Sharon E. Runyon, Petitioner, v. Office of Personnel Management, Respondent, 852 F.2d 1292 (Fed. Cir. 1988)

DECISION

The final decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board (Board), Docket No. PH08318710297, affirming the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) reconsideration decision that Sharon B. Runyon was no longer entitled to a disability retirement annuity, is affirmed.

OPINION

The Board properly concluded that Runyon failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that she was entitled to continue receiving disability benefits under 5 U.S.C. § 8337 (1982 & Supp. IV 1986). Runyon appears to contend that before OPM could terminate her benefits, it had to prove that she was no longer disabled. This contention is without merit. Our cases have uniformly held that the burden of proving a disability is properly placed on the party asserting the claim. Cheeseman v. Office of Personnel Mgt., 791 F.2d 138, 140-41 (Fed. Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 107 S. Ct. 891 (1987); Lindahl v. Office of Personnel Mgt., 776 F.2d 276 (Fed. Cir. 1985).

Runyon further challenged the OPM decision by introducing evidence of post-retirement medical ailments. However, such evidence is not pertinent to the issue of Runyon's recovery from the disability that originally formed the basis of her retirement. See Reid v. Office of Personnel Mgt., 26 M.S.P.R. 140, 141 n. (1985). Furthermore, we may not review the factual underpinnings of disability determinations. Lindahl v. Office of Personnel Mgt., 470 U.S. 768, 791 (1985).