United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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M.C., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, 

PITTSBURGH VA MEDICAL CENTER --

UNIVERSITY DRIVE, Pittsburgh, PA, Employer

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Docket No. 22-0785

Issued: March 9, 2023

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

DECISION AND ORDER

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On April 22, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from a January 26, 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).

FACTUAL HISTORY

On January 19, 2022 appellant, then a 39-year-old nurse, filed a traumatic injury claim 

(Form CA-1) alleging that on December 2, 2021 she contracted COVID-19 due to exposure from 

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

patients in the operating room while in the performance of duty. She stopped work on that date 

and returned on December 13, 2021. 

Appellant submitted a laboratory test result, collected on December 2, 2021, which 

revealed that she tested positive for COVID-19.

By decision dated January 26, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s claim f or COP, f inding 

that she had not reported the December 2, 2021 injury on an OWCP-approved form within 30 

days of the date of injury. It further noted that the decision affected only her entitlement to COP 

and did not affect her entitlement to other benefits. OWCP notified appellant that she could 

claim compensation for wage loss resulting from the decision by filing a claim for compensation 

(Form CA-7).

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 CFR 10.5(ee)), and considers the date of last exposure prior to the 

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. Kimley, 40 ECAB 762, 763-64 (1989); Myra Lenburg, 36 ECAB 487, 489 (1985). The Board notes that 

FECA Bulletin No. 20-05, Federal Employees Contracting COVID-19 in Performance of Duty (March 31, 2020), 

also provides that “If the employer supports the claim and that the exposure occurred, and the CA-1 is f iled within 

30 days, the employee is eligible to receive Continuation of Pay for up to 45 days.” 

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).
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medical evidence 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 

continuation of pay.

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

CA-1 on January 19, 2022, alleging that on December 2, 2021 she was exposed to COVID-19 

while in the performance of duty. She stopped work on December 2, 2021. As previously noted, 

FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 defines date of injury as the date of last exposure, which in this case 

was December 2, 2021.7 As appellant filed her Form CA-1 on January 19, 2022, more than 30 

days after the December 2, 2021 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 Pla n 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, COVI D-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.

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Id.
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ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the January 26, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: March 9, 2023

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board