Update: Attended ALJ Hearing in January and guess what? Our friend "Scary Jerry" Zivic never provided ANY medical information to SSA (after 2 applications and 1 appeal). Yes that's right, the ALJ told me that "my lawyer" never submitted a single page of medical documentation at all. Remember this fact while reviewing the following story.
This page is dedicated to the preservation of disability rights for those that depend on the law to protect them with integrity and trust.
Study this month's case Rob vs. "Scary Jerry" and vote your opinion!
The Verdict is in from "Scary Jerry's Band of Brothers:
' Just doing my job' on one count!
Stands Silent on two additional counts!
Count 1. - No Answer
You failed to file my appeal within the required time period as prescribed by the SSA. You claim that the SSA did not notify
you until after the denial appeal period had expired, SSA tells me a different story.
Count 2. - No Answer
You have failed to represent my best interest in regards to your relationship with the GE Disability Benefits Center and
Sedgwick CMS.
Count 3. - Just doing my job, Answer below
I assert that Mr. Zivic was working in concert with Sedgwick CMS to “cover the forgeries” by use of the blank document.
Case Closed by the State of Illinois ARDC!
Facts In the Case.
Rob's Initial Complaint to the IL Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION OF A LAWYER FORM
1.Robert A. Delsman, Jr. 3809 Little Fairfield St. Eureka, CA 95503 (707) 441-9495 (916) 799-6374
2.Jerrold Zivic JD Zivic Solutions, Ltd. 850 West Jackson Blvd. #405 Chicago, IL 60607 800-400-HELP(4357)
3.Mr. Zivic was hired by the GE Disability Benefits Center (Sedgwick CMS), in 2006.
4.My complaint doesn’t relate to a lawsuit.
5.Mr. Zivic represented me in regards to filing for SSDI. I explained to Mr. Zivic that I was being forced and coerced against my will by the GE Disability Benefits Center and Sedgwick CMS to go on SSDI although I had an existing LTDI policy from MetLife (504 plan).
Mr. Zivic didn’t seem to care that I expressed concern with my situation and continued to influence me to move forward with the application process. I asked Mr. Zivic if he was exercising influence on behalf of the GE Disability Benefits Center or Sedgwick CMS and Mr. Zivic stated that he was not.
Recently, I discovered that the GE Disability Benefits Center and /or ProSource Billing Inc. (vendor) had forged multiple “Release for Medical Information about ME” documents and attempted to unlawfully obtain my Personal Health Information (PHI) from my physicians.
I reported this information and sent copies of the information to the FBI in Minneapolis, MN for review and investigation and confronted Sedgwick CMS regarding the forgeries. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Zivic sent me the document (enclosed as document 1) with letter attached. This is the same document used in the initial forgeries however; the document sent by Mr. Zivic was blank and requested my signature only. I assert that Mr. Zivic was working in concert with Sedgwick CMS “cover the forgeries” by use of the blank document.
On October 31, 2008 I terminated the services of Mr. Zivic as explained in my letter (enclosed document 2).
Subsequently, I received a letter from Mr. Zivic dated November 20, 2008 (enclosed as document 3) stating “we do not have any correspondence with any entity other than Social Security.” Mr. Zivic lied to me in his letter and his previous conversation. In early November 2008 I received the following “View Claim Notes” from Sedgwick CMS, indicating that Mr. Zivic had been working with and conversing with Sedgwick CMS since the inception of my claim (enclosed as documents 4, 5).
I believe that Mr. Zivic has engaged in misconduct in regards to his actions while retained as my attorney.
Robert A. Delsman, Jr. Date:
______________________________________________
"Scary Jerry" Replies Via his Attorney
2.
3.
4.
Exhibit 2.
Exhibit 3.
END ZIVIC RESPONSE
Rob's Additional Comments to IL ARDC
January 26, 2009
Robert A. Delsman, Jr. 3809 Little Fairfield St. Eureka, CA 95503
John R. Cesario, Esq. Senior Counsel Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission 130 East Randolph Dr., Ste. 1500 Chicago, IL 60601-6219
Dear Mr. Cesario,
Thank you for spelling my name correctly and the opportunity to contribute further information relevant to my complaint at this time. I am in receipt of Mr. Zivic’s response.
I believe that I surfaced three issues central to my complaint regarding Mr. Zivic, those being:
·You failed to file my appeal within the required time period as prescribed by the SSA. You claim that the SSA did not notify you until after the denial appeal period had expired, SSA tells me a different story.
·You have failed to represent my best interest in regards to your relationship with the GE Disability Benefits Center and Sedgwick CMS.
·I assert that Mr. Zivic was working in concert with Sedgwick CMS to “cover the forgeries” by use of the blank document.
I answer Mr. Zivic’s numerous “comments” by numbered paragraph contained in Mr. Zivic’s response.
I find the abuse of any person regardless of disability or not an abhorrent practice, but find the systematic abuse of the sick and injured especially despicable. People that truly need assistance in their time of significant vulnerability should not be deceived, misled, abused or terrorized by those that purport to represent their best interest as counsel.
1.The attending physicians stated that I was disabled. At the time of my employment I purchased, at my own expense, Long Term Disability Insurance referred to as the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504.
2.Under the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate, there is NO REQUIREMENT that in order to receive Long Term Disability Insurance Benefits under the plan that the plan participant be required to apply for or collect Social Security Disability Insurance. (Attachment 1).
(a) The long-term disability benefits were paid by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company not General Electric Co.
(b) If I received Social Security Disability Insurance, the benefit paid by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company would be reduced, but I would still receive the same aggregated benefit amount from multiple sources and no more.
3.Mr. Zivic’s assertion “the employee will have long-term disability income or social security, but not an accumulation of both” is incorrect; an aggregation of both sources is used to pay a maximum benefit (in my case approximately $4250 per month maximum, from all sources).
(a) In regards to Mr. Zivic’s Exhibit 1, this document is written by an agent, not the plan fiduciary and has no bearing on the complaint. (Attachment 6, page 3) The plan fiduciary is Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
4.Mr. Zivic’s allegation that I want more than I am entitled to is ridiculous. I receive the same benefit payment regardless of collecting Social Security Disability Insurance or not. The only benefit of me being on Social Security Disability Insurance is that it reduces the liability of Mr. Zivic’s alleged employer Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. I reaffirm that there is no such requirement specified in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate. (Attachment 1)
5.Mr. Zivic asserts that “General Electric Co. recommended” that I employ Mr. Zivic; this is patently false (Attachment 2).
(a) I was threatened by the Third Party Administrator, Sedgwick Claims Management Services that if I did not apply for Social Security Disability Insurance and use Mr. Zivic, my Long Term Disability Insurance benefits would be terminated.
(b) Again I assert that there is no requirement contained in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate that requires these actions. (Attachment 1)
(c) Mr. Zivic asserts that “the benefits are as much for the benefit of General Electric Co. and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company as for Mr. Delsman”, this statement is false. I paid for Long Term Disability Insurance under the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 and am entitled to receive benefits under the plan.
(d) The only entities that benefit from me collecting Social Security Disability Insurance are Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Mr. Zivic.
(e) I reaffirm that there is no such requirement to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance to receive benefits specified in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504.
6.I am aware that is the case that is what it says in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate.
7.Mr. Zivic asserts that, I obviously don’t understand my circumstances. I believe that I understand the circumstances completely.
(a) There is NO REQUIREMENT in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate that I apply for Social Security Disability Insurance, or secure the services of Mr. Zivic, Period.
(b) I am entitled to benefits as specified in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate that I paid for, Period.
(c) Mr. Zivic asserts, “He wants Zivic to get him both, and he is not entitled to both”, actually I am entitled to the aggregated value of approx. $4250 a month maximum if I collect Social Security Disability Insurance or not. Perhaps Mr. Zivic should brush up on the specificities of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate.
(b) Again, I assert that there is no requirement contained in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate that requires me to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance or secure the services of Mr. Zivic.
8.Mr. Zivic asserts, “in the course of the prosecution of the social security claim, did require a medical authorization for UC Davis Medical Center in California”, is correct, however, Mr. Zivic fails to disclose that the need for the release was two years ago per his alleged employer Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights in San Francisco, CA is conducting an investigation in cooperation with the U C Davis Medical Center, Medical Records Department. The objective of this investigation is to determine the authenticity of medical record releases that have been submitted and identify all parties that have requested my Protected Health Information (PHI), from February 2006 till present.
(a) There is no requirement that a “U C Davis Medical System” release be used to obtain records.
(b) I executed medical releases provided by Mr. Zivic, to obtain medical information, not a U C Davis Medical Release.
(c) I also enclose the “required” medical release that is used by the GE Disability Benefits Center as (Attachment 3). Neither are “U C Davis Medical” Releases.
(d) Also note that Mr. Zivic sent the U C Davis Medical Release to me, subsequent to my notification that “U C Davis Medical Releases” had been forged and disseminated by agents of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to some of my healthcare providers.
(e) I refused to sign and return the U C Davis Medical System release to Mr. Zivic, on advice from the U C Davis Medical System legal counsel and forwarded it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(f) Mr. Zivic’s allegation that the document should be filled out later by him is ridiculous. I am certainly capable of filling out my name, the date, the name of the person or entity to receive the information, the address and an expiration date for the document.
(g) I certainly have no intent to create a medical release that can be used in perpetuity without my permission or knowledge when a release can be filled out and faxed to Mr. Zivic in ten minutes. (45CFR164.520)
(h) Mr. Zivic asserts that there is no foul as the document was not used. I am unable to find any requirement under law, that I must allow myself to become the victim of a crime in order to report the intent.
9.In regards to the issue of correspondence Mr. Zivic’s assertion is false.
(a) Mr. Zivic is a trained attorney and most surly know the definition of the word. In the event that he does not I have included the definition for his edification; noun1. communication, writing, contactletters, post, mail.
(b) Correspondence. Interchange of written communications. The letters written by a person and the answers written by the one to whom they are addressed. The agreement with things with one another. (Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth edition, page 344, ISBN 0-314-77615-4 deluxe)
(b) Mr. Zivic asserts that he took the term “correspondence” to mean “letters written to or received from anyone”. I have included “letters written” from Mr. Zivic to the Social Security Administration, then disseminated to Sedgwick Claims Management Services and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company as evidence of his definition of correspondence as (attachment 4).
(c) It is very obvious that Mr. Zivic had continuous correspondence with parties others than the Social Security Administration and was intentionally dishonest and misleading in his communication with me as his client.
10. Mr. Zivic asserts that email is not correspondence, I do.
(a) Contrary to Mr. Zivic’s assertion, I can find no evidence to support Mr. Zivic’s claim that he is an employee of Sedgwick Claims Management Services or Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. However, I will research this issue further.
11. Regardless of who pays for my Social Security Disability Insurance representation, I am still entitled under law to exercise my choice for legal representation that will best represent my rights as a client.
(a) In fact when I contacted the IL “Lawyer finder service”, I was told that the Social Security Administration pays the fees on my Social Security Disability Insurance application. I was also informed of this fact by a Social Security Disability Insurance attorney in Eureka, CA and the Social Security Administration as well.
(b) As to the Email correspondence and “letters written or received” by Mr. Zivic, these documents were lawfully obtained under Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and directly from Mr. Zivic’s alleged employer, Sedgwick Claims Management Services and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
(c) As to Mr. Zivic’s assertion that “I am or am not” entitled to my file, I am entitled to my file, as I am the client. Mr. Zivic has not provided my file as per my written request to him.
(d) As to Mr. Zivic’s assertion that I have all the information that I require, that statement is false, I require the entire file and assert that right. My file contains health information protected under HIPAA and 45CFR164.520, and is my property, not Mr. Zivic’s.
12. There is no requirement in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate that requires me to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance or secure the services of Mr. Zivic.
(a) In regards to the assertion that I was not coerced to hire Mr. Zivic, that statement is false. Mr. Zivic’s card was attached to correspondence from Sedgwick Claims Management Services and I was told that if I didn’t apply for Social Security Disability Insurance and use Mr. Zivic, my Long Term Disability Insurance benefits would be terminated. Again, please review (Attachment 2.)
13. Mr. Zivic admits the failure to file the proper paperwork.
(a) Mr. Zivic then points out the telephone interviews that were missed and his litany of subsequent efforts. In April I called Mr. Zivic and stated that I have received a threatening letter from Sedgwick Claims Management Services (Mr. Zivic’s Exhibit 1 (and his alleged employer)), that my benefits would be terminated.
(b) I stated to Mr. Zivic during the conversation that I was being forced and coerced against my will to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance as there was no such requirement in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate. Mr. Zivic ignored my pleas for assistance and simply dumped me back into the Social Security Disability Insurance “hopper”.
14. OK, whatever that means.
15. Mr. Zivic’s assertion that “since discharging Mr. Zivic Delsman has filed complaints with SSA, USPS, ISBA and the FBI” is false.
(a) In actuality, the first complaint was filed by my physician in August 2008 with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I later followed up with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and provided additional information as requested. I continue to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other investigating agencies in regards to this matter.
(b) Based on the letter that I received from the State of Minnesota, Office of the Attorney General (Attachment 5), I followed the suggestions to the letter. If Mr. Zivic has issues with my filing legitimate complaints with the proper authorities when I am the victim of a crime, perhaps Mr. Zivic should stop practicing Social Security Disability Insurance representation and begin a career in criminal defense.
(c) As can be determined by the date of receipt on the letter that I received from the State of Minnesota, Office of the Attorney General, August 22, 2008 these complaints were initiated months prior to me discharging Mr. Zivic.
(d) As can be determined by the date reflected on (Attachment 2), the complaint filed with the Social Security Administration and the Social Security Administration / Office Inspector General February 7, 2007 was almost two years prior to Mr. Zivic’s discharge.
16. In regard to Mr. Zivic’s distaste for YouTube I would reply as follows;
(a) Contrary to Mr. Zivic’s inference to objectionable content, the videos were removed from YouTube because Mr. Zivic claimed that the videos infringed on copyright protected material, not grossly defamatory, and slanderous depictions.
(b) My email correspondence to Mr. Zivic pointed out the penalties allowed under law for making false copyright claims.
(c) Watch the movies, you decide.
17. Contrary to Mr. Zivic’s allegation that “Mr. Delsman does not want to comply with the plan provisions of his contract”, Neither Mr. Zivic, his alleged employers Sedgwick Claims Management Services or Metropolitan Life Insurance Company have been able to produce any requirement contained in Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance or retain the services of Mr. Zivic.
(a) Since Mr. Zivic asserts that Sedgwick Claims Management Services and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company are his employer and quotes, “If he goes on as he is, eventually [will] find himself in breach of contract with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and may lose his long term disability”, I can only assume Mr. Zivic’s statement to be a threat directed by his employer and a misrepresentation of benefits provided in accordance with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Plan 504 Certificate.
(b) I will forward Mr. Zivic’s threat of benefit termination on to the proper entities for evaluation.
(c) I might suggest that if Mr. Zivic asserts that I have done more than simply tell the truth, he should definitely seek the proper redress under a criminal /civil remedy against me. Perhaps, once examined in a court of law, the civil and criminal aspects of this situation could be clearly examined.
