Hall v. Gardner

286 F. Supp. 488, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9117
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedJune 28, 1968
DocketCiv. No. 9-196
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 286 F. Supp. 488 (Hall v. Gardner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall v. Gardner, 286 F. Supp. 488, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9117 (D. Me. 1968).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE COURT

GIGNOUX, District Judge.

This is an action brought under Section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 401 et seq. (1964) for review of a “final decision” of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare affirming the denial by a Social Security Administration hearing examiner of plaintiff’s application for the establishment of a period of disability and for disability insurance benefits under the provisions of Sections 216(i) and 223 of the Act. It is admitted that plaintiff has exhausted his administrative remedies. In accordance with the statute, the Secretary has filed as part of his answer a certified copy of the administrative record, including a transcript of the evidence upon which the findings and decision are based. Both parties have moved for summary judgment, and have filed briefs and presented oral argument in support of their motions.

The bounds of this Court’s review of the Secretary’s determination are delineated by Section 205(g) of the Act, which provides that “the findings of the Secretary as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive * * Substantial evidence has been repeatedly defined as not necessarily a preponderance of the evidence, but more than a scintilla. “It is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion and it must be based on the record as a whole.” Celebrezze v. Bolas, 316 F.2d 498, 501 (8th Cir. 1963); Thomas v. Celebrezze, 331 F.2d 541, 543 (4th Cir. 1964). The Court’s function is limited to determining “whether the administrative findings are adequate in law and premised upon substantial record evidence. Issues of credibility and the drawing of permissible inference from evidentiary facts are the prime responsibility of the Secretary.” Rodriguez v. Celebrezze, 349 F. 2d 494, 495-496 (1st Cir. 1965). Nevertheless, it is said that the courts should not “abdicate their traditional functions; they cannot escape their duty to scrutinize ‘the record as a whole’ to determine whether the conclusions reached are rational” and to insure that the Secretary has not acted “arbitrarily or capriciously.” Thomas v. Celebrezze, supra 331 F.2d at 543; Morton v. Gardner, 257 F.Supp. 67, 70 (S.D.W.Va.1966). See generally, Whittier v. Gardner, 263 F.Supp. 670, 672 (D.Me.1967).

The record here reveals that the plaintiff, Raymond S. Hall, was born on July 6, 1908 in Massachusetts, that he completed four years of college and three years of seminary training and that he is an ordained Episcopal clergyman. He was married in 1934 and served from 1934 to 1938 as an assistant at a church in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. For the next four years he was rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lowell, Massachusetts. During World War II plaintiff was an army chaplain with the 502nd Regiment of the 105th Airborne Division, known as the “Screaming Eagles.” At that time he participated in combat parachute jumps with his unit, [491]*491was wounded by shrapnel, and was captured by the Germans but escaped and eventually made his way back to this country. After the war plaintiff served for a year and a half as chaplain at the Seamen’s Club in Boston and then for several years as director of the Seamen’s Church Institute in New York City. In this latter position he supervised some 300 employees in a multi-million dollar operation. In 1960 he resigned from his position at the Seamen’s Church Institute and became rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Portland, Maine. He retired from that post on January 1, 1963 and has not performed any substantial gainful activity since. Since his retirement plaintiff has been found to be totally disabled by the Episcopal Church Pension Fund and the Veterans Administration, and he currently receives 100% disability pensions from both of these agencies.

Plaintiff filed an initial application for Social Security disability benefits on July 29, 1963. This was denied on September 20, 1963, and upon reconsideration the Social Security Administration reaffirmed its denial on June 27, 1964. Plaintiff did not take any further action on this application, but on October 21, 1964 filed another application. In this second application he alleged that as of January 31, 1963 he was disabled within the meaning of the Act. The Social Security Administration denied the application on January 13, 1965 and the denial was affirmed after reconsideration on September 29, 1965. Upon plaintiff’s request, a hearing was held before a Social Security Administration hearing examiner on June 27, 1966, at which plaintiff and his personal physician, Dr. William F. Taylor of Falmouth, Maine, testified in his behalf and various medical reports and other documents were admitted into the record. The hearing examiner rendered his decision on November 21, 1966, holding that plaintiff was not disabled within the meaning of the Act. Plaintiff’s request to the Appeals Council of the Social Security Administration for review of the hearing examiner’s decision was denied on June 22, 1967, whereby the decision of the hearing examiner became the “final decision” of the Secretary and subject to the present review.

Although plaintiff has documented many physical complaints, the main ground for his claim of disability is a nervous condition, described by different doctors as a “chronic anxiety reaction,” a “psychoneurosis,” a “moderately severe anxiety tension state,” and a “severe psychoneurotic disorder.” At the hearing plaintiff testified that he is extremely nervous much of the time, that at times he gets the “shakes” and suffers from headaches, sleeplessness, bowel problems and extreme depression. He said that his nervous condition was greatly aggravated whenever he undertook any affirmative responsibility such as practicing his profession, or on occasion when he drove his automobile. He stated that this nervous condition had first come into existence as a result of his wartime experiences and that it had progressively worsened until in 1960 on the advice of the Grace Medical Group, Brooklyn, New York he resigned from his position at the Seamen’s Church Institute. Plaintiff testified that it was also on the advice of the Grace Medical Group that he finally gave up his position as rector at Trinity Church, Portland in January 1963. He stated that in recent years both prior and subsequent to his final retirement he had consulted numerous physicians relative to his problems and that he had not received any substantial relief. Plaintiff emphasized that his nervous and physical symptoms appeared chiefly when he was exposed to pressure or responsibility in or out of his profession and that he was unable to perform any substantial employment. In this connection he related that after his retirement from his rectorship at Trinity, he had attempted to preach some sermons on a part-time ba[492]*492sis at a small mission in Winthrop, Maine, but that after two Sundays he had been unable to continue because of greatly intensified nervous symptoms, including severe • headaches and the “shakes.” He did, however, admit that he was able occasionally to assist in non-speaking roles at communion services, that he was generally able to drive his automobile, to take moderately long walks, to attend occasional Rotary Club meetings and to do chores around the house and errands to local stores.

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Bluebook (online)
286 F. Supp. 488, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9117, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-gardner-med-1968.