Federal Employee Disability Retirement: Selfishness

Many are taught concerning the virtues of selflessness; that in a society of greater complexities, that is often a good thing.  But there are times when the opposite must be considered:  of selfishness, when weighing the relative import of contending values.

Now, one might begin such a discussion with the wink of irony:  “Doesn’t it depend upon how we define the terms, to begin with”?  Yes, it does; for, relativity in ethics, while denied by many with a religious “bent” because it is assumed that everything relative cannot be universalized, and as we are all under the misguided Kantian notion that if anything is less than a universal, it must by necessity be invalid.  Yet, if you read Aristotle correctly, it is always from the particulars by which universals develop, and in that respect, it is the very foundation of Truth.

“Selfishness”, at some point, in specific circumstances, can be a “good” thing.  The selfless individual who has disregarded his or her own well-being in pursuance of the good for others, at some point must return to the care and maintenance of the self, if only to conserve and persevere in order to fight for another day.

Federal Gov. employees and U.S. Postal Service workers are a prime example of the selfless devotion to duty, to responsibility, and a sense of carrying out “the mission” for the agency — often at the expense of one’s own health.   When the time comes, however, when the Federal or Postal employee has sacrificed his or her own health in the process of working to death one’s self, for the furtherance of the agency’s mission, then it is time to consider becoming somewhat “Selfish”, and in that context, selfishness is a “good” thing.

Contact a FERS Disability Retirement Attorney at the point when selflessness becomes a necessary transformation into selfishness, and begin the process of initiating a Federal Disability Retirement application under the FERS system, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in order to embrace the ultimate concept of self-contradiction:  Of the selfish selflessness.

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.

 

Federal Disability Retirement Application: Mistakes Made

Obviously, it is better to not make a mistake before the mistake is made than to have to correct the mistake after the mistake has in fact been made.

Mistakes are peculiar animals.  They come into existence out of nowhere; everyone who makes them disavows ownership; yet, like the tiger in the jungle who quietly and suddenly appears from the thickness of the vegetation, once made, it roars at you with a frightening rush and threatens to devour you before you can react.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition where the medical condition necessitates the filing of an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is looking for that “mistake” which will be the basis of denying your OPM Disability Retirement application.

Best not to make that mistake; best to avoid the mistake before it is made.

Contact a FERS Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and follow the obvious rule of life: Best to not make a mistake before the mistake is made; however, if you have already made the mistake, better not to make the mistake worse, and best to contact a lawyer who can correct the mistake before the Bengal Tiger devours you as the next noon meal.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Federal Disability Lawyer

  

Medical Retirement Benefits for US Government Employees: The Spiraling Life

There are spiral church towers; spiraling stair cases; spiraling lives — often, and seemingly, out of control.

Anxiety is often described as spiraling upward and out of control; depression, downward, with loss of objectivity.  “Control”, of course, is the preferred and accepted normative structure in daily living, and to be “out-of-control” means that we are unable to keep our fears in check, our anxieties within restrictive limits, and our depressive symptoms within reasonable boundaries.

The way in which we live — of the demands of work, obligations of family, the emotional baggage we carry with us from childhood onwards — contributes greatly to the manner of our lives.  The spiraling life — whether by choice or by habit — is too often the one we are left with.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition seems to be spiraling out of control, contact an OPM Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law and consider the option of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: The Tightening Standard

Some would say that, since 2018 or so, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has been “tightening” the standards in Federal Disability Retirement Law.  Perhaps that is a valid point.

However, whether by way of an unofficial quota system or because there has been a policy change at the highest levels, the fact remains that there are laws in place which must be followed, a criteria of regulations which must be complied with, and standards dictated by case-law and legal opinions set both by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, as well as by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which govern all decision rendered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

All benefits must be fought for, and fought hard.  Nothing should ever be taken for granted.

Whether one believes that there is a tightening standard or not, the applicable rules, regulations and case-laws must be asserted, cited and demanded to be applied, and that is why, when a Federal or Postal employee begins the process of preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it is a given that you should consult with an experienced attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, to prepare for the fight ahead.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS Disability Retirement: Proof and Knowledge

The two go hand in hand.  That, in and of itself — of “going hand in hand” — is a peculiar metaphor; for, like couples holding hands while taking a walk in the proverbial park, do hands necessarily have to be held in order for comity to be established?  Can a person, for example, have proof without knowledge or, conversely, knowledge without proof?

If a bloodied knife is picked up beside a dead body, can a person declare, “I have proof!”  Yes, but proof of what?  Perhaps that the dead person died from a knife wound; or that the owner of the weapon has etched his or her initials upon the handle of the implements, etc.  But as to “whodunit” — the weapon itself may now be the crucial piece of evidence.  But what of “knowledge”?

Again, it would be different if the same person, taking the identical hypothetical, declared: “I know who did it — that person there!”  [As the accusing individual points to a shrouded man standing afar in the crowd, hat tilted to shadow his face, hunched in an oversized raincoat and furtively attempting to disappear into the crowd].

So one now has “knowledge”, and perhaps even “proof” (i.e., fingerprints on the knife; eyewitnesses who identify the man in the raincoat as the guilty party; video of the act itself, caught by a British CCTV camera that was recording in the middle of nowhere — by the way, how in the world do the British get away with so many surveillance cameras?).

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal employees who are considering preparing and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, remember that Proof and Knowledge must, indeed, go “hand in hand” in preparing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.

Proof is not just one’s medical condition; it must include a showing of a verifiable deficiency and a nexus to one’s job elements; and knowledge is not just “knowing” that one is disabled — it must include meeting all of the multiple criteria of the laws governing Federal Disability Retirement.

Thus, you may already have the “proof”, but you should consult an attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law in order to gather the “knowledge” necessary to qualify for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Disability Retirement for Federal Government Employees: The last Edwardian

What does it mean to be an “Edwardian”?  The reign of Edward VII was brief, but its influence is often extended to periods both before and long after in an aggregation of understanding “trends” that were noted, and often idealized.

It is a period of little interest to most Americans, except perhaps when there is some vague reference during a period of a royal scandal or a royal wedding that somehow touches the fancy across the great ocean that divides.  And despite our English “roots”, scant attention is paid to the history of England in either schoolbooks or offered curricula, except in referring to those dastardly “redcoats” who quartered themselves uninvited and had the audacity to tax its colonies without proper representation in Parliament.  Or so the memory of one’s childhood history lessons are recalled.

That period — whether one extends it some decades before, or well into the “Roaring Twenties” — actually lasted only from 1901 – 1910, but left a romanticized memory of lazy summer days, prosperity, greater involvement of women and the “common man” into the political arena, and came to symbolize the dawn of the “modern era”.  Whether such an idealized recollection actually reflected any reality of the era is open to debate.  But, then, that is what we cling to when situations worsen, isn’t it — of an idealized “before” in contrast to the stark gloom of “after”?

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, that desperate “clinging on” to one’s job may in part be attributable to the need to be that last Edwardian — of a “before” (before the onset of the medical condition) when life seemed more rewarding, when pain, discomfort or overwhelming anxiety was not only unthought of, but never occurred as an issue of consideration — who “after” the onset of the medical condition can now only recall the romantic period that once was.

Filing a Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, may not solve every problem that besets the Federal or Postal employee who can no longer consistently get to work and accomplish all that is required by the position; but it does allow the Federal or Postal employee to prioritize and focus more upon the reality of one’s current situation — one’s health — and not become entrapped in trying to be that last Edwardian.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The 1956 version of the film (the only one worth watching) was in black & white, and created a sensation among French Existentialists for the greatest horror committed upon a human being:  to strip one of all human emotion, and transform the person into a robotic automaton of sorts.

Camus’ novel, The Stranger, reveals a similar theme through the titular character, Meursault, where the absurdity of life, the indifference of humanity, all serve to compel him to commit a murder without reason or rationale, in a universe without emotion — until the very end when, faced with the certainty of the guillotine, he responds with rage at a chaplain who wants him to atone for his sins.

Life itself can be the slow drip-drip-drip of stripping one of emotions, somewhat like spores which fall and turn into seed pods, and slowly attaches, drains, and diminishes the uniqueness of the individual; or like the greater absurdity of performing apparently meaningless tasks, where a sense of separateness and division occurs as a chasm between worth and work, as when Sisyphus rolls the boulder up the hill, only to see it slither back down the other side.

Medical conditions sometimes awaken us from the slumber of absurdity.  It is in and of itself an anomaly of sorts, to have to face the mortality and fragility of one’s life, thereby unraveling thoughts of worthiness in a world devoid of care, empathy or concern.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, for the Federal employee or the U.S. Postal worker, is a step taken to climb out of that chasm or void of dissipating meaningfulness.  For, when a medical condition begins to impact one’s capacity and ability to continue bringing meaning and purposefulness to a job, within a context of an agency which shows indifference and outright animosity, it is time to escape the alien pods and devise an escape route from the invasion of the body snatchers.

It is like Sartre’s quip that Hell “is other people” — of that moment when a person looks through a keyhole and views another as a mere object, then senses someone else behind, and realizes that you were being watched watching others as an object, only to be considered as an object as well.  Similarly, when a Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service begins to treat the Federal or Postal employee as a fungible object of nominal worth, it is time to seek and monetize one’s worth at another location, another context, a different venue.

Medical conditions demean and diminish in multiple ways:  one’s own consciousness recognizes the devaluation of being “less than whole”; others begin to approach and treat with trepidation; and Federal agencies and the U.S. Postal Service fail to accommodate according to the laws already in place.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, is a means to an end.  The “means” requires an affirmative step by the Federal or Postal employee to traverse from the Federal agency or the U.S. Postal Service by beginning the preparation and formulation for filing of an OPM Disability Retirement application; the “exit” is the concerted effort to run afar from those spores from heaven, as the body snatchers who drain life and vitality through the keyhole of sanity where absurdity and meaning clash in a titanic battle for human worth.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement Law: Avoidance

It begins with a subtle turning away, perhaps; reduction of contact, lessening of coincidental interactions, etc.  The fact is, in an office environment, or out in the proverbial “field” of employment, if a coworker or supervisor wants to get a hold of you, they normally can, and with aggressive intent, quite quickly.  But suddenly and in a spiral trajectory of avoidance, people begin to shun and shove aside.

It’s not like the medical condition is contagious, or will by some mysterious process of osmosis spread like a viral wildfire merely by standing next to you; but that is how it is perceived and attributed.  When a medical condition impacts one’s ability to perform the essential elements of one’s job, whether the person is a Federal employee or a U.S. Postal worker, the palpable sense of ostracizing begins immediately.

Loss of productivity; being placed on a PIP; developing a reputation for being on the wrong side of an agency’s favor; these are all of the ills which portend; and the greater the degree of avoidance by fellow workers, the increasing pressure of evidence to begin the process of preparing, formulating and filing for OPM Disability Retirement.  Federal Disability Retirement is a process which can take many months, and is ultimately filed with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

The inevitable is written in the rosters of future events; avoidance merely delays that which will come about, anyway; and procrastination exponentially compounds the cumulative problems aggregated by neglect.  Thus does avoidance work to wound, and rarely to enhance, the fragile future of the Federal or Postal employee in securing one’s financial stability, by filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through OPM.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire