United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

__________________________________________

G.C., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, NORFOLK 

NAVY SHIPYARD, Portsmouth, VA, Employer

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Docket No. 21-0679

Issued: January 13, 2022

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

DECISION AND ORDER

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On March 22, 2021 appellant filed a timely appeal from a February 24, 2021 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 entitlement to 

continuation of pay (COP).

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.

2 The Board notes that,following the February24, 2021 decision, OWCP received additional evidence. 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. 
2

FACTUAL HISTORY

On January 13, 2021 appellant, then a 35-year-old painter, filed a traumatic injury claim 

(Form CA-1) alleging that on October 23, 2019 he sustained an injury to his hip and groin area 

while in the performance of duty.3 He did not stop work.

In an October 29, 2019 incident report, appellant indicated that on October 23, 2019 he had 

to lift and carry a five-gallon paint container. He explained that he was not aware of the container’s 

weight and, although he lifted it properly, he injured his right hip and thigh area while he was 

walking. In a medical referral form of even date, appellant’s supervisor, referred him for medical 

attention, noting that he felt a pop and pain in his hip and groin area after moving a can of paint 

weighing approximately 50 pounds.

By decision dated February 24, 2021, OWCP accepted appellant’s traumatic injury claim 

for a strain of muscle, fascia and tendon of right hip. By separate decision of even date, it denied 

his claim for COP, finding that he had not reported his injury on an OWCP-approved form within 

30 days of the accepted October 23, 2019 employment injury. OWCP noted that the denial of

COP did not preclude appellant from filing a claim for disability due to the effects of the accepted 

employment injury.

LEGAL PRECEDENT

Section 8118(a) of FECA authorizes COP, not to exceed 45 days, to an employee who has 

filed a claim for a period of wage loss due to a traumatic injury with his or her immediate superior 

on a form approved by the Secretary of Labor within the time specified in section 8122(a)(2) of 

this title.4 This latter section provides that written notice of injury shall be given within 30 days. 5 

The context of section 8122 makes clear that this means within 30 days of the injury. 6

OWCP’s regulations provide, in pertinent part, that to be eligible for COP, an employee 

must: (1) have a traumatic injury which is job related and the cause of the disability and/or the 

cause of lost time due to the need for medical examination and treatment; (2) file Form CA-1 

within 30 days of the date of the injury; and (3) begin losing time from work due to the traumatic 

injury within 45 days of the injury.7

The employee must provide a written report on a Form CA-1 to the employing 

establishment within 30 days of the injury.8 OWCP’s procedures provide that another OWCP3 Appellant did not provide a description as to what caused his injury. 

4

Supra note 1 at § 8118(a).

5

Id. at § 8122(a)(2).

6 E.M., Docket No. 20-0837 (issued January 27, 2021); J.S., Docket No. 18-1086 (issued January 17, 2019); 

Robert M. Kimzey, 40 ECAB 762, 763-64 (1989); Myra Lenburg, 36 ECAB 487, 489 (1985).

7

20 C.F.R. § 10.205(a)(1-3); see also J.M., Docket No. 09-1563 (issued February 26, 2010).

8

Id. at § 10.210(a).
3

approved form, such as CA-2, CA-2a, or CA-7 forms, which contain words of claim, can be used 

to satisfy timely filing requirements.9

The Board has held that section 8122(d)(3) of FECA,10 which allows OWCP to excuse 

failure to comply with the time limitation provision for filing a claim for compensation because of 

exceptional circumstances, is not applicable to section 8118(a), which sets forth the filing 

requirements for continuation of pay. Thus, there is no provision in the law for excusing an 

employee’s failure to file a claim within 30 days of the employment injury.11

ANALYSIS

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

COP.

Appellant filed written notice of an October 23, 2019 traumatic injury on January 13, 2021. 

The Board notes that there is no provision in FECA for excusing a late filing regarding COP.12 As 

appellant’s traumatic injury claim was filed more than 30 days after his alleged October 23, 2019 

employment injury, as specified in sections 8118(a) and 8122(a)(2) of FECA, the Board finds that 

OWCP properly denied COP.

13

CONCLUSION

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

COP.

9 Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 --Claims,Continuation of Pay and Initial Payments, Chapter 2.807.5 

(June 2012).

10 5 U.S.C. § 8122(d)(3).

11 Dodge Osborne, 44 ECAB 849, 855 (1993).

12 T.A., Docket No.21-0441 (issued May 3, 2021).

13 20 C.F.R. § 10.210(a); J.S., Docket No. 18-1086 (issued January 17, 2019).
4

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the February 24, 2021 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: January 13, 2022

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board