Baker v. Bowen

680 F. Supp. 304, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1403, 1988 WL 16400
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedFebruary 29, 1988
DocketNo. S 87-207
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 680 F. Supp. 304 (Baker v. Bowen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. Bowen, 680 F. Supp. 304, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1403, 1988 WL 16400 (N.D. Ind. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ALLEN SHARP, Chief Judge.

The matter before the court is an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for judicial review of the Secretary’s final decision denying the plaintiff’s claim for Social Security disability benefits, 42 U.S.C. §§ 416(i), 423, and for Supplemental Security Income benefits, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1382,1383 et seq.. The plaintiff, Brice Baker, filed applications for disability benefits and for supplemental income on or about November 18, 1985, alleging a disability onset date of October 28, 1985, apparently as having resulted from removal of parts of the liver, bowel, stomach and spleen some ten years earlier. His applications were denied initially and on reconsideration. A hearing was held June 12, 1986, before Administrative Law Judge (AU) Frederick Graf, at which the claimant was represented by counsel. On August 20, 1986, the AU issued a decision denying benefits on the basis of the following findings:

1. The claimant met the disability insured status requirements of the Act [306]*306on October 28, 1985, the date the claimant stated he became unable to work, and continues to meet them through December 31, 1987.
2. The claimant has not engaged in substantial gainful activity since October 28, 1985.
3. The medical evidence establishes that the claimant has severe abdominal pain of uncertain , etiology, recurring jaundice, and possible recurring bile duct obstruction, but that he does not have an impairment or combination of impairments listed in, or medically equal to one listed in Appendix 1, Subpart P, Regulations No. 4.
4. The testimony regarding the claimant’s symptoms and limitation of function seemed exaggerated, was not well supported by the medical evidence, and was less than fully credible.
5. The claimant has the residual functional capacity to perform work-related activities except for work involving lifting and carrying weights exceeding approximately 50 pounds (20 CFR 404.1545 and 416.945).
6. The claimant’s past relevant work as automobile repairer, truck driver, and certain positions as machine operator did not require the performance of work-related activities precluded by the above limitation(s) (20 CFR 404.1565 and 416.965).
7. The claimant’s impairments do not prevent the claimant from performing his past relevant work.
8. The claimant was not under a “disability” as defined in the Social Security Act, at any time through the date of the decision (20 CFR 404.-1520(e) and 416.920(e)).

The Appeals Council affirmed the AU’s decision on February 4, 1987, whereby it became the final decision of the Secretary. The plaintiff then complained to this court on April 9, 1987, requesting review. Both sides have filed motions for summary judgment with supportive memoranda, and therefore, the matter is ripe for a decision.

I.

The plaintiff was, at the time of his hearing, thirty-nine years of age. He completed school through the sixth grade and his past employment included doing repairs, truck driving, and operating machinery. In 1975 the plaintiff was seriously injured, having fallen from an irrigation tower. As a result of medical repairs made at that time, surgical clips remain scattered throughout his abdomen. For about nine years after his fall, however, up until November of 1985, Mr. Baker was employed in some of the above-mentioned capacities. The central issue in this case is whether substantial evidence supports the AU’s conclusion that the plaintiff’s impairments do not prevent him from performing his past relevant work. Resolution of this issue will involve an examination of the AU’s treatment of pain, medical evidence, and residual functional capacity to engage in basic work activities. See, e.g., Bauzo v. Bowen, 803 F.2d 917 (7th Cir.1986).

The Social Security Act provides that “the findings of the Secretary as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive.” 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (1983); Walker v. Bowen, 834 F.2d 635, 639 (7th Cir.1987); Burnett v. Bowen, 830 F.2d 731, 734 (7th Cir.1987). Substantial evidence is “ ‘such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.’ ” Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1427, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971), quoting Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 217, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938); Sears v. Bowen, 840 F.2d 394, 398 (7th Cir.1988); Bauzo v. Bowen, 803 F.2d 917, 923 (7th Cir.1986). A search for substantial evidence must take into account “whatever in the record fairly detracts from its weight.” Sears v. Bowen, 840 F.2d 394, 398 (7th Cir.1988), quoting Bauzo v. Bowen, 803 F.2d 917, 923 (7th Cir.1986). In reviewing the decision of an AU which has become the final decision of the Secretary, this court is obliged to review the entire record and all evidence therein, but must accept the AU’s findings [307]*307if supported by substantial evidence. Meredith v. Bowen, 833 F.2d 650, 653 (7th Cir.1987); Delgado v. Bowen, 782 F.2d 79, 82 (7th Cir.1987) (per curiam). Although substantial evidence means more than a mere scintilla, Richardson, at 401, 91 S.Ct. at 1427, it is “something less than the weight of the evidence.” Delgado v. Bowen, 782 F.2d 79 (7th Cir.1986), quoting Consolo v. Federal Maritime Commission, 383 U.S. 607, 620, 86 S.Ct.

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Related

Cozad v. Sullivan
715 F. Supp. 237 (N.D. Indiana, 1989)
Kelsey v. Bowen
681 F. Supp. 595 (N.D. Indiana, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
680 F. Supp. 304, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1403, 1988 WL 16400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-bowen-innd-1988.