Finnegan v. Bowen

685 F. Supp. 1535, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4184, 1988 WL 46484
CourtDistrict Court, D. Wyoming
DecidedFebruary 18, 1988
DocketNo. C86-0148J
StatusPublished

This text of 685 F. Supp. 1535 (Finnegan v. Bowen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Wyoming primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Finnegan v. Bowen, 685 F. Supp. 1535, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4184, 1988 WL 46484 (D. Wyo. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REVERSING THE FINAL DECISION OF THE SECRETARY

JOHNSON, District Judge.

THE ABOVE CAPTIONED MATTER came before this court on an appeal from a final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services denying plaintiff’s application for entitlement to a period of disability and to disability insurance benefits. Plaintiff therefore prosecutes this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), which gives this court jurisdiction to review final decisions of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

On 10 August 1984 plaintiff filed an application for disability insurance benefits with the Secretary of Health and Human [1536]*1536Services, which the Secretary denied on 7 September 1984. Plaintiffs request for reconsideration was likewise denied on 19 October 1984. Plaintiff then filed a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge (AU) and a hearing was held on 16 July 1985.

In his decision dated 12 August 1985, the AU found that plaintiff could not return to his past relevant work as an iron worker, which required medium to heavy exertion, because plaintiff only retained the residual functional capacity (RFC) to perform work requiring, at best, light exertion. Although the AU concluded that plaintiff retained an RFC to perform a full range of light work, he nevertheless found plaintiff was entitled to a period of disability and disability insurance benefits because plaintiff possessed no acquired employment skills transferable to the light work category.

On its own motion, the Appeals Council of the Department of Health and Human Services reviewed the AU’s 12 August 1985 decision and remanded the case for a second hearing to determine whether plaintiff possessed acquired employment skills transferable to plaintiff’s retained RFC. After a second hearing held on 12 December 1985 and at which the AU received evidence in the form of testimony from a vocational rehabilitation expert, the AU found in a 21 January 1986 decision that plaintiff possessed acquired transferable skills. The AU therefore found plaintiff not entitled to a period of disability or to disability insurance benefits. The Appeals Council adopted the AU’s decision in its 13 March 1986 denial of plaintiff's request for review. Plaintiff then filed a timely complaint with this Court seeking to reverse the Secretary’s final decision. On 10 October 1986, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

ISSUES

In his brief in support of his motion for summary judgment, Mr. Finnegan argues that the first AU erred in finding that he could perform a full range of light work because the finding was not supported by substantial evidence. He also argues that the second AU erred in applying the “grids” to conclude he was not disabled because the initial determination that he could perform a full range of light work was unsupported by substantial evidence. Mr. Finnegan finally argues that even if the “grids” were applicable, the vocational expert’s testimony failed to establish that he possessed transferable skills because the AU, in his hypothetical questions to the expert, ignored Mr. Finnegan’s physical restrictions and his complaints of nonexertional pain.

FACTS

Plaintiff, Mr. Finnegan, is a 60-year old man who has not worked since 9 April 1980, after injuring his back on 4 April 1980 in a work-related accident. Mr. Finnegan attended school through the tenth grade and after his accident he attended a community college in Wyoming where he obtained an associate degree in applied science. Mr. Finnegan injured his back while working as an iron worker, a job he had done steadily for over 30 years. He has been continuously unemployed since 7 April 1980 when he was terminated, three days after his injury, which occurred while he was unloading steel plates from a truck.

The record reflects that shortly after his injury, Mr. Finnegan experienced intense pain in his back and sought medical attention on 14 April 1980 at Lusk Memorial Hospital in Lusk, Wyoming. He was then examined by Dr. Carlton D. Huitt who referred him to Dr. Philip D. Gordy, a neurological sturgeon.

Dr. Gordy indicated that Mr. Finnegan’s back pain increased after the accident and was located “in the mid-portion of the low back and over the coccygeal area.” (ROA at 146) The pain became more severe and constant after Mr. Finnegan underwent a myelogram. In a letter to Dr. Huitt, Dr. Gordy stated as follows:

The x-rays were reviewed. There is marked narrowing at the L5-S1 intervertebral space with surrounding spondylitic spurring. The myelogram was reviewed and this appeared to show a defect primarily on the right side at L5-S1. In view of the patient’s incapacity and con[1537]*1537tinued pain, plus the myelographic defect, I felt that arrangements should be made for a surgical approach to his problem. He is to enter the hospital on 6/17/80 for lumbar disk surgery. Letter from Dr. P.D. Gordy to C.D. Huitt (June 3,1980) (discussing examination of Peter Finnegan) (ROA at 146).

On 17 June 1980 Mr. Finnegan entered Casper Memorial Hospital to undergo surgery to correct a physical impairment that had been diagnosed as lumbar spondylosis with root compression. On 18 June 1980, Mr. Finnegan underwent a laminectomy at L5-S1 bilaterally with excision of a calcified spondylitic ridge. (ROA at 140) Mr. Finnegan was discharged from the hospital on 1 July 1980. He was then awarded fifty percent partial disability by the state of Wyoming’s Worker's Compensation Division. (ROA at 47).

DISCUSSION

A. Disability

Under the Social Security Insurance Disability provisions, a person is disabled “if he is unable 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 twelve months____” 42 U.S.C. section 1382c(a)(3)(A) (1982). The statute further provides that:

[A]n individual shall be determined to be under a disability 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 lives, or whether a specific job vacancy exists for him, or whether he would be hired if he applied for work.

42 U.S.C. section 1382c(a)(3)(B). 20 C.F.R. section 404.1520 (1985) contains a five-step sequential evaluation process by which the Secretary determines whether a person is disabled. If the Secretary determines “at any of the steps that an individual is or is not disabled, evaluation under a subsequent step is unnecessary.” Talbot v. Heckler, 814 F.2d 1456, 1460 (10th Cir. 1987). At step one, the claimant has the burden of proving that he has not engaged in “substantial gainful activity.” Bowen v. Yuckert, — U.S. -, 107 S.Ct.

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Related

Richardson v. Perales
402 U.S. 389 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Bowen v. Yuckert
482 U.S. 137 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Rivers v. Heckler
577 F. Supp. 766 (S.D. New York, 1984)
Channel v. Heckler
747 F.2d 577 (Tenth Circuit, 1984)
Luna v. Bowen
834 F.2d 161 (Tenth Circuit, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
685 F. Supp. 1535, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4184, 1988 WL 46484, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/finnegan-v-bowen-wyd-1988.