United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

__________________________________________

S.R., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, INGLEWOOD 

CARRIER ANNEX, Inglewood, CA, Employer

__________________________________________

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Docket No. 23-0808

Issued: November 30, 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

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On May 17, 2023 appellant filed a timely appeal from a December 14, 2022 merit decision 

of the Office of Workers’Compensation Programs (OWCP).1 Pursuant to the Federal Employees’

Compensation Act2(FECA) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3, the Board has jurisdiction to 

consider the merits of this case.

ISSUE

The issue is whether appellant has greater than five percent permanent impairment of her 

right lower extremity for which she previously received a schedule award.

1 The Board notes that following the December 14, 2022 decision, OWCP received additional evidence. However, 

the Board’s Rules of Procedure provides: “The Board’s review of a case is limited to the evidence in the case record 

that was before OWCP at the time of its final decision. Evidence not before OWCP will not be considered by the 

Board for the first time on appeal.” 20 C.F.R. § 501.2(c)(1). Thus, the Board is precluded from reviewing this 

additional evidence for the first time on appeal. Id.

2

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

FACTUAL HISTORY

On August 25, 2020 appellant, then a 34-year-old city carrier, filed an occupational disease 

claim (Form CA-2) alleging that she developed right foot and heel pain due to factors of her federal 

employment, including repetitive walking, ascending and descending stairs and hills, and 

mounting and dismounting her vehicle. She indicated that she first became aware of her condition 

and its relationship to her federal employment on December 4, 2019. Appellant stopped work on 

December 4, 2019, and returned to light-duty work on December 6, 2019. OWCP accepted the 

claim for plantar fascial fibromatosis and posterior tibial tendinitis, right leg. It paid wage-loss 

compensation from March 5 through June 13, 2022 when suitable light-duty work was 

unavailable.

Appellant submitted a May 20, 2022 report from Dr. Charles Xeller, a Board-certified 

orthopedic surgeon, who reported examination findings and indicated that he was providing 

permanent impairment ratings under the standards of the sixth edition of the American Medical 

Association, Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (A.M.A., Guides)

3 as she had 

reached maximum medical improvement. Dr. Xeller listed three bilateral ankle range of motion 

(ROM) measurements including right plantar flexion of 15, 20, and 20 degrees averaging 18

degrees, right dorsiflexion of 9, 11, and 10 degrees, averaging 10 degrees, a mild impairment in 

accordance with Table 16-22, page 549, right foot inversion of 11, 10, 11, averaging 10 degrees,

a mild impairment in accordance with Table 16-20, page 549, and right foot eversion of 8, 6, and 

6, averaging 6 degrees, also a mild impairment in accordance with Table 16-20, page 549, of the 

A.M.A., Guides. He applied the diagnosis-based impairment (DBI) rating method and found using

Table 16-2, (Foot and Ankle Regional Grid), page 501, that right posterior tibial tendinitis had a 

default value of one. Dr. Xeller reported palpatory findings and x-rays studies, but no motion 

deficits resulting in grade modifier for clinical studies (GMCS) of 1, Table 16-8, page 518, grade 

modifier for physical examination (GMPE) of 1, Table 16-7, page 517, and grade modifier for 

functional history (GMFH) of 1, Table 16-6, page 516. Application of the net adjustment formula, 

page 521, A.M.A., Guides, resulted in one percent permanent impairment of the right lower 

extremity. Dr. Xeller further diagnosed plantar fasciitis with a heel spur, found that this was a 

Class 1 DBI impairment, with a default value of 1. He concluded that appellant had two percent 

permanent impairment of the right lower extremity.

On July 14, 2022 appellant filed a claim for a schedule award (Form CA-7).

On August 16, 2022 OWCP referred appellant’s case to Dr. Arthur S. Harris, a Boardcertified orthopedic surgeon serving as an OWCP district medical adviser (DMA). In an

August 23, 2022 report, Dr. Harris reviewed Dr. Xeller’s May 20, 2022 report and diagnosed 

posterior tibial tendinitis with mild right ankle/hindfoot motion deficits resulting in a default value 

of five percent permanent impairment of the right lower extremity in accordance with Table 16-2, 

page 501.

3 A.M.A., Guides (6th ed. 2009).
3

By decision dated December 14, 2022, OWCP granted appellant a schedule award for five 

percent permanent impairment of her right lower extremity (right leg). The period of the award 

was for 14.4 weeks and ran from June 14 through September 22, 2022.

LEGAL PRECEDENT

The schedule award provisions of FECA,4 and its implementing federal regulations,5 set 

forth the number of weeks of compensation payable to employees sustaining permanent 

impairment from loss, or loss of use, of scheduled members or functions of the body. FECA, 

however, does not specify the manner in which the percentage loss of a member shall be 

determined. The method used in making such a determination is a matter which rests in the 

discretion of OWCP. For consistent results and to ensure equal justice, the Board has authorized 

the use of a single set of tables so that there may be uniform standards applicable to all claimants. 

OWCP evaluates the degree of permanent impairment according to the standards set forth in the 

specified edition of the A.M.A., Guides, published in 2009.6 The Board has approved the use by 

OWCP of the A.M.A., Guides for the purpose of determining the percentage loss of use of a 

member of the body for schedule award purposes.7

The sixth edition of the A.M.A., Guides provides a diagnosis-based method of evaluation 

utilizing the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning Disability 

and Health (ICF): A Contemporary Model of Disablement.

8

 Under the sixth edition, the evaluator 

identifies the impairment class of diagnosis (CDX), which is then adjusted by a GMFH, a GMPE, 

and GMCS.9 The net adjustment formula is (GMFH - CDX) + (GMPE - CDX) + (GMCS -

CDX).10 Evaluators are directed to provide reasons for their impairment choices, including the 

choices of diagnoses from regional grids and calculations of modifier scores. 11

4

Supra note 2.

5

20 C.F.R. § 10.404.

6 For decisions issued after May 1, 2009 the sixth edition of the A.M.A., Guidesis used. A.M.A., Guides(6th ed. 

2009); Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, Schedule Awards and Permanent Disability Claims, 

Chapter 2.808.5a (March 2017); see also id. at Part 3 -- Medical, Schedule Awards, Chapter 3.700, Exhibit 1 

(January 2010).

7 P.R., Docket No. 19-0022 (issued April 9, 2018); Isidoro Rivera, 12 ECAB 348 (1961).

8 A.M.A., Guides (6th ed. 2009), p.3, section 1.3.

9

Id. at 494-531.

10 Id. at 411.

11 R.R., Docket No. 17-1947 (issued December 19, 2018); R.V., Docket No. 10-1827 (issued April 1, 2011).
4

OWCP’s procedures provide that, after obtaining all necessary medical evidence, the file 

should be routed to a DMA for an opinion concerning the percentage of permanent impairment 

using the A.M.A., Guides.

12

ANALYSIS

The Board finds that appellant has not met her burden of proof to establish greater than 

five percent permanent impairment of her right lower extremity, for which she previously received 

a schedule award.

Appellant provided a May 20, 2022 report from Dr. Xeller finding that she had two percent 

permanent impairment of her right lower extremity due to tendinitis of the right posterior tibial 

tendon and plantar fasciitis with a heel spur. In an August 23, 2022 report, Dr. Harris, a DMA, 

reviewed Dr. Xeller’s May 20, 2022 report and diagnosed posterior tibial tendinitis with mild right 

ankle/hindfoot motion deficits and assessed a default value of five percent permanent impairment 

of the right lower extremity in accordance with Table 16-2, page 501 of the A.M.A., Guides. 

OWCP granted appellant a schedule award for five percent permanent impairment of the right 

lower extremity (right leg).

The Board finds that the DMA properly applied the standards of the A.M.A., Guides to the 

physical examination findings and report of Dr. Xeller to find that appellant had five percent 

permanent impairment of the right lower extremity. The DMA accurately summarized the relevant 

medical evidence, including findings on examination, and reached conclusions regarding 

appellant’s condition that comported with those findings. Thus, appellant has not established 

greater than five percent permanent impairment of her right lower extremity for which she 

previously received a schedule award.

Appellant may request a schedule award or an increased schedule award at any time based 

on evidence of a new exposure or medical evidence showing progression of an employment-related 

condition resulting in permanent impairment or increased permanent impairment.

CONCLUSION

The Board finds that appellant has not met her burden of proof to establish greater than 

five percent permanent impairment of her right lower extremity, for which she previously received 

a schedule award.

12 Supra note 6 at Chapter 2.808.6f (March 2017); B.B., Docket No. 18-0782 (issued January 11, 2019).
5

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the December 14, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: November 30, 2023

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board