Rule 2.Complaint

Because a Social Security review case is decided on the agency’s own record, the complaint does not need the detailed factual allegations of an ordinary lawsuit, but it does have its own required contents. Supplemental Rule 2 requires the complaint to state that the action is brought under § 405(g), identify the Commissioner’s final decision under review (including any identifying designation the Commissioner provided with it), state the name and county of residence of the person for whom benefits are claimed, name the person on whose wage record benefits are claimed, and state the type of benefits claimed.

Beyond those required items, the complaint may — but need not — include a short and plain statement of the grounds for relief. The streamlined complaint keeps the focus where it belongs: on the administrative record and the legal questions about how the agency decided the claim, rather than on notice pleading about disputed facts.