The third step in the process of filing and obtaining disability retirement from the Office of Personnel Management is to appeal the case to the Merit Systems Protection Board. This is initiated after a disability retirement application has been denied twice: First, at the initial stage, then, upon a request for reconsideration and an opportunity to submit additional medical and other documentation, if the Office of Personnel Management denies the application a second time, then the Applicant has the right to file an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Such a case is then set to be heard by an Administrative Judge, and mandated to be completed within 120 days from the time it is appealed. Many applicants who go into this third stage have the unwarranted belief that a Hearing is an inevitability, and that there is no further opportunity to convince OPM to reverse themselves, or change their minds. That is simply not the case. Often, the OPM representative at the MSPB level is much more attuned to the evidentiary level required, and will entertain the receipt and review of an updated medical report, or additional diagnostic tests, or more detailed treatment notes, etc. The mere fact that OPM denied the application at the first two stages, and the fact that the jurisdictional landscape has now changed from OPM to the MSPB, does not mean that OPM’s mind cannot be changed. The key is to listen carefully at what OPM’s representative is saying at a Prehearing Conference, or even earlier if contact is made with him/her. By listening and complying with a reasonable request, it can save the applicant needless time and expenses (for the testimony of a doctor can, indeed, be expensive), and have the ultimate outcome that the applicant desires: approval of a disability retirement application.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Actors - The OPM Representatives, OPM Disability Process - 3rd Stage: MSPB Stage, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), When the OPM Application Is Denied | Tagged: additional evidence to sustain your fers disability claim, appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, civil service disability, convincing the OPM to change its position, disability appeal MSPB, disability retirement opm, federal disability lawyer, federal disability retirement, federal disability retirement approval, federal injured ill workers, fers disability retirement for oklahoma federal employees, getting OPM disability benefits, listening and complying with the opm representative's requests, Merit Systems Protection Board and OPM disability, MSPB Administrative Judge, MSPB and OPM disability retirement, MSPB disability attorney, MSPB disability lawyer, MSPB Petition for Review, OPM attorneys, OPM disability, OPM disability appeal to the MSPB, OPM disability application tips and strategies, OPM disability lawyer, OPM lawyer, OPM Representative, Postal disability retirement, Prehearing Conference at the MSPB, resources for injured federal workers, the Administrative Judge at the MSPB, the approval process for opm disability retirement, The MSPB Prehearing Conference, updated medical report for your opm disability claim, USPS Disability, USPS disability retirement, winning an opm disability case at the mspb stage |
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