It is important to always “define”, “corner”, and “circumscribe” any denial from the Office of Personnel Management. If you do not, then what happens at the next level is that it becomes a “de novo” process. Now, one might argue that all disability retirement appeals to the Merit Systems Protection Board are de novo, anyway. That is true enough — meaning, that all of the evidence is looked at “anew” and without prejudice from any previous finding by the Office of Personnel Management.
Yet, there is the “legal” definition of de novo, and the practical effect of de novo; often, the Administrative Judge at the MSPB will, at a PreHearing Conference, turn to OPM and say, Listen, OPM, it seems that the only reason why it was initially denied was because of X, Y & Z; the applicant certainly answered X & Y in his/her reconsideration answer; is the only thing you are looking for is Z? What this does is to narrow the issue. Often, to save time, face, aggravation and other things, OPM will concede the narrowing of such issues, and this is true if you respond to their administrative queries by defining what they are asking for, then providing it to them, then showing how it has been provided to them, so that they are “cornered”. Thereafter, if it gets denied and it needs to go to the MSPB, the Hearing can then proceed with a narrower, streamlined and limited number of issues to prove. Again, the reason why it is important to define what it is that OPM is asking for, is not only for the “present” case, but in preparation for the potential “future” case.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Clarifications of Laws or Rules, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), When the OPM Application Is Denied | Tagged: addressing the reason for OPM denial, CSRS disability attorney, de novo process in OPM disability law, disability appeal MSPB, disability federal retirement, disability retirement fers, disability retirement for federal civilian workers, disability retirement of postmasters, disability retirement post office, disability retirement under FERS, examining the basis for the denial, FBI employees disability retirement, federal employee disability benefits, federal law enforcement disability retirement, federal usps retirement disability, federal workers temporary disability, going through the disability retirement process, how to narrow issues during appeal, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees disability retirement, lawyer representing postal workers, legal for persuasion and argumentation before MSPB hearing, letter carriers disability retirement, MSPB Administrative Judge (AJ), narrowing down OPM excuses for application denial, opm decisions disability, OPM Denial Letter, OPM disability application tips, OPM disability retirement for DEA employees, owcp disability retirement really is usually meant "opm disability retirement", Petition for Review before the Merit Systems Protection, qualifying for federal disability retirement, Robert McGill, usps fers retirement, usps medical retirement | Leave a comment »