Visit my website: www.owcplawyer.com

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Why did OWCP send me a letter telling me to meet with a Quality Assurance Specialist ("QAS")

I recently heard of a claimant whose benefits are handled by the Cleveland OWCP office who received a letter demanding that the claimant travel 4.5 hours to meet with an individual who was identified as a Quality Assurance Specialist (QAS). This time the letter did not provide the name of the person the claimant was to meet with. The last time I saw a letter like this, the person identified as the QAS was actually a criminal investigator from USDOL.

Its not clear whether the persons receiving these letters are being specifically targeted or perhaps this is just the usual routine over the top OWCP bullying techniques.

When OWCP sends you a letter telling you to do something, if there is an explicit threat that if you don't cooperate your benefits will be sanctioned, then you cannot ignore the letter. However, if the letter does not give you notice that there is a penalty for not responding, then you may want to consider whether or not you respond.

The fact that the person acting as a "QAS" in the previous such communication I reviewed regarding this was in reality a criminal investigator, makes me concerned that if you receive a letter like this, you may want to have a lawyer handle your communications regarding the request that you meet with the "QAS" person.