Why would an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issue a recommended decision instead of just a decision, as is normal, when there is no basis in Social Security's manual for issuing a recommended decision. The manual says to not do this but I hear that it's not unusual for a few ALJs to do this. What is their thought process? Literally asking for a friend. It's not my case.
7 comments:
I think I've seen it once in the past eight years, in a federal remand case. The regs still allow it. Strictly speaking, the HALLEX is just "guidance" and not legally binding on the agency. I view the practice as a punt; the ALJ wants to kick the final decision making burden back up to the AC.
It could be a mistake by the decision writer at SSA. There is a place on the template to check regular or recommended decision. A writer will sometimes accidentally click recommended by mistake. ALJs tend to sign decisions quickly and might overlook that it was a recommended instead of regular decision.
§ 416.1453. The decision of an administrative law judge..
(d) Recommended decision. Although an administrative law judge will usually make a decision, the administrative law judge may send the case to the Appeals Council with a recommended decision based on a preponderance of the evidence when appropriate. The administrative law judge will mail a copy of the recommended decision to the parties at their last known addresses and send the recommended decision to the Appeals Council.
[45 FR 52096, Aug. 5, 1980, as amended at 51 FR 308, Jan. 3, 1986; 54 FR 37793, Sept. 13, 1989; 62 FR 38455, July 18, 1997; 69 FR 61597, Oct. 20, 2004; 73 FR 76945, Dec. 18, 2008; 75 FR 33169, June 11, 2010]
There used to be provisions for recommended decisions; I don't remember if it was Hallex or in a ruling. I did a few; maybe dicey question of law I thought the AC should look at. Once or twice on a remand when they virtually dictated the result and I disagreed with that result and thought they should have just done it themselves.
The only time I am aware of that a recommended decision has been done on purpose was a remand. The ALJ thought the AC had gotten it all wrong and had boxed the ALJ into favorable finding that the ALJ believed was in error. The ALJ did a recommended decision and sent it on to AC.
I'm sure it's a mistake. I've done it myself but it was caught before it was released.
Very likely a mistake. This happened to me recently. Just a writer mistake. I caught it but many wouldn't esp if you don't read, or just skim, the decision before signing it.
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