Joseph A. Antal v. Merit Systems Protection Board

COWEN, Senior Circuit Judge.

Petitioner seeks review of the final order of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB or Board), Docket No. PH831L8110519, in which the Board held that it has no jurisdiction under 5 U.S.C. § 7701(g) to award attorney’s fees in employee-initiated disability retirement cases. For the reasons stated, the decision of the Board is reversed and the case is remanded.

I

Petitioner applied for disability retirement annuity benefits in 1980 on the ground of mental disability. His application was initially denied by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), but OPM’s decision…