From WXYZ:
A 41-year-old Ann Arbor woman was found guilty of an assault on a Social Security Administration worker after she was notified that her disability benefits had changed.
According to a press release, on Aug. 14, 2018, Latasha Long went into a Social Security Administration office in Ann Arbor to discuss issues with her ability to continue receiving disability benefits.
While interviewing with a worker, Long was told that she had reported income on her tax returns that was too high for her to continue receiving benefits. When the employee asked Long to provide additional evidence of her work and income levels for reevaluation, Long began to explain her circumstances, but the employee said that information was not different from what was already recorded.
Long then became angry, according to a release, and began to verbally insult the employee, calling her a "psycho."
When the employee proceeded to stand and close the interview window, Long then hit her in the face with a large binder, grabbed her shirt, then pulled the woman closer to further punch and scratch her. ...
She will be ceased when she goes to prison. SAD! But at least she will get free government housing for 8 years and three meals a day.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a CR I was spat on by an active AIDS patient, threatened with a hatchet and we had a guy walk in with a Molotov Cocktail, all at open interview desks, we didn't get booths and windows till the last year that I was there. That doesn't included keyed cars and veiled threats. Best day of my working life was leaving the agency.
ReplyDeleteSRs and CRs see this often, but this is a tip of the iceberg in abuse like insults and very carefully worded threats that happen every single week.
Let me start by saying I'm not defending this type of behavior. But, the agency seems to bend over backwards to make things way more difficult than they need to be and sometimes you get some of the most asinine responses. Regretfully, I have found myself on more than one occasion yelling at someone over the phone because of some ridiculous situation that should be easily remedied but either because of some stupid agency policy or laziness or incompetence has been made exceedingly difficult. So, I can understand why people regularly become frustrated and angry and, unfortunately, it is the agency's frontline employees that are in the line of fire. That being said, there is no excuse for the type of behavior in the article.
ReplyDeleteIn a past life, I worked for Child Protective Services (talk about a magnet for abuse). As part of the training for that job, my employer sent us to something called "Hostile Encounter, Non-violent Crisis Intervention" training. This was about how to deescalate angry people. The SSA should probably provide that training to all of its employees.
10:07 your conduct under any circumstance is not acceptable behavior by any measure. Yell or cuss at me you get one warning, "Sir or Madam, this is a professional call, please conduct your conversation accordingly, yelling/cursing will not be tolerated, I WILL terminate the call." Then when they yell, I tell them they were warned and hang up.
ReplyDelete@10:07
ReplyDeleteI've never resorted to yelling at the field office workers because I'm aware almost none of them are being unhelpful willfully. It is nearly always due to the system which no field office worker has control over. Of the rare few bad apples who I've seen: hide applications, ignore correspondence, misinform claimants of their rights, etc., yelling would also be pointless. 1, I could count those individuals on half of one hand out of hundreds of workers who I've interacted with; 2, yelling at them will not solve anything since it is either ignorance or willful.
Sounds like this lady was getting SSI and the benefits were stopped because her income was too high. Either she's working or she did the EITC scam and reported income she did not earn to get a tax "refund."
ReplyDeleteEither way she is not going to be eligible for continued SSI benefits. There does not appear to be any systematic bureaucratic problem in this case. She is no longer eligible for the benefits and there was nothing the SSA employee could do to change this. This is simply a lady who didn't like what she was hearing and went crazy.
BTW I have to withdraw from cases all the time because some clients have done the EITC scam. They tell me that people come door to door in their community (Detroit) and tell them they get "free money" if they just fill out a tax form. These crooked tax prepares then file the return claiming self employment and ask for a "refund." My clients usually want to go to the hearing and tell the ALJ that they didn't really work. I advise them against admitting tax fraud in a Federal Hearing; I advise them to withdraw their application, and I advise them to meet with a real accountant and correct their taxes.
Reminded me of 2 major incidents I was near at OHOs. Both were at the Downtown Los Angeles OHO.
ReplyDeleteFor those who have never been there, the LA OHO is extremely small. It is in a high rise on the 12th floor sandwiched around immigration courts. The OHO has 3 fairly small hearing rooms. But the waiting room is literally probably the size of a big bedroom in a house (maybe 10 feet wide and 30 feet long).
Many of the claimants are trying to get SSI and are homeless. The security guards actually do a good job of keeping the peace. But 2 major incidents happened.
1. Around 2009. ALJ Cynthia Josserand was attacked with a chair. Her husband is also an ALJ. She was physically OK but never really recovered mentally.
2. Around 2011. A psych medical expert was punched out. I actually did his first hearing. He is a pretty qualified psych professional but very arrogant. He has no problem telling someone their case sucks (especially w/ DAA). I asked him after the incident and he said - "It's happened before." I guess in a clinical setting.
Major takeaway is to be on her best behavior with the SSA especially prior to getting benefits.