FEDERAL COURT STRIKES A BLOW AT SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

On November 4, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Court which considers appeals from district courts within Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, issued a decision in which it concluded the ability to perform 89,000 jobs in the entire United States economy amounted to the ability to perform a “significant number of jobs” in the national economy.

In concluding a Social Security claimant is not disabled, an Administrative Law Judge must prove that the claimant, with all of their physical and mental limitations, can perform either a job they previously performed in the past 15 years or other jobs which exist in “significant” numbers in the national economy. The term "significant number of jobs" is not defined by the Social Security Administration. This final step is especially difficult for Social Security judges, especially where a person is physically limited to only “sit-down” work and has not acquired significant technical skills during their career, so that they have no transferable skills.  Under those circumstances, there are not many jobs in the American economy that such an individual can perform.

When a vocational witness testifies that my client can perform a certain sit down job and that there are 25,000 or 30,090 of those jobs in the US economy, I usually object that isn't a significant number of jobs.  The Administrative Law Judge has discretion on what constitutes a "reasonable number of jobs."

In the above case, the claimant was denied Social Security disability benefits because the vocational witness testified that there were 89,000 jobs in the national economy that the claimant can still perform.  The claimant's attorney objected that 89,000 jobs is not a "significant number of jobs" when they are spread all over the United States.  The Seventh Circuit disagreed, holding that if the individual is able to perform one of 89,000 jobs, he is not disabled under Social Security rules.

However, this federal court decision does not specify what number of jobs below 89,000 represents a "substantial number."  Is 50,000 a significant number?  Is 25,000?

 Also, this decision affects only cases in the states of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.  It's very important to develop evidence of a claimant's functional restrictions and abilities in SSDI cases.  Obviously, the fewer jobs the claimant is capable of doing the more likely he/she will be found disabled. The claimant should work closely with his/her lawyer or advocate to make all limitations and restrictions understood.  The lawyer or advocate, on the other hand, should make every effort to submit medical evidence to prove these restrictions.