Queens Residents File Suit Challenging Biased Denials of Social Security Disability Benefits

Queens Office Has One of Nation’s Highest Benefits Denial Rates

Class Action Suit Seeks To Disqualify Biased Social Security Administration Administrative Law Judges, de Blasio files Amicus Brief in Support

Eight disabled Queens residents filed a class action lawsuit today charging systematic bias against low-income disabled individuals seeking Social Security Disability benefits in Queens. The suit against the U.S. Social Security Administration seeks the disqualification of five Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) at the Queens Office of Disability Assistance & Review (ODAR) because of their persistent denial of claims based on glaring and intentional legal and procedural errors, thereby depriving thousands of eligible claimants of benefits they need to survive.

The Queens ODAR has the third highest benefits-denial rate in the country and the highest benefits-denial rate in the New York region, based on data covering decisions from 2005 to 2008. Almost all of the ALJs named in the suit rank high on the national list of top claims deniers. On appeal, the Queens ODAR suffers one of the highest remand rates in the country.

The lawsuit brought by the Urban Justice Center’s Mental Health Project and the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, details a history of persistent and intentional denials by the ALJs of disability claims, and provides compelling evidence of their anti-claimant bias. These errors have persisted despite repeated warnings and reversals by the federal court in Brooklyn. In prior rulings, that court has used various phrases to describe the problem with ALJs from Queens ODAR, including:

• Proceedings that were “a far cry” from the required standards;
• Conduct that “raises the possibility that the ALJ was not seeking to neutrally develop the record, but rather to find support for the conclusions he had already formed”
• Analysis that was “deficient” and “incoherent”
• Delay that was “particularly egregious”
• Rationale that was “plucked from thin air”
• Analysis that “trivializes plaintiff’s impairments”
• Overall conduct that demonstrates “serious negligence and could possibly even suggest bias”

While these findings came in individual cases over three years, this is the first lawsuit to weave those findings together, and with other evidence of bias, as a basis to seek the disqualification of most of the members (5 of 8) of a local Social Security hearing office.

Eve Stotland, Director of the Mental Health Project, Urban Justice Center, said “We hope this lawsuit will bring an end to the well-known and flagrant bias our clients face every day. These ALJs have used any and every rationale to deny claims for many years. We look forward to the day when bias against disabled claimants is no longer tolerated.”

“Many of these individuals are living in dire poverty while these ALJs repeatedly to refuse to apply the law,” says Emilia Sicilia, Senior Attorney at the Urban Justice Center. “Attempts to appeal these cases are almost always futile because even when errors are found on appeal, the cases are typically remanded back to the same ALJ and always to the same hearing office.”

"Any time the rights and needs of the vulnerable are disregarded, we must stand up for them,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, whose office has filed an amicus brief in the case. “For years, administrative law judges have been wrongly denying disabled New Yorkers the social security benefits they deserve. My office will file our first amicus brief to help restore benefits to these victims and reform the way these judges do business,”

The five ALJs at the center of the lawsuit are Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge David Nisnewitz, and ALJs Michael D. “Manuel” Cofresi, Seymour Fier, Marilyn P. Hoppenfeld, and Hazel C. Strauss. All have presided over thousands of cases, making the potential class of affected persons enormous.

Jim Walden, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said, “Federal law does not permit this kind of bias in any form or fashion. Although this lawsuit is ground-breaking in the relief it seeks, it is firmly grounded in established precedent and statutory and Constitutional imperatives.”

Ian F. Feldman and Emilia Sicilia are counsel for the Mental Health Project, Urban Justice Center.

Oliver Olanoff, Tyler Amass, Sharon Grysman, Daniel Harris, Adam Jantzi, William Moriarty, Karin Reiss, and Abraham Shaw of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP are also working on the litigation on behalf of Class Plaintiffs.

The case is Padro, et al, v. Astrue, and has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Court Rules Rent Hikes are Illegal, Refunds Possible for Tenants by Adam Lisberg - NY Daily News

Mayor Bloomberg's handpicked board loses in Court. The Rent Guidelines Board consists of nine members, all of whom are appointed by the Mayor.

Read original...

Minimum rent hikes for 300,000 rent-stabilized New Yorkers are illegal, an appeals court ruled Tuesday, raising the prospect of $100 million in refunds.

The court agreed with a January ruling that the Rent Guidelines Board was wrong to impose increases of up to $85 on tenants paying low rents in 2008 and 2009.

"The creation of this 'poor tax' was a direct attack by the Rent Guidelines Board on low-income tenants," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

The Law Department plans to ask the state's highest court to review the ruling. The Rent Guidelines Board is scheduled to set new rent increases tomorrow, but it is unclear whether they will set a minimum.

Facing Foreclosure Free Help is Available by Stephen Geffon - Leader-Observer

Read original...


Foreclosure of one’s home can be devastating, doubly so if the loss of the home was due to a scam perpetrated on the unsuspecting homeowner.

However, there is free help available. Queens Legal Services, a not-for-profit organization serving the residents of Queens, last year instituted a Foreclosure Prevention Unit that provides free legal help to homeowners facing foreclosure, including advice and representation in settlement conferences, in negotiations with lenders, and in court proceedings.

Franklin Romeo, a staff attorney for the organization, discussed the group’s foreclosure project at last week’s meeting of Community Board 10 in South Ozone Park. He said that southeastern Queens has been among the hardest hit neighborhoods in the country in the current foreclosure crisis.

“There are a huge number of foreclosures in Queens,” he said.

Romeo said that he and three other attorneys and a paralegal provide free comprehensive legal services for Queens residents including housing evictions, government benefits law, consumer law, family law, foreclosure prevention, and help with citizenship.

Romeo advised homeowners that if they have fallen behind in their mortgage payments they should first try to negotiate with their lender a loan modification. He said that the homeowner should not pay anybody for a loan modification noting that there are numerous Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved nonprofit organizations that will provide help for free.

“If somebody is trying to get money from you for a loan modification, chances are very high what they are trying to do is rip you off,” he said. “If you have been served with foreclosure papers you should talk to an attorney.”

Homeowners worried about foreclosure can call the group’s hotline on any Monday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at (347) 592-2182.

The Foreclosure Prevention Project is a partner in the Foreclosure Prevention Court Clinic for homeowners, which takes place on Wednesday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Queens County Civil Court, 89-17 Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has urged consumers to be alert to foreclosure rescue firms that use the following straight-forward messages like “Stop Foreclosure Now!,” or “Keep Your Home. We know your home is scheduled to be sold. No Problem!” Once they have your attention, says the FTC, they use a variety of tactics to get your money.

In the phony counseling or phantom help scheme, the scam artist tells you that he can negotiate a deal with your lender to save your house if you pay a fee first. You may be told not to contact your lender, lawyer, or credit counselor, and to let the scam artist handle all the details. Once you pay the fee, the scam artist takes off with your money.

In rent-to-buy, you’re told to surrender the title as part of a deal that allows you to remain in your home as a renter, and to buy it back during the next few years. You may be told that surrendering the title will permit a borrower with a better credit rating to secure new financing – and prevent the loss of the home. But the terms of these deals usually are so burdensome that buying back your home becomes impossible. You lose the home, and the scam artist walks off with all or most of your home’s equity. Worse yet, when the new borrower defaults on the loan, you’re evicted.

In the bankruptcy foreclosure scheme, the scam artist may promise to negotiate with your lender or to get refinancing on your behalf if you pay a fee up front. Instead of contacting your lender or refinancing your loan, though, the scam artist pockets the fee and files a bankruptcy case in your name – sometimes without your knowledge.

“Fraudulent foreclosure 'rescue' professionals use half truths and outright lies to sell services that promise relief and then fail to deliver,” read a statement issued by FTC.

Judge Denies Monserrate’s Bid to Stay in Senate by Jeremy Peters - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

Read original...

Former State Senator Hiram Monserrate in front of the courthouse in Manhattan on Thursday. David Goldman for the New York Times

A federal judge on Friday denied [pdf] former State Senator Hiram Monserrate’s petition to block his expulsion and halt the special election called for next month to select his replacement.

Mr. Monserrate’s lawyers are expected to immediately appeal the ruling, which was issued by Judge William H. Pauley of Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Mr. Monserrate, who earlier this month became the first state legislator removed from office in nearly a century, argued that the Senate had no power to expel him and that by doing so, it violated his due process and the rights of the voters who elected him.

But during oral arguments in the case on Thursday, Judge Pauley seemed skeptical of Mr. Monserrate’s claims.

Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani's Ex-Head of New York Police, Gets 4 Years in Prison by Sam Dolnick- NYTimes.com

Read original...

Bernard B. Kerik, a former New York police commissioner who rose to national prominence, was sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to eight felony charges, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials.

Under the terms of a plea agreement reached in November on the eve of his trial, the prosecution and the defense recommended that Judge Stephen C. Robinson sentence Mr. Kerik to 27 to 33 months in prison. But the judge departed from the sentencing recommendations, giving Mr. Kerik a longer sentence.

“I think it’s fair to say that with great power comes great responsibility and great consequences,” Judge Robinson said. “I think the damage caused by Mr. Kerik is in some ways immeasurable.”

The sentencing was the end of a legal saga in which federal prosecutors denounced Mr. Kerik, a former detective who rose to the upper echelons of power, as a corrupt official who sought to trade his authority for lavish benefits.

Mr. Kerik, looking thin and clean-shaven as he entered the courtroom in United States District Court here, spoke briefly.

“ I make no excuses,” he said. “I take full responsibility for the grave mistakes I’ve made. Believe me when I say I have learned from this and I have become and will continue to become a better person.

“I know I must be punished,” he continued. “I only ask that you allow me to return to my wife and two little girls as soon as possible.”

As the judge delivered the sentence, Mr. Kerik sat impassionately at the defense table, flanked by his lawyers. Behind him, his supporters — including Geraldo Rivera and Steven McDonald, a former New York City police officer who was paralyzed from the neck down in 1986 — filled the gallery.

Mr. Kerik will begin serving his sentence on May 17. Prosecutors had requested that Mr. Kerik be sent to prison immediately, but Judge Robinson allowed him to surrender later to get his affairs in order in light of the longer sentence. Mr. Kerik has awaited sentencing under strict house arrest at his home in Franklin Lakes, N.J.

The sentence follows a fall from a rarefied perch where he wielded power with a signature mix of brash confidence and tough-guy charm.

He was a close ally of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, whom he served as a bodyguard and driver. Mr. Giuliani then tapped him for a senior position in the Correction Department, and he went on to become the agency’s commissioner. As testament to his clout, Mr. Kerik had a jail named after him in downtown Manhattan. (The name has since been changed.)

Mr. Kerik later served as police commissioner, and his performance during after 9/11 attacks turned him into a national figure, earning him the respect of President George W. Bush, who nominated him to lead the Department of Homeland Security. That bid quickly collapsed in scandal, marking the beginning of the end of Mr. Kerik’s career.

The case against Mr. Kerik centered on charges that a New Jersey construction company, the Interstate Industrial Corporation, which was suspected of ties to organized crime, had paid for renovations at Mr. Kerik’s home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Prosecutors said company officials had hoped Mr. Kerik would help them obtain a city license.

In addition to pleading guilty to two counts of tax fraud and one count of making a false statement on a loan application, Mr. Kerik also pleaded guilty to five counts of making false statements to the federal government while being vetted for senior posts.

Prosecutors had called for Judge Robinson to make an example out of Mr. Kerik, and to punish him for his “egotism and hubris.”

Mr. Kerik’s lawyer, Michael F. Bachner, had asked the judge for leniency, citing his years of public service, and the dozens of letters of support written by family members, former colleagues in the Police Department, and even strangers who said they admired Mr. Kerik’s bravery.

After the sentencing, Mr. Kerik paused outside the courthouse, where he read a statement before being driven off in a black sport utility vehicle.

“I’d like to apologize to the American people for the mistakes I’ve made and for which I have just accepted responsibility,” he said. “As history is written, I can only hope that I will be judged for the 30 years of service I have given to this country and the city of New York. It has not and will not diminish my love for this country.”

When asked if Mr. Kerik intended to appeal the sentence, his lawyer said, “No comment.”

George Denied His Due by Bruce Golding - New York Post

Read original...

'TRULY' EMBARRASSING: The inscription on the Manhattan Supreme Court building, featured in "Law & Order," uses "true," not "due", as Washington wrote in 1789.

Call it a misquote for the ages.

In a stunning slap at the Father of our Country, stone carvers got George Washington's words wrong on the landmark Manhattan Supreme Courthouse, The Post has learned.

"The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government," reads the inscription chiseled in granite above the fluted columns at 60 Centre St.

But the nation's first president actually penned the word "due" - not "true" - according to centuries-old documents on file at the Library of Congress and National Archives in Washington, DC.

The mangled motto adorns one of the world's most recognizable halls of justice, whose imposing Roman facade appears in the movies "The Godfather," "12 Angry Men" and "Miracle on 34th Street," as well as countless episodes of the various "Law & Order" TV series.

City and court officials were unaware of the outrageous rewrite until contacted by The Post.

"It's a shame," said longtime New York County Clerk Norman Goodman, who has worked in the six-sided courthouse since 1969.

A spokesman for the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which manages the Foley Square building, blamed Boston architect Guy Lowell, who won a 1913 design competition. He died in 1927, the same year the courthouse opened.

Washington, who took the presidential oath of office at nearby Federal Hall, coined the phrase in a Sept. 28, 1789, letter drafting fellow Virginian Edmund Randolph as the nation's first attorney general.

Washington expert Philander Chase, who spent 35 years editing the Revolutionary War hero's papers, said the engraved phrase doesn't even sound like his style.

" 'True administration' is probably what we would say today, but 'due administration' is more what they would have said in the 18th century," said the recently retired University of Virginia professor.

James Rees, executive director of Washington's estate and gardens in Mount Vernon, Va., said the bumbled quotation joins a laundry list of slights against the American icon - most notably today's "Presidents Day" holiday, created after Congress changed the observance of his actual Feb. 22 birthday in 1971.

Rees said the court error should be corrected.

"Washington was a real stickler for detail. He wasn't one to let small things slide, so it would make a little bit of difference to him that they got this one right," he said.

A fix would need approval from the city Landmarks Preservation Commission, which safeguarded the courthouse exterior from alteration in 1966.

County Clerk Goodman, whose office distributes brochures about the historic building, said he would immediately print new ones noting the mistake.

bruce.golding@nypost.com

Gulluscio Stays Off The Ballot by Elizabeth Benjamin - The Daily Politics - NY Daily News

Read original...

A Queens state Supreme Court Justice today upheld a ruling by elections commissioners that tossed Frank Gulluscio off the ballot for the upcoming 32nd CD special election in which Gulluscio had hoped to win the Queens seat of his former boss, Sen. Joe Addabbo.

However, in a rather odd twist, Justice Phyllis Orlikoff Flug didn't cite the Gulluscio's lack of valid signatures, which was what led the elections commissioners to bounce him in the first place.

Instead, Flug ruled that Gulluscio should remain off the ballot due to "failure of service," which, as far as I can tell, means the process server who was supposed to serve notice on the individuals who objected to the candidate's petitions didn't follow the rules properly.

In this case, according to someone who was in the court today, the server failed to affix the notice to the door of the individual being served. Instead, according to the objector, the notice was inside the door and not ON it.

Such are the nit-picky details - along with improper wording on petitions and picking a symbol for one's made-up party that doesn't conform with Election Law - that can cost a candidate his one shot at being a councilman.

The same source said he expects Gulluscio to run again in September when Addabbo's seat comes up (recall that defending a seat in a general election against one's erstwhile special election opponent isn't necessarily an easy undertaking - just ask former Councilman Anthony Como).

Nevertheless, this is a blow to Gulluscio and also to Addabbo, who had endorsed his former staffer's bid to succeed him. (Not to mention the Hotel and Motel Trades Council, which endorsed Gulluscio, too).

Former Sen. Marty Connor, an election attorney working for another 32nd CD candidate, Geraldine Chapey, said he has dropped his effort to get Eric Ulrich off the ballot.

Gulluscio accused Chapey of foul play in hiring Connor, saying in a prepared statement:

"The idea that this is a system meant to uphold democracy is preposterous when the signatures of thousands of voters can be rendered meaningless by a legal technicality. We must demand that we have a system where the will of the people cannot be overturned by lawyers."

"Geraldine Chapey has been on what can only be described as a witch hunt, dragging her opponents into court, causing us hours of wasted time and thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees."

"She obviously feels that the only way she can win is to eliminate the competition using her lawyer, rather than in a fair election by the will of the people. I cannot imagine that the voters of the 32nd Council District would want to be represented by someone like that."

Gulluscio pledged to pursue "all options" that will allow him to "continue to serve" 32nd CD residents.

The case of yet another candidate for Addabbo's seat who was pushed off the ballot by elections commissioners last week, Glenn DiResto, will be heard tomorrow.

State Lawmakers Unveil Legislation Reforming Court Of Appeals Nomination System

Assemblyman Lancman, Senator Sampson and Assemblyman Rivera announce legislation to reform Court of Appeals nominations.

Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman (D-Queens), State Senator John L. Sampson (D-Brooklyn), and Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera (D-Bronx) announced legislation to reform the nominating system for Court of Appeals judges today (video is a available here). The current process was widely criticized recently, including by Governor David Paterson and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, when the Commission on Judicial Nominations did not nominate a single woman or Latino as a possible replacement for retiring Chief Judge Judith Kaye.

Unlike the current law which arbitrarily limits the number of "well qualified" nominees who can be forwarded to the Governor for consideration for the state’s highest court, the legislation unveiled by Assemblyman Lancman and Senator Sampson would require the Commission on Judicial Nominations to forward every "well qualified" candidate to the Governor. This measure would provide the Governor with access to the state’s top judicial talent and prevent the Commission from exceeding its intended purpose as a screening mechanism.

“New Yorkers deserve the best and brightest on our Court of Appeals, distinguished lawyers who also represent the diversity of our state. This legislation will accomplish that by broadening the pool of judicial nominees for the Governor to consider and keeping politics out of the nomination process,” said Assemblyman Lancman.

“The public must feel confident in the process for Court of Appeals nominations. We must make sure that the people of the State of New York have faith in the judicial system. This bill is one way to open the process and help ensure that people continue to have faith in the system,” said Senator Sampson.

"Not only are Hispanics tremendously under-represented at all levels of the state government workforce, we are also grossly absent from judgeship's throughout our court system. The problem is highlighted by the reality that with over 4 million Hispanics in our state there are no Hispanic presiding Judges in the Appellate Term of the State of New York," said Assemblyman Rivera, "I strongly support the work of Assemblyman Lancman and Senator Sampson that will help make sure that our judiciary is as diverse as the people of the Empire State."

Assemblyman Lancman is a member of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Assemblyman Rivera is a member of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and a former Assistant District Attorney and Senator Sampson chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Sampson recently held a hearing on New York State’s judicial nomination process.

Additional information is available at: http://www.nyad25.org/judicialnominations.htm

A complete video is available at the following link: http://vimeo.com/3085702

Cemetery Cleanup Countdown by Julie Wiener - The New York Jewish Week

Read original...

I would urge interested parties and individuals, local neighborhood and civic associations to assist with this clean up...

Anyone interested please contact me as I have reached out to the appropriate parties in an effort to make this happen...

I'd like to note that I have lived in Ozone Park for over 40 years and this cemetery has been in disrepair, neglected and vandalized for longer than I care to remember...

The photos for this posting are from an EyeMaze blog post entitled "The Journey" (click on photos to enlarge)...

Congregation must restore decrepit burial ground by High Holidays or face renewed litigation; new nonprofit to oversee abandoned graveyards.

Can Bayside Cemetery, the long-neglected Jewish burial ground, turn itself around in time for the High Holy Days?

That’s what officials with Shaare Zedek, the Upper West Side congregation that owns the 35,000-plot Ozone Park, Queens cemetery, are hoping.

A class-action lawsuit against Shaare Zedek and the historic cemetery — in which plaintiffs accused them of, among other things, breach of contract and improperly diverting money from the cemetery perpetual care fund — has been administratively closed until Sept. 26. The recent “tolling agreement” between the plaintiffs and defendants is to give the defendants time to clean up the cemetery and develop a long-term plan for its ongoing maintenance.

Established in the 1840s, Bayside Cemetery is riddled with overgrown weeds, fallen branches, toppled-over gravestones and vandalized mausoleums. Indeed, many sections of the cemetery are so overgrown that they are completely inaccessible, and large swaths look more like a rainforest than a burial ground.

Five years ago a group of Mormon volunteers launched a major cleanup effort there, but the cemetery has since returned to its previous, unkempt state.

If the plaintiffs, who are descendants of people buried at Bayside Cemetery, remain dissatisfied with the cemetery’s condition at the end of the tolling period, they have the right to immediately resume the litigation with an expedited schedule, according to assurances given by Judge Raymond Dearie in a March 28 pre-motion conference. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of New York.

“Our hope is that we can make substantial progress toward cleaning this thing up,” Stephen Axinn, Shaare Zedek’s attorney, told The Jewish Week. In the next few months, Shaare Zedek will oversee a major cleanup effort of the cemetery, he said. Axinn said a “righteous individual” who has experience managing Jewish cemeteries, but asked not to be publicly identified for fear of becoming ensnared in the lawsuit, has volunteered his “manpower and expertise” to clean Bayside. A $140,000 grant from UJA-Federation will defray his expenses.

In addition, Axinn said, Shaare Zedek is working with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and other Jewish federation agencies to establish a nonprofit organization called the Community Association for Jewish At-Risk Cemeteries (CAJAC) that will raise funds for and assume responsibility for maintaining Bayside and other neglected Jewish cemeteries.

CAJAC was on the verge of hiring an executive director last fall, Axinn said, but its progress has been stymied by the class-action lawsuit filed in September, which apparently caused several interested job candidates to “shy away.”

In an e-mail statement, David Pollock, associate executive director of the JCRC, echoed Axinn’s assertion that the lawsuit had slowed momentum on CAJAC and the cemetery cleanup, saying, “the litigation had a chilling effect.”

“The current agreement gives the parties an opportunity to recreate the previous momentum. It will be a difficult challenge but everyone will do their best.”

Shaare Zedek has long contended that it lacks the resources to care for Bayside and that, because the majority of its plots were sold to now-defunct Jewish burial societies rather than congregants, responsibility for its care lies with the larger Jewish community, not the shul.

John Lucker, one of the plaintiffs, and the grandson of two people buried at Bayside, said he hopes Shaare Zedek and Bayside use the legal reprieve “to perform not just a onetime temporary Band-Aid fix to the problem.”

In addition to developing a long-term, viable plan for maintaining the cemetery, it is essential, said Lucker, “that the synagogue and the cemetery restore and create a financial endowment trust necessary to fulfill their perpetual care obligations.”

“Time will tell what the synagogue and cemetery are able to accomplish during this brief pause,” he said.

Dozens Of Women Join Class Action Lawsuit Against Bloomberg LP - NY1: Politics

Read original...

Watch video...

The sex discrimination lawsuit against Mayor Michael Bloomberg's financial information company widened Thursday.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission revealed that a total of 58 women have filed discrimination lawsuits against Bloomberg LP, claiming unfair treatment to employees on maternity leave. One of the federal agency's lawyers said the number of women could increase.

The mayor is not named as a defendant in the class-action lawsuit and refused to comment on it.

Bloomberg LP released a statement, saying: "Last month, the U.S. District Court in New Jersey dismissed an employment discrimination suit by four current and former employees, finding that the plaintiffs' allegations were baseless. We believe that the Court will render a similar judgment in the case brought by the EEOC."