Fagerlie v. Commissioner of Social Security

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedApril 17, 2023
Docket2:22-cv-01084
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Fagerlie v. Commissioner of Social Security, (W.D. Wash. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 5 AT TACOMA/ SEATTLE 6 JACOB F., Case No. 2:22-cv-01084 7 Plaintiff, v. ORDER REVERSING AND 8 REMANDING DEFENDANT’S ACTING COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL DECISION TO DENY BENEFITS 9 SECURITY, 10 Defendant. 11 12 Plaintiff filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for judicial review of 13 defendant’s denial of plaintiff’s application for supplemental security income (“SSI”) and 14 disability insurance benefits (“DIB”). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule of 15 Civil Procedure 73, and Local Rule MJR 13, the parties have consented to have this 16 matter heard by the undersigned Magistrate Judge. Dkt. 5. Plaintiff challenges the ALJ’s 17 decision finding that plaintiff was not disabled. Dkt. 2, Complaint. 18 The Court is reviewing the decision of the Social Security Administration for the 19 second time. Plaintiff filed applications for SSI and DIB on April 26, 2016, which were 20 denied by the Commissioner on initial review. AR 88. After an ALJ determined plaintiff 21 was not disabled between May 20, 2015 – February 25, 2018, but was disabled starting 22 on February 25, 2018 -- his 50th birthday -- Magistrate Judge J. Richard Creatura found 23 the ALJ erred as to the portion of the decision finding non-disability, and reversed and 24 remanded for additional proceedings. AR 1232-1241. 1 On remand, the ALJ conducted a hearing on March 2, 2022. AR 1159-1196. The 2 ALJ determined again that plaintiff was not disabled before February 25, 2018. AR 3 1150. For the reasons stated below, the Court finds the ALJ committed harmful error 4 and the case must be remanded for further proceedings.

5 6 Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), this Court may set aside the Commissioner's 7 denial of Social Security benefits if the ALJ's findings are based on legal error or not 8 supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole. Revels v. Berryhill, 874 9 F.3d 648, 654 (9th Cir. 2017) (internal citations omitted). Substantial evidence is “‘such 10 relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a 11 conclusion.’” Biestek v. Berryhill, 139 S. Ct. 1148, 1154 (2019) (internal citations 12 omitted). The Court must consider the administrative record as a whole. Garrison v. 13 Colvin, 759 F.3d 995, 1009 (9th Cir. 2014). The Court also must weigh both the 14 evidence that supports and evidence that does not support the ALJ’s conclusion. Id.

15 The Court may not affirm the decision of the ALJ for a reason upon which the ALJ did 16 not rely. Id. Rather, only the reasons identified by the ALJ are considered in the scope 17 of the Court’s review. Id. 18 In this case, the ALJ found the following severe impairments: “ankylosing 19 spondylitis, degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, osteoarthritis of the bilateral 20 knee, fibromyalgia, obesity, dermatitis and depression.” AR 1137. 21 Plaintiff asserts that the ALJ should have re-opened previous applications that 22 plaintiff filed on May 29, 2013. Dkt. 12, Plaintiff’s Opening Brief, at 3; see AR 71-79 (ALJ 23 decision dated 5-19-2015). Yet the record shows the ALJ who conducted the hearing on

24 1 March 2, 2022 in the present case considered the entire period, including the period that 2 was reviewed in the 2013 applications. 3 The first ALJ who conducted a hearing on plaintiff’s 2016 application for DIB and 4 SSI benefits determined that plaintiff was disabled as of February 25, 2018 but not prior;

5 that ALJ relied on a date of onset of May 20, 2015 (the date of onset originally asserted 6 by plaintiff was December 12, 2011 but it was amended during the hearing). AR 1206. 7 The ALJ found that plaintiff was disabled from the date he turned 50-years-old, 8 February 25, 2018. AR 1212. This finding was not overturned by the order of Judge 9 Creatura, and it was affirmed by the Appeals Council. AR 1232-1241; see also, AR 10 1251 (Supplemental Security Income, Notice of Award). 11 Therefore, if the ALJ in the present case had refused to re-open the previous 12 applications, the Court would anticipate the scope of review as being the time period 13 reviewed by the previous ALJ (who issued the 2018 opinion finding he was not disabled 14 before February 25, 2018) -- between the amended date of onset – May 20, 2015 and

15 February 25, 2018. See, AR 1134; Dkt. 12, Plaintiff’s Opening Brief, at 3. Yet, the ALJ 16 who conducted the March 2, 2022 remand hearing found plaintiff was not disabled 17 between December 12, 2011 and February 25, 2018 (plaintiff was disabled between 18 February 25, 2018 and the date of the ALJ’s ruling, because the Appeals Council 19 affirmed the disability finding). AR 1150. 20 Apparently the ALJ in the present case re-opened plaintiff’s previous applications 21 and considered testimony and evidence concerning the period beginning with 22 December 12, 2011, which was close to the date of onset that was alleged in the 23 previous applications. AR 1134-1150; see AR 71 (ALJ decision in 2015 identifies

24 1 alleged date of onset as December 16, 2011). Plaintiff’s argument that the ALJ refused 2 to re-open and consider the entire period is not supported by the record. See, AR 1146 3 (“I have considered this prior decision in accordance with Chavez and AR 97-4(9). The 4 evidence of record includes additional medical evidence for the relevant time period”).

5 Even if the ALJ did not formally re-open the 2013 applications, the entire period of 6 December 12, 2011 through February 25, 2018 was reviewed and therefore any error 7 would be harmless. 8 DISCUSSION 9 A. RFC Determination 10 Plaintiff argues the ALJ committed harmful error by deciding on a residual functional 11 capacity (RFC) without including certain functional limitations. Plaintiff contends the ALJ 12 should have found that plaintiff’s statements about symptoms, and about drug side 13 effects, should not have been discounted. Dkt. 12, Plaintiff’s Opening Brief, at 8-11. In 14 addition, plaintiff asserts that the ALJ erroneously discounted the medical opinion

15 evidence of Dr. Thorpe and Dr. Martin. Dkt. 12 at 6-11. 16 According to the RFC, plaintiff can perform sedentary work. AR 1141. Plaintiff would 17 have the following limitations as exceptions to sedentary work: “(1) can occasionally 18 climb stairs and ramps; (2) can never climb ladders or scaffolds; (3) can occasionally 19 stoop, kneel, crouch and crawl; (4) can occasionally reach overhead and frequently 20 reach in all other directions with the bilateral upper extremities; (5) can have occasional 21 exposure to extreme cold; and (6) can have occasional exposure to hazards such as 22 unprotected heights and moving mechanical parts.” Id. 23

24 1 Also, the ALJ found that plaintiff had the residual functional capacity to “understand, 2 remember, and carry out simple instructions”; he could also “have occasional interaction 3 with supervisors, coworkers and the public”. Id. In addition, the ALJ determined plaintiff 4 would be able to “only make simple, work-related decisions”, and would be able to “only

5 tolerate occasional change in work location. . .and cannot work at a strict production 6 rate such as the rate required to work on an assembly line. Id. 7 1. Whether the ALJ erred in discounting the medical opinions of Dr. Thorpe 8 and Dr. Martin 9 Plaintiff asserts that Dr. Thorpe’s opinion and Dr. Martin’s opinion should not have 10 been discounted by the ALJ. Dkt. 12, Opening Brief, at 6-8.

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

Related

United States v. Borrero-Acevedo
533 F.3d 11 (First Circuit, 2008)
Mary Ellen Thomason v. Aetna Life Insurance Company
9 F.3d 645 (Seventh Circuit, 1993)
Debbra Hill v. Michael Astrue
698 F.3d 1153 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Orn v. Astrue
495 F.3d 625 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Lingenfelter v. Astrue
504 F.3d 1028 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Karen Garrison v. Carolyn W. Colvin
759 F.3d 995 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Jasim Ghanim v. Carolyn W. Colvin
763 F.3d 1154 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
Brenda Diedrich v. Nancy Berryhill
874 F.3d 634 (Ninth Circuit, 2017)
Leopoldo Leon v. Nancy Berryhill
880 F.3d 1041 (Ninth Circuit, 2017)
Laurie Wellington v. Nancy Berryhill
878 F.3d 867 (Ninth Circuit, 2017)
Biestek v. Berryhill
587 U.S. 97 (Supreme Court, 2019)
The Copperfield
7 F.2d 499 (S.D. Alabama, 1925)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Fagerlie v. Commissioner of Social Security, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fagerlie-v-commissioner-of-social-security-wawd-2023.