I-3-1-40.Disqualification of an Administrative Appeals Judge or Appeals Officer Assigned to a Case

A. General

Federal ethics rules require all federal employees, including administrative appeals judges (AAJs) and appeals officers (AOs), to recuse themselves from an official matter due to a financial conflict of interest under 18 USC § 208, a relationship with a party or their representative under 5 CFR 2635.502, or when participation in a matter gives the appearance of a lack of impartiality, see 5 CFR 2635.101(b)(8), (b)(14), and 2635.502(a)(2). An agency employee considering recusal under these ethics rules may seek fact-specific guidance from an agency ethics attorney by emailing ^OGC Ethics Questions. An ethics attorney will then advise on whether the ethics rules require recusal from the case.

Additionally, all adjudicators must fulfill their duties with fairness and impartiality. Accordingly, AAJs and AOs must disqualify or recuse themselves from adjudicating a case and must request reassignment if they: (1) are prejudiced or partial with respect to any party, or (2) have any interest in the matter pending for decision before the Appeals Council (AC). An interest in the matter pending generally refers to a financial or personal interest in the outcome of the case. These rules also apply to adjudicators handling quality assurance reviews (HALLEX I-3-0-20) and civil action matters (HALLEX I-4-0-2).

Furthermore, to ensure fairness and impartiality, an AAJ or AO may also withdraw from a case if the AAJ's or AO's participation in the case would give an appearance of impropriety. An appearance of impropriety occurs when reasonable minds, with knowledge of all the relevant circumstances disclosed by a reasonable inquiry, would conclude that the AAJ's or AO's honesty, integrity, objectivity, temperament, or fitness to serve as an adjudicator is impaired.

B. Procedure for Reassignment When an AAJ or AO is Disqualified

If an AAJ or AO disqualifies themself, they will provide notice to the DCAAJ with the reason(s) for the recusal. The DCAAJ will reassign the case to a different AAJ or AO and provide notice to the EDO. If the DCAAJ is the adjudicator recusing themself, the DCAAJ will provide notice to the EDO and the EDO will reassign the case. Adjudicators disqualifying themselves from a case in which the claimant is unaware of the disqualification do not need to send notice of the disqualification to the claimant.

C. Claimant Objects to the Adjudicator Assigned to a Case

If the claimant objects to the assigned adjudicator before a final action is issued, the adjudicator will consider the objection and timely determine whether to proceed or withdraw. If the adjudicator decides that the claimant's reasons for objecting do not warrant disqualification, the adjudicator will set forth the reason(s) disqualification is not warranted in the final action document.

If the adjudicator decides disqualification is appropriate, the adjudicator will follow the procedure in subsection B to disqualify themself from the case. The new adjudicator assigned to the case will evaluate the evidence in the claim(s) file and any prior action(s) issued by the prior adjudicator, to determine whether additional action(s) are necessary before issuing the final action. The new adjudicator will issue the final action document in the case. In issuing the final action, the new adjudicator will provide notice of the prior adjudicator's disqualification but does not need to address the specific reason(s) for the disqualification.