The complaint had no statistical evidence of disparate impact - and the court noticed
The Social Security Administration can press ahead with plans to cut 7,000 jobs after a court threw out a disability discrimination challenge to the layoffs.
Five advocacy organisations and seven individuals receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits had argued the cuts - roughly 12 percent of SSA’s 57,000-strong workforce - created “systemic access barriers” that hit people with disabilities harder than everyone else. They pointed to prolonged phone delays, reduced field office hours, missing sign language interpreters, and an online portal that kept locking them out.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed all three claims on October 9, 2026.
The layoffs trace back to a January 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to prepare for large-scale reductions in force. SSA announced its plan about two weeks later: a mix of separation incentives and RIF programs to shed the positions.
The plaintiffs brought a Section 504 Rehabilitation Act claim alleging disparate impact, plus two Administrative Procedure Act (APA) counts - one arguing SSA never properly explained the cuts, the other arguing the agency ignored the reliance interests of beneficiaries who depended on a fully staffed operation.
The court found it had jurisdiction and that at least one plaintiff had standing. That individual described customer-service delays that had “lengthened since...
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