In the Matter of the Debt Collection Act Petition

RASHAN R. ROWAN v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

P.S. Docket No. DCA 20-43

APPEARANCE FOR PETITIONER
Rashan R. Rowan

APPEARANCE FOR RESPONDENT
John F. Holly
Labor Relations Specialist
United States Postal Service

FINAL DECISION UNDER THE DEBT COLLECTION ACT OF 1982

The Postal Service seeks to collect a debt of $2,035.96 from Rashan Rowan. The debt is based on an overpayment of continuation of pay (COP) and holiday leave erroneously paid while Mr. Rowan was absent from work due to an injury. He filed a timely petition under the Debt Collection Act on March 4, 2020. A video hearing was held in July 2020. As explained below, Mr. Rowan is liable for the debt.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Mr. Rowan worked for the Postal Service at all times relevant to this dispute. On September 19, 2019, Mr. Rowan was injured on the job (Resp. Exh. 3). The Department of Labor later approved his claim for workers’ compensation (Tr. 23).
2. Consistent with applicable regulations, Mr. Rowan was entitled to COP from the Postal Service for 45 days (until November 3, 2019) after the date of his injury (Tr. 23). Due to an administrative timekeeping error, however, he continued to receive COP until November 22, 2019 (Resp. Exh. 4; Tr. 19–37). Mr. Rowan also began receiving workers’ compensation from the Department of Labor on November 4, 2019 (Resp. Exh. 3; Tr. 23–25). Therefore, Mr. Rowan was paid by both the Postal Service and the Department of Labor from November 4 through November 22, 2019.  
3. When Mr. Rowan returned to work on December 2, 2019, he talked to his supervisor about the fact that he was receiving both COP and workers’ compensation (Tr. 46–50). After learning about this situation, the Postal Service adjusted Mr. Rowan’s payroll records for the period from November 2 through November 22, 2019, encompassing pay periods 23/2019 (week 2) and 24/2019 (weeks 1 and 2). The COP hours Mr. Rowan received credit for beginning on November 4 were changed to reflect the pay status he should have been in: Office of Workers’ Compensation Program leave without pay (LWOP). (Resp. Exh. 4).
4. In December 2019, Mr. Rowan received a workers’ compensation payment from the Department of Labor for November 4 through December 1, 2019 (Resp. Exh. 3).
5. On January 22, 2020, the Postal Service issued an invoice to Mr. Rowan for $2,035.96 to recoup payment for the 112 hours of COP and holiday leave that had erroneously been paid to him from November 4 to November 22 (Resp. Exh. 1). The invoice was followed by a Notice of Involuntary Administrative Salary Offsets for the same amount on February 21, 2020 (Resp. Exh. 2). This timely Petition followed.

DECISION

To recover a salary overpayment, the Postal Service bears the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the overpayments were made, the amount of the overpayments, and that the employee was not entitled to the overpayments. See Jordan v. United States Postal Service, AO 19-66, 2019 WL 4233901 (I.D. August 22, 2019, aff’d, September 30, 2019). Here, the Postal Service has met that burden.
According to the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), “employees who suffer job-related disabilities are entitled to Continuation of Pay (COP) for the period of disability, up to a maximum of 45 calendar days, for a traumatic job-related injury.” ELM § 541.131(a). It is undisputed that Mr. Rowan sustained an on-the-job injury entitling him to COP. Due to an administrative error, however, the COP payments continued beyond the 45-day limit. As explained by the Postal Service’s witness, the debt occurred because Mr. Rowan erroneously received COP from November 4 to November 22, 2019, totaling $2,035.96. Additionally, Mr. Rowan admitted that he ultimately received both COP and workers’ compensation payments for the same period. The Postal Service has thus met its initial burden. 
In defending against the debt, Mr. Rowan has not contested that he mistakenly received COP or the amount of those payments. His defense centers on his belief that he is not liable for the debt because the timekeeping error was not his fault (Petitioner’s Petition for Hearing at 1; Tr. 59-60). He is correct only to the extent that the timekeeping error was not his fault. That fact, however, does not relieve him from the debt.
In similar situations we have consistently held that “an employee who is overpaid due to an administrative error generally is not entitled to keep the overpayment even if the employee was not at fault.” Riemer v. United States Postal Service, AO 15-286, 2016 WL 10572236 (I.D. April 15, 2016, aff’d May 6, 2016). This case fits squarely within that general rule. Mr. Rowan’s lack of responsibility for the mistaken salary overpayment therefore does not entitle him to relief from the debt.

ORDER

The Petition is denied. The Postal Service may collect $2,035.96 by involuntary administrative salary offset.

Alan R. Caramella
Administrative Judge