JOSEPH M. LEE, PETITIONER,
v.
OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, RESPONDENT

Fed. Cir. | 1985-05-22
No. Appeal No. 85-1891
Before BENNETT, Circuit Judge, NICHOLS, Senior Circuit Judge, and NIES, Circuit Judge.
762 F.2d 987 United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1985) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because it cannot review the factual underpinnings of disability determinations.


Facts & Procedural History

Joseph M. Lee applied for disability retirement from the Social Security Administration due to hearing loss, but his claim was denied by OPM and susta…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
NIES, Circuit Judge.

NIES, Circuit Judge.

Joseph M. Lee appeals the decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (board), Case No. AT831L8410101, 22 M.S.P.R. 654 sustaining Office of Personnel Management’s denial of his claim for disability retirement based on hearing loss. We dismiss for lack of jurisdiction over the sole issue presented by the appeal in this court.

Background

On the basis of a hearing impairment, Mr. Lee applied for disability retirement from his position as a Claims Representative with the Social Security Administration. The Office of Personnel Management disallowed Mr. Lee’s application because he had not shown, inter alia, “that the medical condition is incompatible with either useful service or retention in the position.” That decision was sustained following reconsideration. Mr. Lee next appealed to the board which, following a hearing, sustained OPM’s decision. The board stated that “appellant has a hearing loss which is not so severe as to render him unable to perform his job. Thus, he is not disabled within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 8337(a).” On appeal to this court, Mr. Lee seeks review of the disability determination, urging that we reevaluate the medical reports and other information of record concerning hearing requirements of his job. In short, all of Mr. Lee’s arguments are directed to the fact and extent of the disability itself, based upon the evidence of record.

Opinion

The Supreme Court has recently ruled that the factual underpinnings of 5 U.S.C. § 8347(c) disability determinations may not be judicially reviewed. Lindahl v. Office of Personnel Management, — U.S.-, 105 S.Ct. 1620, 1633, 84 L.Ed.2d 674 (1985). Our jurisdiction to review decisions denying applications for disability retirement, except as provided in 5 U.S.C. § 8347(d)(2) not here applicable, is limited to determining whether “there has been a substantial departure from important procedural rights, a misconstruction of the governing legislation, or some like error ‘going to the heart of the administrative determination.’ ” Scroggins v. United States, 397 F. 2d 295, 297, 184 Ct.Cl. 530, cert. denied, 393 U.S. 952, 89 S.Ct. 376, 21 L.Ed.2d 363 (1968), quoted in Lindahl, 105 S.Ct. at 1633. The issue raised in Mr. Lee’s appeal to this court, namely, that his hearing impairment is so extensive as to prevent him from satisfactorily performing his job, does not fall within the bounds of this court’s jurisdiction as above defined. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. See Smith v. Office of Personnel Management, 760 F. 2d 244 (Fed.Cir.1985).

DISMISSED


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw