Hundreds of thousands of elderly, disabled and other individuals who have been wrongfully denied Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits based on mistaken assumptions about outstanding warrants have a chance to regain their eligibility under the terms of the recent settlement of a class-action lawsuit.
The numbers of cases of wrongfully denied benefits is believed to include disproportionately large totals of individuals from various ethnic groups. The settlement stems from a lawsuit pressed by National Senior Citizens Law Center on behalf of Rosa Martinez and five other plaintiffs.
The courts granted the case class-action status, which means that terms of the settlement apply to other individuals facing similar circumstances.
The settlement requires the Social Security Administration to pay more than $500 million to tens of thousands of individuals whose Social Security, Supplemental Benefits or Special Veterans Benefits were withheld after their names appeared in an arrest-warrant database. The warrants often involved traffic incidents or minor infractions, and sometimes were for different people who happened to have the same name.
San Francisco-based New America Media, which operates the Labeez.org website, sponsored a recent forum on the case at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in the Little Tokyo district on the northeastern edge of Downtown, with the non-profit California Community Foundation providing support for the event. Representatives of various ethnic media outlets gathered at the event to hear attorneys from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) and the National Senior Citizens Law Center explain the ramifications of the case. Martinez was also on hand as part of the effort to alert the public on what any individuals who have been affected by the case must do to recover lost benefits or start receiving future aid.
The settlement is expected apply to as many as 250,000 individuals across the U.S., including many who were wrongfully denied benefits after January 1, 2000. Some will be eligible for payments ranging from $10,000-$40,000.
Representatives of The Legal Aid Foundation and the National Senior Citizens Law Center said that they expect to face some difficulties in finding many of the individuals who could be eligible. In some cases the beneficiaries have changed addresses since losing their benefits, with little information available on their new living situations, especially for any who have fallen into homelessness. The challenge is made steeper by deadlines to apply for the benefits, with anyone eligible given approximately six months to respond from notifications from the Social Security Administrations, in some cases.
Representatives of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles estimate that as many as 7,000 low-income senior citizens in the Los Angeles could eligible for benefits. Yolanda Arias, managing attorney for the organization, said that advocates are counting on media coverage to aid in the search for eligible individuals.
The case started when Martinez saw her disability benefits cut off in 2008, when officials claimed that she was the subject of 1980 drug warrant in Miami. Martinez told officials of the Social Security Administration that she had never been to Miami, and was 8 inches shorter than the person for whom the arrest warrant was issued. She said that authorities told her that she would have to travel from her home in Northern California to Miami in order to prove that she was not the same person listed in the warrant. Martinez said that officials never gave her a chance for an official hearing of her complaint.
The Social Security Administration launched the program to cut off benefits for individuals with felony warrants in 1996. The program was extended to Social Security Income for individuals with disabilities in 2005. The program is supposed to halt payments to individuals deemed to be "fleeing to avoid prosecution," according to federal regulations. However, SSA applied it on the basis of outstanding warrants alone, according to Gerald McIntyre, lead attorney for the National Senior Citizens Law Center. Martinez endured four months during which her benefits were withheld, relying on aid from friends and family. But legal aid attorneys fear that others may not fare as well.
Under the Social Security Administration policy, elders and those with disabilities were considered 'fleeing' even If they were unaware they had a warrant or if the law enforcement agency involved was not interested in arresting or prosecuting them.
There are three groups of people who can get benefits because of the Martinez settlement:
Group 1
Your benefits stopped after January 1, 2007 because you had an arrest warrant; OR
You appealed Social Security's decision to stop your benefits and Social Security made a decision on your appeal after January 1, 2007; OR
You appealed Social Security's decision to stop your benefits and you did not get a final decision.
Group 2
You applied for benefits and received a denial letter after January 1, 2007; OR
You appealed a denial of benefits and got a decision after January 1, 2007; OR
You appealed a denial of benefits and did not get a final decision.
Group 3
Your benefits were denied or stopped between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2006; AND
After January 1, 2007, you were not waiting for Social Security to make a decision on an appeal.
Details for reinstatement and retroactive relief of benefits will vary on a case by case basis.
The settlement agreement stipulates that all beneficiaries must have a current mailing address on file at the Social Security office. The Social Security Administration will attempt to send letters to individuals who are affected by the lawsuit. Eligible individuals who currently receive Social Security can update their address online at www.socialsecurity.gov/changeofaddress. Individuals who currently receive SSI should visit their Social Security office and ask them to put your name, address, Social Security Number and phone number on the "Martinez" list.
Visit www.nsclc.org/areas/social-security-ssi/Martinez-Settlement on the Internet or call the offices of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles at (800) 399-4529 for more information.
Related article:
• Lawsuit Restores Help for Thousands Denied Social Security, SSI — Class Action Lawsuit to Return Over $500 Million to Those Wrongly Cut-Off
Walter Melton is a writer for LA Beez and the L.A. Garment & Citizen.
Photo from New America Media Roundtable coverage.
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