The labor organization representing Social Security Administration administrative law judges has filed objections to a proposed settlement between the SSA and representatives of the disabled who say ALJs in Queens were biased against them. The AFL-CIO-affiliated Association of Administrative Law Judges said it wants to explain its opposition to the settlement at a July 24 hearing before Eastern District Judge Carol Amon in Brooklyn. Amon has scheduled the hearing to review comments on the proposed settlement, under which the SSA has agreed to review about 4,000 cases decided since January 2008 by five of the eight ALJs hearing cases in Queens.
Attorneys contend the ALJs were abusive toward their clients and may have rendered biased benefit rulings against them (NYLJ, Jan. 15). The agreement, if approved by Amon, would settle a case against the SSA's hearing process in Padro v. Astrue, 11-cv-1788. The hearing officers named in the suit are Michael Cofresi, Seymour Fier, Marilyn Hoppenfeld, David Nisnewitz and Hazel Strauss.
