In preparing a Federal or Postal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS, there are often multiple collateral issues which arise: Harassment issues; Unequal Treatment; EEOC issues; Hostile Workplace issues; Discrimination issues; and multiple other issues which may or may not be viable complaints. Such complaints have their proper place, in the proper forum, within the proper context. As I have written multiple times previously on this issue — these employment issues should be avoided in the context of preparing for and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application.
Many of these employment complaints may be viable ones to pursue; some may be pursued concurrently while seeking Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, and will not ultimately defeat or impact such an application (remember that in law, not only can an attorney speak out of three or four sides of his mouth; one is also allowed to make contradictory legal arguments at the same time).
The point is that such collateral arguments and issues should not be a part of the application itself. It may be fine to pursue such workplace issues in a separate and different forum — just not in the process of a Federal Disability Retirement application. If the issue is brought up, the Office of Personnel Management may well use it against you, stating, “Your medical conditions seem to occur as a result of your allegation of the actions of your Supervisor. As such, you suffer merely from situational disability.” Case denied.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application | Tagged: avoiding using the "hostile environment" term in your opm disability claim, cases where the opm claims situational disability, casualty disability retirement and situational disability concepts, civil service disability, civil service eeoc and accommodation issues, collateral issues while on the federal disability retirement application process, dealing with an harassment issue and the usps disability application, disability accommodation efforts in your federal employment, disability eeoc cases against federal agencies, disability legal rights for postal employees, disability retirement at the USPS, discrimination against disabled federal workers and eeoc, eeo complaints and workers comp, federal disability attorney, federal disability employment consultation, federal employee disability, federal misclassified employees and disability issues, FERS disability lawyer, filing for OPM disability retirement, harassment disability postal service work, harassment in US federal government jobs, hostile work environment in the Post Office, labor arbitration issues and federal disability retirement, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, many federal disability retirement cases are situational at the beginning, mixing your federal disability retirement claim with other lawsuits, nationwide representation of federal employees, OPM disability lawyer, opm situational disability as a landmine difficult to overcome, owcp disability retirement, Post Office disability, postal service unequal treatment disability, pragmatic methodology, psychiatric disorder caused by a hostile work environment, pursuing collateral issues besides csrs disability retirement, situational disability and the hostile environment claim, situational OPM disability, the dangers of getting your opm claim situational, unequal treatment issues in the federal workplace, USPS Disability, when to use non-medical evidence in your federal disability claim, when your accommodation request letter is ignored by the federal employer, your rights as a disabled employee in the postal service | Leave a comment »
OPM Disability Retirement 
Federal Employee Medical Retirement: The Potential Drawback
One of the potential drawbacks in pursuing collateral employment issues concomitantly with a Federal Disability Retirement application is that, as such employment issues are active and clearly in the collective consciousness of the Agency, the Supervisor, and all involved, the issue itself often gets sneaked into a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS via the back door.
This is not necessarily a negative thing, but can be a potential drawback if the Supervisor insists upon inserting the details of the collateral action in the Supervisor’s Statement. Whether such insertion and accompaniment with a Federal Disability Retirement application is “proper” or not, is a separate matter. From the perspective of the applicant who is awaiting a decision from the Office of Personnel Management, it matters not as to the proper actions of the Agency. What such actions by the rogue supervisor does, is to deflect the focus away from the medical issue, and redirects the reviewing official/representative at OPM that the “reason” for one’s early retirement is not one based upon a medical issue, but rather, is because of stresses or other factors caused by a hostile work environment, harassment issues, etc. This is normally a proposition which can be easily sidestepped, by arguing to OPM that whether or not such workplace issues have any basis or not, the treating doctor has nevertheless stated X, Y & Z. However, it can still be problematic, and that is why collateral workplace issues should be avoided, if at all possible.
Sincerely, Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Filed under: OPM Disability Actors, Theory and Practice: Tips and Strategies for a Successful Application | Tagged: avoiding using the "hostile environment" term in your opm disability claim, cases where the opm claims situational disability, collateral issues while on the federal disability retirement application process, CSRS disability retirement federal attorney, dealing with an harassment issue and the usps disability application, disability eeoc cases against federal agencies, discrimination against disabled federal workers and eeoc, eeo complaints and workers comp, federal disability attorney, fers disability application supervisor comments, FERS disability retirement, harassment in the Postal Service, harassment is not a medical issue, hostile work environment federal government, law firm representing clients in opm disability law all across america, many federal disability retirement cases are situational at the beginning, mixing discrimination complaints and medical issues in the usps disability retirement application, mixing your federal disability retirement claim with other lawsuits, nationwide representation of federal employees, neutralizing negative statements from supervisor's statements in sf 3112b, OPM disability retirement, owcp disability retirement, postal service disability retirement, potential problems with your fers disability application, psychiatric disorder caused by a hostile work environment, pursuing collateral issues besides csrs disability retirement, remembering that opm disability retirement is primarily a medical issue, representing federal employees in and outside the country, situational disability and the hostile environment claim, Standard Form 3112b, supervisors' revenge against Postal workers, the dangers of getting your opm claim situational, the injured federal worker and the unfair supervisor, the limited power of a supervisor in the fers disability retirement process, the unfair postal supervisor, the venom of the supervisor, unequal treatment issues in the federal workplace, USPS disability retirement, why the sf 3112b matters less than the doctor's statements, your supervisor and federal disability retirement | Leave a comment »