Last Updated on April 30, 2009
Many individuals who have tried to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under CSRS or FERS get the disability retirement application denied at the Initial Stage of the process. Would I rather have had that person come to me at the First Stage and have me prepare & file it? Yes. Are the mistakes made by the unrepresented Federal or Postal Worker irreversible? No. Would the disability retirement application been approved at the First Stage had it been prepared and filed by me? Probably. This is not to say, however, that all of my cases get passed through at the First Stage. However, many of the mistakes which I see over and over, made by unrepresented individuals, could — and should — have been avoided.
Further, many people who call me after getting the initial denial are surprised to hear me tell them that I don’t care what the OPM denial letter states. While making for interesting bedside reading, the fact of the matter is that once you have read one such denial letter, you’ve essentially “read them all”. Rarely is there anything new in an OPM denial letter. OPM representatives use a template, and fill in dates and references to various medical reports and doctor’s records; but the conclusion of the denial letters are fairly identical: the medical evidence is considered “insufficient” to meet the legal criteria to be eligible for disability retirement benefits. It is the job of the attorney to go back to the doctors, get the proper medical documentation, then argue the law to the Office of Personnel Management. The Second (Reconsideration) Stage of the process is a critical stage — for, if it is denied at this level, the next level takes it a “notch” higher — before an Administrative Judge at the Merit Systems Protection Board.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire