United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

__________________________________________

J.V., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, FDR STATION POST 

OFFICE, New York, NY, Employer

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Docket No. 22-0508

Issued: September 25, 2023

Appearances: Case Submitted on the Record

Appellant, pro se

Office of Solicitor, for the Director

DECISION AND ORDER

Before:

JANICE B. ASKIN, Judge

VALERIE D. EVANS-HARRELL, Alternate Judge

JAMES D. McGINLEY, Alternate Judge

JURISDICTION

On February 23, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from a February 7, 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 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).

1 The Board notes that, following the issuance of the February 7, 2022 decision, OWCP received additional 

evidence. However, the Board’s Rules of Procedureprovides: “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 February 2, 2022 appellant, then a 34-year-old letter carrier, filed a traumatic injury 

claim (Form CA-1) alleging that on December 18, 2021 he contracted COVID-19 while in the 

performance of duty and stopped work that day. On the reverse side of the claim form, the 

employing establishment controverted his claim for COP because notice of the injury had not been 

reported within 30 days.

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

he had failed to report the December 18, 2021 employment injury on a form approved by OWCP 

within 30 days, as required. It advised him that the denial of COP did not affect his entitlement to 

other compensation benefits.

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.3 This latter section provides that written notice of injury shall be given within 30 days. 4 

The context of section 8122 makes clear that this means within 30 days of the injury. 5

OWCP’s regulations provide 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.6

FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 at subsection II.2 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.”

7

3

Supra note 1 at § 8118(a).

4

Id. at § 8122(a)(2).

5 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, 763-64 (1989); Myra Lenburg, 36 ECAB 487, 489 (1985).

6

20 C.F.R. § 10.205(a)(1-3);see also N.C., Docket No. 22-1362 (issued April3, 2023); 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); William E. Ostertag, 33 ECAB 1925 (1982).

7 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.
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 his Form CA-1 on February 2, 2022 alleging that on 

December 18, 2021 he was exposed to COVID-19 while in the performance of duty and stopped 

work on that same date. As previously noted, FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 defines date of injury as 

the date of last exposure, which in this case was December 18, 2021.8 Because appellant filed his 

Form CA-1 on February 2, 2022, the Board finds that it was not filed within 30 days of the alleged 

December 18, 2021 employment injury, and, thus, he has not met his burden of proof. 9

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.

8

Id.

9

See T.J., Docket No. 23-0003 (issued April 26, 2023); see also J.C., Docket No. 22-0666 (issued 

October 26, 2022).
4

ORDER

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

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: September 25, 2023

Washington, DC

Janice B. Askin, Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

Valerie D. Evans-Harrell, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

James D. McGinley, Alternate Judge

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board