United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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L.R., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, MCLEAN MAIN 

POST OFFICE, McLean, VA, Employer

__________________________________________

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Docket No. 20-1447

Issued: April 7, 2021

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Alan J. Shapiro, Esq., for the appellant1

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On December 10, 2019 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from a 

November 8, 2019 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). 

By the November 8, 2019 decision, an OWCP hearing representative affirmed a June 13, 2019 

decision, which finalized the termination of appellant’s wage-loss compensation and medical 

benefits, effective June 13, 2019, because the medical evidence of record had established that 

appellant no longer had residuals or disability causally related to her accepted October 7, 2015 

employment injury of left ankle sprain. The hearing representative also determined that the 

medical evidence of record was insufficient to establish that the acceptance of appellant’s claim 

should be expanded to include the additional conditions of Achilles tendinitis and complex 

regional pain syndrome (CRPS)/reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) of the left foot. The Clerk 

of the Appellate Boards docketed the appeal as No. 20-0393.

 

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

During the pendency of the appeal in Docket No. 20-0393, OWCP also issued a January 9, 

2020 decision, which denied appellant’s claim for an increased schedule award, finding that she 

had not met her burden of proof to establish more than two percent permanent impairment of her 

left lower extremity, for which she previously received a schedule award.2 By decision dated 

June 18, 2020, an OWCP hearing representative affirmed the January 9, 2020 decision.3 On 

July 28, 2020 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from the January 9, 2020 merit 

decision, to which the Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned Docket No. 20-1447.

The Board’s Rules of Procedure, at section 501.2(c)(3), provides:

“The Board and OWCP may not exercise simultaneous jurisdiction over the same 

issue in a case on appeal. Following the docketing of an appeal before the Board, 

OWCP does not retain jurisdiction to render a further decision regarding the issue 

on appeal until after the Board relinquishes jurisdiction.”

4

The Board, having duly considered the matter, notes that OWCP was properly developing 

the issue of whether appellant sustained additional conditions causally related to the accepted 

October 7, 2015 employment injury, prior to the issuance of its January 9 and June 18, 2020 

decisions.5 However, once appellant filed the Board appeal on December 10, 2019 in response to 

OWCP’s November 8, 2019 decision, which terminated appellant’s wage-loss compensation and 

medical benefits and denied expansion of the acceptance of appellant’s claim to include additional 

conditions, OWCP had no jurisdiction to issue its January 9 and June 18, 2020 decisions as the 

expansion issue was related to whether appellant was entitled to an increased schedule award.6 

Consequently, the January 9 and June 18, 2020 decisions are null and void.7

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 8149 and 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3(a), the Board’s 

jurisdiction is limited to review of final adverse decisions of OWCP issued under the Federal 

 

2 A decision under Docket No. 20-0393 will be issued separately.

3 A telephonic hearing was held on May 5, 2020. Appellant’s attorney argued that once OWCP expanded 

appellant’s case to include additional conditions, appellant would be entitled to an increased schedule award. 

Appellant subsequently submitted medical evidence in support of her request to expand the acceptance of her claim.

4 20 C.F.R. § 501.2(c)(3). See also M.S., Docket Nos. 19-1090 & 20-0408 (issued April 20, 2020); J.W., Docket 

No. 19-1688 (issued March 18, 2020); George Simpson, Docket No. 93-0452 (issued February 18, 1994); Arlonia B. 

Taylor, 44 ECAB 591 (1993) (Member, Groom concurring in part and dissenting in part); Douglas E. Billings, 41 

ECAB 880 (1990).

5 M.S., and Douglas E. Billings, supra note 4. 

6 See L.W., Docket No. 19-0722 (issued November 20, 2019) (the Board remanded the case for further development 

of the medical evidence regarding whether the acceptance of a claim should be expanded to include a consequential 

injury. The Board further determined that it was premature to address the second issue of whether the claimant was 

entitled to an increased schedule award of the left lower extremity until the issue of additional conditions was 

resolved).

7 The Board has held that decisions that change the status of a decision on appeal are null and void. Id. See Order 

Dismissing Appeal, T.T., Docket No. 20-0864 (issued December 17, 2020); see also G.W., Docket No. 19-0260 (issued 

July 10, 2020); Cathy B. Millin, 51 ECAB 331 (2000).
3

Employees’ Compensation Act. As the January 9 and June 18, 2020 decisions are null and void, 

the appeal assigned Docket No. 20-1447 does not contain a final adverse decision over which the 

Board may properly take jurisdiction. Therefore, the Board finds that the appeal docketed as No. 

20-1447 is dismissed. Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the appeal docketed as No. 20-1447 is dismissed.

Issued: April 7, 2021

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board