As a Social Security disability law office we have seen a fair share of unique clients over the years with all sorts of different physical and mental health impairments. In the world of mental health disabilities substance abuse, whether it is legal or illegal substances, are not uncommon as many people with mental health impairments will attempt to self medicate. This is a problem when discussing a case at the hearing level before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) because it sometimes comes down to an argument of what came first, the chicken or the egg? Are these people faced with mental health impairments because they abuse drugs or alcohol, or are they abusing drugs and or alcohol because they have mental health impairments?
These are issues that are hashed out during a hearing with the ALJ, but what if the ALJ is drunk?
A recent story came out about an ALJ in Pennsylvania who is fighting disciplinary action after admitting he is an alcoholic and was frequently drunk on the job even while administering and ruling on Social Security disability hearings. Due to his alcoholism this ALJ is claiming that Social Security is discriminating against him because of his disability and the agency had to know about this impairment because of his frequent on the job drinking. He also insists that Social Security “had established a past practice of condoning employees’ consumption of alcohol while on duty.”
This ALJ is insisting that his alcoholism is a condition government managers must accommodate. Needless to say, many claimants who were denied disability benefits by this ALJ have appealed decisions based on the ALJ possibly being under the influence at the time a decision was made.
It will be interesting to see how Social Security handles this situation because there are many people who appear before ALJs with their own substance and alcohol abuse issues past and present. To read more about this story click here.
