On behalf of all the attorneys and staff at the Disability Claim Law Firm of Turley, Redmond Rosasco & Rosasco, LLP, we wish you and your families Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year!
"God Bless Us, Everyone!"
Are Social Security Disability Judges awarding too many or too few disability claims? According to an article on the Social Security disability system by Damian Paletta in the Wall Street Journal today, that will be the subject of an independent review of the federal disability system by the Administrative Conference of the United States focusing on the work of Social Security Administrative Law Judges (ALJ's). A draft of the study is due August 2012, with final recommendations due November 2012.
There is certainly a need for improvement on both ends of the spectrum across the country. Earlier this year, as reported in the New York Times, a class action lawsuit was filed against five Social Security ALJ's claiming anti-claimant bias in the Queens New York Office of Adjudication and Review. Read my affidavit that was submitted to the federal court regarding the abuses of Social Security Queens Chief Judge David Z. Nisnewitz and ALJ Seymour Fier here.
The plaintiffs in this case, Padrue v. Astrue, recently won a motion in federal court granting their request for expedited discovery. Depositions of hearing office personnel, and possibly ALJ's in that office, should begin soon. The case is being handled on a pro bono basis by the national litigation law firm Gibson Dunn. The relief requested includes wholesale re-hearings going back years for all claimant's denied benefits by the named ALJ's. This is one example of bad and abusive ALJ's contributing to the ongoing backlog of disability claims at the Social Security Administration.
On the other, equally bad, end of the spectrum is the case of West Virginia Social Security ALJ David B. Daugherty, who apparently never met a claimant who was not disabled. Unlike his brethren in Queens, New York, he was suspended for his outstandingly high allowance rate, and eventually retired. The "Queens 5" continue to hear cases. I guess granting cases is a more serious offense at Social Security than bullying and intimidating claimants, which was the M.O. for the Chief ALJ Nisnewitz in Queens. Either way, both examples of these "outlier ALJ's"" should be quickly purged from the system. The vast majority of fair ALJ's should not be tarnished by a few bad apples.
Finally, in what appears to be an attempt by the Social Security Administration to stop certain mega-advocacy firms from "dumping" weaker cases based upon the ALJ they draw for a particular hearing, Social Security is instituting a new policy starting 12/19/2011 where they will not tell a representative the name of the ALJ hearing a particular case until the day of the hearing. While the motivation to correct this problem is indeed commendable, it does seem that Social Security is using a rather blunt instrument to correct a cancer that is localized to easily identifiable bad advocates.
From a policy perspective, the use of "Surprise ALJ's" will necessarily lead to more appeals - further increasing the backlog of disability claims. I would have preferred that SSA use a "surgical strike" rather than "napalm" to resolve this problem. Tough to do in a large bureaucracy, but never-the-less worth the effort. It will be interesting to see whether the new "Surprise ALJ" policy advances the quality of ALJ decision-making.
Troy Rosasco, a Partner at Turley, Redmond, Rosasco & Rosasco, LLP, has announced that as of December 5, 2011, the actual Zadroga Act Victim Compensation Fund “Compensation Claim Form” is now available online for those who were sickened or physically injured as the result of being exposed to airborne toxins from the Ground Zero site after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
This means that eligible 9/11 claimants, with or without attorneys, can file their Zadroga Act Victim Compensation Fund claims today. According to Mr. Rosasco, “Especially during the holiday season, many sick and destitute 9/11 victims will now find newborn hope that their anguish will be lifted in the coming New Year.”
On December 5, 2011, Sheila Birnbaum, Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, released the actual Compensation Claim Forms for both deceased and personal injury claimants, which are available online at www.vcf.gov.
Claimants should complete this form if they were physically injured as a result of the September 11, 2001 debris removal efforts; they were present at one of the crash sites (or in the path of debris removal) between September 11, 2001 and May 30, 2002; and they wish to be compensated from the VCF rather than file a lawsuit.
Claimants have until October 13, 2013 to complete the form. The new September 11th Fund form also has a 21 page set of "instructions" to help file your claim and a helpful "9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Document Checklist" .
While it is strongly suggested that the forms be filled out online, they can be mailed as well. Mr. Rosasco suggested that those who may be currently experiencing financial difficulty should file as soon as possible.
“Here we are almost one year after President Obama signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 into law, and all the "pre-season" hard work of the Special Master and the Department of Justice brought us to the real “Opening Day” of the Victim Compensation Fund," Mr. Rosasco said. “Now the long season of individual compensation claim evaluations and potential hearings will begin.”
“A roadblock that claimants faced in order to get their fair share of the $2.775 billion Victim Compensation Fund has finally been lifted,” Mr. Rosasco's partner, Daniel J. Hansen said. “Thanks to the Special Master, claimants will have ample time to fill out the forms. Now that all the formalities have been taken care of, these heroes who unknowingly worked in the face of danger are able to receive the compensation they justly deserve.”
For more information, call 1(855) WTC-INFO or visit www.zadrogaclaimsinfo.com
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