Disability Judges Lose Lawsuit to Reduce Caseloads

A Federal Court of Appeals has ruled against the Association of Administrative Law Judges in a lawsuit over disability case ‘quotas.’ The Social Security Administration expects the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) overseeing disability hearings to decide between 500 to 700 disability cases per year. The union representing the ALJ’s argued in its lawsuit that this number of cases represents an illegal quota that violated the Judge’s independence and the due process rights of applicants. More specifically, they claimed the high caseload resulted in ALJs paying more cases as a way to quickly reduce their workload.

William Astrue, the former Social Security Commissioner, responded to the lawsuit by stating “What’s really happening here is that the judges’ union doesn’t want accountability of its members,” and that there was “a very small number of malcontents who want to litigate or put political pressure on the agency rather than do their work.”

In a decision dated January 23, 2015, the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals decided in favor of the Agency. Writing for the majority, Judge Posner held that the alleged quotas did not interfere with the ALJ’s independence, and that the goal of the quota was to “speed up decision-making rather than to prod administrative law judges to grant more applications for disability benefits.”

About Citizens Disability, LLC:

Since 2010, Citizens Disability has been America’s premier Social Security Disability institution. Our services include helping people in applying for SSDI benefits, managing the process through Reconsideration, and representing people in person at their Hearing, and if necessary, bringing their case to the Appeals Council. Our mission is to give a voice to the millions of Americans who are disabled and unable to work, helping them receive the Social Security Disability benefits to which they may be entitled. Learn more about us and disability benefits like SSDI & SSI or give us a call (800)492-3260.

Citizens Disability is committed to helping keep people safe from fraud. We will never ask for personal details to start an SSDI application over Facebook or social media. We will only ask for certain details, in private messages, to confirm the identity of a client in a customer service situation. The only way to begin an SSDI application with us is on the phone, through a number found on our website, or one of our clearly-marked advertisements. Please keep your personal details safe, don't share them in a public forum, or with individuals who solicit your information.