Know Your Rights
It’s important for federal employees to be familiar with their rights and how the appellate process for their Federal Disability Retirement claim works.
Before this, when a federal employee applies for Disability Retirement they’ll submit their application to the Office of Personnel Management or OPM. Watch our video here to learn more about the OPM’s requirements and qualifications for the benefit.
After you submit your application, the OPM will decide to approve or deny you.
Your Appeals Rights
Reconsideration
If you’re denied after your first submission, you’ve got options. The next step is the reconsideration phase. At this point, you can submit additional medical evidence to have the initial decision “reconsidered” and overturned.
MSPB
But if the reconsideration step does not overturn the initial decision of denial, the appellant can submit an appeal to the Merit System Protection Board also known as MSPB. If the MSPB has accepted the appellant’s case for review, it is assigned to an administrative judge. At this point, both the agency and the appellant will be informed of MSPB’s decision to consider the appeal. The agency will receive an Acknowledgment Order and a copy of the appeal filed by the appellant.
The agency has the ability to file a response to the appeal filed by the appellant.
After the administrative judge and both parties have satisfied all of the qualifying pleadings, the administrative judge will typically hold pre-hearing conferences to narrow down the issues to be decided by the MSPB while encouraging both parties to settle their dispute, if possible.
If they can’t settle, the administrative judge will proceed one of two ways. The first possibility is to have a formal hearing and issue a decision based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, or, close the record and make a decision based upon the information contained in the submitted documents.
The initial decision must identify all issues of fact and law, include a summary of the evidence submitted by both parties, and articulate the conclusion with relevant legal authority that was used to make the decision.
Whatever the administrative judge decides, either party can then petition for review by the Clerk of the Board. The Clerk of the Board is a panel of three members who will hear the case and issue a final decision. However, the losing party of the decision by the administrative judge can elect to forgo the petition for review by the Clerk of the Board and petition the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
This process can be complicated and overwhelming if you don’t have experience in these areas. We suggest talking to a professional who has a proven track record with the MSPB appellate process. Contact our office for a free consultation to discuss your claim in detail. We’re here to help!
