Veterans Disability Attorney discusses some of the more common examples of how the BVA fails to provide “adequate reasons and bases” for their decision.

Veterans Benefits attorney Chris Attig discusses when the VA’s Duty to Assist the Veteran might require them to offer a C&P Examination.

Can you use medical evidence, developed after your separation from civil service, to establish entitlement to disability retirement?   A Federal Circuit decision says yes.  In  Reilly v. Office of Personnel Management, 571 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir 2009), the Federal Circuit Court held that post-separation medical evidence can be probative of whether the appellant became disabled while serving in a FERS or CSRS position “[w]here proximity in time, lay testimony, or some other evidence provides the requisite link to the [...]

If someone told you that this was their list of medical conditions what would you think, as a layperson, of their chances for getting  federal disability retirement:

Diabetes, congestive heart failure, colorectal cancer, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorder, breathing problems due to severe obesity, unable to climb stairs, unable to walk more than 100 feet without needing to rest, no bowel control due to radiation treatment for the colorectal cancer, three heart attacks, and has been hospitalized seven times for congestive [...]

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 [...]

If you suffer from work-related stress, can you claim disability retirement from OPM?

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) has repeatedly held that  job-related stress resulting in physical or mental ailments that prevent an employee from performing the duties required in a position can warrant the granting of disability retirement.  In fact, the cause of a medical condition is not relevant in the determination of whether an employee is eligible for disability retirement.  In a 2001 case, the  MSPB rejected the notion that the appellant was ineligible for [...]

Often we see letters from OPM denying an employee’s request for disability retirement based on the fact that there is no evidence that the disability resulted in any performance, conduct or attendance deficiencies. Usually, OPM’s analysis stops there.

However, this is not the only element that OPM must consider. When there is no performance. conduct or attendance deficiency, the relevant question is whether the appellant’s medical condition is incompatible with either useful and efficient service [...]

Veterans Benefits Attorney Chris Attig discusses ways a Veteran might establish service connection by “secondary connection”.