The old dictum that “ignorance of the law is not an excuse” for violating the law, applies just as well in a Federal Disability Retirement application — unless, of course, the entity which fails to recognize the substance of the law, its applicability, and its extended content and consequences happens to be the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Let me expand somewhat.
In order to qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under either FERS or CSRS, one must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that one is entitled to the benefits. Such proof of “preponderance of the evidence” must be in compliance with the applicable statutes, regulations, legal criteria, case-law (as handed down by the Merit Systems Protection Board decisions, as well as by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals). However, when the entity which constitutes itself as the intermediate arbiter of all Federal Disability Retirement applications (it is merely “intermediate”, as opposed to “final”, because there is the review process by the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals) itself fails to apply the applicable law, there exists an inherent problem.
OPM is designated to decide cases based upon the applicable law. Yet, in its denials, it will often apply criteria which has absolutely no basis in “the law”.
All the more reason why, in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, it is important for the Federal or Postal worker seeking to obtain Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether under FERS or CSRS, to know and understand the law — its substance, applicability, and consequential reverberations upon the multiple aspects of issues involved in a Federal Disability Retirement application.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Administrative Law (Statutory and Non-Statutory Law) | Tagged: Administrative Law, attorney with extensive experience in opm disability law, blog writing on federal disability retirement issues, Federal Disability, federal disability law blog, federal disability retirement, fers disability blog, FERS disability retirement, interpretation of federal disability law, knowledge and experience to represent disabled federal employees, law firm solely focused on their opm disability specialty, legal knowledge and core competency of opm disability laws, misinterpretation or misapplication of OPM disability laws, OPM disability retirement, opm law firm clients, owcp disability retirement, Postal disability, postal service disability retirement, preponderance of the evidence concept in fers disability law, retaining an attorney knowledgeable in fers/csrs disability law, statutory requirements in OPM disability law, the ''error of law'' in federal disability retirement claims, the non-lawyers' guide to opm disability law, the statutes and regulations of administrative law, usps disability blog, USPS disability retirement, when opm disability retirement specialists expose their knowledge of opm disability law, when the mspb denies your disability claim |
Leave a Reply