Often, cases are mishandled not because of the “present” mistake, but because the case was never prepared for the “long-term” event. Let me elaborate and explain. Obviously, an applicant for disability retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS wants to win the case at the earliest stage of the process. The attorney who is handling any such disability retirement case, similarly, would like to “win” the case at the earliest stage possible. However, sometimes that is simply not going to be the case.
In an initial denial, it is often important to not only address the case for the Reconsideration Stage, but also to prepare the case for the next stage — the Merit Systems Protection Board (and, similarly, in preparing an application for Disability Retirement, it is important to prepare such an application not only for the initial review at OPM, but also for the Reconsideration Stage). By this, I mean that, because there is at least a “possibility” that the disability retirement application will be denied again at the Reconsideration Stage, it is important to point out the deficiencies, the lack of clarity, the inadequate reasoning, the outright lies and mis-statements which the Office of Personnel Management may have engaged in as part of the “Discussion” Section of the denial letter. Often, while OPM may give some “lip-service” to make it appear as if your case was thoroughly reviewed, a closer reading (on second thought, it need not even be a closer reading) clearly shows that OPM did a shabby job in denying a case. It is what I ascribe as OPM’s “generic denial” — a denial so devoid of any particularity or care as to reveal a complete lack of proper administrative review of the case. Such lack of proper administrative review is what needs to be shown; it needs to be shown because, if OPM denies the case again, then it is advantageous to the applicant to have the Administrative Law Judge at the Merit Systems Protection Board see that he will be hearing a case which may not have been necessary — but for the lack of diligence on the part of OPM.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Process - 2nd Stage: OPM Reconsideration Stage, OPM Disability Process - 3rd Stage: MSPB Stage, When the OPM Application Is Denied | Tagged: applicant's statement of disability, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, deficiencies of an OPM disability denial, disability federal retirement, disability fers, examining the basis for the denial, federal disability application, federal disability form, federal retirement disability, FERS Disability Application, going through the disability retirement process, information applying for fers disability, Initial Stage of the OPM disability process, injured federal employees, lack of proper administrative review, legal help after first application denial, letter carriers disability, maintaining a positive attitude, misstatements as basis for denial, MSPB Third Stage, OPM arbitrary reasoning, opm decisions disability, OPM Denial Letter, OPM disability appeal to the MSPB, opm disability forms, OPM First Stage Disability Application, OPM Reconsideration Stage, OPM Representative, OPM's lack of diligence, OPM's methodology, postal office disability, pragmatic methodology, preparing an OPM disability application for the long term, preponderance of the evidence documents, Second Step OPM Appeal, strategists for a good opm disability application, the approval process for opm disability retirement, the approval/disapproval process, us postal service disability retirement, USPS disability retirement, usps rural carrier injury, what to do in the OPM Reconsideration Stage, when opm disability retirement is denied, when the OPM rejects medical evidence, why the OPM denies a disability application? | Leave a comment »