Stephenson v. OPM
Jan 18, 2013OUTCOME: After oral arguments, the Court sided with the Appellant and his attorney, Robert R. McGill, Esquire. OPM is now required to recalculate and reinstate full FERS Disability Retirement benefits after an Offset is terminated.
When a Federal or Postal worker concurrently receives a FERS Disability Retirement annuity and Social Security Disability benefits, there is an "offset" or "coordination of benefits" between the two. ... When Social Security Disability benefits were terminated -- whether by employment or other reasons -- the U.S. Office of Personnel Management refused, for decades, to recalculate the offset and reinstate the full FERS Disability Retirement annuity. The case turned on the interpretation of what was meant by the term "entitled". Robert R. McGill, Esquire represented the Appellant who filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
