United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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P.K., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, PORTLAND 

PROCESSING AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER, 

Portland, OR, Employer

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Docket No. 21-0808

Issued: January 26, 2023

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

ORDER REMANDING CASE

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

On May 3, 2021 appellant filed a timely appeal from a March 25, 2021 merit decision of 

the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). The Clerk of the Appellate Boards 

docketed the appeal as No. 21-0808.

1

On February 12, 2021 appellant, then a 51-year-old production machinery mechanic, filed 

a traumatic injury claim alleging that on January 25, 2021 he injured the right side of his mid-back 

while in the performance of duty. He explained that he stopped to allow another mail handler 

move mail and when he resumed pedaling, the pedal came off and he developed back pain 

1 The Board notes that, following the March 25, 2021decision, appellant submitted 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

thereafter. Appellant related that the pain eventually worsened with walking.2 He stopped work 

on February 4, 2021 and returned to work on February 10, 2021.

In a February 18, 2021 development letter, OWCP advised appellant of the deficiencies of 

his claim. It informed him of the type of evidence needed to establish his claim and provided a 

questionnaire for his completion. In the questionnaire, OWCP referenced the previous 

employment injury under OWCP File No. xxxxxx263, noting that the injury in that claim involved 

a similar history of injury as that in the present claim. It afforded appellant 30 days to respond. 

In a February 10, 2021 medical report, Dr. Amy Kerfoot, Board-certified in occupational 

medicine, reiterated her prior diagnoses of back pain and complex regional pain syndrome, left leg

and noted that appellant had been treated over the past two years by other doctors for his back

pain. She described appellant’s claimed January 25, 2021 employment injury as an exacerbation 

of his left leg and low back pain related to his previous work injury, which had been aggravated 

by excessive walking at work.

In a February 18, 2021 response to OWCP’s development questionnaire of even date, 

appellant claimed that the claimed January 25, 2021 employment incident aggravated his previous 

condition due to the excessive walking he engaged in during his shift, after he was no longer able 

to use the tricycle due to a broken pedal. 

By decision dated March 25, 2021, OWCP denied appellant’s traumatic injury claim, 

finding that he had not established a diagnosed medical condition in connection with the accepted 

January 25, 2021 employment incident. It concluded, therefore, that the requirements had not been 

met to establish an injury as defined under FECA. 

The Board has duly considered the matter and concludes 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.3 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. 4 Herein, appellant’s present claim 

2 The record reflects that appellant has previously filed multiple claims alleging injuries to his back. Appellant has 

a previously accepted traumatic injury claim under OWCP File. No. xxxxxx263 for lumbosacral ligament strain 

following an August 6, 2020 employment injury where he almost fell after his foot slipped off the pedal of a tricycle 

he was attempting to mount while in the performance of duty. He also filed a Form CA-1 following a January 24, 

2019 employment incident where he alleged he injured his back lifting a vacuum over a railing under OWCP File No. 

xxxxxx830. Appellantsubsequently filed a separate Form CA-1 under OWCP File No. xxxxxx253 alleging that he 

injured his back when his foot slipped off the pedal of the tricycle he was riding while in the performance of duty on 

March 25, 2020and a September 17, 2020 occupational disease claim (Form CA-2) under OWCP File No. xxxxxx463 

alleging that he developed back pain from repetitive bending to work on machines, resulting in a reinjury. 

3 Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, Part 2 -- Claims, File Maintenance and Management, Chapter 2.400.8c 

(February2000).

4

Id.; M.L., Docket No. 20-1176 (issued April29, 2021);L.M., Docket No. 19-1490 (issued January 29, 2020); L.H., 

Docket No 18-1777 (issued July 2, 2019).
3

under OWCP File No. xxxxxx880 and prior claims under File Nos. xxxxxx263, xxxxxx830, 

xxxxxx253 and xxxxxx463 involve injuries to the back. 

Accordingly, the Board will remand the case to OWCP to administratively combine the 

current case record, OWCP File No. xxxxxx880, with OWCP File Nos. xxxxxx263, xxxxxx830, 

xxxxxx253, and xxxxxx463, so it can consider all relevant claim files and accompanying evidence 

in adjudicating this claim.5 Following this and other such further development as OWCP deems 

necessary, it shall issue a de novo decision.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the March 25, 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: January 26, 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

5

Id. at Chapter 2.400.8(c)(1); W.D., Docket No. 19-0961 (issued March 31, 2021); L.P., Docket Nos. 18-1558, 

18-1568 (issued June 21, 2019); L.S., Docket Nos. 17-1863, 17-1867, 17-1868 (issued April18, 2018); W.S., Docket 

No. 15-0969 (issued October 5, 2015); C.C., Docket No. 14-1576 (issued March 9, 2015).