United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

W.L., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, MID ISLAND 

PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION 

CENTER, Melville, NY, Employer

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Docket No. 22-0871

Issued: January 12, 2023

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

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On May 18, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from January 5, 2022 merit decision and 

a May 9, 2022 nonmerit 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. 

FACTUAL HISTORY

On December 6, 2021 appellant, then a 58-year-old supervisor of distribution operations, 

filed a traumatic injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on August 14, 2021 she started to feel the 

onset of COVID-19 symptoms following interactions with coworkers. She stopped work that day. 

Appellant further noted that on September 15, 2021 she was hospitalized with chest pains due to 

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

pericarditis secondary to the COVID-19 virus. She returned to work on October 21, 2021. 

Appellant submitted medical evidence with her claim. 

OWCP received a September 10, 2021 COVID-19 antigen test result which indicated that 

appellant had tested positive for COVID-19. 

By decision dated January 5, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for continuation of 

pay (COP), finding that she did not report the injury on a form approved by OWCP within 30 days 

following the injury. It noted that the denial of COP did not preclude her from claiming wage loss 

due to the alleged August 14, 2021 employment incident. 

On January 31, 2022 appellant requested an oral hearing before a representative of 

OWCP’s Branch of Hearings and Review. 

In a March 14, 2022 letter, OWCP’s hearing representative notified appellant of a 

telephonic hearing scheduled for April 28, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The notice 

included a toll-free number to call and provided the appropriate passcode. The hearing 

representative mailed the notice to appellant’s last known address of record as provided on

December 6, 2021. Appellant did not appear for the hearing and no request for postponement was 

made.

By decision dated April 6, 2022, OWCP accepted appellant’s traumatic injury claim for 

COVID-19. 

By decision dated May 9, 2022, OWCP determined that appellant had abandoned her 

request for an oral hearing. It further found that there was no indication in the case record that she 

had contacted the Branch of Hearings and Review either prior to or subsequent to the scheduled 

hearing to explain her failure to appear.

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 a Form CA-1 

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).
3

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 

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.”

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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 December 6, 2021, alleging that on August 14, 2021 she started to feel the onset of 

COVID-19 symptoms following interactions with coworkers. She stopped work that day. As 

previously noted, FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 defines date of injury as the date of last exposure, 

which in this case was August 14, 2021.

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 As appellant filed her Form CA-1 on December 6, 2021

more than 30 days after the August 14, 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. 

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).

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.
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ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the January 5, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed. 

Issued: January 12, 2023

Washington, DC

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board