United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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P.D., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Charlotte, NC, Employer

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Docket No. 21-1036

Issued: May 12, 2022

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Aaron B. Aumiller, 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

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

On June 29, 2021 appellant, through counsel, filed a timely appeal from an April 1, 2021

merit decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the

Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 21-1036.

On May 3, 2019 appellant, then a 54-year-old mail handler,filed an occupational disease 

claim (Form CA-2) alleging that she sustained a bilateral knee condition and subsequently 

developed left knee osteoarthritis due to the factors of her federal employment.

2

 She indicated that

she first became aware of her condition on January 6, 2019 and its relation to her federal 

employment on April 6, 2019. Appellant stopped work on April 6, 2019. In a separate statement

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 OWCP assigned the present claim OWCP File No. xxxxxx506. OWCP previously accepted a December 29, 2014

traumatic injury claim for a right knee sprain and tear of right knee medial meniscus under OWCP File No. xxxxxx849. 

It subsequently denied a November 8, 2018 occupational disease claim for an aggravation of the previously accepted 

right knee condition under OWCP File No. xxxxxx461.
2

of even date, she explained that after receiving medical care on April 17, 2019 she subsequently 

returned to work on April 21, 2019, but experienced increased pain in her knees during her shift,

causing her to stop work and seek further medical treatment. 

By decision dated July 17, 2019, OWCP denied appellant’s occupational disease claim 

finding that the medical evidence of record was insufficient to establish that her knee osteoarthritis

was causally related to the accepted factors of her federal employment. It found, therefore, that 

she had not met the requirements to establish an injury as defined by FECA. 

On July 23, 2019 appellant, through counsel, timely requested a telephonic hearing before 

a representative of OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review. The hearing was held on

November 15, 2019. Counsel clarified that he was pursuing the present claim for bilateral knee 

osteoarthritis, which he argued was caused or aggravated by her previously accepted right knee 

conditions under OWCP File No. xxxxxx849. Accordingly, counsel requested that the present 

claim be administratively combined with the previous claim as adjudication would require frequent 

cross referencing of both claims.

By decision dated January 29, 2020, OWCP’s hearing representative affirmed the July 17,

2019 decision, finding that the November 4, 2019 medical report was insufficient to establish a 

causal relationship between appellant’s knee osteoarthritis and the factors of her federal 

employment.

On January 28, 2021 appellant, through counsel, requested reconsideration and submitted 

additional evidence in support of her request. 

By decision dated April 1, 2021, OWCP denied modification of its January 29, 2020 

decision. 

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 of the issues depends on frequent cross-referencing between files. 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. Herein, appellant’s claim under 

OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx849 and xxxxxx461 also involved injuries to the knees. Therefore, for 

full and fair adjudication, the case must be returned to OWCP to administratively combine the 

current case record under OWCP File No. xxxxxx506 with OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx849 and 

xxxxxx461,so it can consider all relevant claim files and accompanying evidence in adjudicating 

appellant’s current traumatic injury claim. 

Following this and other such further development as OWCP deems necessary, it shall 

issue a de novo decision. 
3

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the April 1, 2021 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: May 12, 2022

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board