The question is often asked as to whether there is an adverse or detrimental impact upon a Federal Disability Retirement application if the Agency or the U.S. Postal Service initiates an adverse action, places an individual on AWOL, or administers a similar type of administrative sanction, action, etc.
The general answer is that such agency actions will not prevent or influence the prevention of a Federal Disability Retirement application from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, but such a generalized answer contains within the “details” certain implicit assumptions — the primary one being, that the medical support which would accompany such a medical retirement will be strong enough to withstand and effectively refute such an adverse action.
By “supporting medical documentation” is meant, at a minimum, two issues which the treating doctor of the applicant must address: That, prior to separation from Federal Service, the Federal or Postal employee could no longer perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, and further, that the medical condition is expected to last for at least 12 months.
Additionally, a third element would also be helpful — that the medical condition or disability began before the adverse action, or conversely, that the behavior or acts of the Federal or Postal Disability Retirement applicant which precipitated the adverse response of the Federal Agency or the U.S. Postal Service occurred after the origination point of the medical condition, and such an origination point can be ascertained.
This is because OPM will sometimes argue that the underlying motivation and purpose of the Federal or Postal applicant filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits was based not upon the medical condition, but because of the adverse action. Further, the Merit Systems Protection Board has stated that such circumstantial evidence of underlying motive or intent can indeed be reviewed. Rebuttal of such implied intent can best be proven by a doctor’s assertion.
Motives are a peculiar thing, but the casting of such underlying motives are often difficult to refute, unless a timeline of facts can counter them. Motives are found only in the depths of one’s consciousness; and like the air we breath, the fact that we assert its existence does not necessarily prove otherwise, especially if the doubter is receptive to the poisonous whispers of finger-pointing.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Agency’s and/or Supervisor’s Actions | Tagged: accepting opm disability clients all across america, agency actions against federal employee, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, disciplinary actions for medical conditions against federal workers, Federal Disability, federal disability law blog, federal disability retirement, federal non disciplinary actions, FERS disability retirement, impending adverse actions against the disabled federal employee?, opm disability abuse of power adverse actions, OPM disability retirement, opm disability retirement is not about the supervisor but about the applicant's disability, owcp disability retirement, Postal disability, postal service actions against the postal worker, postal service disability retirement, responding to revengeful supervisors in the us postal service, supervisor's statements and defamation, the bottom line of a fers disability claim is what the doc says, the importance of supporing medical documentation for a postal disability application, the underlying motivation of an agency's adverse actions against the disabled employee, unfair agency's actions against light duty workers, usps ''disciplinary'' actions, USPS disability retirement, what the doctor says is much more important than what the supervisor |
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