Son of Pronti Born

December 1, 2006

Author: Catherine M. Callery (Kate)| Louise M. Tarantino

Litigation recently filed in the Western District of New York will build on the legacy created by the Pronti litigation, which charged now retired Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Franklin T. Russell with generalized bias against disability claimants.  See Pronti v. Barnhart, 339 F.Supp.2d 480 (W.D.N.Y. 2004) (Pronti I).  The claims of the individual plaintiffs in Pronti are being resolved, and the litigation itself concluded after the defendant agreed to remand all cases pending in the U.S. District Court and at the Appeals Council that involved ALJ Russell. Pronti v. Barnhart, 441 F.Supp.2d 466 (W.D.N.Y. 2006) (Pronti II).  The September 2006 edition of the Disability Law News includes a more detailed description of the conclusion of the Pronti litigation, which was brought by Attorney David Ralph of the Elmira office of LAWNY, along with private attorneys Andrew Rothstein of Elmira and Bill McDonald of Geneva. 

In an effort to extent the scope of relief beyond the limited number of claims covered by Pronti, the Empire Justice Center has filed Hogan et al. v. Barnhart, seeking rehearings for Mr. Hogan and the three other named plaintiffs, as well as the class they purport to represent.  Mr. Hogan and the other plaintiffs were all denied benefits by ALJ Russell, primarily on the same grounds and under the same circumstances for which SSA criticized ALJ Russell in the Findings that it submitted to the court in Pronti I.  Plaintiffs have moved for class certification before Judge Larimer, who was the judge in Pronti.  The class consists of all claimants, with cases pending since April 1997 (the date the Commissioner was first on notice of allegations of bias on the part of ALJ Russell), for Social Security and/or Supplemental Security Income disability benefits who received an adverse decision (wholly or in part) from ALJ Russell, and whose claims were on appeal or were within the time period to file an appeal, or whose claims were eligible to be reopened, as of April 1997.

Plaintiffs are represented by Kate Callery, Louise Tarantino, and Bryan Hetherington of the Empire Justice Center, and former DAP attorney Ed Lopez.