United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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A.N., Appellant

and

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, BUREAU OF 

CONSULAR SERVICES, Minneapolis, MN, 

Employer

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Docket No. 23-0291

Issued: June 15, 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 December 27, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from a November 15, 2022 merit 

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

Employees’ Compensation Act1(FECA) and 20 C.F.R. §§ 501.2(c) and 501.3, the Board has 

jurisdiction over the merits of this case.

2

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.

2 The Board notes that,following the November 15, 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

ISSUE

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

continuation of pay (COP).

FACTUAL HISTORY

On November 10, 2022 appellant, then a 43-year-old passport and visa examining clerk, 

filed a traumatic injury (Form CA-1) alleging that on July 3, 2022 she contracted COVID-19 as a 

result of working with the public while in the performance of duty. She stopped work on July 3, 

2002 and returned to work on August 15, 2022. On the reverse side of the claim form, appellant’s 

supervisor acknowledged that appellant was injured in the performance of duty.

OWCP received laboratory results dated July 3, 2022, which indicated that appellant tested

positive for COVID-19. 

By decision dated November 15, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s claim for COP, finding 

that she had not reported her July 3, 2022 injury on an OWCP-approved form within 30 days of 

the date of injury. It further noted that the decision concerned her entitlement to COP and that it 

did not affect her 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 

FECA.

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, 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.

6

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 

3

Supra note 1 at § 8118(a).

4

Id. at § 8122(a)(2).

5 K.P., Docket No. 22-1184 (issued December 28, 2022); 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).

6

20 C.F.R. § 10.205(a)(1-3);see also K.P., id.; 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).
3

(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

ANALYSIS

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

COP.

The record reflects that appellant filed a Form CA-1 on November 10, 2022. As previously 

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

case was July 3, 2022.8 By decision dated November 15, 2022, OWCP denied appellant’s request 

for COP, as her claim was not filed within 30 days of the claimed July 3, 2022 employment injury. 

As appellant filed written notice of her traumatic injury claim on November 15, 2022 more than 

30 days after the claimed July 3, 2022 employment injury, the Board finds that she has not met her 

burden of proof to establish entitlement to COP.

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 her burden of proof to establish entitlement to 

COP.

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.

8

Id.
4

ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the November 15, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: June 15, 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