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plaintiffappealhearingtestimony

plaintiffappealhearingtestimonywill

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Sara Jaques O. v. Commissioner of Social Security, Not Reported in Fed. Supp., 2019 WL 3799602

Facts

The plaintiff, born in 1977, applied for Disability Insurance Benefits in January 2010, alleging disability since July 1, 2008. After multiple hearings and decisions by different ALJs, the plaintiff's claims were repeatedly denied. The ALJ found that the plaintiff had several severe impairments but concluded that she could perform light work with certain limitations. The Appeals Council denied review, leading the plaintiff to appeal to the United States District Court.

Plaintiff was born in 1977, completed two years of college, and has worked as a title clerk, telemarketer, receptionist, production worker, machine operator, fork lift operator, and in customer service. Plaintiff was last gainfully employed in 2008. On January 27, 2010, Plaintiff applied for benefits, alleging disability as of July 1, 2008. Plaintiff's application was denied initially and on reconsideration, and Plaintiff requested a hearing.

Issue

Did the ALJ err in evaluating the medical evidence, discounting the plaintiff's statements and those of lay witnesses, and assessing the plaintiff's residual functional capacity?

Rule

The court may set aside the Commissioner's denial of social security benefits when the ALJ's findings are based on legal error or not supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole.

Under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), this Court may set aside the Commissioner's denial of social security benefits when the ALJ's findings are based on legal error or not supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole.

Analysis

The court determined that the ALJ erred in discounting the plaintiff's subjective symptom testimony based on objective medical findings that were inconsistent with her reported symptoms, particularly regarding fibromyalgia. The court also found that the ALJ mischaracterized the plaintiff's activities of daily living and cherry-picked evidence to support the conclusion that her impairments were well controlled with treatment.

As discussed above, the Court finds that Judge Strombom's order only addressed the ALJ's evaluation of Ms. Young's opinion evidence, and any implications that error had on the RFC determination and step five findings. Because the other assignments of error have not been ruled on, the Court will consider each of Plaintiff's alleged errors raised on appeal (dkt. # 16 at 1.).

Conclusion

The court reversed the ALJ's decision and remanded the case for further administrative proceedings, requiring the ALJ to reconsider the plaintiff's subjective symptom testimony and provide legally sufficient reasons for any conclusions drawn.

Accordingly, this matter must be remanded for the ALJ to reconsider Plaintiff's subjective symptom testimony and provide legally sufficient reasons for discounting her testimony, should such a conclusion be warranted.

Who won?

Plaintiff prevailed in the case because the court found that the ALJ's errors in evaluating her testimony and the medical opinions were harmful and warranted a remand for further consideration.

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