5 U.S.C. § 8121
Section 8121 · Claim
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 13 court decisions — leading case Marshburn v. Postmaster General of the United States (1988)
Most recently applied in Rutherford v. United States (December 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Compensation under this subchapter may be allowed only if an individual or someone on his behalf makes claim therefor. The claim shall—
(1) be made in writing within the time specified by section 8122 of this title;
(2) be delivered to the office of the Secretary of Labor or to an individual whom the Secretary may designate by regulation, or deposited in the mail properly stamped and addressed to the Secretary or his designee;
(3) be on a form approved by the Secretary;
(4) contain all information required by the Secretary;
(5) be sworn to by the individual entitled to compensation or someone on his behalf; and
(6) except in case of death, be accompanied by a certificate of the physician of the employee stating the nature of the injury and the nature and probable extent of the disability.
The Secretary may waive paragraphs (3)–(6) of this section for reasonable cause shown.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words “except as provided in section 788” in former section 768 are omitted as unnecessary as former section 788 dealt with recovery of overpayments after claims were made.
Administration of this subchapter was transferred to the Secretary of Labor by section 1 of 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 19, 64 Stat. 1271 (see section 8145).
Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.
Amendments
1974—Par. (3). Pub. L. 93–416 substituted “approved” for “furnished”.
Effective Date of 1974 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 93–416 effective Sept. 7, 1974, and applicable to any injury or death occurring on or after Sept. 7, 1974, see section 23(a) of Pub. L. 93–416, set out as a note under section 8101 of this title.