Chris Attig, an MSPB and Federal Disability Retirement attorney with the Attig Law Firm, explains what evidence is needed to prove mental incompetence was the reason for a late-filed application for Federal Disability Retirement.

The Federal employee or postal worker applying for  FERS or CSRS federal disability retirement has thirty (30) days from receipt of the  OPM reconsideration to file an  MSPB appeal challenging  OPM’s denial of  federal disability retirement Benefits.

Often, the federal employee or postal worker who cannot or has not hired an attorney runs the risk of missing this deadline if their medical condition worsens and hospitalizes them.  Now, the  MSPB loves it deadlines, and will find any missed deadline as good enough reason [...]

Can absence, alone, be enough to qualify a Postal or Federal Employee for  FERS or CSRS disability retirement through OPM?

Generally, no.  In many situations, a Postal worker or Federal employee’s medical condition is so severe that they cannot even attempt the attendance required of them.  In this cases, the employee’s absence from work due to a medical condition will be a factor in deciding whether the federal disability retirement applicant is eligible for  disability retirement benefits. However, there will usually need to [...]

Assuming that a postal worker or federal employee meets all the basic eligibility  requirements for FERS or CSRS federal disability retirement, they will have to persuade the  MSPB Administrative Judge  that their medical condition renders them unable to provide useful and efficient government service.

How exactly do you persuade the  MSPB of this?  There are five (5) ways a USPS or Federal employee can use evidence to persuade the  MSPB Administrative Judge that his or her medical condition is sufficiently disabling [...]

By far, the most common question that applicants for  FERS or CSRS disability retirement ask the  Attig Law Firm is whether and when a federal employee or postal worker should hire an attorney.  There is no easy answer to this question.  No case or situation is the same, so there is no way that any attorney can give you a “standard” answer to this question.  Here is the general guidance that we give to postal workers or federal employees who [...]

In some situations,  OPM will grant your FERS or CERS disability retirement benefits, and later, make a determination that you are restored to earning capacity. At that point, they will stop paying your federal disability retirement benefits.

Many times, this happens in the case of annuities granted for mental health conditions like depression, PTSD, anxiety or stress disorders, etc.  The annuitant, after treatment, may see his or her condition temporarily improve, only to return to its disabling state at a later [...]

The subject of today’s post is whether obesity, or morbid obesity, might qualify you for FERS or CSRS Disability retirement through OPM.

Obesity is a well-recognized medical condition.  Unfortunately, too many  MSPB judges view this condition as one that is the “fault” of the person with obesity.   Medical experts have identified hundreds of medical conditions, or physical or genetic factors, which can cause obesity, including: reduced metabolic rates, pituitary gland disease, pituitary gland tumors, underactive thyroid, Prader-Willi syndrome, Stein-Leventhal syndrome, Frohlich [...]

Can  OPM deny a federal disability retirement application to a postal worker or federal employee on the grounds that they entered Federal Civil Service with a pre-existing condition?

In some unique situations,  OPM may be able to, so long as their decision does not lead to an absurd result.  In Davis v. OPM, 64 MSPR 1, 4 (1994), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reminded practitioners that where an appellant enters Federal service with a pre-existing medical condition, he or she will [...]

We recently learned of this exchange in oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court earlier this week, in a case styled Astrue v. Ratliff, an attorney fee case under the Equal Access to Justice Act.

In oral arguments, the government attorney conceded that in at least 50-60% of the claims in which the U.S. Government litigates with Veterans, the government position is not substantially justified.

The speakers in the excerpt below are U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Roberts and U.S. Solicitor [...]

When is the best time to apply for  federal disability retirement as a federal employee or a postal worker?  The quick and easy answer to this question is “when you can no longer work because of your medical condition”.

If you have medical conditions, however, and you still want to work, then  federal disability retirement may not be the first or most ideal step for you.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act, and the Rehabilitation Act, [...]