1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
9 Harrison S., No. CV-25-00050-PHX-SHD
10 Plaintiff, ORDER
11 v.
12 Commissioner of Social Security Administration, 13 Defendant. 14 15 Claimant Harrison S. (“Claimant”)1 seeks review of the Social Security 16 Administration Commissioner’s (“SSA” or “Commissioner”) final decision denying his 17 disability insurance benefits. For the reasons set forth below, the Administrative Law 18 Judge’s (“ALJ”) decision is vacated and remanded for further administrative 19 proceedings. 20 I. BACKGROUND 21 A. Factual Overview 22 Claimant was 21 years old on his alleged disability onset date of January 1, 2018. 23 (Administrative Record (“AR”) 15, 41.) He has a college education and has no past 24 relevant work. (AR 288–89.) Claimant filed an application for supplemental security 25 income on October 28, 2020. (AR 15.) The claim was initially denied on September 13, 26 2021, and upon reconsideration on June 28, 2022. (Id.) Claimant appeared via video at a 27 hearing on March 20, 2023. (Id.) Following the hearing, a post hearing consultative
28 1 As a matter of practice, Claimant is referred to as such and, at most, by his first name and last initial to protect his privacy. 1 examination was ordered. (Id.) Upon request of Claimant’s counsel, a supplemental 2 hearing was held via video on September 8, 2023. (Id.) Counsel’s request for the 3 consultative evaluator to be called to testify at the supplemental hearing was denied. (Id.) 4 The ALJ denied Claimant’s claim on December 18, 2023. (AR 43.) The Appeals Council 5 denied Claimant’s request for review on November 12, 2024. (AR 1.) Claimant then 6 appealed to this Court. (Doc. 1.) 7 B. The SSA’s Five-Step Evaluation Process 8 To qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, a claimant must show 9 that he “is under a disability.” 42 U.S.C. § 423(a)(1)(E). To be “under a disability,” the 10 claimant must be unable to engage in “substantial gainful activity” due to “any medically 11 determinable physical or mental impairment.” Id. § 423(d)(1). The impairment must be 12 of such severity that the claimant cannot do his previous work or any other substantial 13 gainful work within the national economy. Id. § 423(d)(2). The SSA has created a five- 14 step sequential evaluation process for determining whether an individual is disabled. See 15 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(1). The steps are followed in order, and each step is potentially 16 dispositive. See id. § 404.1520(a)(4). 17 At Step One, the ALJ determines whether the claimant is engaging in “substantial 18 gainful activity.” Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(i). “Substantial gainful activity” is work activity 19 that is (1) “substantial,” i.e., doing “significant physical or mental activities”; and (2) 20 “gainful,” i.e., usually done “for pay or profit.” 20 C.F.R. § 416.972(a)–(b). If the claimant 21 is engaging in substantial gainful work activity, the ALJ will find the claimant is not 22 disabled. Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(i). 23 At Step Two, the ALJ determines whether the claimant has “a severe medically 24 determinable physical or mental impairment” or severe “combination of impairments.” Id. 25 § 404.1520(a)(4)(ii). To be “severe,” the claimant’s impairment must “significantly limit” 26 the claimant’s “physical or mental ability to do basic work activities.” Id. § 404.1520(c). 27 If the claimant does not have a severe impairment or combination of impairments, the ALJ 28 will find the claimant is not disabled. Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(ii). 1 At Step Three, the ALJ determines whether the claimant’s impairment(s) “meets or 2 equals” an impairment listed in Appendix 1 to Subpart P of 20 C.F.R. Part 404. Id. 3 § 404.1520(a)(4)(iii). If so, the ALJ will find the claimant is disabled, but if not, the ALJ 4 must assess the claimant’s “residual functional capacity” (“RFC”) before proceeding to 5 Step Four. Id. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)(iii), (e). The claimant’s RFC is his ability perform 6 physical and mental work activities “despite [his] limitations,” based on all relevant 7 evidence in the case record. Id. § 404.1545(a)(1). To determine RFC, the ALJ must 8 consider all the claimant’s impairments, including those that are not “severe,” and any 9 related symptoms that “affect what [the claimant] can do in a work setting.” Id. 10 §§ 404.1545(a)(1)–(2). 11 At Step Four, the ALJ determines whether the claimant has the RFC to perform the 12 physical and mental demands of “[his] past relevant work.” Id. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)(iv), (e). 13 “Past relevant work” is work the claimant has “done within the past five years that was 14 substantial gainful activity.” Id. § 404.1560(b)(1). If the claimant has the RFC to perform 15 his past relevant work, the ALJ will find the claimant is not disabled. Id. 16 § 404.1520(a)(4)(iv). If the claimant cannot perform his past relevant work, the ALJ will 17 proceed to Step Five in the sequential evaluation process. 18 At Step Five, the last in the sequence, the ALJ considers whether the claimant “can 19 make an adjustment to other work,” considering his RFC, age, education, and work 20 experience. Id. § 404.1520(a)(v). If so, the ALJ will find the claimant not disabled. Id. If 21 the claimant cannot make this adjustment, the ALJ will find the opposite. Id. 22 C. The ALJ’s Application of the Factors 23 Here, at Step One, the ALJ concluded that Claimant had not engaged in substantial 24 gainful activity since the application date of October 28, 2020. (AR 18.) 25 At Step Two, the ALJ determined that Claimant had severe impairments, including 26 anxiety, depression, autism spectrum disorder, seizures, Arnold-Chiari malformation, and 27 tremors. (Id..) 28 1 At Step Three, the ALJ found that Claimant did not have an impairment or 2 combination of impairments that met or medically equaled the severity of one of the listed 3 impairments in Appendix 1 to Subpart P of 20 C.F.R. § 404. (AR 19.) With respect to the 4 mental impairment, the ALJ analyzed the four “paragraph B” criteria and found that 5 Claimant had mild limitations in (1) understanding, remembering or applying information, 6 and moderate limitations in (2) interacting with others, (3) concentrating, persisting or 7 maintaining pace and (4) adapting or managing oneself. (AR 19–22.) The ALJ also found 8 that the medical evidence did not establish that Claimant had a documented history of the 9 existence of the disorders over a period of at least 2 years, with evidence of both: (1) 10 medical treatment, mental health therapy, psychosocial support, or a highly structured 11 setting that was ongoing and that diminished the symptoms and signs of the mental 12 disorders; and (2) marginal adjustment or minimal capacity to adapt to changes in the 13 environment or to demands that were not already part of the claimant’s daily life, thus the 14 record failed to satisfy the “paragraph c” criteria. (AR 23.) 15 The ALJ then found that Claimant had the following RFC: 16 [Claimant can] perform a full range of work at all exertional levels but with 17 the following nonexertional limitations: no climbing ladders, ropes, or scaffolds; occasional climbing ramps or stairs; occasional balancing as 18 defined by the Selected Characteristics of Occupations (SCO); frequent 19 bilateral handling and fingering; occasional concentrated exposure to non- weather related extreme cold, non-weather related extreme heat, non-weather 20 related wetness, and non-weather related humidity; occasional exposure to 21 excessive loud noise; occasional exposure to excessive vibration; occasional concentrated exposure to pulmonary irritants and poorly ventilated areas; no 22 exposure to dangerous moving machinery; no exposure to unprotected heights; no occupational driving; he can perform work involving 23 understanding, remembering, and carrying out simple instructions; work 24 with occasional changes in a routine work setting; work with minimal, which is defined as 15 percent of an eight-hour workday, in-person interaction with 25 the public; work with occasional interaction with coworkers, but no working 26 in tandem with others; and work with no specific production rate work, such as that found on an assembly line. 27 28 (Id.) 1 At Step Four, the ALJ found that Claimant has no past relevant work. (AR 41.) At 2 Step Five, based on the RFC formulation and the testimony of the vocational expert 3 (“VE”), the ALJ found that there are jobs that exist in significant numbers in the national 4 economy that claimant can perform considering his age, education, work experience, and 5 such as “Package Sorter,” “Merchandise Marker,” “Router”, and “Collator Operator.” (AR 6 41–42.) Accordingly, the ALJ concluded that Claimant was not disabled as defined in the 7 Social Security Act from the alleged onset date through December 18, 2023. (AR 43.) 8 II. LEGAL STANDARD 9 This Court may not set aside a final denial of disability benefits unless the ALJ’s 10 decision is “based on legal error or not supported by substantial evidence in the record.” 11 Revels v. Berryhill, 874 F.3d 648, 654 (9th Cir. 2017) (quoting Benton ex rel. Benton v. 12 Barnhart, 331 F.3d 1030, 1035 (9th Cir. 2003)). Substantial evidence refers to “such 13 relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” 14 Id. (quoting Desrosiers v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 846 F.2d 573, 576 (9th Cir. 15 1988)). Courts must consider the record in its entirety, “weighing both the evidence that 16 supports and the evidence that detracts from the [ALJ’s] conclusion.” Id. (quoting 17 Garrison v. Colvin, 759 F.3d 995, 1009 (9th Cir. 2007)). 18 The ALJ—not this Court—is responsible for resolving ambiguities, resolving 19 conflicts in medical testimony, determining credibility, and drawing logical inferences 20 from the medical record. See Andrews v. Shalala, 53 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 1995) 21 (citing Magallanes v. Bowen, 881 F.2d 747, 750 (9th Cir. 1989)); Gallant v. Heckler, 753 22 F.2d 1450, 1453 (9th Cir. 1984). Therefore, when the evidence of record could result in 23 more than one rational interpretation, “the ALJ’s decision should be upheld.” Orn v. 24 Astrue, 495 F.3d 625, 630 (9th Cir. 2007); Batson v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 359 F.3d 25 1190, 1198 (9th Cir. 2004) (“When the evidence before the ALJ is subject to more than 26 one rational interpretation, [courts] must defer to the ALJ’s conclusion.”). Further, this 27 Court may only review the reasons the ALJ provides in the disability determination; it 28 “may not affirm the ALJ on a ground upon which he did not rely.” Garrison, 759 F.3d at 1 1010. Finally, only those issues raised by the party challenging the decision are reviewed. 2 See Lewis v. Apfel, 236 F.3d 503, 517 n.13 (9th Cir. 2001). 3 III. DISCUSSION 4 Claimant argues that the ALJ committed materially harmful error by rejecting the 5 assessments from Claimant’s psychiatric nurse practitioner, Andrea Brunson, Nurse 6 Practitioner (“NP”), and agency examining psychologist, Dr. Charles Jay House, Ph.D., 7 without providing sufficient explanation. (Doc. 16 at 1.) Specifically, he challenges the 8 ALJ’s findings that Dr. House’s opinion was “partially persuasive,” (AR 37, 38) and NP 9 Brunson’s opinion was “not persuasive.” (AR 40, 41.) 10 An ALJ must evaluate every medical source based on several factors, the “most 11 important” of which are “supportability” and “consistency.” Woods v. Kijakazi, 32 F.4th 12 785, 791 (9th Cir. 2022) (citations omitted). “Supportability means the extent to which a 13 medical source supports the medical opinion by explaining the relevant . . . objective 14 medical evidence,” and consistency “means the extent to which a medical opinion is 15 consistent . . . with the evidence from other medical sources and nonmedical sources in the 16 claim.” Id. at 791–92 (alterations in original) (quotation marks omitted). An ALJ “must 17 articulate . . . how persuasive [he or she] finds all of the medical opinions from each doctor 18 or other source and explain how [he or she] considered the supportability and consistency 19 factors in reaching these findings.” Id. at 792 (citation modified). Under the current 20 regulations, “the decision to discredit any medical opinion[] must simply be supported by 21 substantial evidence.” Id. at 787. 22 A. Dr. House’s Opinion 23 Dr. House evaluated Claimant on May 23, 2023, at the request of the ALJ. (AR 24 777–88.) Dr. House identified a number of limitations that the ALJ adopted in the RCC, 25 and are thus not at issue in this case. The ALJ found Dr. House’s opinion regarding several 26 other opinions, however, unpersuasive, resulting in an overall finding that the opinion was 27 partially persuasive. 28 As relevant to this appeal, the ALJ declined to adopt Dr. House’s finding that 1 Claimant had “other capabilities affected by [his] impairment,” which he described as 2 follows: 3 This individual was very talkative, impulsive, and somewhat impatient 4 during this interview. I suspect that he would have some difficulty maintaining concentration on a job. This would be particularly true if there 5 were many distractions or if the environment was loud. He will likely display 6 problems with judgment on the job. He would not work well as a member of a team, but would need ongoing supervision to make sure that he 7 understands and is performing tasks correctly. 8 (AR 787.) The ALJ rejected these findings as “vague and not supported by the evidence 9 of record,” explaining that several pieces of evidence in the record were inconsistent with 10 the ALJ’s finding, including that (1) Claimant “reported he was able to attend in-person 11 community college classes with accommodations, such as extra time to complete 12 assignments and tests, as well as being able to step out of classes for a few minutes if he 13 became stressed (Testimony)” which showed that “[d]espite the need for accommodations, 14 the claimant’s ability to attend college-level courses reflects the ability to concentrate that 15 is inconsistent with the opinion of Dr. House”; (2) that Claimant’s “mental health treatment 16 records do not reflect evidence or findings to support the opinions of impulsiveness, 17 impatience, or the need for ongoing supervision opined by Dr. House” because although 18 the records “reflect positive findings of disturbances in mood, including anxious or 19 indifferent mood, and intermittent findings of pressured or slow speech, other mental status 20 findings remained unremarkable (Exs. 1F, 8F, 10F, 13F, 15F, 21F)”; and (3) although 21 Claimant “initially presented as anxious with a depressed and tearful mood in August 2019 22 (Ex. 1F, p. 43),” his records from “October 2020 through June 2023 indicate the claimant 23 reported he was doing ok with no mood swings, and no complaints of anger, irritability or 24 agitation (Exs. 8F, pp. 2-37; 10F, pp. 31-93;15F; 21F).” (AR 37–38.) 25 1. Supportability 26 Claimant argues that the ALJ erred by failing to analyze Dr. House’s rejected 27 findings under the supportability factor altogether. (Doc. 16 at 15–16 (conducting his own 28 supportability analysis based on Dr. House’s evaluation and contrasting it with the absence 1 of a similar analysis by the ALJ); Doc. 18 at 4–5.) The Commissioner does not 2 meaningfully argue that the ALJ analyzed the supportability factor. Rather, he states in 3 conclusory fashion that “[t]he ALJ considered the vagueness of Dr. House’s explanation 4 when considering the supportability of his opinion, as well as Dr. House’s supporting 5 examination findings (Tr. 36-38), thus addressing that factor contrary to Plaintiff’s 6 argument that the ALJ ignored it.” (Doc. 17 at 11 (citation omitted).) 7 The ALJ did not address the supportability of Dr. House’s rejected findings. As the 8 pertinent regulations make clear, an ALJ must evaluate the “objective medical evidence 9 and supporting explanations presented by a medical source . . . to support his or her 10 medical opinion(s)” when considering the supportability factor. 20 C.F.R. 11 § 404.1520c(c)(1) (emphasis added). In other words, the ALJ must evaluate the 12 explanations provided by the medical source in support of their opinions. Here, the ALJ’s 13 analysis of Dr. House’s rejected findings focused exclusively on other evidence in the 14 record—namely, Claimant’s testimony and other medical records—and not Dr. House’s 15 explanations. (See AR 37–38.) 16 While the Commissioner does not expressly argue that the ALJ conducted the 17 requisite supportability analysis, he argues that the ALJ properly rejected the findings at 18 issue as “vague” because Dr. House used the equivocal term “likely.” (Doc. 17 at 10–11.) 19 But the ALJ provided no explanation for her vagueness finding, (see AR 37–38), and the 20 Commissioner’s post-hoc explanation may not be considered. See Bray v. Comm’r of Soc. 21 Sec. Admin., 554 F.3d 1219, 1225 (9th Cir. 2009) (ALJ’s decision must be reviewed “based 22 on the reasoning and factual findings offered by the ALJ—not post hoc rationalizations 23 that attempt to intuit what the adjudicator may have been thinking”). Furthermore, even 24 considering the Commissioner’s argument, it fails because Dr. House stated, without 25 equivocation, that Claimant would have difficulty working with others on a team but would 26 still require supervision to ensure he understood and completed tasks correctly. (AR 787.) 27 2. Consistency 28 In addition to challenging the ALJ’s failure to conduct a supportability analysis, 1 Claimant challenges the ALJ’s consistency analysis. He first challenges the ALJ’s 2 statement that his attendance at community college, with accommodations, was 3 inconsistent with Dr. House’s rejected findings, claiming that the ALJ failed to explain the 4 inconsistency. (Doc. 16 at 16–17.) But the ALJ did provide an explanation: “Despite the 5 need for accommodations, the claimant’s ability to attend college-level courses reflects the 6 ability to concentrate that is inconsistent with the opinion of Dr. House.” (AR 38.) 7 Claimant’s first argument fails because it is based on a faulty premise. 8 Similarly, Claimant argues that the ALJ failed to explain why certain medical 9 records reflecting normal findings was inconsistent with Dr. House’s rejected findings and 10 further argues that the treatment records are consistent with the rejected findings. (AR 17– 11 20.) But the ALJ specifically identified medical records showing unremarkable mental 12 status findings inconsistent with Dr. House’s conclusion that Claimant was impulsive, 13 impatient, needed supervision, and could not work in a team. (AR 38 (citing AR 415–76 14 (mental status examinations showing largely intact concentration, cooperative behavior, 15 logical thought, and intact insight and judgment, among other things); AR 507–42 (same); 16 AR 576–632 (same); AR 657–749 (same); AR 754–65 (same); AR 792–95 (same)).) 17 And to the extent Claimant believes that the medical records point to a different 18 conclusion than the one the ALJ reached, his argument must be rejected because it is an 19 ALJ’s responsibility—not a district court’s—to resolve conflicts in the medical record. 20 Andrews, 53 F.3d at 1039; Torres v. Astrue, 2012 WL 1032897, at *6 (C.D. Cal. 2012) 21 (deferring to the ALJ’s decision where references in the record supported both impairment 22 and non-impairment, because “[i]t is the ALJ’s province to resolve conflicts in the medical 23 record”); see also Thomas v. Barnhart, 278 F.3d 947, 954 (9th Cir. 2002) (holding that if 24 “the evidence is susceptible to more than one rational interpretation, one of which supports 25 the ALJ’s decision, the ALJ’s conclusion must be upheld”). Here, substantial evidence 26 supported the ALJ’s consistency analysis and Claimant’s argument fails. 27 B. NP Brunson’s Opinion 28 NP Brunson prepared two similar two-page medical assessments of Claimant’s 1 ability to perform work-related activities, both of which simply involved the checking of 2 boxes and the circling of words, and included no explanations. (AR 502–03 (May 18, 2021 3 assessment); AR 766–67 (January 16, 2023 assessment).) NP Brunson found that Claimant 4 suffered from numerous impairments, which the ALJ described in detail and disregarded 5 as “not persuasive.” (AR 40–41.) 6 In his Opening Brief, Claimant argues that the ALJ failed to adequately analyze NP 7 Brunson’s opinions for supportability and consistency. (Doc. 16 at 20–24.) The Court 8 addresses each factor in turn. 9 1. Supportability 10 Notwithstanding the check-box nature of the assessment forms used by NP Brunson, 11 which include no more than eight handwritten words, none of which constitute explanation 12 of her findings, Claimant argues that NP Brunson “explained that the assessed limitations 13 resulted ‘from objective, clinical, or diagnostic findings’” documented by her or other 14 medical providers because she checked or circled a box saying as much. (Id. at 21 (citing 15 AR 503, 767).) In other words, NP Brunson’s “explanation” for her opinions was, at most, 16 that they were based on unspecified medical records either she or other medical sources 17 prepared. 18 The ALJ rejected NP Brunson’s approach, finding that “a supportable explanation 19 was not provided because there were insufficient references to medically acceptable 20 objective clinical or diagnostic findings.” (AR 40.) Claimant argues in a lengthy 21 footnote—comprised of more than a full page of single-spaced text citing various cases 22 from this district and one unpublished Ninth Circuit decision—that an ALJ may not reject 23 a medical source opinion because it is a check box form that lacks supporting explanation. 24 (Doc. 16 at 21–22 n.9.) At the end of the lengthy footnote, Claimant’s counsel notes that 25 I recently reached a different conclusion: 26 But see Manuel L[.], Jr. v. Comm. of Soc. Sec. Admin, [2025 WL 871026] 27 (D. Ariz. March 20, 2025) (finding the ALJ adequately addressed the supportability factor by simply noting the opinion was unsupported because 28 it was provided on a check-box form with no explanation or citation to 1 specific records on the form itself). 2 (Doc. 16 at 22 n. 9.) 3 Claimant fails to meaningfully engage with, let alone acknowledge, the published 4 Ninth Circuit decision cited in Manuel L. finding that an ALJ may reject a check-box report 5 that lacks supporting explanation. In Kitchen v. Kijakazi, the Ninth Circuit stated: “[W]e 6 have accepted the discounting of a medical opinion set forth in a checkbox form with little 7 to no explanation.” 82 F.4th 732, 740–41 (9th Circ. 2023) (citing Ford v. Saul, 950 F.3d 8 1141, 1155 (9th Circ. 2020) (explaining that an ALJ “may permissibly reject check-off 9 reports that do not contain any explanation of the bases of their conclusions”)). Because 10 Claimant ignores both Kitchen and my analysis of this issue in Manuel L., I reject his 11 oblique suggestion that I incorrectly decided Manuel L..2 12 The ALJ adequately analyzed the supportability of NP Brunson’s opinions by noting 13 that NP Brunson provided no explanation for her conclusions. See Kitchen, 82 F.4th 740– 14 41; see also Woods, 32 F.4th at 791–92 (confirming that “[s]upportability means the extent 15 to which the medical source supports the medical opinion by explaining the 16 ‘relevant . . . objective medical evidence.’” (emphasis added) (citing 20 C.F.R. 17 § 404.1520c(c)(1))). She therefore did not err. 18 2. Consistency 19 Claimant next argues that that ALJ failed to adequately analyze the consistency 20 factor in disregarding NP Brunson’s opinions. (Doc. 16 at 22–24.) In rejecting NP’s 21 Brunson’s opinions, the ALJ first explained that the “objective findings and other evidence 22 in the case record are inconsistent with and do not support the severity of limitations 23 assessed by Ms. Brunson” because, although those records “reflect positive findings of 24 2 I commend Claimant’s counsel for citing Manuel L. in the footnote. Nonetheless, 25 if counsel argues this issue in the future they must—consistent with their ethical 26 obligations—“cite to the district court all binding authorities, not only the favorable ones.” Elder v. Holloway, 984 F.2d 991, 998 (9th Circ. 1993) (mem.) (Kozinski, J., dissenting) 27 (citing Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.3(a)(2)). Put another way, they must 28 cite Kitchen for the benefit of the district court and substantively argue why that case is distinguishable. 1 disturbances in mood and intermittent findings of pressured or slow speech . . . other 2 mental status findings remained unremarkable, including findings related to the claimant’s 3 memory, thought process, thought content, insight and judgment.” (AR 40 (citing pertinent 4 records).) Moreover, she explained that NP Brunson’s treatment records “reflect evidence 5 of improvement in the claimant’s mental condition” because although he initially presented 6 as “anxious and tearful with a depressed mood in August 2019” and there were “limited 7 findings of disturbances in mood and affect [that] continued from August 2019 to October 8 2020,” later records “from October 2020 through June 2023 report the claimant was doing 9 ok, his mood was ok with no mood swings, he had no complaints of anger, irritability, or 10 agitation, his energy level and motivation were fair to good, and he reported doing chores 11 at home.” (AR 40–41 (citing pertinent records).) 12 Claimant first argues that the ALJ failed to “explain how the normal findings did 13 not support any of NP Brunson’s specific assessed limitations” and cite Jones v. O’Malley, 14 2024 WL 3963835 (9th Cir. 2024), in support of their argument. (Doc. 16 at 22.) With 15 respect to most of NP Brunson’s findings, Claimant’s argument elevates form over 16 substance and ignores the ALJ’s extensive description of normal findings that necessarily 17 conflict most of those findings. For example, the record evidence establishing normal 18 memory, thought process and thought content necessarily conflicts with NP Brunson’s 19 findings that Claimant had a moderately severe limitation in his ability to “[u]understand, 20 carry out, and remember instructions.” (AR 502, 766). This is self-explanatory. 21 The same is true of the ALJ’s reliance on records showing normal insight and 22 judgment, improved mood, and no complaints of anger, irritability, or agitation, which are 23 necessarily inconsistent with NP Brunson’s findings of severe limitations in Claimant’s 24 ability to “[r]espond appropriately to supervision,” “[r]espond appropriately to co- 25 workers,” and “respond to customary work pressures.” (Id.) And the ALJ’s reliance on 26 records showing that Claimant’s energy levels and motivation were fair to good, he was 27 doing good, and he reported doing chores necessarily conflict with NP Brunson’s findings 28 that Claimant had a moderately severe limitation in the “degree of constriction of interest” 1 and severe limitations in “restriction of daily activities.” (Id.) 2 There are, however, two findings that NP Brunson made that are not addressed by 3 the records reflecting normal mental status and improvements following treatment: the 4 findings that Claimant had severe limitations in his “ability to relate to other people” and 5 in the “deterioration in personal habits.” (Id.) None of the ALJ’s descriptions of the record 6 evidence bear on either of these limitations, and it is unclear why she rejected them. 7 Accordingly, although most of her consistency analysis is supported by substantial 8 evidence, her rejection of these two limitations is not. 9 C. Remand for Harmful Error 10 Having found that the ALJ erred in evaluating both Dr. House’s and NP Brunson’s 11 opinions, the remedy must be fashioned. Not every error requires vacating an ALJ’s 12 decision. If an “error was harmless, meaning it was inconsequential to the ultimate 13 nondisability determination,” a court may affirm. Ford, 950 F.3d at 1154 (quotation marks 14 omitted); see also Buck v. Berryhill, 869 F.3d 1040, 1048 (9th Cir. 2017) (“The Court may 15 not reverse an ALJ’s decision on account of a harmless error.”). 16 Citing Woods, the Commissioner argues that even if the ALJ failed to sufficiently 17 analyze either Dr. House’s or NP Brunson’s opinions for supportability or consistency, 18 such error was harmless. (Doc. 17 at 12.) Woods, however, does not help the 19 Commissioner because the Ninth Circuit did not find that the ALJ erred with respect to its 20 consistency analysis, did not evaluate the ALJ’s supportability analysis (possibly because 21 it may not have been challenged on appeal), and thus had no occasion to conduct a harmless 22 error analysis. 32 F.4th at 782–85. Put another way, Woods has no bearing on the harmless 23 error analysis in this circumstance, and the Commissioner’s argument is rejected.3 24 3 The Commissioner also cites another decision from this district suggesting that an 25 error with respect to either the consistency or supportability analysis may be deemed harmless if the ALJ’s decision is nonetheless supported by substantial evidence. (Doc. 17 26 (citing Stringer v. Comm’r Soc. Sec. Admin., 2024 WL 1340717, at *3 (D. Ariz. 2024).) Stringer is distinguishable because, like Woods, the court found that the ALJ committed 27 no error. The Stringer court’s harmless error analysis was thus dicta and is ultimately unpersuasive because it would require ignoring the clear holding in Woods that ALJs must 28 evaluate medical testimony for both supportability and consistency. See Woods, 32 F4th at 792. 1 Claimant, on the other hand, argues for application of the “credit-as-true rule,” (Doc. 2 16 at 24–25; Doc. 19 at 11), which would result in the immediate award of benefits, as 3 opposed to remand for further proceedings. Garrison, 759 F.3d at 1019. The credit-as- 4 true rule only applies if (1) the ALJ “failed to provide legally sufficient reasons for rejecting 5 evidence, whether claimant testimony or medical opinion,” Washington v. Kijakazi, 72 6 F.4th 1029, 1041 (9th Cir. 2023) (citations omitted); (2) the “record has been fully 7 developed,” such that there are no “outstanding issues that must be resolved before a 8 determination of disability can be made” and “further proceedings would not be useful,” 9 id. (citations omitted); and (3) “if the improperly discredited evidence were credited as 10 true, the ALJ would be required to find the claimant disabled on remand,” Trevizo v. 11 Berryhill, 871 F.3d 664, 683 (9th Cir. 2017) (citation omitted). The Ninth Circuit has 12 described this result as appropriate “only in rare circumstances.” Brown-Hunter v. Colvin, 13 806 F.3d 487, 495 (9th Cir. 2015) (quotation marks omitted). “The decision whether to 14 remand a case for additional evidence, or simply to award benefits, is within the discretion 15 of the court.” Revels, 874 F.3d at 668 (citation modified). 16 In in its discretion, the Court will remand for further proceedings and not apply the 17 credit-as-true rule. Here, the ALJ’s error lies in her failure to evaluate the supportability 18 factor when evaluating a specific set of limitations in Dr. House’s opinion, and in failing 19 to evaluate the consistency factor with respect to two limitations identified by NP Brunson. 20 The ALJ might, after properly evaluating Dr. House’s and NP Brunson’s findings, decide 21 again on remand that the rejected findings are not persuasive and that Claimant is not 22 disabled. Accordingly, the Court cannot find that further proceedings would “serve no 23 useful purpose.” See Brown-Hunter, 806 F.3d at 495 (citation omitted); id. (rejecting the 24 claimant’s request for awarding benefits based on SSA’s legal error). 25 Accordingly, 26 IT IS ORDERED that the decision of the ALJ is vacated and remanded for 27 further administrative proceedings. 28 /// 1 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED directing the Clerk of Court to enter final judgment 2 || consistent with this Order and close this case. 3 Dated this 31st day of March, 2026. 4 □ ;
’ H le Sharad H. Desai 8 United States District Judge 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
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