A Denial May Come As A Surprise

Employees are surprised when their disability retirement application is denied especially if their workers’ compensation claim was accepted and settled without incident. Many employees service-retire before they get a determination on their disability retirement applications because their workers’ compensation doctor told them they could not return to work. Based upon that information, the employee assumes their disability retirement application will result in an automatic grant of their disability retirement application.

The disability retirement application is not automatically granted based upon the outcome of the workers’ compensation case. The disability retirement case is a separate case from the workers’ compensation case. There are many reasons a disability retirement application is denied. A denial of the disability retirement application may occur because the Employer, CalPERS or the County Retirement System, hired a doctor who disagreed with the doctors in the workers’ compensation case. Another reason may be that the employer determined it could accommodate the employee. There are other reasons as well including if the employee was terminated for cause.  

It is important that before an employee  decides to not fight a termination or makes critical decisions concerning their employment rights,  that the employee seek advise from counsel well versed in disability retirement law. A denial of a disability retirement application may be avoided if the employee understands more about what the process entails. It is not just a simple application with a rubber stamp following what occurred in the workers’ compensation case. Many times employees find themselves wishing they had known the pitfalls before giving up their employment rights. 

A Denial May Result In A Hearing

A disability retirement application denied means the employee may have no choice but to go to a hearing which requires knowledge of what is involved. The Retirement System will be represented by an attorney. It is a formal hearing. There will be a Hearing Officer or Administrative Law Judge, Court Reporter and witnesses may be called. The employee will testify and be subjected to cross examination. In CalPERS’ cases the employee/member must bring their doctor in to testify otherwise the medical reports will only be hearsay and cannot support a finding. It may be advisable to get rebuttal evidence and witnesses depending on the issues. Understanding all that is involved in a disability retirement claim is important when filing the application to perhaps avoid a denial if possible.