Article by Emilia Sicilia via NOSSCR.org
The Chief Judge Carol Bagely Amon of the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted final approval of a settlement. This case was a class action lawsuit that complained of a generalized bias of five Administrative Law Judges in the SSA’s Queens, New York hearing office.
This approval now provides claimants who received unfavorable or partially favorable decisions by these five judges a chance for new hearings. New hearings will not occur with these same five judges, but rather other available judges or senior attorneys.
This case also provided a way to create a special unit in the Appeals Council that will be able to automatically review all unfavorable and all appealed partially favorable decision by these judges under a 30-month monitoring schedule which began in October 2013.
