What does it mean to possess “of persuasive effect”? If a person argues in a debate for endless hours, and at the end of it all, various people from the watchful audience turn aside to one another and declare, “Well, he sure was persuasive, but I’m still going to vote for the other guy” — what can such a statement mean? If an acknowledgment of persuasion nevertheless results in an opposite conclusion, can one still maintain that there existed any degree of the very element which was supposed to modulate otherwise?
And legal precedents which must be applied — say, in a Federal Disability Retirement case, where the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is “required by law” to consider certain elements, such as under the Bruner case or the Simpkins case and subsequent case-law holdings which “mandate” that OPM consider the proffered evidence as cited by a Legal Memorandum — do they necessitate a certain outcome, or is it merely “persuasive but not determinative”, and what does that mean? Is it that the level of persuasion was just “not enough”, and while it might have come somewhat close, it just didn’t have that final “clincher” to put it over the goal line?
And if we know beforehand that “persuasive effect” won’t necessarily result in a “determinative impact”, do we just not try at all, or is the mere possibility of “tipping the balance in one’s favor” enough to try and attempt to persuade?
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, and where preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application becomes necessary, the impact of a Legal Memorandum — prepared and submitted along with the Federal Disability Retirement “packet” — is like traveling with Google Maps guiding one into unfamiliar territory. Without it, the reviewing “specialist” at OPM will simply be presented with a stack of information with no indexing or cover sheet.
With it, the importance of persuasive effect is there to guide the OPM reviewer into seeing what is relevant and what is not; of the legal cases that are impactful and persuasive; and of the mandated requirements in applying the proper legal criteria, and not merely of empty arguments that seemingly possess of persuasive effect, but lead to conclusions otherwise left without direction.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: accepting a modified job offer through owcp or filing for a medical pension through opm, air traffic control medical retirement lawyer, arbitration usps reasonable accommodation committee, attorney specialized in disability retirement for air traffic controller medically disqualified, bending and walking restrictions long term disability in federal employment, ca-17 duty status report medical discrimination, can medically disqualified air traffic controllers receive disability? yes but it’s not an automatic approval, clinical findings long term medical condition physician report dol gov attorney, craft job limited duty postal service employee, department of labor physician assessment ca-17 long term disabling illness, disability retirement us postal service attorney, el paso texas fers disability retirement attorney, emotional reaction claims under federal employees disability retirement laws, employee advised to resume work dol workers comp form, fed agency won’t comply with sitting and standing restriction doctor, federal disability sf3112, federal employee medical inability to perform removal doesn’t mean he/she will get medical retirement, federal government reasonable accommodation attorney, federal government worker disability migraines lawyer, federal work requirenments employee accommodation, fers laws and grievance procedures disability discrimination federal employee, fers medical retirement forms, fers medical retirement lawyer serving el paso tx residentes, filing a us postal grievance for medical discrimination and early retirement, filing for postal disability retirement for rsi, grievance postal service reasonable accommodation committee, heart disease medical retirement under fers or csrs, how to quit the postal service and file for med annuities, how to resign from the usps due to deteriorating health condition, lawsuit usps injury compensation denial, letter examples or attorney support for early retirement because of disability under fers or civil service, letter of removal postal service medical inability to perform, light duty accommodation in federal government not adequate, medical fers resignation request and free first time attorney consultation, medical review obstructive sleep apnea fers disability, opm employee medical issues laws, pension annuity medical related fers federal employee, postal off the job injury of federal employee, qualifying for medical disability for stress leave usps, questions about postal service disability retirement and health insurance, reconsideration from owcp while filing for opm med ret., repetitive strain injury (rsi) postal workers, rsi medical retirement from the u.s. postal service, u.s. postal service long term leave for medical impairments, usps light duty and disability retirement forms, usps long term disability rural carrier, va employee impaired, vocational rehabilitation after an injury or disabled condition in the post office, when you get denied by workers comp and usps wants you to return to full status against family doctor orders | Leave a comment »
OPM Disability Retirement for Federal & Postal Employees: Identity
“One day I woke up and looked in the mirror, and realized that I was no longer the person who I thought I was.”
Is this a line from a novel? Or, perhaps a thought which so many people have considered? Or even a universal realization which comes as no surprise to anyone. Who am I? Who are you?
Do such queries become satisfied by taking out one’s driver’s license and declaring, “Here. This satisfies the question. This proves it!” Yet, somehow, we all know that it doesn’t.
People who search for their family “tree”; the uptick of businesses which match one’s DNA to various geographical markers; the rummaging through old photo albums, cellar chests and basement hideaways which might reveal something more than the rat race of paying bills — we all seek relevance in a universe which considers identity to be besides the point. And when an event further diminishes one’s identity, what then?
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers whose identity has been inextricably tied to one’s job, position, career, etc., within the Federal government or Postal Service, filing for FERS Disability Retirement may be a traumatic but necessary next step. It is always difficult to part ways from one’s identity as a competent working-X; but it may be necessary, precisely because the medical condition no longer allows you to remain attached to that identity.
Contact an OPM Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and consider the future and what identifiable identity you wish to pursue in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Reflections of an OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer | Tagged: air traffic controller medical retiring documentation, appeal stage federal disability lawyer, appealing commentary on usps drac committee recommendations, assistance with legal forms crsr retirement for carpal tunnel, attorney specialized in disability retirement for air traffic controller medically disqualified, bullying federal government employees with cognitive limitations, can medically disqualified air traffic controllers receive disability? yes but it’s not an automatic approval, clinical findings long term medical condition physician report dol gov attorney, department of labor physician assessment ca-17 long term disabling illness, employee advised to resume work dol workers comp form, fed agency won’t comply with sitting and standing restriction doctor, federal employee medical inability to perform removal doesn’t mean he/she will get medical retirement, federal employee medical restriction form, federal employees borrowing sick leave for long term condition, federal government disability retirement lawyers for mental disorders, federal medical retirement attorney, federal work requirenments employee accommodation, fers & csrs fed gov attorney specialized in getting disability retirement for mental conditions, government employee form long term sickness medical condition, hud gov medical retirement lawyer, insufficient usps drac committee accommodation, long term usps workers comp benefits, mail handlers grievance medical discrimination oregon usps, mental disorder related work owcp, opm disability due to depression attorney assistance, opm form leave of absence long term sickness, opm immediate disability approval benefits, opm information about disability retirement under fers or csrs, opm legal assistance disability retirement at opm, opm medical retirement attorney help with paperwork nalc, opm proof of disability rating and other supporting documentation, opm washington dc retirement for injury attorney, opm when one year medical lwop ends with federal government file for disability, post office disability retirement lawyer, postal disability lawyer, specialized lawyer for cases of medical retirement from federal government (fers and csrs), usps sf50 removal action medical condition, usps wrongful termination misconduct mental condition, when light duty is not available in the federal gov. | Leave a comment »