Exposing the Step 5 Job Number Crisis: From Administrative Stonewalling to Federal Court Reversal (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

Meghan’s session on the lack of statistical and scientific integrity in Step 5 vocational data will discuss how the setup at the administrative hearing stage leads to remands in federal court on due process grounds. She will outline how the system demands that claimants and practitioners give the Administration absolute discretion on the Step 5 issue—an arrangement that cannot withstand even the most basic due process standards. The reality is that the Administration creates a catch-22 for claimants, who are penalized both for not doing enough and for doing everything possible to expose the lack of substantial evidence supporting Step…