July 28, 1997
3801 Connecticut Ave., NW #136
Washington, DC 20008-4530
Larry G. Massanari
Regional Commissioner
Office of Disability & Intl. Operations
Social Security Administration
Baltimore, MD 21241-0001
RE: Social Security Disability Claim no. xxx xx xxxx
Dear Mr. Massanari:
By notice dated July 7, 1997 the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) advised me, following a pro forma review of my disability claim conducted by the D.C. Rehabilitation Services Administration, that my disability is continuing.
I am currently appealing--in the D.C. Court of Appeals--an order issued June 10, 1996 by the D.C. Superior Court that upheld a prior determination issued by the D.C. Department of Human Rights that my former employer's decision to terminate my employment, effective October 29, 1991 (the date my disability began), was based on the employer's genuine concerns about my mental health and stability. See Freedman v. D.C. Dept. of Human Rights, D.C. Court of Appeals no. 96-CV-961.
This will advise the SSA that I furnished the D.C. Rehabilitation Services Administration a copy of the brief I filed on May 12, 1997 in the D.C. Court of Appeals in the above-referenced appeal. I enclose for your information a copy of a portion of that brief, pages 41-47, which discusses my belief that my former employer, the Washington, DC office of the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, improperly denied me the opportunity to file a disability claim with the employer's private insurer, resulting in the SSA's assuming the burden of disability payments.
Also, for your reference, I enclose a copy of the reply brief that the D.C. Office of Corporation Counsel (Charles L. Reischel, Esq., telephone: (202) 727-6252, Ext. 3301) filed in the D.C. Court of Appeals on July 25, 1997. I thought that the SSA might be interested to know the official position of the Government of the District of Columbia, as stated by its Office of Corporation Counsel, with respect to the actions of a private employer, in effect, shifting the burden of paying disability benefits from its private insurer onto the SSA.
I have brought this matter to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Metropolitan Area Field Office, Supervisory Special Agent David M. Bowie, (202) 252-7801, as well as my representative in Congress, the Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, (202) 783-5065.
You may review this matter with Dennis M. Race, Esq., the Akin Gump partner whose termination decision effective October 29, 1991 served as the basis of SSA's determination that I became disabled as of said date. Mr. Race's telephone no. is (202) 887-4028. I believe that Mr. Race serves as Akin Gump's resident expert on employee benefits.
Sincerely,
Gary Freedman
cc: Michael C. Rogers, City Administrator, District of Columbia, (202) 727-6053
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