Before discussing this question, I want to say that no federal disability retirement lawyer can tell you if any one condition will get you accepted for  disability retirement.  The key element of a disability retirement case is its connection to your ability to perform the essential functions of your current position.

Having said that, mental health conditions can (and do) form the basis for successful  disability retirement applications.  There are some hurdles to overcome, but here are just a few examples [...]

I get this question a lot from Law Enforcement Officers and Air Traffic Controllers who have (usually) much higher retirement annuities by law.  The question is: can I collect my ATC or  LEO disability retirement, then go back to work for the federal government in another job and still collect my annuity?

Under this scenario, the former federal employee would be known as a re-employed annuitant.  Generally, re-employed annuitants must make a service credit deposit to make up for the portions [...]

The title of this post has been appearing in recent emails and contacts to our Firm with increasing frequency. In the opinion of this author, it is the wrong question to be asking.

The reason I say this is the wrong question is that the Federal employee does not want to go out and find some random doctor who will support their claim that they are unable to work and therefore eligible for federal  disability retirement. On the other [...]

Here is a common scenario.  You have left federal civil service or your job with the Postal Service.   Within the first year after you leave, you want to file an application for Federal disability retirement.   You need a “supervisor statement”, but nobody at the Agency will return your calls, or when they do, they don’t seem to know what to do.

This problem usually occurs for employees that have left their federal civil service or postal job, and are [...]

The following Press Release has been cut and pasted directly from the Government Accountability Project (www.whistleblower.org) website, and was not written by the Attig Law Firm:

“Maria Garzino, United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) mechanical and civil engineer, will be awarded the 2009 Public Servant Award of the Year by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on Wednesday, December 16.

Garzino is credited with revealing the inadequate state of New Orleans floodwater pumps built by the USACE after Hurricane Katrina. The [...]

The  MSPB, with new Board members, issued three (3) decisions earlier this month.  Those three decisions had three things in common:

1) The employing Agency was the USPS in each of the  MSPB appeals

2) Each of the  MSPB Judges reversed was from the San Francisco Regional Office

3) Each of the 3 cases dealt with “restoration rights” for Federal employees who had recovered from an on-the-job injury.

4) Each of the 3 cases reinforced the incorporation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and [...]

Federal employees who apply for  disability retirement must advance their claim through several stages if  OPM initially denies d disability retirement.

The first stage is the reconsideration stage, where the postal or federal employee asks  OPM to reconsider its decision, presumably with additional evidence or argument why the federal disability retirement benefit should be granted.

If  OPM continues to deny the postal worker or federal employee disability retirement, the next step is to file an  MSPB appeal. An Administrative Judge of [...]

Federal Times.com is reporting that just a few hours ago, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has passed the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009.

Generally speaking, the Act would allow federal employees in same-sex partnerships the same employment benefits as married co-workers. The benefits would include: health care, retirement and disability plans, family, medical and emergency leave, group life insurance, long-term care insurance and access to worker’s comp.

The Bill is not law, and must [...]

According to OPM, the President has issued an Executive order excusing executive branch non-Postal Service employees from duty for the last half of the scheduled workday on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, 2009, with pay and without a charge to leave, except those who, in the judgment of the head of the agency, cannot be excused for reasons of national security, defense, or other essential public need.

Click here to read the full text of the OPM letter, including leave and other [...]

One key element to federal government disability retirement under  FERS or CSRS is that the accommodation of the federal employee’s disabling medical condition must be unreasonable.

Many times, an Agency (there are some that do this more than others) will modify the employee’s position or duties in such a way that it is not truly accommodating the employee.  This could take the form of Light Duty, Limited Duty, a modified or make-shift position, etc.  This is not truly an accommodation. An accommodation, [...]