Orlando VA is being shady (lawyers, employment, law)

[Scrubbybear]

Hi everyone! This is a request for advice, or the names of some experienced lawyers. My sister is a government employee who, after 30 years of honorable service, needs to medically retire. She’s had reasonable accommodation already and has run out of of options, according to numerous physicians (she has MS). So now the VA is trying to outprocess her with no benefits. Basically, they want to fire her. This has been going on for about 5 years and all she wants is to retire with what’s left of her dignity. Can anyone offer any advice? Please?

[bmw335xi]

I hope everything works out for her.

[ScottFL78]

Did some googling. I know some attorneys but not sure if any do these types of cases. Perhaps the VA can rectify or explain the situation so that you can better deal with it. https://www.va.gov/oca/docs/OvrsghtCROs.pdf


Nick Uchalik
202-461-6482
Nicholas.Uchalik@va.gov


Good luck and I hope the best for her.

[theoldnorthstate]

Originally Posted by Scrubbybear

Hi everyone! This is a request for advice, or the names of some experienced lawyers. My sister is a government employee who, after 30 years of honorable service, needs to medically retire. She’s had reasonable accommodation already and has run out of of options, according to numerous physicians (she has MS). So now the VA is trying to outprocess her with no benefits. Basically, they want to fire her. This has been going on for about 5 years and all she wants is to retire with what’s left of her dignity. Can anyone offer any advice? Please?

OP after 30 years she is probably eligible for regular retirement and if she can no longer work even with accommodations, then maybe that is the best option to make her life as good as it can be.

Most people I know who got medical retirement only did so until they hit eligibility for regular retirement, then it was converted to regular.

Good luck to her BTW. I am sorry for your sister's illness and wish her the best.

[Advanta]

Advice: there is nothing to litigate until the VA "fires" her, so you say...if they wanted to fire her, they would have do so by now. Florida is a fire at will state, but I don't remember any federal overrides.

The VA knows that it can't and should not violate "reasonable accommodation" provisions, but you should get advice from an attorney specializing in employment law. There are tons of them around, some more aggressive than others.

Right now, the VA has done noting that's actionable, notwithstanding "harassment" or genuinely not providing "reasonable accommodation". No employer is required to exceed those specific guidelines. If the VA however is acting in bad faith, well that's another matter indeed.

You might contact Morgan and Morgan for an initial review. They are super aggressive in employees getting screwed and they don't charge an upfront fee in most cases.

You really can't do anything "to" the VA until she in fact gets fired and separated (unless of course they aren't in compliance with federal and state employment law right now).

[melissa733]

Originally Posted by Scrubbybear

Hi everyone! This is a request for advice, or the names of some experienced lawyers. My sister is a government employee who, after 30 years of honorable service, needs to medically retire. She’s had reasonable accommodation already and has run out of of options, according to numerous physicians (she has MS). So now the VA is trying to outprocess her with no benefits. Basically, they want to fire her. This has been going on for about 5 years and all she wants is to retire with what’s left of her dignity. Can anyone offer any advice? Please?

If she has 30 years of service, she can do a regular retirement and keep her benefits. If she has adverse actions against her, the ERLR group should be offering her a retirement in lieu of termination (at least that's what our facility does), which would still allow her to take all of her benefits with her into retirement.