Thomas O. Hayes v. Anthony J. Celebrezze, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

WISDOM, Circuit Judge.

This action for disability benefits under the Social Security Act 1 raises a question of statutory construction: Assuming that the claimant did not meet the requirements of the act in 1957 when he filed his application, does the statute permit or require this filing to be treated as a continuing application effective in 1961 when, admittedly, the claimant met the disability requirements.

Thomas Hayes could read and write, “a little — not too well”; his formal education ended with the fifth grade. He grew up on a farm, worked on the farm, and had jobs in a sawmill and…