3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW
#136
Washington, DC 20008
Social Security Administration
Office of Disability and
International Operations
1500 Woodlawn Drive
Baltimore, MD 21241
Disability Claim No. xxx-xx-xxxx
Dear Sir:
I have been advised by letter dated August 17, 1993 that my claim for Social Security disability benefits has been approved.
My claim was based on information provided to me by my former employer, the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, that attorney managers of the firm had determined on the basis of consultations with two mental health professionals that I was paranoid and potentially violent.
Gertrude R. Ticho, M.D., the psychiatrist who Akin Gump claims determined that I was paranoid and potentially violent, advised me in a letter dated July 4, 1993 that in fact she was never contacted by any attorney managers at Akin Gump, including Dennis M. Race.
In a letter to me dated July 14, 1993, Sheppard Pratt Preferred Resources, the other mental health resource that Akin Gump claims to have contacted, states that it has no record of any communications with either Mr. Dennis M. Race or Mr. Malcolm Lassman, two attorney managers of Akin Gump.
Evidence filed with the District of Columbia Department of Human Rights and Minority Business Development by Akin Gump in sworn pleadings, in Freedman v. Akin, Gump, Hauer & Feld, docket no. 92-087-P(N), that Akin Gump had determined in consultation with two mental health professionals that I was paranoid and potentially violent, may have been fabricated by attorney managers of Akin Gump, in violation of statutes of the District of Columbia.
The claim I submitted for Social Security benefits was made in good faith, and was based on information provided to me by my former employer and other facts that were accurately represented by me.
Sincerely,
Gary Freedman
2 comments:
Sheppard Pratt Preferred Resources, Inc.
July 14, 1993
Gary Freedman
3801 Connecticut Avenue, NW
#136
Washington, DC 20008
Dear Mr. Freedman
This letter is in response to your recent inquiry about your case file.
With regard to your question concerning EAP consultation with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld:
We have no record of contact concerning you with either Dennis Race or Malcolm Lassman.
With regard to your question about Sheppard Pratt EAP's role in providing consultation to employers regarding employees whose job performance is affected by personal problems (attendance, quality/quantity of work or workplace conduct):
When an employer calls to discuss a troubled employee, we inquire about the history of documentation to determine if the employee's problem is chronic or in early stages. If the employer hasn't documented any earlier problem we suggest a statement of concern and an informal referral to the EAP. This can often prevent the problems from intensifying if the client follows up with recommendations. If the problem is chronic and there is documentation of a pattern of behavior impacting on job performance over a long period of time, we recommend a formal referral to the EAP. The purpose is to provide confidential intervention/support or accommodation to the problem which if addressed could ultimately lead to termination.
We do not tell employers to terminate employees. If an employer has months of documentation and has followed internal disciplinary procedures, i.e., providing verbal, written and suspension as counseling techniques it is the company's decision to fire for cause. Generally, employers do not call to ask EAP advice about terminating employees. They may call us to inform us about their decision if they know the employee was referred to the EAP, yet the performance problems continued over a long period of time. If we do not oppose the decision, this does not imply that we concur in the decision to terminate the employee.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Reynolds, M.A., CEAP
Assistant Director
Director -- Washington Operations
Employee Assistance Programs
SR/ab
record on appeal at 63-64
Gertrude R. Ticho, M.D.
3120 Brandywine Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
_____
Telephone: 202-244-2113
July 4, 1993
Dear Mr. Freedman,
When you called me on the morning of July 2, 1993 you asked me two questions, which I promised to answer in writing.
1.) I never met, nor have I ever spoken to a Mr. Dennis R. Rice [sic].
2.) I do not know your identity, Mr. Gary Freedman nor have I ever seen you for a diagnostic evaluation.
Sincerely,
Gertrude R. Ticho, M.D.
[Record on appeal at 62, Freedman v. D.C. Dept. Human Rights, D.C.C.A. 96-CV-961 (Sept. 1, 1998)]
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