I'm hearing there was a recent suicide attempt in Pike County, KY after a former client of Eric Conn was cut off benefits and told of a $76,000 overpayment. Everyone involved in this needs to understand this isn't a video game. There are dramatic real world consequences at stake here. If you have discretionary responsibility over any aspect of these cases, you must take what you are doing very seriously.
13 comments:
Eric Conn should be responsible for any overpayments as part of his plea agreement.
The indictment is seeking a money judgment of $5.7 million (among others). Based on the estimate of approximately 900 recipients linked to Conn, and in consideration of 5.7 million being approximately 950 full fee awards this suggests to me that this figure is not meant to address any overpaid benefits. Only the reimbursement of wrongful attorney fees.
Conn certainly should be responsible for the overpayments though.
How about making the ALJ responsible? After all, HE approved all of them, not Conn!
2:40 PM
Heaven forbid making an ALJ accountable for anything.
I propose that my EAJA fees be paid out of the ALJ's salary that signed the garbage decision.
The overpayment should be waived (1) the claimants were/are without fault since they didn't do anything fraudulent themselves, and (2) doubtful they can afford to repay. These circumstances could even be considered to meet the criteria of "against equity and good conscience". Whether SSA would waive -- that's another matter.
How about making SSA/ODAR management - from the very top down - responsible? You know, the officials and managers who had knowledge of the situation in the Huntington office, access to the information, and could have stopped it, but instead eagerly encouraged and rewarded the fast processing and closing of cases, which then afforded them bragging rights about how they reduced the backlog.
AMEN!
Besides the bragging rights, it would be very interesting to investigate the huge bonuses which were undoubtedly paid to these ODAR managers from Huntington all the way to the top ODAR brass.
High production numbers is the ONLY thing ODAR ever rewards, or the method by which employee and managerial performance is measured.
Even though this type of management is ineffective and outmoded, it is very prone to creating an abusive work environment for employees and the type of reprehensible behavior which occurred in Huntington.
Yet, no matter how much we explain this to them, ie, until we are blue in the face, ODAR management and top brass refuse to even remotely consider this, and that they are the problem.
Obviously, there is no accountability, and with the large bonuses they get, especially when production numbers are high, there is no incentive for them to make necessary changes and address the issue. They are too busy feeding at the trough, creating ways to promote their favorites and building an empire.
What the last two commenters fail to realize is that with ODAR's management structure and APA/ALJ rules, the only mgmt. officials that really can do anything of consequence involving ALJs are other robe-wearing managers (and, of course, the DC and COSS).
The only employees Huntington ODAR management (from the top on down)
retaliated against are the ones who figured out what was going on between Daugherty/Conn.
The ODAR DC and COSS, exactly, and on down the chain to the rest of their minions. Who do you think was approving production goals, looking the other way with regard to tactics taken to meet and exceed them, and authorizing promotions and bonuses for those with the highest numbers?
AMEN!
Besides the bragging rights, it would be very interesting to investigate the huge bonuses which were undoubtedly paid to these ODAR managers from Huntington all the way to the top ODAR brass.
High production numbers is the ONLY thing ODAR ever rewards, or the method by which employee and managerial performance is measured.
Even though this type of management is ineffective and outmoded, it is very prone to creating an abusive work environment for employees and the type of reprehensible behavior which occurred in Huntington.
Yet, no matter how much we explain this to them, ie, until we are blue in the face, ODAR management and top brass refuse to even remotely consider this, and that they are the problem.
Obviously, there is no accountability, and with the large bonuses they get, especially when production numbers are high, there is no incentive for them to make necessary changes and address the issue. They are too busy feeding at the trough, creating ways to promote their favorites and building an empire.
Well, let's start with Patricia Jonas of the Appeals Council...why did she get a bonus of $31,002 in 2010? Sure, ODAR was flush with stimulus money at the time (SSA had recently got a billion dollars and a lion's share was going to ODAR), but wasn't that money mostly supposed to help struggling poor people who had lost jobs as a result of the financial crisis? Why did Astrue award Patricia Jonas over $31K extra as a bonus? What exactly did she do for that money?
Bonus and salary stats can be found at http://www.fedsdatacenter.com/federal-pay-rates/index.php
What about Ronald Raborg? Astrue gave him $62,895 on top of his regular salary of $179,700? Anybody know what he did for his money?
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