Last Updated on November 19, 2009 by FERS Disability Attorney
I often wonder how many unrepresented disability retirement applicants there are who, having received a denial letter at the First Stage of the process of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS, never file a Request for Reconsideration because they believe what the Office of Personnel Management stated in the Denial Letter. Sometimes, I will get telephone calls from people who want to file, and during the course of the conversation, it will come out that they had filed a few years previously, and had been denied. “Did you file a Request for Reconsideration, at the time?” I ask. “No,” is the answer. “Why not?” I ask. The typical answer? “Because I just thought there was no way to fight them on it.”
I used to be amazed at such answers, but after some thought, it makes sense. As an attorney, my first instinct (both trained and natural) is to always take something to the next level, with the firm belief that I will prevail just by pure persistence, and by using the law as “a sword” in the process of fighting for my clients. But most people are not lawyers (some would say, thank goodness for that, we have enough lawyers in the world), and when the Office of Personnel Management writes up a denial letter, then allegedly cites “the law”, and makes bold conclusions such as, “You do not meet the eligibility criteria under the laws governing disability retirement…” It all sounds convincing. It all sounds like any further action will be an act of futility. But just because OPM “says so” doesn’t make it true, doesn’t make it right, and certainly doesn’t make it unwinnable. They may say you don’t meet the eligbility criteria; I would argue otherwise.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Tags:
civil service retirement system for injured workers,
CSRS disability retirement federal attorney,
defending your rights to fers disability benefits,
did the opm deny your disability application? Not the end of the world!,
don't get discouraged if the opm denies you disability at first,
eligibility requirements to qualify for postal service disability,
federal owcp civil service disability,
FERS disability retirement,
fighting for your federal employee disability benefits,
fighting the usps nrp,
Filing the Request for Reconsideration after first OPM denial,
form to request appeal opm disability,
formal postal worker working part-time while on opm disability,
how the opm disability process really works,
how to handle a reconsideration request to the opm,
know your rights and learn more about the whole opm disability process,
learn the secrets of winning opm disability even after initial denials,
llight duty status usps,
medical retirement federal government,
meeting the criteria of eligibility for csrs disability retirement,
mistakes that opm disability applicants without an attorney make,
opm disability appeal problems and uncertainties,
OPM disability retirement,
OPM First Stage Disability Application,
opm medical retirement qualification ruled by legal criteria of eligibility,
oversight of the federal disability appeals process,
Postal disability retirement,
Postal Service disability,
postal workers injured on the job,
procedures for requesting opm disability retirement reconsideration,
refuting an opm denial letter,
request for immediate medical retirement for federal workers,
Responding to an Initial Federal Disability Retirement Denial of Benefits,
the denial disability letter issued by the opm,
the discouraged and injured postal worker,
the dreaded denial letter,
the role of an attorney in a federal disability case,
The Unrepresented OPM Disability Applicant,
tip for the unrepresented opm disability applicant: never give up,
uncertainty and stress in the wait to get fers csrs disability,
us postal service disability retirement,
usps disability benefits,
USPS disability retirement,
what to do if the opm denies your disability,
when opm denies your disability benefits,
when opm disability retirement is denied