When a Federal or Postal employee is considering filing for Federal Disability retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, there are many and varying conflicting responses, wrapped and bundled in emotional turmoil, reactionary and concerned viewpoints, etc. Stories of a “hostile work environment”, of discriminatory actions, harassing supervisors, etc., are often part of the “narrative” of a person considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement.
One must be careful, however, that when the affirmative decision to file for disability retirement is made, that only those relevant aspects of the narrative be included in the final disability retirement packet. Things which do not provide a compelling basis for proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, the necessary criteria for meeting the legal standard to be approved for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS or, just as importantly, things which will harm a disability retirement application– they should be left out of the final narrative.
Such issues surrounding a “hostile work environment” or a harassing supervisor — such perspectives or narrative formulations which come close to the dangerous precipice of showing that one’s medical disability is merely a “situational” disability (those medical conditions which are specifically confined to a specific situation in a specific agency’s office environment) — should certainly be left out of the final narrative. This brings up a further point, which I have touched upon many times in the past: a person without an attorney to formulate the narrative in filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits is often too close to his or her own case, and cannot objectively present the proper narrative to the Office of Personnel Management.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Mental/Nervous Condition, OPM Disability Process - 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application | Tagged: abusive supervisors and federal disabled workers, an emotional vs. reasoned personal account of disability, assisting clients that have tried to file for disability without an attorney, attempting opm disability without representation, attorney experienced in dealing with fers disability retirement claims, attorney representation before the office of personnel management (opm), avoiding using the "hostile environment" term in your opm disability claim, bullying postal supervisor and the injured federal employee, cases where the opm claims situational disability, CSRS disability retirement, disability retirement with the post office, eeoc federal employee disability claims, emotional issues are understandable but don't let them ruin your application, emotional turmoil at the post office, equal opportunity issues and federal disability claims, experience and results for federal employee disability claims, federal disability retirement is a medical claim not an equal opportunity one, federal employee disability lawyer, fers disability for mental problems is possible if you avoid some pitfalls, FERS disability retirement, focusing on medical substantive issues not emotional problems, getting rid of emotional baggage during fers disability application, harassment and bullying by federal government supervisors, harassment without accountability at the USPS, issues to mention that will help your usps postal disability claim, keeping emotionalism to a minimum, nationwide representation of federal employees, one easy reason the opm can use to deny your disability claim, opm disability for stress is possible just don't make it situational, opm disability law and the preponderance of evidence concept, OPM disability retirement, opm situational disability as a landmine difficult to overcome, postal workers disability psychiatric disability in OPM disability retirement, preponderance of the evidence concept in fers disability law, preponderance of the evidence documents, psychiatric disability in OPM Disability Retirement, representing federal employees in and outside the country, situational disability and the hostile environment claim, situational federal disability, taking your federal disability claim with calm and in the hands of a professional, the danger of postal disability retirement for stress, the dangers of getting your opm claim situational, the revenge of a postal supervisor, us postal service disability retirement, USPS disability retirement, when personal emotions overtake rational thoughts during application process | Leave a Comment »
OPM Disability Retirement: Differing Perspectives
The old adage, “Walk in your fellow man’s shoes for a mile” is a saying which is meant essentially to teach a child (and many adults) to have a different perspective than one’s own, self-centered universe. In practicing law, it is a good idea to attempt to obtain a perspective from the multitude of differing “shoes” — and this is especially important in putting together a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.
The gathering of such differing and different perspectives — that of the treating doctor; that of the applicant; that of the Agency (the Supervisor and the Agency in its determination that accommodation or reassignment is not available or appropriate for a given employee, given the particular medical conditions and the type of positional duties of the specific job which the Applicant must perform, as well as taking into account what constitutes “efficiency” in the Federal Service, etc.); and further, that of the Office of Personnel Management.
It is the job of the Attorney representing a Federal or Postal employee in preparing a Federal Disability Retirement packet under FERS or CSRS, to pull together the various perspectives; write up and prepare, and gather the information from the multiple and differing perspectives; to neutralize those perspectives which may impact negatively upon the Federal disability retirement application; then to present the fullness of the different perspectives such that it meets the legal criteria and “perspective” of the Representative from the Office of Personnel Management: that “ultimate” perspective which determines a “yes” or “no” in determining the viability of a Federal Disability Retirement Application.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Application - SF 3112 Disability Retirement Application Package, The Job of a Federal Disability Attorney | Tagged: a compelling medical case for federal employee disability retirement, a rational perspective from your disability claim evaluation, accommodation of federal employees, applicant's statement of disability, attorney that helps injured and ill federal workers, creating a strong case to qualify for fers disability benefits, CSRS disability retirement, each opm disability stage requires a different approach, early out for disabled postal workers with application, federal disability law and legal argumentation, federal disability lawyer to handle opm disability denial, federal employee disability retirement, federal employee medical retirement, FERS disability retirement, gathering medical documentation for an incapacitated federal employee, getting together different perspectives and making a compelling case, going out on medical disability opm, help for injured or ill federal employees seeking medical retirement, help in collecting medical evidence and putting package together, how to neutralize negative information in your postal disability application, if reassignment is not possible for the light duty federal worker, job reassignment, letter carrier occupational illness, maintaining a objective perspective in a disability case, making a compelling federal opm disability case, medical as well as legal factors may determine eligibility in opm retirement, medical condition, medical disability lawyers opm, medical incapacitation at the federal agency, neutralizing negative comments and/or information for the disability applicant, occupational illnesses in federal jobs, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement new jersey employees, Post Office disability retirement, postal buyout always available for injured postal workers, Postal Service disability, proof of disability for federal workers, pulling together several perspectives for the fers disability application, putting a federal disability case together, rational perspective into the fed workers' medical condition, top federal disability retirement attorney, USPS disability retirement, when accommodation is not available to the injured federal worker, writing up a legal summary and putting together an opm disability application, your treating doctors | Leave a Comment »