Job Inquiry to HHS -- Lawyer Humor

In August 1997 I sent a job inquiry to the Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the parent department of the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).  SSA determined that I have been continuously disabled and not fit for employment since October 29, 1991, the date my last employer, the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, found that I suffered from a paranoid mental illness that might be associated with a risk of violence.

August 22, 1997
3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW #136
Washington, DC 20008-4530

Harriet Raab, Esq.
General Counsel
Dept. of Health & Human Services
Room 713-F
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20221

RE: Employment Opportunities - Office of General Counsel

Dear General Counsel Raab:

I am an attorney, and am licensed to practice in Pennsylvania. I qualify for employment as an attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services.

I am writing to inquire about present and anticipated employment opportunities for lawyers in the General Counsel's office, as well as any information pertinent to the specific hiring procedures of the Office. Any information you can provide will be useful to me.

Incidentally, I believe I have a duty to advise you of the following facts about my background.

During the period March 1988 to October 1991 I was employed as a legal assistant in the Washington, DC office of the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld ("Akin Gump"). Attorney managers at Akin Gump terminated my employment effective October 29, 1991 upon determining, in consultation with a psychiatrist, that a complaint of harassment I had lodged against several co-workers was attributable to a psychiatric symptom ("ideas of reference") prominent in the psychotic disorders and typically associated with a risk of violent behavior. See Freedman v. D.C. Dept. of Human Rights, D.C. Superior Court no. MPA 95-14 (final order issued June 10, 1996) (name of state court judge redacted at the implicit direction of the Justice Department). In the period immediately after my job termination senior Akin Gump managers determined that it was advisable to secure the office of my direct supervisor against a possible homicidal assault, which it was feared I might commit. Freedman v. D.C. Dept. of Human Rights, D.C. Superior Court no. MPA 95-14, Record on Appeal at 41.

In pleadings filed in the District of Columbia Superior Court in May 1996, the District of Columbia Office of Corporation Counsel (Charles F.C. Ruff, Esq.) affirmed that Akin Gump personnel had geniune concerns that I might have had plans to procure firearms for an unlawful purpose and possessed the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm or commit murder. Mr. Ruff currently serves as chief White House Counsel to President Clinton (tel: 202 456 1414).

The Federal Protective Service (Jerry McGill, S.A., tel: 202 690-9315) advised me on August 13, 1997 that the Service does not consider me armed and dangerous, notwithstanding pleadings filed in the D.C. Court of Appeals (no. 96-CV-961) on July 25, 1997 by the D.C. Office of Corporation Counsel (Charles L. Reischel, Esq., Deputy Corporation Counsel) affirming that concerns that I was armed and dangerous that arose during my tenure at Akin Gump were genuine. The determination made by the Federal Protective Service that I am not currently armed and dangerous was an informed one, based on information currently available. See letter dated August 12, 1997 from Gary Freedman to Jerry McGill, S.A. (copy attached).

I have been under investigation by the U.S. Secret Service as a potential security risk to President

Clinton, and was interrogated at the Washington Field Office by Special Agent Philip C. Leadroot (tel: 202 435-5100) as recently as February 1996, about 18 months ago. Questioning by Mr. Leadroot centered on the issue of presidential assassination. During one of my meetings with Mr. Leadroot, he encouraged me to seek employment, and expressly told me that I need to engage actively in a job search. My present job inquiry to you is consistent with the express direction of a special agent of the U.S. Secret Service.

I have been determined to be unemployable by the U.S. Social Security Administration, and currently receive disability benefits paid by that agency (claim no. xxx xx xxxx). I suffer from an apparently rare form of paranoid schizophrenia that--according to the George Washington University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry--causes me to become more intelligent even as the illness worsens in severity and which is not detectable on psychological testing.

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Gary Freedman, Esq.