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Appeal rights
Read this information carefully. You
must specify clearly which procedure you
wish to request: hearing (written of
oral); reconsideration; or Employee’s
Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB) you
may not request two forms of appeal at
the same time. Be sure to send your
request to the right address. The time
limits for appeal begin to run on the
date of decision. The date of your
appeal is determined by the postmark of
your appeal letter.
HEARING: If your injury occurred
on or after July 4, 1996 and you have
not previously requested reconsideration
as described below, you may request an
oral hearing before a hearing
representative. Such request must be in
writing and within 30 days after the
date of OWCP’s decision. At an oral
hearing you will be given the
opportunity to present oral testimony
and written evidence in further support
of your claim. The hearing will be
informal and will be held at a location
in your area by a hearing representative
from Washington, D.C. You may represent
yourself or be represented at the
hearing by any person authorized by you
in writing.
If your injury occurred on or after July
4, 1966, and you have not previously
requested reconsideration, instead of an
oral hearing you may request an
examination of the written record by a
hearing representative in Washington,
D.C. This examination must be asked to
attend or give oral testimony, but you
may submit additional written evidence.
You will have this review instead of an
oral hearing. Any additional written
evidence you want to submit should be
sent with your request for review of the
written record.
To implement your right to a hearing the
request for oral hearing or review or
the written record must be sent within
30 days to:
Branch of Hearings and Review
Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs
P. O. Box 37117
Washington, D.C. 20013-7117
You cannot request a hearing (written or
oral) if you have previously requested
reconsideration by the OWCP District
Office. However, you will have the right
to either request reconsideration of the
hearing representative’s decision or
appeal it to ECAB, if you disagree.
RECONSIDERATION: If you have
additional evidence which you believe is
pertinent, you may request in writing
that OWCP reconsider their decision.
Such a request must be made within one
year of the date of the decision,
clearly state the grounds upon which
reconsideration is being requested, and
be accompanied by relevant evidence not
previously submitted, such as medical
reports or affidavits, or a legal
argument not previously made. Your
request for reconsideration and the new
evidence that you are submitting should
be sent to the District Office that
adjudicated your claim. In order to
ensure that you receive an independent
evaluation of the evidence, your case
will be reconsidered by a claim examiner
other than the one who made the original
decision.
APPEAL: If you believe that all
available evidence has been submitted,
you have the right to appeal Within 90
days to:
Employees’ Compensation Appeal Board
200 Constitution Ave, N.W., Room N-2609
Washington, D.C. 2021
If you should request a hearing or
reconsideration as indicated above, the
90 days period within which you may
request review by the Appeals Board will
run from the date of any later decision
by OWCP. For good cause shown, the
Appeal Board may waive the failure to
file within 90 days if application for
their review is made within one year
from the date of the decision that you
are appealing.
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