[U] Cammon v. Office of Personnel Management

MICHEL, Circuit Judge. Decision The DA E. Cammon petitions this court to review the decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or Board), in docket No. SF-844E-96-0059-I-1, affirming the reconsideration decision of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) denying her request for Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) disability retirement annuity benefits as being untimely. The February 16, 1996 initial decision of the Board became final by operation of law on March 22, 1996. This appeal was submitted for decision on August 1, 1996. Because substantial evidence supports the finding of the Administrative Judge (AJ) that Ms. Cammon was not mentally incompetent during the one year following her separation from service as a correctional officer, and because the OPM cannot be estopped from denying applicant benefits for failure of the employing agency to notify the applicant of a right to file a disability retirement application and the applicable time limit for such filing, the decision of the Board is affirmed. Discussion Ms. Cammon, a former correctional officer at the Federal Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) Terminal Island Correction Facility in San Pedro, CA, was removed from her position, effective July 28, 1988, because BOP found that, as a result of her mental condition, she was unable to perform her duties. Ms. Cammon's mental condition was reflected by her persistent complaints to co-workers about several matters, including that inmates and prison staff were throwing acid, feces and hair lotion at her, that co-workers had put cat urine in the vent of her car, and that unknown individuals had broken into her home and stolen her cheese.