Soto v. Kijakazi
- John Koeltl
- 1:22-cv-01803
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Soto v. Kijakazi, Judge Wang approved a consent order reversing and remanding the Social Security case for a new hearing and decision.
Jasmine Soto, the Social Security Administration, and the agency officials who will handle Soto’s case on remand, including a different Administrative Law Judge.
What happened
In Soto v. Kijakazi, Jasmine Soto and the Acting Commissioner of Social Security agreed to send the case back for further administrative proceedings. The order does not explain the original decision or the specific dispute.
The Appeals Council must assign the case to a different Administrative Law Judge. That judge must offer Soto a new hearing and issue a new decision.
Judge Ona T. Wang approved the consent order on September 6, 2022, under sentence four of the Social Security law and directed the Clerk to enter judgment.
The detailed version
- Soto v. Kijakazi · No. 1:22-cv-01803
- John Koeltl
- Sept. 6, 2022
Background
Jasmine Soto brought this Social Security case against the Acting Commissioner of Social Security. The parties filed a consent order, meaning they agreed to the requested result. The opinion does not describe the underlying benefits decision or the issues that led to the remand.
Ruling
The court ordered that the action be reversed and remanded to the Commissioner under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). A sentence-four remand sends the case back to the agency for further proceedings under the court’s judgment.
On remand, the Appeals Council must assign Soto’s case to a different Administrative Law Judge. The new judge must offer Soto the opportunity for a new hearing and issue a new decision. Judge Wang also directed the Clerk to enter judgment. The order does not state whether the court independently resolved the merits of any particular claim; the remand was entered by agreement of the parties.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.