United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

__________________________________________

V.G., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS,

NORTHPORT VA MEDICAL CENTER,

Northport, NY, Employer

__________________________________________

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Docket No. 22-0577

Issued: August 22, 2022

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Paul Kalker, Esq., for the appellant1

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE 

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On February 28, 2022 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from a January 12,

2022 merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) in relation to

OWCP File No. xxxxxx666. The Clerk of the Appellate Boards docketed the appeal as No.

22-0577.

On April 9, 2021 appellant, then a 56-year-old pipe fitter, filed a notice of recurrence (Form 

CA-2a) claiming disability due to a material change/worsening of his accepted May 24, 2018 

lumbar injury,

2 under OWCP File No. xxxxxx542. He related that his current symptoms were 

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 The record reflects that appellant has an accepted May24, 2018 traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) for lower 

back and right hip strains under OWCP File No. xxxxxx542.
2

caused by his previously accepted 2018 lumbar injury and that his condition worsened following 

his return to work, as there was no intervening cause or new injury. 

In a report dated April 14, 2021, Dr. Arjang Abbasi, an osteopath and Board-certified 

physiatrist, noted a date of injury of May 24, 2018 for appellant’s original lumbar condition. He

related that appellant had been experiencing constant lower back pain, which radiated to the 

posterior aspect of the right foot and worsened when sitting and standing for prolonged periods of 

time. Dr. Abbasi diagnosed displacement of lumbar intervertebral disc without myelopathy, 

lumbar foraminal stenosis, and lumbar radiculopathy.

OWCP subsequently received a narrative statement dated May 11, 2021, wherein appellant 

explained that his symptoms reoccurredas a result of his May 2018 injury and that these symptoms 

worsened after his return to work. Appellant also noted that he was assigned modified duties 

including scanning medical records and typing work orders. 

In a medical report dated May 17, 2021,Dr. Brett Ross Silverman, an osteopath andBoardcertified physiatrist, examined appellant for continued lower back pain relating to his May 24, 

2018 lumbar injury. He noted that appellant was assigned light-duty activities including desk 

work, scheduling, and calling patients. Dr. Silverman related that his symptoms worsened when 

he returned to work following his initial injury and as a result of twisting side to side and sitting 

for long periods of time.

On August 6, 2021 OWCP converted appellant’s recurrence claim to a new occupational 

disease claim (Form CA-2) and assigned OWCP File No. xxxxxx666.

By decision dated January 12, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s occupational disease claim, 

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

condition causally related to the accepted factors of his federal employment. It concluded, 

therefore, that the requirements had not been met to establish an injury as defined by FECA.

The Board, having duly considered this matter, finds that this case is not in posture for 

decision.

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

adjudication depends on frequent cross-referencing between 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 

Appellant has a previously accepted traumatic injury claim for a lumbar condition under

OWCP File No. xxxxxx542. He subsequently filed a recurrence claim, which OWCP converted 

to a new occupational disease claim for a claimed injury to the same body part, and assigned 

OWCP File No. xxxxxx666. As both claims involve injuries to appellant’s lumbar region, for a 

full and fair adjudication, the Board will remand the case to OWCP to administratively combine 

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 L.B., Docket No. 21-0241 (issued October 28, 2021).
3

OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx666 and xxxxxx542.

5

 This will allow OWCP to consider all relevant 

claim files and accompanying evidence in developing the present claim. Following this and other 

such further development as deemed necessary, OWCP shall issue a de novo decision.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the January 12, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is set aside and the case is remanded for further proceedings 

consistent with this order of the Board.

Issued: August 22, 2022

Washington, D.C.

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

5 E.J., Docket No. 21-1044 (issued March 16, 2022); T.T., Docket No. 21-0049 (issued May 3, 2021); S.D., Docket 

No. 19-0590 (issued August 28, 2020).