Robert S. HAYES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret M. HECKLER, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

Robert Hayes appeals the district court’s denial of his motion and petition for attorneys’ fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412 . The district court found that the position of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) during the proceedings was substantially justified, precluding an EAJA award.

We remand the case to the district court to articulate its reasons for finding that the Secretary’s position was substantially justified.

In October 1981, Robert Hayes was injured in a car accident. He filed an application for social security disability insurance benefits, alleging total disability due to a spinal cord injury. The Administrative Law Judge (AU) denied Hayes’s claim, and the Department of Health and Human Services Appeals Council upheld the ALJ’s decision.

Hayes appealed the Secretary’s final decision to the district court, and ultimately secured a reversal of the Secretary’s decision. Hayes then filed a motion and petition for attorneys’ fees under the EAJA. The district court denied that motion on the grounds that the Secretary’s position during the dispute was substantially justified. In its order, the court gave…