Greater Cleveland Wel. Rights Org. v. Bauer

• Decision Date: 21 December 1978
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. C78-728.
• Citation: 462 F. Supp. 1313
• Parties: GREATER CLEVELAND WELFARE RIGHTS ORGANIZATION et al., Plaintiffs, v. Samuel BAUER et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

462 F. Supp. 1313

GREATER CLEVELAND WELFARE RIGHTS ORGANIZATION et al., Plaintiffs, v. Samuel BAUER et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. C78-728.

United States District Court, N. D. Ohio, E. D.

December 21, 1978.

Lloyd B. Snyder, Jane E. Bielefeld, M. Umar Abdullah, Richard Gurbst, Carolyn C. McTighe, Cleveland, Ohio, for plaintiffs.

David A. Williamson, Cleveland, Ohio, Thomas W. Hess, Asst. Atty. Gen., Geoffrey E. Webster, Dept. of Public Welfare, Columbus, Ohio, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM, OPINION AND ORDER

CONTIE, District Judge.

Invoking the Court's jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) and (4), plaintiff Greater Cleveland Welfare Rights Organization instituted the present action "on behalf of its members and all persons similarly situated." By this action, equitable relief is sought for an alleged violation of the right of privacy as secured by the United States Constitution and Section 7 of the Privacy Act of 1974, Pub.L.No.93-579, 88 Stat. 1846, 1909 (codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552a note).

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The complaint in the instant action was filed upon the granting of plaintiff Greater Cleveland Welfare Rights Organization's motion to proceed in forma pauperis on June 23, 1978. Contemporaneously with the filing of its complaint, said plaintiff moved for certification of the present action as a class action and for a temporary restraining order "enjoining defendants Bauer and the Cuyahoga County Welfare Department from using or disclosing to any party social security numbers of plaintiff class members or any information obtained due to prior use or disclosure of said numbers."

The Court denied plaintiff's motion for a temporary restraining order by its Order of June 26, 1978. Further, by its Order of July 7, 1978, the Court, finding that the named plaintiff was not a member of the class it sought to represent, denied its motion to certify this action as a class action. Subsequently, the Court granted plaintiff's motion for leave to file an amended complaint adding Minnie Player as a named plaintiff. The Court also granted Ms. Player's motion to certify the present action as a class action. The class represented by Ms. Player consists of all present and future Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients within the State of Ohio.

The defendants in the present action are Kenneth Creasy, individually and in his capacity as Director, Ohio Department of Public Welfare; Samuel Bauer, individually and in his capacity as director of the Cuyahoga County Welfare Department; and the Cuyahoga County Welfare Department.

The hearing of plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction was consolidated with the trial on the merits of this action. The Court duly heard testimony and received exhibits on July 23, 1978. At the close of said hearing, the Court denied plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. The following shall constitute the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Rule 52, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

II. FACTS

The AFDC program was first established in 1935. Said program provides benefits to families with a needy child:

(1) who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, or niece, in a place of residence maintained by one or more of such relatives as his or their own home, and (2) who is (A) under the age of eighteen, or (B) under the age of twenty-one and (as determined by the State in accordance with standards prescribed by the Secretary) a student regularly attending a school, college, or university, or regularly attending a course of vocational or technical training designed to fit him for gainful employment; . . .

Social Security Act of 1935 § 406(a), 42 U.S.C. § 606(a). Said benefits are for the benefit of the dependent child and include payments or medical care to meet the needs of said child and also payments or medical care to meet the needs of the relative with whom said child is living. See Social Security Act of 1935 § 406(b), 42 U.S.C. § 606(b). The State of Ohio participates in the AFDC program pursuant to Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 5107.03 (Page Supp.1978).

In order to receive AFDC benefits it is necessary for a person responsible for needy dependent children to complete an "Application For Aid For Dependent Children" (commonly referred to as a "dec" form), both upon initial application and thereafter at six month intervals. Prior to 1975, the dec form in use in Ohio requested the social security number of only the individual completing it. On August 1, 1975, an amendment to the Social Security Act became effective that mandated state welfare departments obtain social security numbers for all applicants or recipients of AFDC benefits. Thereafter, the dec form was changed to require listing of the social security numbers of all individuals in the "Assistance Group." Below the space provided for said social security numbers, the dec form contains the following:

Please note: As a condition of eligibility for ADC, you must furnish a Social Security account number for each person in need of ADC regardless of age. Someone from your County Welfare Department will assist you in applying for a number for anyone who does not have one.

The above quoted statement is the only information found on the dec form regarding the social security number requirement.

Among the information applicants are required to furnish on the dec form is the following:

(19) (EARNINGS) DO YOU OR YOUR HUSBAND OR WIFE, OR ANY OF THE ADC CHILDREN, HAVE EARNINGS FROM ANY KIND OF WORK?

If the applicant responds in the affirmative to the above question, he then must complete a chart for each person over age 14 having such earnings. Completion of said chart requires the provision of, among other things, the name of the person employed, the name and address of the employer, the number of hours and days worked per week, and the individual's gross earnings.

The Social Security Administration retains computerized wage reports, indexed by social security number, for all individuals for whom social security contributions are made. In approximately 1974, the State of Ohio began making inquiries to the Social Security Administration concerning the possibility of matching the social security numbers of all AFDC recipients in Ohio with the social security numbers of all individuals for whom the Social Security Administration had earnings information. The purpose of such a match would be to verify the information provided by AFDC recipients in response to item (19) of the dec form.

On December 20, 1977, Section 411 of the Social Security Act of 1935, 42 U.S.C. § 611, became effective:

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall make available to states and political subdivisions thereof wage information contained in the records of the Social Security Administration which is necessary (as determined by the Secretary in regulations) for purposes of determining an individual's eligibility for aid or services, or the amount of such aid or services, under a state plan for aid and services to needy families with children approved under this part, and which is specifically requested by such state or political subdivision for such purposes.

(b) The Secretary shall establish such safeguards as are necessary (as determined by the Secretary under regulations) to insure that information made available under the provisions of this section is used only for the purposes authorized by this section.

Thereafter, the Ohio Department of Public Welfare submitted to the Social Security Administration the social security numbers of all individuals over the age of sixteen receiving AFDC benefits during the month of January 1978. These approximately 806,000 social security numbers were then matched with the social security numbers of all individuals for whom the Social Security Administration had earning records for the period of January through June of 1977. The Social Security Administration then returned to the Ohio Department of Public Welfare a list of all the social security numbers for which they had earnings data. For each social security number returned, the Social Security Administration listed the employer's name and address and the gross earnings reported for that number. The Ohio Department of Welfare then pulled from its March 1978 data base the case number, the name, address, date of birth, recipient number, sex, and grant amount for all social security numbers returned by the Social Security Administration.

Thereafter, the Ohio Department of Public Welfare instructed each of the county welfare departments to name one person within its office to serve as "SSA Match List Coordinator." The various match list coordinators were then provided with match list printouts for their counties along with a detailed "Procedure For Working Match Lists."¹

The match list coordinators were instructed to check the employment information contained in the files of the matched cases with employment information contained on the match list printouts. If a match list coordinator discovered a discrepancy between the information in the recipient's file and the information on the match list printout, the next step was to contact the recipient and request permission to seek information from the employer listed on the printout. Such employer would thereafter be contacted regardless of whether the recipient granted permission for such contact.² The employer would be asked to confirm that the recipient was an employee and the amount of his gross income.

The ultimate goal of the match program is reference of cases of fraud to county prosecutors. The Ohio Department of Public Welfare's instructions to the match coordinators...