Page 49 - JulAug2019_BarJournal

COLUMN ETHICS PERSEPECTIVE
SOCIAL SECURITY & DISABILTY COLUMN

study, “people who feel socially isolated may be proposal that it caught the media’s attention.
reaching out on social media, on some level, to Yet, we’re seeing this in almost all LTD cases Andrew November has dedicated 100% of his
self-medicate.” Dr. Primack added “we know and there is no end in sight. As attorneys, we practice to disability advocacy since 2009.
these are filtered, curated photos. But on social should regularly encourage our clients to run a Andrew regularly overturns unjust denials
media, these are real people, so you feel like privacy check on their accounts to make sure of Social Security Disability & Long Term
this is very much real life.” that they are not publicly sharing information. Disability benefits for his clients. Andrew also
Beyond the contention that social media founded Ohio’s first law practice dedicated
1 Association between Social Media Use and Depression among
fails to accurately portray one’s lifestyle, the use U.S. Young Adults, Liu yi Lin, Jaime E. Sidani, Ariel Shensa, Ana to representing Deaf individuals who face
of social media in a disability determination Radovic, Elizabeth Miller, Jason B. Colditz, Beth L. Hoffman, Leila discrimination. He has been a CMBA member
M. Giles, Brian A. Primack (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
process is fraught with potential for factual articles/PMC4853817/). since 2009. He can be reached at (216) 282-1773
and legal error. For instance, if social media 2 https://www.npr.org/2018/08/06/636016812/-blessed-is-everyone- or anovember@linerlegal.com.
happier-than-you-on-social-media.
is reviewed to determine whether a person
is working, big problems will arise almost
immediately. For Social Security, a person who
earns less than Substantial Gainful Activity Adult, Child and
(SGA), can still receive disability benefits. Adolescent Therapist
Thus, I would have a lot of concern when
someone might appear to be working when in Understanding the special
actuality they are volunteering, participating
in a therapeutic activity, or engaging in work stresses of the legal profession.
activity that is less than SGA.
Another obvious problem is when an Rita Bryce, JD, LISW
inference of one’s limitations is made from
a photograph. I will never forget when an Web: ritabryce.com
insurance company, evaluating a claim based on Phone: 216-438-1905
diabetic neuropathy, issued a denial of benefits
after discovering two pictures of my client. In the
first picture she was wearing cowboy boots and
in the second picture she was wearing flip flops.
The insurance company stated in their denial
that her choice in footwear was “inconsistent
with an allegation of painful neuropathy.” The
flipflops were medically prescribed orthotic
sandals! It should go without saying that the
denial was overturned, but my client’s benefits
were ceased for eight months during the
appellate process.
Recency is another big problem. Who
amongst us hasn’t posted a picture of us on
vacation much later than the actual trip?
Perhaps a fun new profile picture? Again, that
is something we see on a regular basis with the
insurance companies. The companies will often
exaggerate our client’s daily activities stating
that they are traveling, when the picture, while
currently posted, was taken many years ago.
Maybe even before the onset date of disability.
Additionally, traveling is often therapeutic and
in no way indicates a person’s ability to work
on a regular and continuing basis.
As we’ve seen, the primary issues in
using social media to assist in a disability
determination are relevancy, recency, and
context. Simply put, social media is not an
accurate portrayal on one’s limitations and
the use of it is rampant and under-covered by
the media. It was not until Social Security’s
JULY/AUGUST 2019 CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN BAR JOURNAL | 49