United States Department of Labor

Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

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C.C., Appellant

and

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, 

Edison, NJ, Employer

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Docket No. 22-1322

Issued: March 31, 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 September 5, 2022 appellant filed a timely appeal from an August 8, 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.

ISSUE

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

continuation of pay (COP).

FACTUAL HISTORY

On July 29, 2022 appellant, then a 64-year-old city carrier, filed a traumatic injury claim 

(Form CA-1) alleging that on June 27, 2022 he contracted COVID-19 after interacting with 

coworkers while preparing forthe day’s delivery while in the performance of duty. He related that 

1

5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq.
2

he tested positive for COVID-19 on June 29, 2022 through an at-home rapid test and again tested 

positive on June 30, 2022 through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Appellant indicated 

that he began experiencing symptoms on June 27, 2022 with low-grade fever, chills, nausea, and 

cough, and he sought care the following day at his primary care provider, who cleared him to return 

to work on July 25, 2022. He stopped work on June 27, 2022 and returned to work on 

July 26, 2022.

In support of his claim, appellant submitted a June 28, 2022 note from Rhea Cooper, a 

nurse practitioner, holding him off work from June 28 to July 1, 2022 due to illness.

A PCR test result, collected on June 30, 2022, related that appellant tested positive for 

COVID-19. 

In a July 21, 2022 note, Ms. Cooper held appellant off work until July 25, 2022.

By decision dated August 8, 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 June 27, 

2022 employment injury. It advised appellant that the COP denial 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.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 

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.

09-563 (issued February 26, 2010); Dodge Osborne, 44 ECAB 849 (1993); WilliamE. Ostertag, 33 ECAB 

1925 (1982).
3

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

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 July 29, 2022, alleging that on June 27, 2022 he contracted COVID-19 while in the 

performance of duty. Appellant stopped work on June 27, 2022 and returned to work on 

July 26, 2022. As previously noted, FECA Bulletin No. 21-09 defines date of injury as the date 

of last exposure, which in this case was June 27, 2022.

7

 As appellant filed his Form CA-1 on 

July 29, 2022, more than 30 days after the June 27, 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.

6 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.

7

Id.
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ORDER

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the August 8, 2022 decision of the Office of 

Workers’ Compensation Programs is affirmed.

Issued: March 31, 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