Board Members & Judges
The Departmental Appeals Board (DAB) provides impartial, independent review of disputed decisions in a wide range of Department programs under more than 60 statutory provisions. The DAB generally issues the final decision for the Department, which may then be appealed to federal court. The DAB may issue a recommended decision for action by another official. The DAB has three broad areas of jurisdiction each with its own set of judges and staff. The DAB also has a leadership role in implementing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) across the Department since the DAB Chair is the designated Dispute Resolution Specialist under the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996. DAB staff includes trained mediators and facilitators. The DAB's ADR responsibilities include providing ADR services and training and coordinating and facilitating negotiated rulemaking committees.
The DAB resolves disputes with outside parties such as state agencies, Head Start grantees, universities, nursing homes, doctors, and Medicare beneficiaries. In a single year, disputes heard by the DAB may involve as much as $1 billion in federal grant funds.
Constance B. Tobias (Chair) was appointed as Chair of the Board on April 29, 2007. She previously served at the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Chief Veterans Law Judge of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, as Counsel to the Chairman, and as a staff attorney. She received her J.D. from Cornell University and a Bachelor's Degree from Saint Augustine's College.
Judith A. Ballard has been a Board member since 1983. She supervised Board staff attorneys prior to that. She is the former Chair of the Federal Bar Association Federal Grants Committee. Judge Ballard received her J.D. from The George Washington University in 1977.
Stephen M. Godek was appointed as a Member of the Board on July 9, 2008. Judge Godek previously served in HHS as a Senior Counsel in the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, Administrative and Civil Remedies Branch and as a Senior Attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Public Health Division. He has also worked with a task force with the Department of Justice as a Special Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. Judge Godek received both his Bachelor's Degree and his Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Virginia.
Sheila A. Hegy started as a Board Member in January 2005. She was previously an Assistant Regional Counsel in the HHS Office of the General Counsel, Region V. Before that, Judge Hegy was an associate at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago; an attorney with Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, Champaign, Illinois; and, a Staff Attorney/Motions Law Clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Judge Hegy received her J. D. from the University of Illinois College of Law.
Leslie A. Sussan was appointed as a Member of the Board on September 3, 2006. She had served as a senior staff attorney in the Appellate Division at the Board since 1990. Her prior practice included seven years as a litigating attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as positions as Director of the Child Advocacy Center of DC, attorney for Migrant Legal Action Program, and legal editor for Aspen Hospital Manual. She received a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977.
Scott Anderson joined the DAB, Civil Remedies Division in March 2012. Previously, Judge Anderson served as Deputy Disciplinary Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review. He also was an ALJ with the Social Security Administration, Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. Judge Anderson is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and William and Mary Law School.
Joseph Grow joined the DAB, Civil Remedies Division in October 2010 as an Administrative Law Judge. He previously was an ALJ with the Social Security Administration, Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. Prior to his appointment as an ALJ, Judge Grow worked as an attorney with the Social Security Administration where he began as a Presidential Management Fellow in 1998. He is a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
Carolyn C. Hughes has been an Administrative Law Judge for the DAB, Civil Remedies Division since October 2000. She previously was an ALJ for the Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals, beginning in 1994. Prior to her appointment as an ALJ, Judge Hughes was an attorney with DHHS and a Clinical Professor of Law at IIT/Chicago Kent College of Law. She is a graduate of Stanford University and has a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.
Keith W. Sickendick has been an Administrative Law Judge since 1995. He accepted an appointment with the DAB in September 2001. He previously served with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration, including a period as Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge. Judge Sickendick was a trial attorney with the Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice from 1989 to 1995. He served as a Judge Advocate on active duty in the United States Army from 1982 to 1989. He is a graduate of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri and the University of Missouri School of Law.
Richard J. Smith has been an Administrative Law Judge since 1988. From 1971 until 1988 he was an Assistant United States Attorney, and in 1981 was appointed Senior Litigation Counsel in the Office of the U. S. Attorney. From 1978 to 1988 he was also a member of the curriculum committee and faculty of the Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, United States Department of Justice. He earned his undergraduate degree at Princeton University and his JD at the University of Texas Law School at Austin.
Clausen J. Krzywicki has been an Administrative Appeals Judge of the Medicare Appeals Council since 1995. He was previously an Appeals Officer and attorney with the Office of Hearings and Appeals of the Social Security Administration. Judge Krzywicki is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Law.
Gilde B. Morrisson has been an Administrative Appeals Judge since January 2007. Prior to that, Judge Morrisson was a senior attorney with the DAB and an attorney in private law practice. Judge Morrisson is a 1990 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Stanley I. Osborne, Jr. has been an Administrative Appeals Judge since 2011. He has served as a Director and
Deputy Director in the DAB’s Medicare Operations Division and a Deputy Director in the DAB’s Civil Remedies
Division. Before joining the DAB, he was an Attorney-Advisor with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Judge
Osborne also worked several years in private practice. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University
School of Law.
Susan S. Yim has been an Administrative Appeals Judge since 2009. Prior to that, she was a Staff Attorney and Team Leader in the DAB’s Civil Remedies Division, as well as an Attorney-Advisor at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Judge Yim also had eight years in private practice. She earned her J.D. from Tulane University School of Law.