Hancock v. Astrue

667 F.3d 470, 2012 WL 19731, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 128
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 5, 2012
DocketNo. 11-1001
StatusPublished
Cited by1,275 cases

This text of 667 F.3d 470 (Hancock v. Astrue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hancock v. Astrue, 667 F.3d 470, 2012 WL 19731, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 128 (4th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

Affirmed by published opinion. Chief Judge TRAXLER wrote the opinion, in which Judge SHEDD and Judge FLOYD joined.

OPINION

TRAXLER, Chief Judge:

In 2004, Karen Sue Hancock filed an application for supplemental security income (“SSI”), alleging both physical and mental disability. After her claim was denied by the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Hancock requested a hearing before the Administrative Law Court. The administrative law judge (“ALJ”) denied her claim, and the Appeals Council likewise denied her request for review. Having exhausted her administrative remedies, Hancock filed a civil action pursuant to- 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation to grant the Commissioner’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. Hancock now appeals the district court’s order affirming the Commissioner’s denial of her application for SSL For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

“This Court is authorized to review the Commissioner’s denial of benefits under 42 U.S.C.A. § 405(g).” Johnson v. Barnhart, 434 F.3d 650, 653 (4th Cir.2005) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Under the Social Security Act, [a reviewing court] must uphold the factual findings of the [ALJ] if they are supported by substantial evidence and were reached through application of the correct legal standard.” Id. (alterations in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). Substantial evidence means “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971) (internal quotation marks omitted). It “consists of more than a mere scintilla of evidence but may be less than a preponderance.” Smith v. Chater, 99 F.3d 635, 638 (4th Cir.1996). “In reviewing for substantial evidence, we do not undertake to reweigh conflicting evidence, make credibility determinations, or substitute our judgment for that of the [ALJ].” Johnson, 434 F.3d at 653 (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Where conflicting evidence allows reasonable minds to differ as to whether a claimant is disabled, the responsibility for that decision falls on the [ALJ].” Id. (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).

II.

The Commissioner uses a five-step process to evaluate disability claims. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4), 416.920(a)(4). Under this process, the Commissioner asks, in sequence, whether the claimant: (1) worked during the alleged period of disability; (2) had a severe impairment; (3) had an impairment that met or equaled the requirements of a listed impairment; (4) could return to her past relevant work; and (5) if not, could perform any other work in the national economy. See 20 C.F.R. § 416.920(a)(4). The claimant has the burden of production and proof in Steps 1-4. See Hunter v. Sullivan, 993 F.2d 31, 35 (4th Cir.1992) (per curiam). At Step 5, however, the burden shifts to the Commissioner “to produce evidence that [473]*473other jobs exist in the national economy that the claimant can perform considering h[er] age, education, and work experience.” Id. If a determination of disability can be made at any step, the Commissioner need not analyze subsequent steps. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4), 416.920(a)(4).

In Steps 1 and 2, the ALJ found that Hancock had not engaged in substantial gainful activity since the date of her application for SSI and that she suffered from severe impairments, including low back pain due to degenerative disc disease, status post myocardial infarction, intelligence in the mentally retarded range, and depression with anxiety. In Step 3, the ALJ found that Hancock did not have an impairment that met or equaled one of the listed impairments found at 20 C.F.R. Pt. 404, Subpt. P, App’x 1. Finally, in Steps 4 and 5, the ALJ found that Hancock could not return to her past relevant work but that other jobs existed in the national economy that she could perform. Based on these findings, the ALJ denied her application for SSI, concluding that she was not disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act.

The only issue on appeal is whether the ALJ erred by concluding that Hancock’s level of cognitive functioning did not meet or equal the listed impairment for mental retardation, Listing 12.05.1 Listing 12.05 requires a showing of “deficits in adaptive functioning initially manifested during the developmental period; i.e., the evidence demonstrates or supports onset of the impairment before age 22” (“Prong 1”). Listing 12.05 also requires the satisfaction of one of four additional requirements identified as Requirements A-D. At issue in this case was Requirement C, which requires “[a] valid verbal, performance, or full scale IQ of 60 through 70” (“Prong 2”), as well as “a physical or other mental impairment imposing an additional and significant work-related limitation of function” (“Prong 3”).

The ALJ found that Hancock did not establish any of the three prongs of Listing 12.05C. Although Hancock argues that the ALJ erred with regard to his findings as to each of the three prongs, the Commissioner does not contest Hancock’s ability to establish Prong 3. Therefore, we are left to consider whether substantial evidence existed to support the ALJ’s findings with respect to Prongs 1 and 2. We address each contention in turn and begin with Prong 2.

III.

In an effort to satisfy Prong 2, Hancock underwent intelligence testing ordered by the ALJ. The examiner, Dr. Appollo, reported that Hancock had a verbal IQ of 66, a performance IQ of 67, and a full scale IQ of 63. He then concluded that Hancock was functioning in the mild level of mental retardation. At no point during Dr. Appollo’s narrative report of the test results did he attest to the validity of the test results or opine that Hancock gave her best efforts.

The ALJ gave Dr. Appollo’s opinions little weight and, as a result, found that Hancock did not establish Prong 2. Initially, the ALJ explained this finding only in terms of the failures of the examiner: “Even though Dr. Joseph P. Appollo found the claimant to have an ‘apparent’ valid IQ score of less than 70, the claimant does not satisfy the requirements of 12.05C since [474]*474Dr. Appollo never stated that the IQ score was valid or that the claimant gave her best effort.” A.R.2 19. Later in his decision, however, the ALJ cited other reasons for discrediting the IQ scores:

I have specifically considered the medical opinion of the consultative psychologist Dr.

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

Related

Smith v. King
D. Maryland, 2025
Amy Laye v. Frank Bisignano
Fourth Circuit, 2025
Yazdani v. Kijakazi
D. Maryland, 2023
Faison v. Kijakazi
E.D. North Carolina, 2022
Houle v. Kijakazi
E.D. Virginia, 2022
Sherrod v. Kijakazi
E.D. North Carolina, 2022
PICKETT v. KIJAKAZI
M.D. North Carolina, 2022
BRANDE v. KIJAKAZI
M.D. North Carolina, 2022
BLEWITT v. KIJAKAZI
M.D. North Carolina, 2022
WALLACE v. KIJAKAZI
M.D. North Carolina, 2022
KOLBERG v. KIJAKAZI
M.D. North Carolina, 2021
HAIRSTON v. KIJAKAZI
M.D. North Carolina, 2021
Woosley v. Saul
E.D. Virginia, 2021
Oakes v. Saul
E.D. Virginia, 2021

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
667 F.3d 470, 2012 WL 19731, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hancock-v-astrue-ca4-2012.