Rabanal v. Colvin, 987 F. Supp. 2d 1106

Plaintiff, a former Spanish citizen, emigrated to the U.S. in 1968, naturalized in 1984, and began receiving SSA retirement benefits in 1997.
In 2001, plaintiff obtained pension benefits from Spain (SOVI) and the Commissioner reduced SSA benefits under the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) after notice.
ALJ initially held WEP applied; Appeals Council denied review; district court remanded for translations and enhanced record.
On remand, a second hearing found SOVI benefits subject to WEP; a third hearing reaffirmed WEP application, but the record was incomplete.
The court ultimately determined the SOVI pension is based on citizenship/residence, not earnings, and thus should not be treated as a WEP base.
The court reversed the Commissioner and ordered calculation of benefits without applying WEP to SOVI-derived amounts.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether WEP applies to SOVI benefits	Blackburn: WEP inapplicable if SOVI is citizenship-based.	SSA: WEP applies when non-covered benefits are based on earnings, regardless of citizenship.	WEP cannot be applied to citizenship-based SOVI benefits; reverse and recompute without WEP.
Whether SOVI benefits are based on earnings	Plaintiff contends SOVI is not anchored to earnings; relies on citizenship.	ALJ found SOVI linked to earnings/work, triggering WEP.	Record insufficient to justify earnings-based basis; WEP not supported.
Whether the POMS interpretation equating earnings with work is proper	POMS erroneously equates earnings with work; not consistent with statute.	POMS interpretation should be given deference as agency precedent.	POMS's earnings-to-work equivalence is not clearly justified; invalid to apply WEP on that basis.
Whether foreign pensions based on residence/citizenship fall within WEP	SOVI is based on citizenship, not earnings, thus excluded from WEP per regulation.	WEP can apply if non-covered benefits are based on earnings; regulation ambiguous.	Regulation excludes foreign pensions based on residence/citizenship from WEP; WEP does not apply.
Remedy and calculation of benefits	Court should recompute PIA without WEP, consistent with law-of-the-case.	Maintain prior WEP-based reduction unless legally required otherwise.	Directs Commissioner to compute PIA without applying WEP to SOVI-related benefits.

Stroup v. Barnhart, 327 F.3d 1258 (11th Cir.2003) (WEP framework and deference to agency regulations)
Das v. Department of Health & Human Services, 17 F.3d 1250 (9th Cir.1994) (WEP applicability with non-covered benefits)