OPM Medical Retirement: Of a World No Longer

One can lament the destruction and non-existence of what once was; or, following upon youth’s folly where memories have not yet formed in order to compare and contrast anything in the past and therefore such lamentations cannot be validated, we can just walk about in ignorance.

As we grow older, we perhaps exaggerate the pleasantries of our past — of a world no longer in existence.

Was it better “back then”?  Obviously, it depends largely upon whose perspective we are seeing the world from.  From the perspective of those classes of individuals who were once oppressed, where discrimination and legally-enforced restrictions of opportunities constituted the mainstay of daily living, perhaps that yearned-for world that is no longer in existence, is the not the preferred opinion.  Yet, even among the previously – oppressed, there is often a nostalgia for the simplicity of days gone by.

“Worlds”, of course, can take on different meanings.  It need not refer to large chunks of civilization’s great epochs; instead, it can be — from an individual standpoint — a person’s own prior period of one’s lifespan.

Thus, for Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who now suffer from a medical condition such that the condition no longer allows for continuation in one’s Federal or Postal career, of a world no longer in existence may be represented by that individual of some distant past who was vibrant, healthy and able to take on the world.  That is a world which no longer exists, because of a medical condition which will not go away.

Contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and let not the past — of a world no longer — dominate your present or future comforts.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

FERS Medical Retirement from OPM: The Technical Application

In every system, specialty, sub-specialty, etc., there is a technical application and usage of a term, concept, acronym, etc.  Wittgenstein, the Austrian Philosopher and the author of “Philosophical Investigations” (as well as Tractatus Philosophicus and other works), discusses the concept of “Language Games” involving such unique and technical applications of word usage within different contexts and circumstances.

Thus, there are “computer software language games”, or engineering language games — where specific words have meanings quite narrowly defined, and which often excludes the general population’s understanding unless you become a “member” of that particular group, society, etc.

In Federal Disability Retirement Law, there are numerous technical applications within the language game of “Federal Disability Retirement under FERS” — and one of them is the usage and application of the term, “Accommodations”.  The term itself is widely and loosely used — as in referring to various work-related adjustments and changes.

Thus, a Federal Agency or the Postal Service might, for example, refer to a light duty assignment as an “accommodation” provided, when in fact — in the technical, legal sense — it is not at all an accommodation under Federal Disability Retirement Law.

The problem with a technical application, usage and misapprehension / misunderstanding terms and concepts used in a “general sense” as opposed to the “technical sense”, is that such failure of comprehending the precise meaning of a term can result in failing to apply and obtain Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS.

Contact a lawyer who understands the technical application of all terms under Federal Disability Retirement Law, and don’t let the language game of Federal Disability Retirement Law mislead you into a failure of filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal Government Employee Medical Retirement: Charting a Course

Will such a need vanish because of our dependence upon technology?

The concept itself is becoming stranger by the minute; for, there are GPS mechanisms which perform all such work for us.  We need no longer “chart a course”, because we merely have to input the information and the technology does it for us.  But does dependence upon technology interfere with the skills needed for development in a world which sometimes encounters error and break-downs?

Certainly, cars and other gadgets have become too complex for us to tinker with on a Saturday afternoon.  Have you recently looked under the hood of a new car?  Where do you even begin?

Children of modernity can’t even find their way home without relying upon a GPS system, leaving aside trying to even change the oil on a car.  “Charting a Course” is likely an outdated system, as well.

But for Federal and Postal employees who need to file for Federal Disability Retirement, charting the correct course in preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS is a crucial first step.  For, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is in existence to try and derail the charted course, and that is why consulting with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law is an important first step in charting a course which will lead to a successful result.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement under FERS: The Typical Day

For some, it is a monotonous conversation which can be engaged in while being on mental autopilot: “How was your day?”  “Good.  Just another typical day.  And yours?”  “The same.”

It is that repetitive pablum of pointless conversations engaged in throughout households the world over — pointless, but necessary, in order to establish the comfort of monotony, which is what we all seek; we just don’t know it.  We think we desire excitement — though not too much of it; or of an atypical day — so long as we can rely upon a typical day following; or perhaps, for some, of a fresh relationship — so long as it does not infringe upon the ones we already have.

The “typical day” is one which is challenging — but not so much that we cannot meet the challenge; a day which may have some surprises — but not ones we could not have predicted; and, perhaps, a day which can be talked about without reverting back to the pablum of autopilot — so long as we can relax and not put too much energy into the conversation of the day.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, there is no such thing as a “typical day”.  Each day is fraught with pain, anguish, unpredictable behavior on the part of supervisors and coworkers; unending harassment from one’s own agency; and the fear of a future yet to be decided.

Consult with an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin to consider whether or not Federal Disability Retirement might return you from the atypical days of today, to those boring, typical days you once knew.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
OPM Disability Attorney

 

FERS Disability Retirement Benefits: The Wall

Everyone hits it; whether in writing, in speaking; whether of a career or in a marriage; and whether in a metaphorical sense, or a true feeling that simply cannot be avoided.  Walls are structures that stop, contain, prevent or present an obstacle.  The question is: What do we do about it?  Do we simply stop, turn around and go back to whence we came?  Do we sit at the foot of the wall and merely groan incessantly, hoping that time will crumble the materials of stoppage and somehow it will all just go away?  Or do we attempt to do something — cut a hole through it, climb over it, try and find an alternate route around it?

How we solve problems; what tools we bring to the fore; the manner in which we attempt to tackle life’s conundrums; these are the mark of a successful approach to each and every wall built as an obstacle to the pathways that are presented to us in life.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the walls are many: First, there is the wall of the medical condition itself; then, there is often the wall of the Federal Agency or the Postal Service who cares not about the medical condition, but only that the work is accomplished and completed.  Then, there is the “wall” of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — the very agency which will decide the Federal or Postal employee’s Federal Disability Retirement application.

Consult with an OPM Disability attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, lest the wall of denial that is potentially looming prevents you from moving beyond your medical condition and your inability to perform you job duties.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement under FERS & CSRS: That carefree child

Whatever happened to him or her?  That child who would shrug the shoulders, move on to the next thing and be free of worry or concerns.  “Carefree” is not a synonym for “careless”, or even of “uncaring”; rather, it is the capacity and ability to maneuver throughout this complex universe without allowing for life’s burdens to weigh upon one so heavily that past events prevent future actions of progress and advancement.

That child that is now lost was caring; he or she was also careful in every endeavor, every project and helpful in many ways; yet, that same child was known to be carefree.  Where is that child, now?  What happened such that life interrupted, anxieties developed and stresses multiplied?  Does that same child – now a hunk of an adult sitting in the corner somewhere – stay up at nights worrying about tomorrow, “stressed out” about the next day, paralyzed with panic about the future?

Often, the troubles we face within the confines of our own minds are greater in horror and imagined size, than the reality that is actually to occur.  Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, bipolar spectrums of manic and depressive phases, coupled with suicidal ideations, agoraphobia and other psychiatric diagnoses – these can comprise the lost paths of a child who is no longer carefree, but has grown into adulthood and experiences the commonality of society’s growing problems, exponentially expanded because the rest of society has indeed become uncaring and careless in its treatment of that child who was once carefree.

If that once-carefree child has become a Federal or Postal employee who is suffering now from the cares of the world, and the medical condition no longer allows for the Federal or Postal employee to perform all of the essential elements of the Federal or Postal job, it may be time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits will not be the solution to all of life’s problems, but it can at least begin to pave a path towards “coming home” to a time that we remember, when that carefree child walked about with less of a burden and more of a smile.  Federal Disability Retirement is meant to do that – to allow for the Federal or Postal worker to focus back upon one’s health and well-being and not become burdened with the stresses of work and performance, where love is anything but unconditional and the summer days of tomorrow may still have some warm moments to enjoy.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer

 

OPM Retirement for Mental or Physical Incapacity: Expunging the negative

If all negative words were expunged from the universe, would we hold only positive thoughts?  Or, is there an inherent, innate need to recognize and state the negative, regardless?

If you are sitting in your office and a lion walks in, pounces upon your least-favorite supervisor and devours him whole, do you turn to your colleague and calmly say, “He lived a very good life.”  For, in such a universe, expunging the negative has been already accomplished, and such statements as, “Oh, what a horrible thing to have happened!” is no longer allowable, and the law has forbidden such discourse of linguistic negativity.  Is it possible?

Does conceptual thought depend upon individual language, vocabulary and grammar?  Are there tribes and communities where there exists no language that elicits anything but the positive?  What if there was no word for describing an idiot, or a mean, unpleasant person; would we break the new law and immediately recreate such words and refill our empty prescription such that expunging the negative, or any attempt thereof, becomes an activity of futility and exercise of frustration?  Do conceptual constructs exist without words to describe them, or do words and language games impose upon us a reality that would not otherwise exist?

Thus, if a person does something “mean”, and is caught doing it, but we have no vocabulary to describe, confront, or otherwise accuse the person of the wrongdoing, would a shrill scream or a primordial groan be sufficient, or would we have to “invent” a word for the indescribable event?  Or, would the counterintuitive alternative be the case: The event, not having a word to describe it, and thus there would exist no such conceptual construct, therefore means that it does not exist, and thus is not “wrong” because there is no vocabulary or language game to identify it.

Whatever one’s belief on the matter, expunging the negative requires, at a minimum, a deliberative intent to “remain positive”.  That is often easier said than done, especially if you are a Federal employee or U.S. Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of your Federal or Postal job.  You can certainly attempt to expunge the negative, but the reality is that the underlying medical condition, the harassment at work and the adversarial, hostile atmosphere will continue to exist.

Taking a “real” step – like filing a Federal Disability Retirement application through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether you are under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset – is likely a more “realistic” approach, as opposed to relying upon expunging the negative and failing to see the emperor without his clothes.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement from Federal Employment: The elixir of life

Is the substance we expunge necessarily the opposite of the positive?  Does the mere fact of expiation denote that which is unwanted, or merely no longer of utility?

In ancient times, an elixir was considered to be a substance of great desirability; it possessed multiple meanings, including a reference to that substance which was used in alchemy to alter base-metals into the gleaming riches of the natural order found deep beneath the chasms of the earth – gold.  Or, alternatively, it meant the potion or mysterious concoction that prolonged and extended life into an eternity of ecstasy; and in other definitions, a curative medicine that attended to all diseases, corrected every malady felt and balanced the unbalanced humors within the human body.

A further meaning has encompassed the concept of an essential principle – that core of something that provides an Aristotelian connection of all first causes such that when one discovers and comprehends the elixir of life, one has attained a pinnacle of wisdom next to the gods who otherwise mock the foolishness of human suffering and striving.  But back to the original query: What about the waste that is squeezed from the substance we desire – of human detritus, urine, scatological excretions and the leftovers of those thought to be unproductive; are they not necessary in that, without the capacity to expiate, it would rot within the cavities of the human tissue and destroy the very fabric that retains them?

We often fail, at the expense and detriment of our own thoughtlessness, to consider an inversion category of the original posit; we accept, at face value, that human functions of expiation and riddance constitutes just that – of throwing away, expunging, extricating and discarding – as a categorization we simplify into elementary concepts: what we consume and embrace is “good”, and that which we expiate is “bad”.

Thus do we build toilets in unassuming locations within a residence; outhouses are just that – some dilapidated structure constructed away from the home, and somewhat upwind from the wind currents that carry the daily odors of life’s contrariness.  But is that the proper way to view things?  Should we not, instead, liken our activities to that which a messianic proverb once elicited: How we treat the least among us reflects the true character of our inner nature?

Inversion thinking is a process that is too often overlooked, and because of this, we often walk through life passing by opportunities and gifts otherwise there to be accepted.

For the Federal employee and U.S. Postal worker who suffers from a medical condition, such that the medical condition no longer allows for one to continue with the present course of a Federal or Postal career, it was once believed that the elixir of life was intricately wrapped up in continuing the Federal or Postal job because it allowed for a certain career, standard of living and measure of self-worth.

This is where inversion thinking needs to be considered.  For, at what cost, and what price to be paid?

Preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is often a necessary step in order to attain a level of continence such that the proper balance and focus can be reached – of one’s health, as opposed to continuing in a job that has become harmful; of separating from Federal Service or the Postal facility in order to escape from the daily harassment of somehow being “lesser” because of one’s medical condition; and all of the other garbage that is thrown at the Federal or Postal employee who suffers from a medical condition.

For, the elixir of life is not always that substance we thought was the pathway to a mythological fountain of youth, but an inversion of that thought – of removing, as opposed to taking more on; of separating, in contradistinction to enduring the pain; and of expiating, in contrast to accepting.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Medical Retirement from Federal Government Employment: Parting grace in silence

Does grace extend even when the intended recipient is unaware of its attachment?  Can the undeclared withdrawal of revenge justified have its own inherent rewards, without the unsolicited admission left silent by anonymity undaunted?  If given the choice between leaving the scene where injustice prevailed and dominated – of wreaking revenge or parting grace in silence – which would we choose?

Of course, there is a greater contextual awakening to be narrated before such an event would occur – of quietly enduring the daily harassment, the constant criticism and demeaning remarks; of refuting, rebutting and reacting, as against an agency that initiates adverse actions one after another in sequential persistence of unfettered meanness.

From that erupts the natural tendency in thinking:  “They can’t get away with this”; or, “If I have to spend my last dime, I am going to get even with them.”  Yet, is the cost of revenge worth the time, effort and expenditures depleted?  What does it mean to attain “justice” in an unjust world?  If a verdict is rendered or a settlement reached, what is the barometer by which one has regained one’s reputation, reestablished that one was ‘right’ or recuperated the toil of anguish and angst expended?

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal employee or U.S. Postal worker is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is not a surrender of one’s soul to an agency that has not, will not or otherwise cannot accommodate one’s medical conditions.  Rather, it is an admission that there exists an incommensurability between the particular position occupied and the medical conditions suffered.

That is the point made in the case of Henderson v. OPM, in which the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board reiterated the alternative but equally valid approach in proving a Federal Disability Retirement case by a preponderance of the evidence:  a 1-to-1 ratio between a medical condition and an essential element of one’s Federal or Postal position is not the only methodology in establish a medical condition such that the Federal or Postal employee becomes eligible and entitled to Federal Disability Retirement benefits, but additionally, a showing that there is an incompatibility generally between the position occupied and the medical conditions suffered is also a basis for granting a Federal Disability Retirement benefit.

Whatever workplace issues have been a part of the content and context of a Federal or Postal employee needing to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, once that decision is made to prepare, formulate and file for Federal Disability Retirement, one might consider this:  The past has passed; the present must be endured while waiting upon a decision by OPM; the future is based upon the decision of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management; and in the meantime, where do you want to expend your energies?  You may want to consider parting grace in silence, instead of spinning the proverbial wheels heaping reactive acts of futile counterpunches upon those who know not the terms of justice.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire