Werner R. Staacke v. United States Secretary of Labor

We consider whether the district court properly dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction Staacke’s appeal from the Secretary of Labor’s decision denying him temporary total disability payments.

Facts

Appellant is a dock worker who was injured while working at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on December 3, 1980. He suffered, among other disabilities, a detached retina, costing him 95 percent of the sight from his right eye. He received continuous workers’ compensation disability payments from the time of the injury through January 12, 1981, and again from April 20, 1981, through June 8, 1982. On April 7, 1983, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) determined that plaintiffs loss of use of his right eye was permanent and thus awarded him compensation pursuant to the schedule set out in the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA), 5 U.S.C. § 8107 (1982); this scheduled award ran from June 8, 1982, until July 1, 1985. As he was already receiving compensation for his injury, OWCP suspended temporary total disability payments during the time appellant was receiving this award. Once the scheduled award period elapsed, however, he was put back onto the disability…