Gratitude

by Curtis Willoughby

From the Editor: Curtis Willoughby has been a real pioneer, being the first blind electrical engineer I know. Throughout his career, he has remained a steadfast Federationist, even given the tremendous work his jobs have required. Now he wishes to say thank you for one of the things we have done for him. When one becomes eligible for Social Security Disability benefits, regardless if he draws them, it should make a difference in the calculation of his retirement benefits, but never does this happen without appeals.

Back in about 2001, I retired from my employment and remembered that I should be eligible for a special Social Security benefit that was created in the 1960s or 1970s. I contacted Jim Gashel in the NFB national office and determined that it would be worth a lot of money if I followed up on it. With Jim's help, I requested an administrative review, and then an appeal, which are required. These always resulted in denials. This is because the Social Security Administration carefully left out of the manual the existence of this rule, though it was in the regulations.

Jim then got me in touch with a couple of lawyers in Virginia who had worked on some other cases for us. These folks took my case through the next steps in the internal Social Security review process. After that, it was necessary to take the case to the federal district court. This is where Scott LaBarre comes in. Scott took my case to the Federal District Court, which ruled in my favor. I will always be indebted to Scott, who did such a good job on my case.

The Social Security payment office tried anew to get the Social Security Appeals Council to take the case, but they sat on it long enough that I won because they sat on it so long. It took until about 2009, but my Social Security income has been much higher, retroactive to 2001.

Thank You, Scott, Jim and the NFB for your help!