United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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E.S., Appellant

(Widow of P.K.S.)

and

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, NORTH 

ISLAND NAVAL BASE, Coronado, CA, 

Employer

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Docket No. 21-1400

Issued: March 14, 2022

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Steven E. Brown, Esq., for the appellant1

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Alternate Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

On September 23, 2021 appellant, through counsel, filed an appeal from a purported 

decision of the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) dated August 24, 2019. The 

Clerk of the Appellate Boards assigned the appeal Docket No. 21-1400.

The Board has duly considered the matter and concludes that the Board has jurisdiction to 

review final adverse decisions of OWCP issued under the Federal Employees’Compensation Act.2 

This jurisdiction encompasses any final adverse decision issued by OWCP within 180 days of the 

date appellant filed her appeal.3 The case record as transmitted to the Board does not contain a 

final adverse decision of OWCP issued within 180 days from the date of docketing of the current 

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

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.; 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3(a). 

3

20 C.F.R. § 501.3(e) provides in pertinent part: “Any notice of appeal must be filed within 180 days from the 

date of issuance of a decision of the OWCP.”
2

appeal.4 As there is no final adverse decision issued by OWCP over which the Board may properly 

exercise jurisdiction, the Board concludes that the appeal docketed as No. 21-1400 must be 

dismissed.5 Accordingly,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the appeal docketed as Docket No. 21-1400 is 

dismissed.

Issued: March 14, 2022

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

4

Id. The most recent decision of record was issued by this Board on August 24, 2021, under Docket No. 20-0215. 

See Docket No. 20-0215 (issued August 24, 2021). Appellant, through counsel, filed a timely petition for 

reconsideration from that Board decision. An order on appellant’s petition for reconsideration will be issued under a 

separate order.

5 The Board’s decisions and orders are “final upon the expiration of 30 days from the date of their issuance.” 20 

C.F.R. § 501.6(d).