I am happy to report a victory we just had at the Social Security Appeals Division.
We had a odd situation where a social security tribunal judge denied a client’s case without a hearing. While this is technically allowed in the legislation, in doing hundreds of cases I had never seen this done where a decision was made on the merits. I had seen it done when the appeal was denied for a technicality, but never when the judge was making a decision that a person as not “disabled” as defined by CPP.
We won the appeal and the appeals judge empathized how important it is for the judge to hear a person’s evidence on their limitations and how they impact the capacity to work. it is a big deal to deny a person a right to a hearing because it offends the law of natural justice which is a big deal in Canada. When you win an appeal like this, the appeals division orders your case back for a tribunal hearing.