I often wonder how many unrepresented disability retirement applicants there are who, having received a denial letter at the First Stage of the process of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS, never file a Request for Reconsideration because they believe what the Office of Personnel Management stated in the Denial Letter. Sometimes, I will get telephone calls from people who want to file, and during the course of the conversation, it will come out that they had filed a few years previously, and had been denied. “Did you file a Request for Reconsideration, at the time?” I ask. “No,” is the answer. “Why not?” I ask. The typical answer? “Because I just thought there was no way to fight them on it.”
I used to be amazed at such answers, but after some thought, it makes sense. As an attorney, my first instinct (both trained and natural) is to always take something to the next level, with the firm belief that I will prevail just by pure persistence, and by using the law as “a sword” in the process of fighting for my clients. But most people are not lawyers (some would say, thank goodness for that, we have enough lawyers in the world), and when the Office of Personnel Management writes up a denial letter, then allegedly cites “the law”, and makes bold conclusions such as, “You do not meet the eligibility criteria under the laws governing disability retirement…” It all sounds convincing. It all sounds like any further action will be an act of futility. But just because OPM “says so” doesn’t make it true, doesn’t make it right, and certainly doesn’t make it unwinnable. They may say you don’t meet the eligbility criteria; I would argue otherwise.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: When the OPM Application Is Denied, OPM Disability Process - 1st Stage: OPM Disability Application, OPM Disability Process - 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage, OPM Disability Actors - The Applicant, OPM Disability Actors - The Attorney | Tagged: OPM disability retirement, CSRS disability retirement, FERS disability retirement, Postal Service disability, OPM First Stage Disability Application, USPS disability retirement, Postal disability retirement, the dreaded denial letter, disability retirement federal service, when opm disability retirement is denied, us postal service disability retirement, postal workers injured on the job, usps disability benefits, The Unrepresented OPM Disability Applicant, eligibility requirements to receive fed employment disability, refuting an opm denial letter, the denial disability letter issued by the opm, eligibility requirements to qualify for postal service disability, how to handle a reconsideration request to the opm, Filing the Request for Reconsideration after first OPM denial, when the opm denies your disability benefits, medical retirement federal government, opm medical retirement qualification ruled by legal criteria of eligibility, federal owcp civil service disability, uncertainty and stress in the wait to get fers csrs disability, disability from post office, disability coverage for federal employees, us government employee disability benefits, federal employment law and disability retirement, civil service retirement system for injured workers, the role of an attorney in a federal disability case, mistakes that opm disability applicants without an attorney make, what to do if the opm denies your disability, tip for the unrepresented opm disability applicant: never give up, fighting for your federal employee disability benefits, defending your rights to fers disability benefits, learn the secrets of winning opm disability even after initial denials, fighting the usps nrp, llight duty status usps, formal postal worker working part-time while on opm disability, learning about your rights after opm refuses to grant you disability, did the opm deny your disability application? Not the end of the world!, oversight of the federal disability appeals process, more on the opm's appeals process and your right to appeal, how the opm disability process really works, bad news from the office of personnel management, don't get discouraged if the opm denies you disability at first, know your rights and learn more about the whole opm disability process, meeting the criteria of eligibility for csrs disability retirement, the discouraged and injured postal worker, opm disability retirement: why you should appeal a denial, opm disability appeal problems and uncertainties, usps immediate disability retirement, request for immediate medical retirement for federal workers, opm request to appeal disability retirement, form to request appeal opm disability, procedures for requesting opm disability retirement reconsideration, ri 38-47 form request for reconsideration information, RI 38-47 Information and Instructions on Your Reconsideration Rights, Responding to an Initial Federal Disability Retirement Denial of Benefits | Leave a Comment »
