U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board & Disability Retirement: The Quiet Case

There are a significant amount — of the one’s without a fanfare, no formal MSPB opinion, but nevertheless, a “win”.

Many Federal and Postal employees get to that Stage — Stage 3 — an appeal to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.  At this Stage, all reasonable attempts to persuade the medical specialists at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management have failed.

At the First Stage of the process, you filed your best shot and provided the utmost of medical documentation, but they denied you, anyway.  Perhaps it was because your previous year’s performance ratings were excellent, and you may have even received a cash award.  Or, maybe the medical opinions of your doctors were not sufficient.  Maybe OPM wasn’t persuaded that your condition would last at least 12 months.

Whatever the reasons, you had to go through the Second Stage of the process — the Reconsideration Stage.  You gathered whatever else you could, and submitted it within the timeframe allotted.  You hoped for the best.  When the denial came — the Second Denial — you knew you were in trouble.  The MSPB?  How are you going to maneuver through that complex maze before an Administrative Judge?

And this is essentially the “last stop” — for, if you don’t win it here, you will likely not prevail at a Petition for Review, and going to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals is prohibitively expensive, and likely not winnable.  Yet, the MSPB opens up a great opportunity — for, what most people don’t realize, is that it is an opportunity for “the Quiet Win”.

Before you ever go to a Hearing on the case; before you have to prepare your Pre-Hearing Submissions — it is an opportunity to listen carefully to the OPM Representative assigned to your case.  If you listen carefully, you will have the opportunity to quietly and behind the scenes, submit additional evidence which could result in that 2.5 Stage of the process — between the Denial of the Reconsideration Stage and the Hearing before an Administrative Judge at the MSPB.

Of course, it will help if you also have an experienced FERS Disability Retirement Attorney involved, who can help you through the “Quiet Case.”

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 Disability Attorney Legal Assistance: The Intended Goal

Every now and again, we see a video clip of the goal NOT intended — of a running back turned around and making for the wrong end zone; of a basketball player stick his or her leg out to block a pass, only to have the deflection make an arc and swish into the wrong basket; and other similar deviations from the intended goal.

Later in life, people forget to evaluate and analyze first what the intended goal is, before hazarding a lengthy trek towards the conclusion — i.e., years later, do we look at it and say to ourselves, “I should have…”.

OWCP under the Federal Department of Labor is one such animal where the intended goal is often overlooked.  OWCP is not a retirement system; instead, it is a benefit meant to return the Federal or Postal worker back to work.  FERS OPM Medical Retirement, on the other hand, is a system where one’s medical condition will allow the Federal or Postal worker to become eligible for early Federal or Postal Disability Retirement.

You can actually obtain an approval for FERS Disability Retirement while receiving OWCP benefits; you just can’t receive TTD and a FERS annuity concurrently, but you can have the FERS Disability Retirement approved but inactive.

The process for both is rather complicated, but if the intended goal is to retire early because you will never be able to go back to your former Federal or Postal job, you may want to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS.

Yes, yes, OWCP pays more — for the present — but FERS Disability Retirement continues to build your retirement system by counting the years you remain on Federal Disability Retirement until age 62.

Contact a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in OPM Disability Retirement, and begin to process of evaluating and analyzing the intended goal.

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.

 

OPM Medical Retirement Benefits: Swords and Shields

It is often in the manner by which one utilizes and applies an implement, which determines whether or not to characterize the tool as either a “sword” or a “shield”.  Thus, a shield used to pummel an opponent is to use the defensive tool as an offensive weapon, and the use of a traditional sword in parrying in order to ward off an attack, is to use the sword as a shield.

Words; language; “the law” — all can be used in offensive ways, as well as by defensive maneuvers.  Preemptive argumentation can be considered as both a sword and a shield, depending upon how the reasoned soliloquy is presented.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS, it is important to weave one’s legal argument both as swords and shields — providing legal citations, argumentation, reasoned explanations, etc., in presenting why you meet all of the legal requirements and criteria encompassing the global compendium of issues which need to be addressed, from invoking the Bruner Presumption when applicable; to explaining why the Bracey standard of accommodations has been met, and to preemptively strike against anticipated objections which will be plentiful and appearing to be valid, as argued by OPM.

Contact a Federal Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and make sure that your swords and shields are adequately used and properly applied.

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 Disability Retirement Benefits: Complacency

It is the state of safety, when the natural guards for self-preservation are let down because the security of prior successes allow for the sense of disregard to develop.  Complacency is the self-satisfaction that not a greater effort needs to be expended, that the pinnacle of energy required has been surpassed and the competitive structure of struggling no longer exists.

Then, a problem arises; a new challenge has arisen; some crippling interruption has occurred and suddenly the competitive arena has been enlivened.  Complacency is replaced with a renewed vigor to meet the challenge, and the cycle begins all over again.  Companies and corporate giants experience regularly such a cycle; individuals, as well.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who were able to “get by” with an acceptable level of complacency, but then became disabled because of a medical condition, an illness or an accident, the challenge is to get back to where you once were — where once complacency could see you through.

If that is not possible, however, and the challenge of the medical condition no longer allows you to get by, consult with a FERS Attorney who specializes in FERS Disability Retirement benefits and consider preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Employee FERS Disability Retirement application, lest complacency no longer allows you to continue in your career of choice.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Disability Retirement Law: Of What Others Say

It can become an obsession, of sorts; of what others say, the gossip mill grinding out the tidbits of misinformation relayed in corners and hallways of offices; and the furtive looks that raise eyebrows and suspicions beyond the imagination that goes wild with unfettered fears abounding.  Of what others say can be disconcerting, dismaying and disturbing; and while some can purport to remain unbothered by it all, most have a baseline of sensitivity which is jostled by the whispering negativity of others.

Of what others say — it can ruin a reputation, delay a promotion or dismantle a friendship, all in the swooping cupful of a comment thrown, a statement carelessly (or carefully) lobbed, and like a javelin piercing the hardened earth beyond, directed with precision so that the one who hears will have an implanted seed which grows from doubt into a full-grown tree of suspicion.  Whether true or not, the words whispered can travel far and wide, and can become dispensed indiscriminately amidst the rumor-mill of destructive conclusions.

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, filing an OPM Federal Disability Retirement application through — first one’s own H.R. Department (if you are not yet separated or, if separated, the separation has not been for more than 31 days) — the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it is important to consider the timing of one’s filing, as well as who to inform, what to inform, and how to inform.

Rumors are bound to abound; and of what others say can often be countered with effective legal representation, where the very entrance of an attorney can set the record straight.  Consult with a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let the things of what others say become a whisper of nothingness that silences the gossiper’s stammering lips.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire