Croom v. Harris

512 F. Supp. 240, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11701
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Louisiana
DecidedApril 14, 1981
DocketCiv. A. No. 79-540-B
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 512 F. Supp. 240 (Croom v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Croom v. Harris, 512 F. Supp. 240, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11701 (M.D. La. 1981).

Opinion

POLOZOLA, District Judge:

Weston Croom has filed this action under Section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), for a review of an administrative decision denying him disability benefits.

The plaintiff initially filed a claim for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income on May 30, 1978. Plaintiff contended that he became disabled on December 29, 1977, as a result of cancer of the bowels. His application was denied on June 12, 1978 by a determination that the plaintiff “has the capacity for other work such as a meter reader, a security guard, or a dispatcher.” (Tr. 91). On July 21, 1978, the plaintiff’s application for supplemental security income was reconsidered and also denied. Thereafter, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) held a full evidentiary hearing on May 9,1979. The decision of the ALJ, rendered on July 31, 1979, concluded that the plaintiff was not disabled under the provisions of the Social Security Act. The AU’s decision was affirmed by the Appeals Council on September 12, 1979. The denial by the Appeals Council became the final decision of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

Thereafter, a complaint was timely filed in this Court. In response, the defendant filed an answer and a certified copy of the administrative transcript. Subsequently, both parties filed cross motions for summary judgment.

The scope of judicial review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) is limited to a determination of whether or not there is substantial evidence in the record to support the findings of the ALJ. It is not the function of the Court to reweigh the evidence or substitute its judgment for that of the AU. See Warncke v. Harris, 619 F.2d 412 (5 Cir. 1980); Strickland v. Harris, 615 F.2d 1103 (5 Cir. 1980); Fortenberry v. Harris, 612 F.2d 947 (5 Cir. 1980); Johnson v. Harris, 612 F.2d 993 (5 Cir. 1980); Laffoon v. Califano, 558 F.2d 253 (5 Cir. 1977); Gaultney v. Weinberger, 505 F.2d 943 (5 Cir. 1974); and Goodman v. Richardson, 448 F.2d 388 (5 Cir. 1971).

Substantial evidence is “more than a scintilla, and must do more than create a suspicion of the existence of the fact to be established. ‘It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.’ ” NLRB v. Columbian Enameling and Stamping Co., 306 U.S. 292, 300, 59 S.Ct. 501, 505, 83 L.Ed. 660, 665 (1939), quoting Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 217, 83 L.Ed. 126, 140 (1938); Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971).

Disability is defined in 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A) as:

“[the] inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.”

A person is deemed to be disabled under the Act

“only if his physical or mental impairment or impairments are of such severity that he is not only unable to do his previous work but cannot, considering his age, education, and work experience, engage in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy, regardless of whether such work exists in the immediate area in which he [242]*242lives, or whether a specific job vacancy exists for him, or whether he would be hired if he applied for work.” 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(2)(A).

The jurisprudence is clear that a claimant for social security benefits has the burden of proving his disability under the Act. See Fortenberry v. Harris, supra; Johnson v. Harris, supra; Demandre v. Califano, 591 F.2d 1088 (5 Cir. 1979) and Rhynes v. Califano, 586 F.2d 388 (5 Cir. 1978) . However, once the claimant establishes his disability to the point that he cannot perform his former job, the burden shifts to the Secretary to show that there is other gainful employment which the plaintiff can perform. Knott v. Califano, 559 F.2d 279 (5 Cir. 1977); Lewis v. Weinberger, 515 F.2d 584 (5 Cir. 1975). If the Secretary points to possible alternative employment, the burden of persuasion then returns to the claimant to prove his inability to perform those jobs. Johnson v. Harris, supra.

Although the scope of judicial review is narrow pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), this does not deter the Court from the responsibility of scrutinizing the record in its entirety to determine whether substantial evidence supports each essential administrative finding. Strickland v. Harris, supra; Simmons v. Harris, 602 F.2d 1233 (5 Cir. 1979) . The Court has the responsibility to consider the evidence as a whole, including “(1) objective medical facts or clinical findings; (2) diagnoses of examining physicians, (3) subjective evidence of pain and disability as testified by the claimant and corroborated by his wife, .. . and (4) the claimant’s age, education and work history.” Strickland v. Harris, supra, at 1106, quoting DePaepe v. Richardson, 464 F.2d 92, 94 (5 Cir. 1972). See, also: Simmons v. Harris, supra, at 1236.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
512 F. Supp. 240, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/croom-v-harris-lamd-1981.