Nov 2, 2016

RCALJ Oliver Garmon In The News Again

     An Atlanta television station is running a piece on employment discrimination at Social Security, featuring Regional Chief Administrative Law Judge Oliver Garmon.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

VINDICATION IS SWEET!

I am getting in on this too, because they did not mention what this IDIOT did to me! I so can't wait!

Tim said...

I know that this website is not run by a Trump fan. However, America needs an outsider to come in and clean out the federal government of the corruption that exists at the highest levels. Hillary is the epitome of that corruption! SSA and the federal government in general should be the leaders in hiring the disabled! If an organization is going to argue that all these people (those denied benefits) are capable of performing some job on a sustained basis, it is hypocrisy of the highest levels how they actually treat the disabled! Having people like Garmon deciding who is disabled is like having a KKK leader in charge of civil rights laws! America needs to clean house, NOW!!!

Anonymous said...

BRAVO, Tim @ 12:22PM.

Anonymous said...

SSA has like less than 50 political appointees out of 65K employees... the same people will be there

Anonymous said...

if you think you're life is going to be better under Trump as a claimant or a rep you're insane. That party wants you to work. Disability is viewed as welfare. Good luck

Anonymous said...

@Tim

Trump is not an "outsider." Trump and his ilk are the ones corrupting politicians like Clinton. There is no solution in this election, however Clinton's corruption is reliable and predictable whereas Trump's actual policy positions are unknown. Also, the actual power in the executive branch is insufficient to actually correct most of the issues SSA is facing and your presumption that Trump even could fix SSA is incorrect.

Anonymous said...

well said.

(comment above me)

Unknown said...

@1:41

Ditto

Anonymous said...

A fish rots from the head. Unless and until Congress and the President throw Colvin out, plan on a lot more smell from the agency.

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Anonymous said...

@2:48

I agree. Colvin and her ilk must go ASAP. Colvin helped former Atlanta ROCALJ Garmon secure the sweet office near his home, and personally saw to it he was not held accountable for the misconduct he has engaged and numerous lives destroyed. Absolutely outrageous. As far as I know, Garmon did get the office near his home - Can anyone confirm?

Tim said...

Government employees have been isolated from house cleaning for far too long. Trump may be unable to really change anything, but there's no chance Hillary will and little hope she will even try.. She's the epitome of back room deals, putting like-minded "diversity" choices in power... Colvin and her ilk would be protected by Hillary. Obama has shown zero interst in reducing the backlogs or running any part of the government in a more efficient manor. How's the "Affordable Care" act working for you? Hillary has shown us nothing to suggest she'd be different from Obama. I am no fan of Senators Paul, Lankford and Cotton. However, they have been poisoned by seeing ALJ Daughertys and Eric Conns under every bush. They've seen those who never should have been approved... They just need to see those who never should have been denied.
Getting back to Garmon... Anyone who mistreats his employees like this should be automatically disqualified from being a disability ALJ. He and anyone protecting him needs to be removed. Period. There should be no protections for them. There should be no "Right" to a job and no systemic protection for people of power in the federal or state governments. This is government of, by and for the people (in theory) and not of, by and for beaurocrats. Laws protecting beaurocrats need to be changed!

Anonymous said...

Everyone realizes that the Democratic party is now the party of the wealthy and the elites, right?

The Republicans, who are the more democratic party, are in the process of transforming into a populist working-class party.

Neither of these two facts can really tell you what is going to happen to Social Security, though. We will have to wait and see on that one.

The United States is just having a standard-issue Jacksonian moment. And it's not going anywhere at the moment.

Anonymous said...

@4:49

The fact that the democrats have abandoned the working class does not mean the republicans have begun to care about them.

Anonymous said...

Agree with 1:41.
I have heard nothing proposed by Trump to lift those at the bottom. I can petition Hillary but I don't see that happening with Trump. And while the Affordable Care Act isn't perfect, I know that it has saved a few lives here in Mississippi.

Anonymous said...

Does Garmon have the goods on someone and know where the bodies are buried? What else would explain the way the appointees handle him?

Anonymous said...

@8:45 stated, "Does Garmon have the goods on someone ..."

Really, I would also like to know why Garmon has been so coddled, protected, and held to no standard of accountability whatsoever by Colvin and others in the SSA/ODAR Ivory Tower. Garmon should be removed from his ALJ position. The last thing this guy needs to be doing is presiding over SSA Disability Appeals based on how he has treated SSA/ODAR employees who developed a disability over a period of several years now. What he did to me alone will raise the hair on the back of your neck. There is nothing I would like more than to tell my long storied history with Garmon, and the misconduct he is responsible, orchestrated, and engaged where I am concerned.

Thankfully, in my case, the fat lady hasn't even begun to sing, and I am predicting it will be a wild ride for Garmon AND his high level Agency Enablers before the fat lady finishes singing. Stay tuned, folks.

Anonymous said...

His name is not Oliver - Charles, I thought you were in R4 and should know that. What I find troubling is that 11Alive is going after him with little real facts - since he and the Agency can say nothing while there is litigation going on. It is all one sided, and I have yet to see any office of any kind where there is no "drama going on."

Anonymous said...

@6:59

Another protective coddler embracing Garmon. What's wrong with you people? Prey tell, is there any amount of facts and information which would convince you of Garmon's guilt?

All of the cases mentioned in the TV News report have ALREADY BEEN LITIGATED. They are over. Cases closed, including 678 disabled SSA employees in the Jantz disability class action litigation, which by the way, the Agency fought against for more than 10 years, and in doing so, literally destroyed the lives of these 678 disabled individuals, many of whom only required a reasonable accommodation, which would NOT have caused an undue burden to the Agency.

The FACT is SSA/ODAR, and Garmon and the misguided ilk who protect him, have a well documented and longstanding history of obstinately refusing reasonable accommodation requests; putting employees who request them through years of hell, expense, and frequently litigation before they may possibly attain one, and even then, the reasonable accommodation the Agency finally acquiesces to is often inadequate and not the one most needed and requested; and during all this time, many of these employees are subjected to persistent, unspeakable harassment by their supervisors who are repeatedly instructed to do so by higher level managers, such as Garmon, and are admonished themselves if they refuse to do so. These low level managers, in turn, encourage coworkers to shun and further harass these employees with disabilities. The harassment quickly escalates and frequently gets out of control.

What's important here is that management through the entire chain of command directed and choreographed this horrific mistreatment of these employees with disabilities. Not only are these illegal Prohibited Personnel and Unfair Labor Practices, they create and foster a hostile work environment. In SSA/ODAR, this is easily accomplished and shielded by the never ending pressure of unrealistic production numbers/quotas each employee must meet.

I have personally witnessed and experienced all of this, and much more, at the hands and control of Garmon. The last thing this guy should be doing with this documented track record is presiding as an ALJ over SSA Disability cases.

Anonymous said...

I work at SSA...

The claims of employment discrimination here usually make me laugh. Yes, there is probably some discrimination, but it is not systemic. The average employee here is a middle-age, African-American (or other minority) female.

Anonymous said...

@1:53 stated, "The claims of employment discrimination here (SSA) make me laugh..."


It takes a great deal of ignorance to publicly make such an assertion, especially one you obviously have no real knowledge in the first place.

I can assure you NONE of the disabled individuals referenced in the TV News Report are laughing. I also challenge your statistics concerning the relationship between disabled employees and African American women.
Look at the demographics of the Jantz class action disability case, and you will see it is not heavily weighed by African American women than any other demographic.

I am Caucasian, and a longstanding target of unspeakable harassment, retaliation, and disability discrimination under the hands and control of Garmon. Laughing is not a pleasure I have had since I was illegally forced out of my SSA career of several decades under the specific direction and orchestration of events by Garmon himself.

This man destroyed my life and career, as the Agency has done with so many disabled individuals identified in the TV News Report. I will not rest until I receive full justice, and Garmon, the ilk in the Ivory Tower who protect him, i.e., Colvin, et., al., and Garmon's minions who also coddle and protect him, are ALL held fully accountable for the misconduct and wrongdoing they engaged. Perhaps I will get the last laugh once the fat lady is finished singing.

Anonymous said...

It's quite paradoxical the very Agency responsible for determining disability in Social Security Disability cases has such a horrific track record in terms of how it treats their own employees who develop a disability.

The actions this Agency has engaged for numerous years is the direct opposite of what they state in denial decisions in SSA Disability cases. They frequently find a claimant can return to past relevant work, or there are other jobs existing in significant numbers in the national economy which they can perform. They do not even consider whether the claimant may require a reasonable accommodation to work, or an employers willingness to provide one. Publicly, however, the Agency encourages all employers to provide reasonable accommations, and to retain and hire individuals with disabilities.

Meanwhile, the actions the Agency has engaged for several years now in terms of how they treat their own employees who develop disabilities is in direct contrast to the public persona the Agency portrays, i.e., do as I say, not as I do.

The one Agency which should set an example for all employers has repeatedly failed to do so. Further, Social Security Disability ALJ's like Garmon are the perfect representation of the corruption which exists in the Federal government today. It's as though the Fox (Judge) is guarding the henhouse,(determining which SSA Disability claimants are eligible to receive benefits).

Moreover, the complete and utter failure of the highest authorities in the Agency to hold Garmon and others who have engaged in misconduct accountable, Colvin, etc., have gone to extreme lengths in order prevent these employees from being held accountable in any way. Look at Garmon's sweet deal to have an ODAR office near his home, which is inconvenient as hell for everyone else; the drastic measures Colvin engaged to prevent Eanes, the President'nominee in her stead, from taking control of the ship to the point where she utterly forced him out the door, and that Congress and the President have thus far allowed her to get away with all of this without being held accountable.

So far, the only correct move Congress has taken was not confirming Colvin for SSA Commissioner, and the President refusing to renominate her. What's worse is Colvin, Garmon, and other top officials have, and continue to demonstrate they are an utter failure at as managing the Agency, as evidence by the unprecedented backlog of disability cases, and refusal to reinstate the original STDP Senior Attorney Program to address the backlog, even though many experienced retired and current employees have repeatedly urged them to do this for the past several years. This level of incompetence is malfeasance.

Anonymous said...

SSA needs a full blown investigation where rank and file employees can volunteer to talk with an outside,independent investigator with complete immunity from any repercussion. Something like a special prosecutor. What an eye opener that would be. Congressional staffers are you reading?

PS, for all of you who harangued 27 when she kept posting her story should be ashamed of yourselves. Good to see you are getting some validation 27.

Anonymous said...

@12:30

I fully concur a special or independent prosecutor should be appointed, and a full blown, independent investigation giving immunity to rank and file SSA and ODAR employees must be done. The degree of misconduct of certain high level Agency officials has reached such a heightened level it can no longer be ignored based on the facts we already know,
to wit:

1. An established pattern and practice of disability discrimination, persistent harassment, and retaliation, which frequently got out of control, by Garmon, and SSA as a whole;

2. Top officials, Colvin, et. al., covering up known misconduct, including criminal, and overtly refusing to hold known wrongdoers, such as Garmon, accountable, which I am sure everyone will recall, she was never confirmed SSA Commissioner, or renominated by the President;

3. The sweet deal of relocating the North Georgia ODAR office near Garmon's home, and allowing him first choice of office space, even though he is technically working out of Falls Church, and will be depriving an ALJ holding hearings there of an office, not too mention the fact the office is horrifically inconvenient for claimants and their representatives;

4. The extreme limits Colvin engaged to maintain her power as Agency Head, so she would be the sole decision maker concerning discipline, if any, of officials known to have engaged in misconduct and wrongdoing;

5. Colvin offered to step down to an SES position and allow Eanes the President's successor nominee after she was not confirmed, on the condition she could maintain her power as Agency Head i.e., so she could exclusively rule over disciplinary measures whom she
already knew officials such as Garmon, and others, had engaged;

6. That Colvin literally pushed Eanes, the President's successor nominee, out the door rather than cede power as Agency Head to him, and we obviously know why now, and did this without being held accountable by any authority, which is unprecedented;

7. Repeated Prohibited Personnel and Unfair Labor Practices Garmon a d others persistently engaged;

and the list goes on and on.

Members of Congress, Congressional staffers, and everyone unwilling to allow such cronyism and corruption continue within SSA and ODAR under the next Administration.

Perhaps someone can finally push Colvin and her ilk out the door since this appears to be a repeated Prohibited Personnel Practice among certain Agency officials, e.g., Garmon, Colvin, etc.

Anonymous said...

And here I thought you were talking about my ex-employer a federal contractor called kaiser when it comes to violating every law in the book! The feds protect the feds. and the states and the employer and the insurer...... so much for an employee who does their job the right. That is too much like saving money being efficient and competent and those in fed or state or contracting business would not be able to ask for more. Don't move them out, move them up or sideways. THE worse they are he better to ask for more, always more. That's all it is about, more money! The military knows that better than any agency.

Anonymous said...

I am all for a Special Prosecutor too, but my question is where in the hell is the DOJ and US Attorneys office, and why are they apparently allowing these top officials off the hook? Presumably, these Agency officials have too much control over the SSA OIG for them to address any of these issues.

Relocating the North Atlanta ODAR office near Garmon's home,which will make it extremely difficult for claimants to travel for hearings, is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse any way you look at it.

Although Congress and the President did not confirm or renominate Colvin because of the known misconduct, why have they quietly allowed her to engage in the very same behavior as Acting SSA Commissioner, which they knew she planned to do if confirmed Commissioner?

This level of corruption among top level Agency officials simply cannot be tolerated at SSA, or any Federal Agency.

DOJ and US Attorney, where are you? In the event they do not step forward, than Special Prosecutor must be retained.

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