The Office of Personnel Management does not give a decision over the telephone. At least, that is their stated policy. They ask that you instead wait for their written decision, which will be “sent in the mail shortly”. Sometimes, of course, either by the tone of the conversation or by some slip of the tongue, one can discern whether or not a Federal Disability Retirement application has been approved or denied. But such “guessing” can be a dangerous endeavor to engage in, and as such, I follow the very policy of OPM and will not convey to my client any “internal thoughts” following upon any discussions with an OPM representative.
First of all, I find that calling an OPM representative too often is counter-productive; they are overworked as it is, and repeatedly inquiring about the “status” of one of my cases only irritates them further, and there is always the danger of having it denied simply to get rid of it (aghast — can this possible ever happen?) Second, I made the mistake many, many years ago of once telling my client that his/her case had been approved, when in fact it had been denied. I learn from my mistakes. Hopefully, my experiences gained from such mistakes have made me wiser today.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire