Wall v. Office of Personnel Management

348 F. App'x 576

Opinion

LINN, Circuit Judge.

Wayne C. Wall (“Wall”) petitions for review of a final decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (“Board”), dated April 17, 2009, which affirmed the denial of Wall’s application for disability retirement. Wall v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 111 M.S.P.R. 122 (2009). In reaching that decision, the Board gave no weight to Wall’s post-termination medical evidence, citing Reilly v. Office of Personnel Management, 108 M.S.P.R. 360 (2008).

On July 15, 2009, we vacated the Reilly decision, holding that the categorical rejection of all medical evidence not based on tests or examinations conducted during the petitioner’s employment was an erroneous legal standard. Reilly v. Office of Pers. Mgmt., 571 F.3d 1372, 1382-83 (Fed.Cir.2009) (holding that the Board’s standard constitutes “a substantial departure from important procedural rights and goes to the heart of the administrative determination”). In the present case, because the Board’s categorical rejection of Wall’s post-termination medical evidence is improper under our recent decision in Reilly, we vacate the Board’s decision and remand for reconsideration under the correct legal standard.

VACATED and REMANDED

COSTS

No costs.