Zimberlin Law LLC has long been concerned about the information contained in the denial letters from the Retirement Services Division regarding decisions of the Medical Examining Board (MEB).  The MEB consists of a panel of three physicians who review the medical evidence and make a decision as to whether or not benefits will be granted.  Zimberlin Law LLC represents state employees at hearings conducted by the MEB.  If the MEB denies a case, the employee has a right to reconsideration. If the case is denied again, on reconsideration, the Retirement Services Division sends a let ..read more

Teachers in Connecticut are part of the Teachers’ Retirement System, which provides state retirement benefits to retired teachers. This system also provides a disability allowance to teachers who can no longer teach due to disability. The disability can be either physical or mental, or a combination of the two. This system is administered by the Teachers’ Retirement Board (TRB). In recent years, this Board has been denying applications for a disability benefit requested by teachers who became disabled while they were teaching, if they applied after they left teaching, and after they stopped be ..read more

  If you are a disabled State of Connecticut employee, you may be eligible for both worker’s compensation benefits and a disability retirement. You can be eligible for worker’s comp if an injury happened at work. You will get biweekly payments, based on your previous salary. What happens to your State disability pension when you are eligible for both benefits? It gets complicated. Sometimes a worker’s comp case will be settled – this is called a “stipulation.” This doesn’t happen very often for State employees, but when it does, it can lead to unexpected problems. When the parties settle ..read more

  If so, you are not alone. Attorneys who represent veterans have a difficult time in getting the Veterans Administration to acknowledge a change of address, leading to hours of frustrating telephone calls and letters to the VA. The Court of Appeals For Veterans Claims has started to take notice. In a recent case, VLAG v. McDonough,  an attorney  complained that the VA was not sending mail to the attorney’s correct address. The Court made an order to ensure that all future mailings would go to the current address.  The Court ordered that: the VA Secretary  must provide ..read more

Some good news for people who are on Social Security disability. The Social Security Administration has a policy of “Continuing Disability Reviews (CDRs),” where it will re-evaluate a claimant’s medical condition to see if he or she is still disabled and still qualifies to be on benefits. These reviews are onerous for a claimant, who must often navigate the process without counsel. In 2019, SSA proposed a new rule which would have increased the frequency of CDRs. The proposed rules would have added a category to the existing medical diary categories that SSA uses to schedule CDRs and would hav ..read more

The State of Connecticut Retirement Services Division continues to send inaccurate information to disability applicants. If you are applying for State of Connecticut disability retirement, you will generally have two chances to present your case to the Medical Examining Board. If you are denied the second time, you will get a letter which will include this language:   “As the Board had maintained its denial of your request for entitlement to service-connected  disability retirement under reconsideration, you have exhausted all your rights to any future reconsideration through the Boa ..read more

Connecticut state employees who are awarded disability retirement receive a yearly form from the Retirement Services Division. Until recently, it was a one-page form. The form asked about paid employment, volunteer work, job training and income from worker’s comp or Social Security. This form has been revised into a two -page questionnaire. In addition to questions about employment, job training and other income, it also asks about income under Conn. Gen. Stat. 5-142, and medical treatment for disability. Conn. Gen. Stat. 5-142 has several provisions.  In general, it provides special disa ..read more

The short answer is, you are probably out of luck. In the recent case of Alexander v. Saul, No. 19-2270-cv, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals considered the request of an SSI claimant for an extension of time in which to file an appeal. The claimant had been denied SSI by the Social Security Administration and her attorney filed an appeal in the United States District Court. While her appeal was pending, she moved out of her mother’s house and failed to provide her counsel with updated contact information. As a result, she did not receive notice of the district court’s decision denying her b ..read more

In the case of Carr v. Saul, 19-1442 (S.Ct. April 22, 2021) Petitioners were six individuals whose applications for disability benefits were denied by the Social Security Administration (SSA). They each unsuccessfully challenged their respective adverse benefit determination in a hearing before an SSA administrative law judge (ALJ). The SSA Appeals Council denied discretionary review in each case. Thereafter, this Court decided Lucia v. SEC, 585 U. S. ___, which held that the appointment of Securities and Exchange Commission ALJs by lower-level staff violated the Constituti ..read more

An employee of the State of Connecticut, who is disabled, can apply for a disability retirement. The employee must prove to the Medical Examining Board that he or she is disabled. If the Medical Examining Board denies the claim, the employee can ask for reconsideration. A Connecticut regulation provides that a claimant has one year to ask for reconsideration if there is a denial. This one- year period can be extended in certain circumstances. If a request for reconsideration is denied by the Medical Examining  Board, the Retirement Services Division will send a letter to the applicant sta ..read more