United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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T.W., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, 

Philadelphia, PA, Employer

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Docket No. 22-0947

Issued: October 26, 2022

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

DECISION AND ORDER

Before:

ALEC J. KOROMILAS, Chief Judge

PATRICIA H. FITZGERALD, Deputy Chief Judge

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On June 7, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from a February 7, 2022 merit decision of 

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

Compensation Act 1(FECA) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3, the Board has jurisdiction over 

the merits of this case.

ISSUE

The issue is whether appellant has met his burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

continuation of pay (COP). 

FACTUAL HISTORY

On January 26, 2022 appellant, then a 36-year-old air traffic controller, filed a traumatic 

injury claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on December 15, 2021 he was exposed to COVID-19 while

he was training another controller. He stopped work on December 15, 2021 and returned to work 

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

on January 2, 2022. On the reverse side of the claim form, appellant’s supervisor acknowledged 

that he was injured in the performance of duty.

In support of his claim, appellant submitted a quantitative polymerase chain reaction 

(qPCR) test result dated December 23, 2021, prepared by a local COVID-19 testing center, which 

indicated that appellant’s test was positive for COVID-19. 

In a letter dated February 3, 2022, the employing establishment controverted the COP 

claim. It related that appellant had not filed the CA-1 form within 30 days of the alleged date of 

injury. 

By decision dated February 7, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for COP, finding that 

he had not reported his injury on an OWCP-approved form within 30 days of his alleged 

December 15, 2021 employment injury.

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 Form CA-1 

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.”

6

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).

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 March11, 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.
3

ANALYSIS

The Board finds that appellant has not met his burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

COP. 

The record reflects that appellant filed written notice of his traumatic injury on a Form

CA-1 on January 26, 2022, alleging that on December 15, 2021 he was exposed to COVID-19 

while he was training another controller. He stopped work on December 15, 2021. As previously 

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

case, was December 15, 2021.7 As appellant filed his Form CA-1 on January 26, 2022, more than 

30 days after the December 15, 2022 date of injury, the Board finds that he has not met his 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 his burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

COP. 

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Id.
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ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the February 7, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: October 26, 2022

Washington, DC

Alec J. Koromilas, Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Patricia H. Fitzgerald, Deputy Chief Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board