It is now post-Labor Day Weekend.  Summer is essentially over.  The Office of Personnel Management will be back in "full force".  The inclination will be to call up OPM and impatiently -- imprudently -- demand that one's disability retirement application be reviewed, because it has been sitting on Mr or Ms. X's desk for the last 90 days.  Be cautious of what you request, or demand -- because you may get your wish, but with an outcome... Read More

     I keep getting the same feedback that tells me that people are still receiving erroneous information:  SSA disability benefits do NOT have to be applied for first before you file for OPM Disability retirement benefits.  In fact, the Office of Personnel Management only needs the receipt showing that a disability retirement annuitant filed for SSA disability benefits at the time of approval.  Further, OPM would actually prefer that the SSA denial was... Read More

     Summer is almost at an end.  The Postal Service, through the auspices of the Office of Personnel Management, is offering Voluntary Early Retirement (VER).  For many, this is a positive thing; the decision to take the VER should be a financial decision.  An analysis comparing the monetary return should be made between what an employee would receive under the VER and under disability retirement; if the financial difference is great, then obviously the... Read More

     When people call me to ask if they need legal representation in filing for disability retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, I try and provide as "objective" an opinion on the matter as possible.  I represent hundreds of people in filing for, and obtaining, disability retirement benefits; it is my specialty, and it is how I make a living.  At the same time, however, I believe that I can be completely honest in providing guidance as to whether... Read More

     Vanieken-Ryals v. OPM, decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on November 26, 2007, has an interesting statement from the deciding Judge, which can be used as "firepower" for anyone who is attempting to obtain Federal Disability Retirement benefits (note of caution:  for lay non-attorneys, be careful in how you use it in trying to convince a lay, non-attorney OPM representative):  "In addition, neither the MSPB nor OPM... Read More

   Remember that the applicant who is requesting disability retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management always has the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he or she is entitled and eligible for disability retirement benefits.  Even if the Agency proposes and effectuates a removal based upon one's medical inability to perform the essential elements of one's job (thereby invoking the "Bruner Presumption"); nevertheless, the... Read More

     It is an accepted fact that there is a "psychological" aspect to almost everything in life, and this is no less true in the field of disability retirement law.  The "psychological" aspect is the nexus, or bridge, from the Reconsideration Stage to the Merit Systems Protection Board.  From OPM's viewpoint, this is the last chance to make a decision on a case, before it is taken out of the hands -- and therefore "control" -- of... Read More

    For whatever reason, a certain percentage of cases reach the third level in the process of applying for Federal Disability Retirement benefits:  The Merit Systems Protection Board.  If an individual is unrepresented at this level, the identical problem as that which occurs in any courtroom presents itself:  an attorney representing an individual provides an appearance of "objectivity" to the administrative judge; the advocacy on behalf of a... Read More

     Alas, a batch of decisions has obviously been sent out to many disability retirement applicants in the last couple of weeks, because I have gotten many calls from those who attempted to try and obtain disability retirement benefits without legal representation.  In reviewing the denial decision from the Office of Personnel Management, many who have called have observed some rather amusing things, such as:  "It seems like most of the decision is just... Read More

  What if an SSA decision letter is not immediately forthcoming, or does not address the same medical conditions as that applied for in one's disability retirement application? In such a circumstance, the best argument that can be put forth is to show the Office of Personnel Management that the application submitted to the Social Security Administration is essentially identical with the application for Federal Disability Retirement benefits submitted with OPM; then, to make the... Read More