Amin v. Colvin

301 F. Supp. 3d 392
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 15, 2017
Docket1:15–cv–7429(FB)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 301 F. Supp. 3d 392 (Amin v. Colvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Amin v. Colvin, 301 F. Supp. 3d 392 (E.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

BLOCK, Senior District Judge:

*395Plaintiffs-recipients of Supplemental Social Security Income ("SSI") benefits-bring this action seeking injunctive, declaratory, and mandamus relief against Nancy A. Berryhill,1 Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration ("SSA"), and Fred M. Maurin, Regional Commissioner of Social Security, New York Region. They allege the SSA systematically fails to properly process appeals, causing them and their children to lose, at least temporarily, their proper SSI benefits.

Defendants move to dismiss plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint ("FAC") pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), arguing the claims are moot and that plaintiffs lack standing, and 12(b)(6), arguing plaintiffs have failed to exhaust their administrative remedies and failed to state a claim for violation of federal regulations or mandamus relief. Defendants' motion was denied at oral argument, with written decision to follow. This is that decision.2

I

A. SSI Benefits

"The basic purpose underlying the [SSI] program is to assure a minimum level of income for people who are age 65 or over, or who are blind or disabled [including children] and who do not have sufficient income and resources to maintain a standard of living at the established Federal minimum income level." 20 C.F.R. § 416.110. "[P]ayments are made under conditions that are as protective of people's dignity as possible." 20 C.F.R. § 416.110(c).

SSA periodically reviews an SSI recipient's financial eligibility to receive benefits. This review happens at periodic intervals but may happen sooner if SSA learns of a change in the recipient's financial situation. 20 C.F.R. § 416.204(b). If SSA determines a recipient is no longer eligible for benefits, it terminates benefits and may demand overpaid benefits be returned; however, recipients are due advance written notice before benefits are cancelled. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 416.535, 416.558, and 416.570.

When a recipient is noticed that the SSA has made an adverse finding, he or she may file a request for reconsideration, or a request for waiver of overpayment recovery, or both. 20 C.F.R. §§ 416.550, and 416.1336. The timing is critical. If a request for reconsideration is received within 10 days, the recipient will not lose his or her benefits until the appeal is resolved. 20 C.F.R. § 416.1336(b). However, plaintiffs allege that, in practice, the benefits terminate even if a request for reconsideration is timely made because SSA employees fail to docket the request.3

*396B. SSA's Alleged Failure to Docket Requests

According to plaintiffs, SSA's failure takes many forms.4 Sometimes, SSA employees tell a recipient that he or she has no basis to appeal and refuse to accept the request. Sometimes, they wrongly refuse to accept written requests, insisting that the recipient make the request in person (only to be denied in person as well). Sometimes, they accept the request but refuse to file supporting documentation. Sometimes, they take the request in person but fail to file it in the computer system, leaving the request sitting on somebody's desk.

Between 2014 and 2015, the New York Legal Assistance Group ("NYLAG") conducted a study of these failings. The organization found that about half of requests had to be submitted more than once and that repeated telephone calls and legal representation was often necessary.

Plaintiffs also allege that SSA employees have made the following comments when pressed on the failure to timely docket requests: (1) the request "might be on someone's desk," (2) "I know what the rules are but I am only one person and you have to be realistic," (3) the NYLAG lawyer needed to pressure the employees' supervisors to allot time to docket requests, (4) while the worker understood the urgency, other requests were still waiting to be processed, and (5) no one was available to docket the request because of understaffing.

C. The Plaintiffs

The eight plaintiffs each allege that they have been affected by SSA's failure to docket requests. The allegations are laid out in great detail in the FAC; the following is a summary of their experiences.

1. Sylvia Fabelo

Plaintiff Sylvia Fabelo has received benefits since 2013 based on her age. In 2014, she began receiving foster care benefits, which do not count against financial eligibility. On January 15, 2015, she informed the SSA about the foster care benefits. SSA scheduled automatic termination of the SSI benefits unless she could provide additional proof of the source of the foster care benefits. She did so on January 30, 2015, but was turned away at the check-in window and not allowed to submit her evidence. As a result, she did not receive her February benefits. On February 17, 2015, she received a notice of termination backdated to February 1, 2015, and was told she had been overpaid from September 2014 until January 2015.

On March 20, 2015, Fabelo filed a request for reconsideration. It was not docketed. Her representative called the SSA office seven times between April 1, 2015, and May 4, 2015, but was unsuccessful in docketing her request.

On May 5, 2015, Fabelo and her representative went to the local SSA office and finally secured submission of her request for reconsideration. Her representative contacted the office three times by telephone between May 14 and May 18, 2015. Finally, on May 19, 2015, a favorable reconsideration decision was issued, and her benefits were reinstated on May 27, 2015. However, the SSA failed to issue the improperly withheld benefits from February, *397March, and April.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
301 F. Supp. 3d 392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amin-v-colvin-nyed-2017.