United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

__________________________________________

M.F., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, 

LOMA LINDA VA MEDICAL CENTER, 

Loma Linda, CA, Employer

__________________________________________

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Docket No. 22-1373

Issued: December 20, 2022

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se,

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

DECISION AND ORDER

Before:

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On September 16, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from an August 29, 2022 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.

ISSUE

The issue is whether appellant has met her burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

continuation of pay (COP).

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

FACTUAL HISTORY

On August 25, 2022 appellant, then a 41-year-old nurse, filed a traumatic injury claim 

(Form CA-1) alleging that on July 25, 2022 she contracted COVID-19 while in the performance

of duty. She stopped work on July 25, 2022 and returned to work August 4, 2022.

Appellant submitted a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result, collected on July 25, 

2022, which indicated that she tested positive for COVID-19.

In a July 26, 2022 e-mail, the employing establishment acknowledged receiving 

appellant’s positive COVID-19 test result and advised her to remain offsite until August 4, 2022.

By decision dated August 29, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for COP, finding that 

she had not reported her injury on an OWCP-approved form within 30 days of her alleged July 25, 

2022 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.2 This latter section provides that written notice of injury shall be given within 30 days.3 

The context of section 8122 makes clear that this means within 30 days of the injury. 4

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.5

FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 at subsection II.2., however, provides that, “The FECA program 

considers COVID-19 to be a traumatic injury since it is contracted during a single workday or shift 

(see 20 C.F.R. § 10.5(ee)), and considers the date of last exposure prior to the medical evidence 

2

Id. at § 8118(a).

3

Id. at § 8122(a)(2).

4 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 762-64 (1989); Myra Lenburg, 36 ECAB 487, 489 (1985).

5

20 C.F.R. § 10.205(a)(1-3); see also T.S., Docket No. 19-1228 (issued December 9, 2019); J.M., Docket No. 

09-1563 (issued February 26, 2010); Dodge Osborne, 44 ECAB 849 (1993); WilliamE. Ostertag, 33 ECAB 

1925 (1982).
3

establishing the COVID-19 diagnosis as the Date of Injury since the precise time of transmission 

may not always be known due to the nature of the virus.”

6

ANALYSIS

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

COP.

The record reflects that appellant filed written notice of her traumatic injury on a Form 

CA-1 on August 25, 2022, alleging that on July 25, 2022 she contracted COVID-19 while in the 

performance of duty. Appellant stopped work on July 25, 2022 and returned to work on 

August 4, 2022. As previously noted, FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 defines date of injury as the date 

of last exposure, which in this case was July 25, 2022.

7

 The 30th day following July 25, 2022 was 

Wednesday, August 24, 2022. As appellant filed her Form CA-1 on August 25, 2022, more than 

30 days after the July 25, 2022 date of injury, the Board finds that she has not met her burden of 

proof.

Appellant may submit new evidence or argument with a written request for reconsideration 

to OWCP within one year of this merit decision, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 8128(a) and 20 C.F.R. 

§§ 10.605 through 10.607.

CONCLUSION

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

COP.

6 FECA Bulletin No. 21-09.II.2 (issued April29, 2021). On March 11, 2021 the American Rescue Plan Act of 

2021 (ARPA) was signed into law. Pub. L. No. 117-2. OWCP issued FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 to provide guidance 

regarding the processing of COVID-19 FECA claims as set forth in the ARPA. Previously, COVID-19 claims under 

FECA were processed under the guidelines provided by FECA Bulletin No. 20-05 (issued March 31, 2020) and FECA 

Bulletin No. 21-01 (issued October 21, 2020). FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 supersedes FECA Bulletin Nos. 20-05 and 

21-01.

7

Id.
4

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the August 29, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: December 20, 2022

Washington, DC

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board