The Disability Pension appeal process essentially begins when you receive a letter saying you are not disabled and that your application for Disability Pension has been denied. You need to appeal within 45 days, and the first thing you’ll do is send a letter by Certified Mail to the Pension Board. This letter will say that you want to appeal the decision and that you want to have this matter transferred to the Office of Administrative Law.
At the Office of Administrative Law, a judge will be assigned to your case, and the Pension Board will select an attorney to represent its position. Pretrial phone conferences will be utilized to ensure the discovery process between the parties is completed. During the final phone conference, the judge will assign trial dates for your testimony and the testimonies of medical experts and other lay witnesses. After all of this evidence, we must submit the outline of our position to the judge.
The judge will receive briefs from both sides and make a written decision, which is not final. This decision is sent to the Pension Board, which will vote on whether to uphold the decision, as an item on their agenda. If a written decision in your favor is reversed by the Pension Board, you can appeal this at the Appellate Division. Watch the video to learn more.
If you have been injured in the course of your employment and you have additional questions, call us at 609-771-8611. I welcome your call. Review our media library on our website at https://www.szaferman.com to learn more about Disability Pensions.