Dick v. Kijakazi

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Washington
DecidedApril 30, 2020
Docket1:19-cv-03083
StatusUnknown

This text of Dick v. Kijakazi (Dick v. Kijakazi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dick v. Kijakazi, (E.D. Wash. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 FILED IN THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT 5 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON Apr 30, 2020 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK 8 9 MARY D., No. 1:19-CV-03083-JTR 10 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, 11 PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR 12 v. SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND REMANDING FOR ADDITIONAL 13 ANDREW M. SAUL, PROCEEDINGS 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,1 15 16 Defendant. 17 BEFORE THE COURT are cross-motions for summary judgment. ECF 18 No. 13, 14. Attorney D. James Tree represents Mary D. (Plaintiff); Special 19 Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Elizabeth Moum represents the 20 Commissioner of Social Security (Defendant). The parties have consented to 21 proceed before a magistrate judge. ECF No. 7. After reviewing the administrative 22 record and the briefs filed by the parties, the Court GRANTS, IN PART, 23 Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment; DENIES Defendant’s Motion for 24 25 1 Andrew M. Saul is now the Commissioner of the Social Security 26 Administration. Accordingly, the Court substitutes Andrew M. Saul as the 27 Defendant and directs the Clerk to update the docket sheet. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 28 25(d). 1 Summary Judgment; and REMANDS the matter to the Commissioner for 2 additional proceedings pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). 3 JURISDICTION 4 Plaintiff filed applications for Disability Insurance Benefits and 5 Supplemental Security Income on August 24, 2015, alleging disability since June 6 30, 2014, due to breast cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Tr. 107. The 7 applications were denied initially and upon reconsideration. Tr. 163-66, 171-89. 8 Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Keith Allred held a hearing on August 8, 2017, 9 Tr. 47-68, and issued an unfavorable decision on March 27, 2018, Tr. 15-32. 10 Plaintiff requested review from the Appeals Council. Tr. 246-49. The Appeals 11 Council denied Plaintiff’s request for review on February 21, 2019. Tr. 1-5. The 12 ALJ’s March 2018 decision thus became the final decision of the Commissioner, 13 which is appealable to the district court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Plaintiff 14 filed this action for judicial review on April 24, 2019. ECF No. 1. 15 STATEMENT OF FACTS 16 Plaintiff was born in 1964 and was 49 years old as of her alleged onset date. 17 She has a high school education and her work history was primarily in casino 18 cashiering and deli work. Tr. 60-61, 365. She has had three rounds of breast 19 cancer, in 1997, 2011, and 2015, resulting in double mastectomies. Tr. 588. 20 Sometime after the second round of breast cancer treatments, she developed mild 21 persistent dizziness. Tr. 455, 469. In 2014, this worsened into more severe spells 22 of vertigo causing her to have difficulty walking. Id. She was laid off from her job 23 after having trouble performing her duties. Tr. 470. During chemotherapy for her 24 third bout of breast cancer, she continued to report vertigo as her primary problem. 25 Tr. 590, 592. 26 STANDARD OF REVIEW 27 The ALJ is responsible for determining credibility, resolving conflicts in 28 medical testimony, and resolving ambiguities. Andrews v. Shalala, 53 F.3d 1035, 1 1039 (9th Cir. 1995). The ALJ’s determinations of law are reviewed de novo, with 2 deference to a reasonable interpretation of the applicable statutes. McNatt v. Apfel, 3 201 F.3d 1084, 1087 (9th Cir. 2000). The decision of the ALJ may be reversed 4 only if it is not supported by substantial evidence or if it is based on legal error. 5 Tackett v. Apfel, 180 F.3d 1094, 1097 (9th Cir. 1999). Substantial evidence is 6 defined as being more than a mere scintilla, but less than a preponderance. Id. at 7 1098. Put another way, substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a 8 reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Richardson v. 9 Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401 (1971). If the evidence is susceptible to more than one 10 rational interpretation, the Court may not substitute its judgment for that of the 11 ALJ. Tackett, 180 F.3d at 1097; Morgan v. Commissioner of Social Sec. Admin., 12 169 F.3d 595, 599 (9th Cir. 1999). If substantial evidence supports the 13 administrative findings, or if conflicting evidence supports a finding of either 14 disability or non-disability, the ALJ’s determination is conclusive. Sprague v. 15 Bowen, 812 F.2d 1226, 1229-1230 (9th Cir. 1987). Nevertheless, a decision 16 supported by substantial evidence will be set aside if the proper legal standards 17 were not applied in weighing the evidence and making the decision. Brawner v. 18 Secretary of Health and Human Services, 839 F.2d 432, 433 (9th Cir. 1988). 19 SEQUENTIAL EVALUATION PROCESS 20 The Commissioner has established a five-step sequential evaluation process 21 for determining whether a person is disabled. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a), 22 416.920(a); Bowen v. Yuckert, 482 U.S. 137, 140-142 (1987). In steps one through 23 four, the burden of proof rests upon the claimant to establish a prima facie case of 24 entitlement to disability benefits. Tackett, 180 F.3d at 1098-1099. This burden is 25 met once a claimant establishes that a physical or mental impairment prevents the 26 claimant from engaging in past relevant work. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4), 27 416.920(a)(4). If a claimant cannot perform past relevant work, the ALJ proceeds 28 to step five, and the burden shifts to the Commissioner to show (1) the claimant 1 can make an adjustment to other work; and (2) the claimant can perform specific 2 jobs that exist in the national economy. Batson v. Commissioner of Social Sec. 3 Admin., 359 F.3d 1190, 1193-1194 (2004). If a claimant cannot make an 4 adjustment to other work in the national economy, the claimant will be found 5 disabled. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)(v), 416.920(a)(4)(v). 6 ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION 7 On March 27, 2018, the ALJ issued a decision finding Plaintiff was not 8 disabled as defined in the Social Security Act. 9 At step one, the ALJ found Plaintiff had not engaged in substantial gainful 10 activity since the alleged onset date. Tr. 18. 11 At step two, the ALJ determined Plaintiff had the following severe 12 impairments: benign positional vertigo and disequilibrium; essential hypertension; 13 recurrent breast cancer; osteopenia with recent progression to osteoporosis; 14 borderline obesity; and type II diabetes mellitus. Id. 15 At step three, the ALJ found Plaintiff did not have an impairment or 16 combination of impairments that met or medically equaled the severity of one of 17 the listed impairments. Tr. 20-21.

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Dick v. Kijakazi, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dick-v-kijakazi-waed-2020.