A former friend of Judge Timothy Maher, a Social Security Judge who committed suicide when he shot himself with a rifle Aug. 24 after a prolonged standoff with police, is speaking out about events leading to the incident.
“I hope someone will investigate SSA culpability in this tragedy so it does not happen again,” he said.
“I am angry right now that a friend has needlessly died,But I am more angry at how the Social Security Administration mishandled this tragic situation.”
“He was a decent, honorable, good judge, who needed some help; so, I was very sorry and angry to see that he died,”
My anger is predominantly directed at the Social Security operation, which I feel ”is not a good model for a judicial system.”
“The SSA was putting more pressure on the ALJs to put out more cases to decrease the Backlog of Cases waiting to be heard. Back in 2014 the Backlog was over 900,000 cases.
It’s more than a million now."
Judge Maher and I were among an “overwhelming number” of SSA ALJ disability judges who weren’t able to retain staff because we were members of a union, the Association of Administrative Law Judges.(AALJ)
“In order to be a union member no one can work for you. It’s a very strange situation.”
In 2015, the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, or ODAR, conducted an investigation into Judge Maher over allegations of harassment.
Maher was barred from the Miami Hearing Office and told to conduct all hearings from Fort Lauderdale for the duration of the investigation. The Office of Disability Adjudication and Review also allegedly instructed Fort Lauderdale staff not to speak to him.
Maher was arrested Aug. 14, it was after he allegedly pointed a rifle at his ex-girlfriend in her El Portal home when he came to pick up their 4-year-old son under a shared-custody arrangement.
A week later, Judge Maher held his in-laws hostage inside a house in Homestead, then ended his life.
He said the agency is home to a huge backlog of cases.
The Social Security Administration did not respond to requests for comment.
