I would like some opinions on a case that my wife and I have on our hands. It's pretty wild, and you might find it to be interesting. It definitely goes to show how people get railroaded these days.
My wife and I have been living in New York State for the past 4 years. We get some assistance from the county, because of disabling health problems that we have.
Two years ago, my wife had a difference of opinion with our family doctor over a diagnosis and a treatment plan. The paralegal who works for the county department of social services here took that inconsequential difference of opinion and made a false accusation of criminal fraud against my wife: "....without good reason intentionally misrepresented an impairment".
How someone would intentionally misrepresent an impairment with good reason is beyond me, but the above in quotations is exactly how it appeared on the paperwork.
This paralegal did not make the accusation with any facts at all. Zero evidence, just a minor doctor's opinion that in no way even suggested anything like wrongdoing. That was the paralegal's entire case.
We had a New York State Fair Hearing. That's not a court of law, but is somewhat modeled upon one. The judge immediately reversed the sanction that the paralegal had imposed on my wife. He also warned the paralegal to never do that again: attempting to insist that an opinion is a fact and making a serious false allegation with zero evidence of any kind.
Well....fast forward to today. That paralegal has done the exact same thing for the second time!
I am the target this time. You see, SSI denied my application and stated that I was not found to be disabled under their rules....which are much more strict than what average physicians consider disabled, etc. I have x-rays and MRI reports, showing degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, etc, on file at the department of social services. When this paralegal has facts available to her, she rejects them all and focuses on minor opinions instead!
Yes....once again....this paralegal has taken a difference of opinion and accused me of "....without good reason intentionally misrepresented an impairment". Yes, the exact same language as before.
Additionally, in both of our cases the wording makes the accusation that we have no disabling limitations whatsoever.
I learned, somewhere back in grade school, the difference between an opinion and a fact. Somehow, this woman managed to get hired as a paralegal, by the county, while having absolutely no grasp of the fundamental difference between those two concepts.
Further, she also obviously ignored the warning from the judge, the first time around!
I will be having a New York State Fair Hearing in a few weeks, and I know that my sanction will be reversed, but my wife and I plan to sue the state, the county, and this paralegal.
We have been put through pure hell by these false allegations. Our names have been dragged through the mud, both verbally and in print, by this department of social services. People look askance at us, with suspicion, as if we were criminals. The toll on our mental well-being and our physical well-being has been very heavy. Our health has been made worse by all of this than it was before. Add the threat of Covid into the mix and the last year has been a real nightmare. Sleep does not come easy, etc. My wife has been talking to a mental health therapist for over a year and I am about to start a case myself, because this has all been too much.
Question: Do we have an excellent case against the state and county? It seems to me that when you make serious allegations of criminal fraud against completely innocent people, based on zero actual facts and only minor differences of opinion, that's some major misconduct and we would be entitled to some hefty compensation for damages. Right?
Accusations like that, even when proven to be 100% false, have a way of sticking in peoples' memories. This paralegal has done a lot of damage to our reputations....that we fought so hard all of our lives to establish. We have both always stood for honesty and integrity.
This is injustice on a very large scale!
My wife and I have been living in New York State for the past 4 years. We get some assistance from the county, because of disabling health problems that we have.
Two years ago, my wife had a difference of opinion with our family doctor over a diagnosis and a treatment plan. The paralegal who works for the county department of social services here took that inconsequential difference of opinion and made a false accusation of criminal fraud against my wife: "....without good reason intentionally misrepresented an impairment".
How someone would intentionally misrepresent an impairment with good reason is beyond me, but the above in quotations is exactly how it appeared on the paperwork.
This paralegal did not make the accusation with any facts at all. Zero evidence, just a minor doctor's opinion that in no way even suggested anything like wrongdoing. That was the paralegal's entire case.
We had a New York State Fair Hearing. That's not a court of law, but is somewhat modeled upon one. The judge immediately reversed the sanction that the paralegal had imposed on my wife. He also warned the paralegal to never do that again: attempting to insist that an opinion is a fact and making a serious false allegation with zero evidence of any kind.
Well....fast forward to today. That paralegal has done the exact same thing for the second time!
I am the target this time. You see, SSI denied my application and stated that I was not found to be disabled under their rules....which are much more strict than what average physicians consider disabled, etc. I have x-rays and MRI reports, showing degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, etc, on file at the department of social services. When this paralegal has facts available to her, she rejects them all and focuses on minor opinions instead!
Yes....once again....this paralegal has taken a difference of opinion and accused me of "....without good reason intentionally misrepresented an impairment". Yes, the exact same language as before.
Additionally, in both of our cases the wording makes the accusation that we have no disabling limitations whatsoever.
I learned, somewhere back in grade school, the difference between an opinion and a fact. Somehow, this woman managed to get hired as a paralegal, by the county, while having absolutely no grasp of the fundamental difference between those two concepts.
Further, she also obviously ignored the warning from the judge, the first time around!I will be having a New York State Fair Hearing in a few weeks, and I know that my sanction will be reversed, but my wife and I plan to sue the state, the county, and this paralegal.
We have been put through pure hell by these false allegations. Our names have been dragged through the mud, both verbally and in print, by this department of social services. People look askance at us, with suspicion, as if we were criminals. The toll on our mental well-being and our physical well-being has been very heavy. Our health has been made worse by all of this than it was before. Add the threat of Covid into the mix and the last year has been a real nightmare. Sleep does not come easy, etc. My wife has been talking to a mental health therapist for over a year and I am about to start a case myself, because this has all been too much.
Question: Do we have an excellent case against the state and county? It seems to me that when you make serious allegations of criminal fraud against completely innocent people, based on zero actual facts and only minor differences of opinion, that's some major misconduct and we would be entitled to some hefty compensation for damages. Right?
Accusations like that, even when proven to be 100% false, have a way of sticking in peoples' memories. This paralegal has done a lot of damage to our reputations....that we fought so hard all of our lives to establish. We have both always stood for honesty and integrity.
This is injustice on a very large scale!
