Counsel’s Corner

People With Disabilities Foundation (PWDF) Proceeds on Disability Discrimination Case Against the Social Security Administration (SSA)

By Steven Bruce, PWDF Legal Director

PWDF filed a disability civil rights case in federal court against the SSA for systemic and intentional conduct. (Case number 3:23-cv-01037, [John Doe][1] v. Commissioner of Social Security.)

After plaintiff John Doe was found to meet the requirements of schizophrenia spectrum disorder evidenced by paranoid delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking, he was falsely accused by the SSA of having a million dollars’ worth of real estate in Mexico.  For two years, he was homeless, in psychiatric hospitals, and shelters, resulting in this civil rights suit for not providing effective communication for meaningful program access in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.[2]

As is not unusual with people with psychosis, at times they stop taking their anti-psychotic medication and end up in the county jail; however, he was found not competent to assist his attorney in the charges in a hearing on January 23, 2024.  A state court ordered him to be sent to a state hospital for involuntary administration of anti-psychotic medication.

The SSA has fought this case, planning on taking his deposition, notwithstanding the fact that he cannot participate in a deposition because of the finding that he is not competent, and continues to aggressively fight this case.  PWDF has petitioned the federal court to appoint a guardian ad litem under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(c) and the court ordered that the petition be granted since John Doe cannot speak for himself due to the symptomology of his psychiatric disability.  Unless this case settles, PWDF will go to trial.  Each side will have experts, specifically a psychiatrist and possibly others. The plaintiff, our client, is simultaneously confined in a state hospital, with the hope that he will regain his competency by the forcible administration of anti-psychotic medications.  PWDF’s client was diagnosed at or before age 10 and has the right to live as independently as he can as the Supreme Court found under Olmstead v. L. C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999).

In a recent article, we pointed out the history and background of the SSA’s aggressive policy focus on targeting people with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disabilities, including bipolar disorder, intellectual disorders and certain neurocognitive disorders.  In 2019, a proposal to increase the frequency of continuing disability reviews (CDRs) was published in the Federal Register for public comments and on July 9, 2021, President Biden fired the Commissioner of the SSA for disability abuse, among other reasons, as evidenced by Congressional testimony.  Terminations based on expected medical improvement or “predictive models” that were not made public in the Federal Register announcement in 2019 are theoretical bases for the number of CDRs initiated per year.

Although the following acting Commissioner withdrew these regulations, an estimated tens or hundreds of thousands of CDRs that had started were never withdrawn. It was not just in California, but nationwide, where there has been since 2019 a large increase in terminating people. It is very important that other people and agencies help this very large population of individuals who were targeted to have their SSI and SSDI benefits terminated since the cessations of benefits are still going on nationwide.  PWDF is a small non-profit agency that focuses on psychiatric, developmental, and neurological disabilities; however, we cannot cover the entire country with all of these termination of benefit cases, characterized as disability abuse.  We ask that others around the country help this population since these termination cases that were started were never halted, in spite of the regulations as to future increases in targeting this population being withdrawn.

[1] PWDF does not publish client names unnecessarily; therefore, plaintiff is referred to in this article by pseudonym.

[2] In [Jill Doe] v. SSA, although I called the office that handles administrative appeals (the Appeals Council) on June 11, 2023 and the Appeals Council acknowledged receipt of the appeal, in Court the SSA denied receipt of this paper case. See prior articles in Summer 2023 and Fall/Winter 2023 editions.

PWDF Profile

Who We Are

People With Disabilities Foundation is an operating 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California, which focuses on the rights of the mentally and developmentally disabled.

Services

Advocacy: PWDF advocates for Social Security claimant’s disability benefits in eight Bay Area counties. We also provide services in disability rights, on issues regarding returning to work, and in ADA consultations, including areas of employment, health care, and education, among others. There is representation before all levels of federal court and Administrative Law Judges. No one is declined due to their inability to pay, and we offer a sliding scale for attorney’s fees.

Education/Public Awareness: To help eliminate the stigma against people with mental disabilities in society, PWDF’s educational program organizes workshops and public seminars, provides guest speakers with backgrounds in mental health, and produces educational materials such as videos.