Gayle v. Office of Personnel Management , 113 F. App'x 919 ( 2004 )

NOTE: Pursuant to Fed. Cir. R. 47.6, this disposition
is not citable as precedent. It is a public record.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
04-3288
MARCIA M. GAYLE,
Petitioner,
v.
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT,
Respondent.
__________________________
DECIDED: November 5, 2004
__________________________
Before MAYER, Chief Judge, PLAGER, Senior Circuit Judge, and PROST, Circuit
Judge.
PER CURIAM.
Marcia M. Gayle petitions for review of the final decision of the Merit Systems
Protection Board (“Board”) sustaining the decision of the Office of Personnel
Management (“OPM”) that denied as untimely her application for disability retirement
benefits under the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (“FERS”). We affirm.
An application for disability retirement benefits under FERS must be filed with
OPM before the employee’s separation from service or within one year of separation. 5
U.S.C. § 8453 (2000). This time limitation may be waived if the employee is “mentally
incompetent” on the date of separation or within one year thereafter and files her
application within one year of her restoration to competency. Id.Ms. Gayle was separated from her position at the Defense Commissary Agency
on August 31, 1996. She applied for disability retirement benefits on June 5, 2002, and
thus did not file her application within the statutory one-year time period. Therefore, the
only question in her case is whether she was mentally incompetent from August 31,
1997, to June 5, 2001.
After reviewing the medical documentation submitted by Ms. Gayle in support of
her claim, OPM found that she did not demonstrate she was mentally incompetent
during the relevant period and accordingly dismissed her claim for disability retirement
benefits. OPM denied her request for reconsideration, and Ms. Gayle appealed to the
Board. The Board’s administrative judge affirmed OPM’s decision after examining the
submitted medical evidence. Gayle v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., No. NY-844E-03-0202-I-1
(M.S.P.B. July 18, 2003) (initial decision). The initial decision became the final decision
of the Board when Ms. Gayle’s petition for review was denied.
On appeal to this court, Ms. Gayle contends that her medical records show she
was unable to function during the relevant time period. The Board found that the only
document indicating Ms. Gayle was mentally incompetent is a doctor’s statement
consisting entirely of conclusory assertions and lacking a reasoned explanation for its
findings. Furthermore, the Board found the doctor’s statement was contradicted by
more detailed medical records that were contemporaneous with Ms. Gayle’s medical
treatment and that did not show she was incompetent during the time in question.
Based on our review of the record, we cannot say the Board’s decision that Ms. Gayle
was not entitled to a waiver of the one-year time limit is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse
of discretion, not in accordance with the law, or unsupported by substantial evidence,
04-3288 2
the standard for our review of the Board’s determinations on mental incompetence. See
5 U.S.C. § 7703(c) (2000); McLaughlin v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 353 F.3d 1363, 1367
(Fed. Cir. 2004).
04-3288 3