SSA Reverses Itself: Re-Awards Disability Benefits

SSA finds "work" was not "work": reinstates disability benefits to older person

In this claim for social security disability benefits, the claimant was a person of older age who had applied for SSA disability several years ago.  The claimant presented medical evidence showing that he suffered from severe impairments to his back and had severe heart disease.

The SSA awarded him disability benefits.

The SSA, several months later, then took away his disability benefits.

According to the SSA the reason they took away his disability benefits was that the claimant was "working".  The SSA found that the claimant was working as a car salesman and thus no longer entitled to disability benefits.

An appeal was filed and the case was set for a new hearing before the SSA to determine if the claimant was truly "working".  At the new SSA hearing we presented  evidence from friends and from the owner of the automobile dealer that the claimant was not "working" in any real sense.    We showed that the claimant and the auto dealer were close, childhood friends and the dealership was located in a small town.  Out of that friendship we showed that the claimant did not have any work schedule and simply showed up at the dealership when able, two or three days a week.  While there, the claimant would often spend a few hours sitting at a desk, visiting friends, and reading magazines.  We showed that only occasionally the claimant would spend ten to fifteen minutes attempting auto sales with one or two customers, but rarely completed any actual sales.  We presented testimony that the claimant was allowed to show up at will and to leave at will.  We argued that at best, this arrangement was simply a mutual agreement between two long-standing childhood friends to help each other out in tough times.

The SSA Judge agreed with our arguments.

The Judge found that the claimant had a previously solid work history that went back several decades, that he was a person motivated to work and thus his credibility was enhanced.  The Judge found that the claimant's arrangement at the auto dealership was based simply on a long-term childhood friendship with the owner and in view of the circumstances and the claimant's severe physical impairments, could not be considered as work.

Since the claimant was not working, disability benefits that had been taken back by the SSA several years earlier were fully re-instated and paid to the claimant.

The early submittal of medical evidence documenting a severe impairment can be the key to success in a claim for social security disability benefits.

In this case the claimant was a  person with a college education and work history.    She was doing fine until she fell at work striking her head.  That head injury resulted in her suffering from increasing blurred vision, impaired concentration, memory problems and increasing mental conditions such as depression and anxiety.

We gathered and submitted medical evidence from her treating doctors.  That medical evidence included neurological examinations and mental evaluations.  Those reports showed that the claimant's ability to maintain work schedules and routines, to deal with social functions and to maintain concentration and pace were markedly limited.

Based on the early submittal of these key medical reports documenting severe impairments, the SSA Judge ruled that no hearing was necessary.  The Judge, on her own, issued a fully favorable decision based on the record alone finding the claimant fully entitled to disability benefits due to her head injury.

This on the record decision by the Judge saved the claimant several months, if not up to a year or more, in unnecessarily waiting for the SSA to review the claim and award disability benefits.

 

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Trying to understand the laws and regulations surrounding disability benefits can be incredibly confusing for the layman. It's almost impossible unless you have devoted your education and career to understanding this specific niche. If you want to cut through the all the confusing obstacles that stand in your way, give the offices of James R. Linehan a call as soon as possible. If too much time passes, you could miss out on your Veterans Disability Benefits, Social Security Disability, OWCP Federal Workers Compensation, or OPM medical retirement benefits. Our clients have the backing of an attorney who is in good standing with the United States Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, the Northern, Western, and Eastern Federal Courts of Oklahoma, the State of Oklahoma, and the Western District Federal Court of Texas. At the offices of James R. Linehan, we aggressively and ethically defend your rights as a disabled worker and or veteran.