Bivines vs. Bowen, 833 Fed. 2nd 293 (11th Cir. 1987)

Dec 04, 1987

OUTCOME: The 11th Circuit agreed with the Plaintiff that the Appeals Council had failed to provide due process prior to taking unfavorable action. This was an exciting win for a young lawyer.

This interesting Social Security appeal challenged the Secretary's failure to provide a claimant with procedural due process. Proceeding pro se, Bivines was awarded Social Security disability, but was ... unhappy with the amount of retroactive benefits. (She was unaware that benefits are restricted to twelve months prior to the filing date of the application.) Bivines appealed to the Appeals Council challenging the limitation of past due benefits. Without notifying Bivines, the Council reviewed the evidence, reopened the decision, and revised the disability onset to a later date. Bivines came to me seeking legal help. On appeal to Federal Court, the U.S. District Court affirmed, but I prevailed in the U. S. District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The 11th Circuit agreed that the Appeals Council was precluded from raising issues beyond those not framed by Bivines in her request for review, based on its failure to give claimant notice of its intention to do so.