Cox v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided September 2, 2020·No. 2:18-cv-02625·Unknown

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Taunya Cox, No. CV-18-02625-PHX-SMB

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 Commissioner of Social Security Administration, 13 Defendant. 14 15 At issue is the Commissioner of Social Security Administration’s 16 (“Commissioner”) denial of Plaintiff’s applications for Title II Disability Insurance 17 Benefits and Title XVI Supplemental Security Income under the Social Security Act 18 (“Act”). Plaintiff filed a Complaint seeking judicial review of the decision (Doc. 1), and 19 the Court now considers Plaintiff’s Opening Brief (Doc. 12, “Pl. Br.”), the Commissioner’s 20 Response (Doc. 14, “Def. Br.”), Plaintiff’s Reply (Doc. 15, “Reply”), and the 21 Administrative Record (Doc. 10, “R.”). For the following reasons, the Court reverses the 22 decision and remands for further administrative proceedings. 23 I. BACKGROUND 24 Plaintiff filed applications for Title II and Title XVI benefits on September 15, 2014 25 and February 22, 2017, respectively, alleging disability as of July 8, 2014.1 (R. at 45.) 26 Following denial of the applications at the initial and reconsideration levels, Plaintiff

27 1 Although this case is governed by 20 C.F.R. Part 404, which governs Title II claims, 28 and 20 C.F.R. Part 416, which governs Title XVI claims, the Court will only cite to Part 404 since the applicable regulations therein are substantively identical to those in Part 416. 1 requested a hearing before an administrative law judge (“ALJ”), which was held on May 2 31, 2017. (Id.) Thereafter, the ALJ issued a written decision finding Plaintiff not disabled. 3 (Id. at 45–57.) The Appeals Council denied review and the decision became final. (Id. at 4 1–4.) Therein, the ALJ found Plaintiff had “severe”2 impairments of degenerative disc 5 disease of the cervical and lumbar spines, cervical and lumbar spondylosis and 6 radiculopathy, myofascial pain syndrome, cervicalgia, migraines, and unspecified anxiety 7 and depressive disorder. (Id. at 48.) Despite these impairments, the ALJ found that 8 Plaintiff had the residual functional capacity (“RFC”) to perform work at the sedentary3 9 level with the following limitations and exceptions: 10 • No more than 4 hours of standing; 11 • No more than 2 hours of walking; 12 • Occasional balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and climbing 13 on ramps and stairs; 14 • No climbing on ladders, ropes, and scaffolds; 15 • No overhead work; 16 • No exposure to dangerous machinery, unprotected heights, or vibrations; 17 • Occasional fine fingering with the left non-dominant hand; 18 • No fast-paced production environments; 19 • And only simple work-related decisions and relatively few changes. 20 (Id. at 50.) Based on this RFC assessment; Plaintiff’s age, education, and work experience; 21 and testimony from a vocational expert (“VE”), the ALJ found Plaintiff could perform 22 work as an election clerk and call-out operator and was therefore not disabled. (Id. at 56.) 23 II. LEGAL STANDARD 24 In reviewing a decision of the Commissioner, the Court reviews only issues raised 25 by the party challenging the decision. Carmickle v. Comm’r, Soc. Sec. Admin., 533 F.3d 26 2 An “impairment or combination of impairments” is “severe” if it “significantly 27 limits [the] physical or mental ability to do basic work activities.” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(c). 28 3 See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1567(a). 1 1155, 1161 n.2 (9th Cir. 2008); see also Kim v. Kang, 154 F.3d 996, 1000 (9th Cir. 1998) 2 (“[The Court] will not ordinarily consider matters on appeal that are not specifically and 3 distinctly argued in appellant’s opening brief.”). The Court may set aside the decision only 4 when it is not supported by “substantial evidence” or is based on legal error. Trevizo v. 5 Berryhill, 871 F.3d 664, 674 (9th Cir. 2017). “Substantial evidence means more than a 6 mere scintilla, but less than a preponderance. It means such relevant evidence as a 7 reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Id. “Where evidence 8 is susceptible to more than one rational interpretation, the ALJ’s decision should be 9 upheld.” Id. at 674–75; see also Jamerson v. Chater, 112 F.3d 1064, 1067 (9th Cir. 1997) 10 (“[T]he key question is not whether there is substantial evidence that could support a 11 finding of disability, but whether there is substantial evidence to support the 12 Commissioner’s actual finding that claimant is not disabled.”). “Yet [the Court] must 13 consider the entire record as a whole, weighing both the evidence that supports and the 14 evidence that detracts from the Commissioner’s conclusion, and may not affirm simply by 15 isolating a specific quantum of supporting evidence.” Trevizo, 871 F.3d. at 675. “[The 16 Court] review[s] only the reasons provided by the ALJ in the disability determination and 17 may not affirm the ALJ on a ground upon which he [or she] did not rely.” Id. “Finally, 18 [the Court] may not reverse an ALJ’s decision on account of an error that is harmless.” 19 Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104, 1111 (9th Cir. 2012). Such is the case where the error is 20 “inconsequential to the ultimate nondisability determination” or where the ALJ’s “path 21 may reasonably be discerned, even if the [ALJ] explains [his or her] decision with less than 22 ideal clarity.” Treichler v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 775 F.3d 1090, 1099 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing 23 Alaska Dept. of Envtl. Conservation v. E.P.A., 540 U.S. 461, 497 (2004)). 24 To determine whether a claimant is disabled under the Act, the ALJ engages in a 25 five-step sequential analysis. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a). The burden of proof is on the 26 claimant for the first four steps but shifts to the Commissioner at the fifth. Molina, 674 27 F.3d at 1110. At step one, the ALJ determines whether the claimant is presently engaging 28 in substantial gainful activity. Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(i). If so, the claimant is not disabled, 1 and the inquiry ends. Id. At step two, the ALJ determines whether the claimant has a 2 “severe” medically determinable physical or mental impairment. Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(ii). 3 If not, the claimant is not disabled, and the inquiry ends. Id. At step three, the ALJ 4 considers whether the claimant’s impairment or combination of impairments meets or 5 medically equals an impairment listed in Appendix 1 to Subpart P of 20 C.F.R. Part 404. 6 Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(iii). If so, the claimant is disabled. Id. If not, the ALJ proceeds to 7 step four. Id. At step four, the ALJ assesses the claimant’s RFC and determines whether 8 the claimant is capable of performing past relevant work. Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(iv). If so, 9 the claimant is not disabled, and the inquiry ends. Id.

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