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OPM Disability Retirement

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    • Accommodation and Light Duty (40)
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    • FERS/SSDI Offsets: Major Precedent-setting Case
    • FERS Medical Disability Benefits: Weariness
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    • OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: Another "Get Through" Day
    • Attorney Representation for OPM Disability Claims: Foundations
    • Federal & Postal Disability Retirement: Designing a different biography
    • OPM Disability Retirement: The Three Little Pigs
    • FERS Disability Retirement from the OPM: Coils of Hardship
    • FERS Disability Retirement Retirement: Destroying Yourself
    • OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: Is There Enough of Me?

OPM Disability Retirement: Selective Prosecution

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Federal Disability Retirement Attorney

The term itself implies a sense of unfairness.  But fairness often depends upon a viewpoint, and the methodology which is applied, or failed to be applied.

Thus, in a Federal Disability Retirement case, whether under FERS or CSRS, if the U.S. Office of Personnel Management selectively extrapolates from medical reports, without giving a thorough review and analysis of the submitted documentation, then one may validly allege that such selective “prosecution” of a case has been unfairly perpetrated.

If, on the other hand, one applies the identical concept to the Federal or Postal employee who is the applicant filing for Federal Disability Retirement, then one’s perspective may change. Because the Applicant (the Federal or Postal employee) has the burden to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that one is entitled and eligible for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, it is therefore proper that the Federal or Postal employee also has the “right” to selectively choose which medical conditions to identify, and to support those medical conditions with the appropriate medical documentation and proof.

One could allege that allowing for the Federal or Postal employee to choose which medical documentation to submit amounts to a selective prosecution of the case; but to make such an allegation misses the point.  It is not the act of selectivity; rather, the methodology and the underlying foundation, which determines the fairness or unfairness of the process.  Everyone has to make choices; how that choice is made, and why, makes all the difference.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Filed under: OPM Disability Actors - The Applicant | Tagged: advantages that the federal disability retirement applicant has over the office of personnel management, being careful with the medical documentation you submit to opm, civil service disability, defining fairness in the federal disability retirement process, disability retirement at the USPS, documents you should not always submit to the opm, examining all and each document submitted to the opm, Federal Disability, federal disability retirement, federal disability retirement lawyer, FERS disability retirement, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, nationwide representation of federal employees, not playing by the rules: how the opm might sometimes deny your disability application, OPM disability retirement, opm medical documents, opm supportive medical documentation, owcp disability retirement, Postal disability, Postal disability retirement, representing federal employees in and outside the country, selective prosecution of the opm disability retirement law, the federal employee has the right to submit the medical documentation he or she deems necessary, the opm must evaluate medical documentation, the relative fairness of the opm disability process, understanding how the opm may use your medical documentation for its own purposes, USPS disability retirement, usps federal attorney, what documents should I turn over opm for my disability claim?, when the opm uses selective documents to deny your disability application, your medical retirement claim and the opm's selective picks, your weakest medical documentation is the one that the opm may use to deny fers disability benefits | Leave a comment »

  • More on CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement

    • eZineArticles.com Article: The 1 Year Statute of Limitations
    • Federal Disability Retirement Laws, Medical Conditions, and the Intersecting Complications with OWCP, Social Security and FERS & CSRS
    • Federal Disability Retirement: The Full Arsenal of Weapons
    • FedSmith.com Article: Revisiting "Accommodation"
    • FedSmith.com Article: Sometimes the Process is just as important as the Substance of an Argument
    • Latest PostalReporter.com Article: Causation in a Federal Disability Retirement Case
    • Understanding the Complexities of the Law
    • USPS Disability Blog: The National Reassessment Program, the Agency and the Worker
  • Other Resources for Federal and Postal Employees

    • Articles Published in the Postal Reporter
    • FAQs on OPM Disability Retirement
    • FERS Disability Attorney Profile at Lawyers.com
    • Main Website on Federal Disability Retirement
    • OPM Disability Blog
    • The Postal Service Disability Retirement Blog
  • Seven False Myths about OPM Disability Retirement

    1) I have to be totally disabled to get Postal or Federal disability retirement.
    False: You are eligible for disability retirement so long as you are unable to perform one or more of the essential elements of your job.  Thus, it is a much lower standard of disability. 

    2) My injury or illness has to be job-related.
    False: You can get disability even if your condition is not work related.  If your medical condition impacts your ability to perform any of the core elements of your job, you are eligible, regardless of how or where your condition occurred.

    3) I have to quit my federal job first to get disability.
    False: In most cases, you can apply while continuing to work at your present job, to the extent you are able.  

    4) I can't get disability if I suffer from a mental or nervous condition.
    False: If your condition affects your job performance, you can still qualify. Psychiatric conditions are treated no differently from physical conditions.

    5) Disability retirement is approved by DOL Workers Comp.
    False: It's the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) the federal agency that administers and approves disability for employees at the US Postal Service or other federal agencies.

    6) I can wait for OPM disability retirement for many years after separation.
    False: You only have one year from the date of separation from service - otherwise, you lose your right forever.

    7) If I get disability retirement, I won't be able to apply for Scheduled Award (SA).
    False: You can get a Scheduled Award under the rules of OWCP even after you get approved for OPM disability retirement.
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