[announcer] Previously on Tribunal Justice.
- Did you ever pay her any rent? - No.
She's burned bridges with other members of the family,
and I believe that they've taken advantage of me.
Who are you to live in somebody's house and not do anything?
The more you don't do something with your own life,
the more you're gonna sink into it.
Unlike my colleagues, ha, I think you're the bad guy here.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Fredonia, Wisconsin.
[Judge Levy] So when you say that you applied for Social Security
when she was 17, that was based upon
your claim that she had this uncontrollable anxiety
that prevented her from doing anything.
- [Roberta] Yes. - And she needed money.
So you're looking for money from them for rent, back rent, right?
That's why you took the disability payment that the government,
let's call it what it is, the taxpayers, right,
of this country were given to your granddaughter,
and you wanted those checks to reimburse you for rent.
- Yeah. Yeah. - [Judge Levy] Right?
[Judge Levy] Part of your $10,000 claim is in part for back rent, $7,200.
I'm reading your complaint.
- [Roberta] Yes. - [Judge Levy] Right?
You see, the--your problem, one of your many problems in this case
is gonna be that you don't get rent in Wisconsin unless there's a written lease.
Show me the written lease you have with them.
- I don't. - [Judge Levy] You don't have it.
So you understand that's gone.
[Roberta] Yes, sir.
It wasn't just rent, Your Honor.
- [Judge Levy] Meh. - There was hundreds of items
that I purchased and...
[Judge Levy] I don't care about hundreds of items.
All I care about is what you gave us proof of.
Part of your $10,000 claim is also for a computer.
So where's the proof of the computer receipt?
Well, you can ask them.
[Judge Levy] Where's the--where's the proof of the...
- I don't have... - [Judge Levy] Where's the proof
for the furniture and moving expenses?
Where's the proof for the $400 cell phone?
- Well, I didn't know that... - [Judge Levy] Hold on.
What you gave us proof of today, by the way,
was a paid receipt for Brooklyn,
the defendant, for anxiety treatments.
- [Roberta] Yes. - [Judge Levy] Did you know
that she has given this to us today?
I assumed.
[Judge Levy] Why'd you assume that?
Because I know she paid for it.
And you had no problem with her giving this to us?
[Brooklyn] No.
She can--she has access to us
just because she's the one that paid for it,
so she can show you-- she gets receipts of it.
- [Judge Levy] It doesn't make... - But she doesn't have access
to the medical record though.
She saw other therapists.
That was the treatment plan.
[Judge Levy] Where's the proof?
You said that the reasons why, in your complaint,
that she has anxiety is because of stuff that happened with her parents.
That's where it stems from.
Long lasting. That's what you said, right?
Well, yes. Yes.
I got her when she was eight, and she had anxiety at that time.
[Judge Levy] Exactly.
So if you're claiming that she had anxiety at that time,
where's the proof that she went to all these prior psychiatrists,
psychologists, treatment?
You didn't provide us any receipts.
Did she have treatment back then?
Yes, she did.
[Judge Levy] So why don't you give us those?
I didn't think that was the pertinent situation that we're...
[Judge Levy] So why'd you give us this?
Because I was supposed to prove where the $10,000
that I asked for back things.
That was just one of them.
My point is that it seems to me, from everything that I've reviewed,
in addition to the fact that you took that first check, by the way,
and you applied it for back rent as in part.
How many checks did you take from her, one or four?
- One. - [Judge Levy] One.
So this is the way SSI payments are run in Wisconsin.
- You're the payee, right? - [Roberta] Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] When the payee receives past due benefits
all at once in a lump sum,
2,700 and whatever dollars,
you, the payee, must first spend the money
on the beneficiary's current needs, not for back rent,
even if Wisconsin allowed that, which they don't,
because you need a lease.
So you had no right to take that money for back payments.
That money is to be used for current payments for her.
Current payments.
I have nothing further.
- Judge Acker. - [Judge Acker] Thank you, Judge.
Brooklyn, how do you feel about hearing all of this today?
Um, upset.
[Judge Acker] What's upsetting to you?
Um, I actually do have a disability.
Well, what I'm really more interested in
is what is it like hearing that testimony from your big brother?
Um, upset.
- Do you love him? - [Brooklyn] Yes.
Do you think he loves you?
- Yeah. - [Judge Acker] Is it true what he said?
- [Brooklyn] No. - [Judge Acker] Well, it's gotta be
a little true because you yourself
admitted that right now you're doing nothing.
Judge DiMango said what do you do when you wake up?
You said nothing.
When I asked you what you wanted to do with yourself,
you said, "I wanna be a CNA."
How long does it take to become a CNA?
Um, a couple months.
What have you done to start that process?
I don't have money to start the process.
[Judge Acker] You're getting benefits for precisely that reason.
You're living with your brother.
You're 19.
You know, I don't know anything about this fellow.
You think he's gonna be supporting you in 20 years?
I don't know.
Do you think there's a reason your brother would stand here and lie?
- Maybe. - [Judge Acker] Why?
Tell me why.
- [Brooklyn] I don't know. - [Judge Acker] He's letting you live
in his house.
Your Honor, it's everybody's house.
- We're all on the lease. - [Judge Acker] You're all on the lease.
- [Reese] Yes. - [Judge Acker] Fair enough.
So why would he come here and lie?
Ma'am, I do not know that, but we pay our rent on time
and me and Brooklyn are the only ones that do cleaning in the house.
They never vacuum, never clean the living room.
We--actually when they have their friends over,
we're actually the ones cleaning up after their friends that come over.
And when he says that he supports us, that's when he buys us food
that we never asked him to buy any grocery shopping for.
[Judge Acker] Sir, could you come back up, please?
He's basically calling you a liar.
Are you lying?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
You can't let go of her because without her, you're broke.
You got nothing.
So if you think you're bad off,
you're with more of a loser.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Roberta Valerius is suing granddaughter Brooklyn Bruining
and boyfriend Reese Mueller for $10,000.
Roberta claims they owe her rent and reimbursement
for financial support when they lived with her
but the teenagers claim that Roberta welcomed them,
then became angry when they moved out
and cut her off from government support.
[Judge Acker] Sir, could you come back up, please?
He's basically calling you a liar.
Are you lying?
I'm not, Your Honor.
[Judge Acker] Do they give you half of the money for rent?
So as I stated, they don't work at all.
And I've never seen them, like, every time I come home.
So at the last day, like, the last, like, four days late
of, like, the actual due date,
they rely on my sister's Social--like, SSI check.
Do you think that you're going to live for the rest of your life
on Social Security benefits?
- No. - [Judge Acker] Because frankly,
I don't think that he's the one lying here.
- I don't. - Your Honor, I get paid
for a 40-hour week schedule every week regardless if I work or not.
My dad's business have been slow recently,
so he paid me regardlessly of the work
even if I'm not there but whenever he does have work,
which should start up hopefully in the middle of next month again.
[Judge Acker] Well, I hope that is true
but I also want you to digest what you just said.
"My daddy is gonna pay me regardless of whether or not I work."
Well, he has--he has--he has another employee that he also pays
if they don't work.
Why don't you try doing something where you actually have to work,
where you get a paycheck for delivering value into the world?
I have been. I've just applied at multiple Verizon stores that...
[Judge Acker] You think you guys are gonna get married?
Well, I'd hope so.
Really? And how are you gonna support each other?
Well, if--I mean, I'm...
[Judge Acker] You move into a woman's house for free
and then she has to sue you to get a little bit of money back.
Your Honor, I pay my rent on time every month.
We have five day, like, convenience time where we--
where it's not gonna be late.
I pay my rent every Friday of the next month.
So if that's on the 3rd, 4th, the 1st, that's when I pay.
That's when I get my check. I pay my rent with that check.
And I pay--Brooklyn gives me half her money I add to my bank account,
and I pay our half of the rent.
[Judge Acker] Listen, I'm gonna conclude this.
You gotta find a different path, because if you were doing all of that,
if you were handling your business the way you say you are,
you wouldn't be here today.
I don't have anything else.
[Judge DiMango] Ms. Valerius,
you say that November 22 was when you got the first check.
- Did... - No, that is when I first applied
for Social Security.
[Judge DiMango] When did you get your first check?
- The first check was November of 23. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
Now, after that, did Brooklyn and Reese continue to live with you?
[Roberta] No. They moved out, like, September 15th.
[Judge DiMango] So they left before you got that first check?
- Okay. - Before she was awarded the money...
- [Judge DiMango] Okay. All right. - ... they moved out.
How they were going to survive without...
[Judge DiMango] Okay. No, I just needed to know that.
- [Roberta] Okay. - When you get up
and do nothing, do you get high?
Do you drink? Do you do anything like that, you guys?
- Do you... - No.
I quit smoking weed.
Okay. From--for lack of funds or just because
- your brain was melting? - [Reese] No, just because I just
don't like the feeling of it anymore.
[Judge DiMango] Drinking, no drinking?
[Reese] Just once in a while.
- Just at--just at night. - [Judge DiMango] What about you, Brook?
Once in a while.
[Judge DiMango] How much is the rent in total?
- [Blake] 1,700... - [Reese] 1,720.
[Judge DiMango] 1,720. It's easier for me since
there's three of you to just make it 1,800
and that would be $600 each?
Well, he has his girlfriend that pays his other half of that as well.
Okay. You divide it in four and that's why you pay
four and a change, four and a quarter, I think you said.
- Yeah. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
You said you had no money for school.
Isn't your check 2,000 and change?
What is your check for when you get it?
Um, 793.
[Judge DiMango] 793?
[Reese] Are you talking about the back pay or the monthly?
No, the pay you're getting now.
- [Brooklyn] Monthly, yeah. - [Judge DiMango] Each monthly pay.
You're still getting back pay as well?
Uh, no, I don't get back pay.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. Who pays for the food in the house?
- Correct? - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. So to stay home and do nothing,
you have 300 and some odd dollars change, correct?
That's what you have.
And if you just saved it for two months,
you could go to school and you wouldn't be broke, would you?
- No. - [Judge DiMango] And, Reese,
if you didn't have the luck of your father at this point
just giving you money to stay home,
you wouldn't have anything to live on but her money.
You live off of her. You need her.
You see how you're holding on to her?
See that, like, you got that symbiotic...
[Reese] Well, I'm just trying to comfort her, Your Honor.
Yeah, well, the thing is you can't let go of her
because without her, you're broke.
You got nothing.
So if you think you're bad off,
you're with more of a loser,
because he's got less than that.
I don't have any other questions of you.
- Are we good to go? - [Judge Acker] Uh-hmm.
Then we are going to retire to deliberate.
You can resume your seat in the audience.
You both can stay connected like the symbiotic twins and you're okay there.
[Byrd] Court now stands in recess.
Parties are excused.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
The only reason this thing went sideways
is because the boyfriend got involved
and that took away potential money from the grandmother.
[dramatic musical sting]
The plaintiff is seeking back rent.
I don't think she's entitled to that.
Not only was there no written lease, there was never an agreement.
- Correct. - [Judge Acker] Right? For any amount.
With respect to the classes and the therapy
and the other expenses, I don't think
that she ever had a legitimate expectation of repayment for those items.
I think that in fact if you read her complaint and hear her testimony,
which I did credit, she waited so late to apply
for the benefits so that Brooklyn would have some money for herself going forward.
[Judge DiMango] Correct.
[Judge Acker] Here, though, is what I'm toying with,
because there is that year-long period
during which the government is doing its thing,
taking its time, making the evaluation.
They ultimately make a determination in Brooklyn's favor.
They've already moved out.
I know, Adam, you touched on the rule
regarding how the payments have to go to her current maintenance.
Which is what I was trying to get from her
when I said when did she kind of come and go.
Yeah, but I'm gonna say this-- we are not administrative law judges.
And I don't think we're bound by that.
I would let the plaintiff hold on to that $2,742 check
that was made out to her and then simply dismiss the balance of the case.
[Judge DiMango] I kind of feel the way you do.
I know it's not the legal way to go, but I think it's the equitable...
Well, it's not--it's not illegal. We're not making it up.
[Judge DiMango] No, no, it's the equitable way to go.
She got 2,740 something dollars, the plaintiff.
[Judge Acker] But it's not cashed.
She hasn't cashed that check.
She can keep it. She can cash it. Otherwise, we dismiss.
She's--listen, she's already cashed that check.
She's already cashed that check. She's the payee.
There is absolutely no way that she's been holding on to that check.
She's been holding on to it.
[Judge Levy] There is no way. I don't believe it for a second.
The fact is that the grandmother and the granddaughter,
they had a plan, in my opinion, to file for Social Security benefits
when she turned 18.
And that the only reason this thing went sideways
is because the boyfriend got involved
and decided to move out with the daughter.
And that took away potential money from the grandmother.
That's the reason the grandmother is here.
It's because the boyfriend got in the middle of their scam.
And the problem is for administrative law judges
and for appellate courts who have to deal with this in the federal system,
they have to put aside those legitimate cases to deal with these nonsense cases.
And that's the reason I wanted to speak to her brother.
If in fact the grandmother said that she was so bad
because of the mother's issues that she had growing up,
we would have a long history of it, and we don't.
So listen, as far as the $10,000 claim,
we ran through what the grandmother is asking for,
and I don't think that she gets a nickel out of any of that.
She has the $2,700 check.
I think she cashed it. You don't think she cashed it.
I don't care. It doesn't have anything to do with the case as far as I see.
I'm not prepared to say it's a scam.
I think that the grandmother didn't get money
for precisely the reason she said, because she was working.
She falls under that sliver of the population
- that while she's cleaning... - [Judge DiMango] Yeah. She has a job.
[Judge Acker] Yeah. While she's cleaning hospital rooms,
the government says, you know what, you're gonna do
all the rest of this on your own.
But that's not--but that's not how the system works.
See, I don't think--I don't--but I don't think a young girl who drops out of school
is not showing any indicia of a mental health issue.
I think that that's pretty obvious mental health issue
that something is going on, and a lot of things don't pop up
and show themselves fully unless you're with somebody 24/7,
and apparently you can be with these two because they don't go anywhere for 24/7.
Excuse me.
So, you know, a lot of these things don't show.
So I don't dispute that she's got issues, and I'm not willing to say
that she has none because I think that anybody could stay home every day
and do nothing must have some issue. But...
It doesn't really touch on the verdict actually.
- [Judge DiMango] No. - Because to Adam's point,
we're just dismissing.
- We're unanimous as to the verdict. - [Judge DiMango] Correct.
- And that's to dismissing the complaint. - I agree.
- We are. - Very good.
All right.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Byrd] Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
- [Judge Acker] Thank you, Byrd. - [Byrd] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] We have deliberated and we've reached a unanimous verdict.
Blake, do you wanna come up and stand with your family?
[Blake] Yes.
[Judge Acker] Brooklyn, your big brother is a man and he cares about you.
And your grandmother took you in
when you were eight, so you didn't have to go live with strangers.
She loves you.
You're wasting your life.
And if you don't wanna end up on the street,
you are going to have to make changes.
You have the world in front of you and you have an opportunity to do better.
Reese, you say you love her.
You say you're working. You say you're doing all of these things.
Man up. Be like her big brother.
Blake, in what branch of the military did you serve?
I was in the Army.
[Judge Acker] Thank you very much for your service.
Your country thanks you and your family should thank you.
Mrs. Valerius, we are unanimous in dismissing your case
and here's why.
It's because when you did these things,
when you laid out these monies,
you had no reasonable expectation of repayment.
I mean, you said it kind of at the outset.
We didn't really have an agreement
but you want them at some point to adult up.
The legal pieces of your case don't allow us
to give you any kind of award like that.
We can't compensate you for what they should've done
just out of being adults, responsible, moral adults.
We can't do that.
But you did what a lot of grandmothers do.
You opened up your home to try to provide a safer space
for people who needed it.
And it's a good thing you did that.
You need to repair your relationship with your grandmother
and you need to love her and you need to be grateful.
You got that?
Yes.
That's the judgment of the court.
Everybody, good luck.
[Byrd] Court has now concluded.
Parties are excused. You may step out.
[theme music plays]
After they called the police on me,
I felt there's consequences for everybody's actions.
I had no clue.
It made for many sleepless nights.
I cried about it numerous times.
It's just--I don't think it'll affect us.
It's just part of life.
They literally are almost like two peas in a pod,
like, they're kind of, like, mirrors of each other.
Ever since we moved out, I've been supporting her, helping her,
taking her to all her-- all her appointments.
Life is not easy and you need to step up to the plate
and get a job and pay your own weight.
Just because my dad's company is going slow does not mean I'm not working.
I work whenever he has work for both of us.
I do forgive her and I wish her the very best.
[announcer] Got family drama?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
Find us on social media at Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]