeal from the purported April 23, 2020 decision. He noted that the record 

contained an April 23, 2020 letter in which OWCP explained that appellant’s claim for a schedule 

award had been denied by decision dated June 26, 2018, that appellant should exercise his appeal 

rights attached to that decision, and that any new evidence would be reviewed during the appeal 

process. The Director acknowledged that the April 23, 2020 letter was purely informational in 

nature and, thus, did not constitute a final adverse OWCP decision from which appellant may 

 

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

properly appeal.2 Additionally, the Director noted that the Board does not have jurisdiction with 

respect to any interlocutory matters decided or not decided.3 For the foregoing reasons, the 

Director requested that the Board grant the motion to dismiss.

4

On June 16, 2020 the Clerk of the Appellate Boards served appellant with a copy of the 

Director’s motion to dismiss. No response was received. 

The Board has duly considered the matter and concludes that, for all of the reasons 

espoused by the Director said motion should be granted. Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the appeal docketed as No. 20-1231 is dismissed.

Issued: January 28, 2021

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

 

2 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3(a); see also L.S., Docket No. 06-1199 (issued December 29, 2006).

3

Id. at § 501.2(c); Jennifer A. Guillary, 57 ECAB 485 (2005).

4 Upon return of the case record, the Director stated that OWCP will develop the medical evidence and issue a de 

novo decision on appellant’s schedule award claim.