Crum v. Commissioner of Social Security

660 F. App'x 449
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 2, 2016
Docket15-3244
StatusUnpublished
Cited by129 cases

This text of 660 F. App'x 449 (Crum v. Commissioner of Social Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crum v. Commissioner of Social Security, 660 F. App'x 449 (6th Cir. 2016).

Opinions

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

R.C. Crum, Jr. appeals the district court’s judgment affirming the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security to deny his applications for Supplemental Security Income and Child’s Insurance Benefits. Crum alleges that the Administrative Law Judge erred in deciding that Crum’s impairments did not meet or equal a listed disability, and failed to properly consider the opinions of the State consultative examiner and Crum’s primary-care physician. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the decision of the district court.

I.

Crum filed his benefits applications on October 13, 2010, citing a learning disability and a gastrointestinal disorder resulting from gunshot injuries. The ALJ held a hearing on May 15, 2012. Crum was represented by counsel and testified at the hearing, as did a vocational expert. In a written decision issued June 27, 2012, the ALJ denied Crum’s application for benefits. She found that Crum suffered from severe impairments due to his gastrointestinal disorder and borderline intellectual functioning. However, she determined that Crum had the residual functional capacity to perform unskilled work at a medium exertion level. The Appeals Council denied Crum’s request for review. Crum filed this lawsuit seeking judicial review of the denial of benefits, and the district court affirmed.

II.

Crum is twenty-six years old. He resides with his mother and has never lived independently. He attends to his own personal hygiene, does chores around the house, [451]*451and sees his four children regularly. He enjoys limited recreational activities like spending time with his family, playing cards, and singing in a church choir. Crum was issued a driver’s license after taking the test orally for the third time. He does not have a car, but can ride the bus if he does not have to transfer. Though Crum has applied for jobs, with his mother helping to fill out-the applications, he has never received an offer of employment.

Crum was initially evaluated and placed in Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s cognitive disabilities program around the age of nine, By the time he was nineteen, he had reached the tenth grade. At this time, he read at a beginning third-grade level, spelled at a beginning second-grade level, and had math-computation and reasoning skills that fell “way below grade level expectancy.” AR 259-60. His special education teacher noted in a 2008 school evaluation that “[Crum] is able to work independently and is able to complete classroom work. He accepts supervisory authority and cooperates with others. [Crum] has the ability to follow verbal, written, multi-step directions. He also has the ability to plan and organize.” Id. at 261. However, “[Crum] does not attend school on a regular and consistent basis. He has a poor sense of responsibility and dependability.” Id.

In an IQ test administered as part of the 2008 school evaluation, Crum earned a verbal score of 69, a nonverbal score of 80, and an IQ composite score of 71. He placed in the bottom three percent of individuals his age. Crum progressed no further in school. He testified that he tried to get his GED, but was informed he would not pass given his reading and comprehension skills. The same year, he was convicted on a charge of “strong-arm robbery” and was placed on probation and, at the time of the hearing before the ALJ, he met with his parole -officer monthly.

In the coming years, Crum underwent two additional intelligence tests. The State psychological consultant Dr. Leach administered .these tests in connection, with Crum’s applications for disability benefits. In December 2009, when Crum was 20 years old, he received a full scale IQ score of 70, which Dr. Leach considered “within the borderline range of intellectual ability.” Id. at 409. When Crum was tested again in 2011, he received a full-scale IQ score of 74, also considered “borderline.” Id. at 505. This score placed Crum in the fourth percentile for individuals his age.

In addition to a learning disability, Crum suffers from a gastrointestinal disorder caused by a gunshot wound to his abdomen sustained in April 2007. He underwent an exploratory laparotomy for resection of the colon and an incidental appendectomy, Crum suffered a second gunshot wound in his- leg in the summer of 2007, but treated it himself rather than seeking medical attention.

Though his incisions healed well, Crum has since experienced chronic abdominal pain, possible small-bowel obstructions, and constipation. These symptoms frequently send him to the emergency .room. Crum testified that he experiences severe pain when he eats solid foods and therefore subsists on oatmeal and candy. His'pain is aggravated by activity, such as lifting heavy objects or walking or standing for a period of approximately 20 minutes, depending on the state of his stomach. He takes. the pain medication Tramadol, which “help[s] a little, but [not] all the time.” Id. at 61.

Doctors prescribed additional revision surgery. Crum missed a number of evaluative appointments and has not yet had the second surgery. He has also postponed a prescribed contrast enema study. Crum [452]*452attributes his reticence to the fear he might require a colostomy bag and his lack of health insurance.

Vocational expert Brett Sulken testified at the hearing before the ALJ. Sulken was unable to identify any past relevant work for Crum based on Crum’s testimony. The ALJ posed two hypotheticals to Sulken. First, she asked him to consider:

[A] person with the same age, education, and past work as the claimant who can perform a full range of exertional work, and ... is able to perform simple, routine tasks, or unskilled work with superficial interpersonal contact with co-workers, supervisors, and the general public, and without strict time or production demands. In addition, this hypothetical individual has limited [reading] skills such that it is best if they receive oral instructions, and can ask questions in a small or solitary setting, and can cope with the ordinary and routine changes in a work setting which is not fast paced or of high demand.

Id, at 65. The ALJ clarified that the working environment in this hypothetical would be “a one-on-one situation where instructions could be given orally” by a supervisor. Id. at 66. In response, Sulken identified jobs appropriate to these limitations that were available in the national economy, including cleaner, dishwasher, and laundry worker. His assessment remained unchanged with an additional limitation that the hypothetical individual “would require a 15-minute break every two hours.” Id. at 66-67.

The ALJ added a final limitation and asked Sulken to “assume the hypothetical individual would be absent from work approximately four to five days per month.” Id. at 67. In light of this addition, the vocational expert adjusted his assessment. He testified that the hypothetical individual would not be able to perform the jobs he had identified, nor was there any alternative job that that hypothetical individual could perform.

The ALJ then presented a new hypothetical:

[A] person with the same age, education, and past work as [Crum] who can occasionally lift 20 pounds and frequently lift 10 pounds.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
660 F. App'x 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crum-v-commissioner-of-social-security-ca6-2016.