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A key part of the disability application benefits process is when Social Security asks a vocational expert to answer a “hypothetical” question designed to ascertain what potential jobs, if any, exist in the marketplace for a person with certain physical or mental limitations. Remember, it is not enough to prove you have a disability. Social Security also needs to figure out whether your disability–or a combination of disabilities–makes it impossible for you to find meaningful work. The hypothetical question is supposed to help determine the answer.
Seventh Circuit Orders New Hearing for Disability Applicant
But this assumes Social Security asks the right hypothetical question, to begin with. For example, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals here in Chicago recently ordered Social Security to conduct a new disability hearing for a plaintiff after determining an administrative law judge (ALJ) asked an “incomplete” hypothetical question. This error alone was sufficient, the court said, to justify reconsideration of the plaintiff's application for disability benefits.
The plaintiff applied for disability, citing a number of impairments, including depression, attention deficit disorder, fibromyalgia, and degenerative disc disease. Much of the plaintiff's impairments stemmed from a 2007 slip-and-fall accident. Following this accident, the Seventh Circuit noted, the plaintiff could “no longer live the active life she had before her fall.” Even seven years after the fall, the plaintiff could not sit or stand for more than 30 minutes at any one time. By that point, she had already filed an application for Social Security disability insurance benefits.
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