Kildare v. Saenz

No. 01-17464 (9th Cir. Mar. 24, 2003) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55216

Description

Suit Alleging Improper Evaluations of Disability Applications Properly Dismissed for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, Ninth Circuit Says

Abstract

On the grounds that plaintiff-appellants did not exhaust their administrative remedies, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a class action alleging that California state officials systematically disregarded federal regulations when they initially evaluated applications for disability insurance and Supplemental Security Income. Plaintiff-appellant individuals who had disabilities and were initially denied disability benefits sued officials at the Social Security Administration and its Center for Disability and California’s Department of Social Services and Disability Adult Programs Division in district court. They claimed that state defendants systematically failed to develop and gave insufficient weight to claimants’ medical records, improperly based disability determinations on consultative examinations that did not meet federal standards, and issued inadequate denial-of-benefit letters. They claimed that federal defendants did not adequately oversee state defendants. The district court dismissed plaintiff-appellants’ suit claiming violations of their federal due process and equal protection rights. The Ninth Circuit concluded that waiver of the exhaustion requirement of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) was not appropriate here because plaintiff-appellants’ claims were not collateral to their claims for benefits. Plaintiff-appellants did not identify a policy requiring state defendants to disregard the regulations but alleged irregularities in individual cases. State defendants’ liability for the alleged errors must be determined in the context of each plaintiff-appellant’s proceeding before the state agency. Thus their claims were inextricably intertwined with their benefit claims, and administrative review could remedy the alleged errors.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs represented by Robert E. Borton, Carol Lynn Thompson, Edward E. Schiffer, Nina Anne M. Greeley, Kerry C. Klein, Dorothy C. Proudfoot, Alex E. Potente, Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, 333 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94104 (415.772.6000); Patricia Wall, Steven M. Weiss, Homeless Action Center, 2500 Martin Luther King, Suite 1, Berkeley, CA 94704 (510.540.0878)
Docket Date
2003-03-24 00:00:00+00:00

Files

Filed under: