Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: To Enter the Gates Blindly

Being naive is a quality and character trait which is distinguishable from innocence; in this world where information and the opportunity to obtain wisdom is vast and limitless, retaining the former quality may be unpardonable, whereas maintaining a level of innocence may reveal a life of self-discipline, where one has deliberately placed lines of demarcation around one’s life, and insisted upon not being sullied by the world around us.

One can remain innocent, yet not be naive.  While the converse may also be possible, it is important not to deliberately avoid the harsh reality around us.

Thus, in preparing, formulating, and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it is important that one enters into the metaphorical gates of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management with eyes of wisdom and experience, and not be saddled with the blind naiveté of thinking that the administrative process will be one of fairness and just analysis.

Assume that OPM will attempt to selectively read medical reports and records with an eye to deny; presume that they will ignore crucial evidentiary documentation which upholds one’s case; expect that legal “triggers” such as the Bruner Presumption or the holding in Trevan will be unimpressive.

That is why that which may be implicit, needs to always be made explicit, and repetitively so.  While it may be advantageous for one to enter the proverbial pearly gates with innocence, to enter through the gates of OPM with naiveté is merely inviting a door slammed shut.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Employee Medical Retirement: Time and Concision

In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it is important to allocate the time properly — not from one’s own perspective, but from the viewing aspect of the Office of Personnel Management.

This is often a difficult point to consider, and indeed, more difficult to acknowledge and recognize.  For, the applicant who is preparing and formulating a Federal Disability Retirement application often views the substantive content of a Federal Disability Retirement packet as an opportunity to spew out all of the facts and circumstances which coalesced and accumulated in the course of the past few years, which resulted in the present need to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits in the first place.

Thus, the compendium of assertions often includes medical facts, opinions, etc.; allegations concerning hostile work environment; mistreatment by coworkers and supervisors; the bathtub (and the baby) encapsulating every conceivable medical diagnosis and symptoms; allegations against one’s agency; and multiple other compilation of facts, opinions, statements and propositions.  But a Federal Disability Retirement application is neither the place, the time, nor the proper forum for all such aggregations of such information.

Concision and narrow, focused pinpointing of facts, statements, and references to medical conditions; their impact upon one’s inability to perform the essential elements of one’s job — that is the key to an effective Federal Disability Retirement application.

Time is a valuable commodity — for everyone, including the Case Worker at OPM.  Moreover, a focused approach — one guided by a concise and time-sensitive criteria — will be the one which OPM will recognize as one worthy of consideration, if not for the simple fact that it is an “easier read” than that one in the corner with a 36-inch stack of medical records.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire