Jesseka Betts v. Andrew Saul

Opinion

J.B., Case No. 5:21-cv-00084-JWH-SHK Plaintiff, v. ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION OF KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE Commissioner of Social Security, JUDGE Defendant.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, the Court has reviewed the Joint Stipulation, the relevant records on file, and the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge. The Court has engaged in de novo review of those portions of the Report to which Defendant has objected. The Court ACCEPTS the findings and recommendation of the Magistrate Judge. The Court notes Defendant’s argument in the Objections that the Report and Recommendation does not address all of the ALJ’s reasons for rejecting Plaintiff’s subjective complaints of impairment. (ECF No. 25 at 2-7.) According to Defendant, in addition to the reasons discussed in the Report and Recommendation, the ALJ rejected Plaintiff’s subjective complaints because (1) Plaintiff’s subjective complaints were not supported by objective medical evidence; (2) Plaintiff received only conservative treatment; and (3) Plaintiff did not receive any specialized mental health care. (Id.) Despite Defendant’s suggestion to the contrary, it is not clear from the ALJ’s decision that she relied on the second and third purported reasons to support her assessment of Plaintiff’s subjective complaints. (See ECF No. 25 at 5-6 (citing ECF No. 17-3 at 21-23).) Even if the ALJ intended to rely on such reasoning, her analysis was not “sufficiently specific to allow [the Court] to conclude the [ALJ] rejected the claimant’s testimony on permissible grounds.” Rollins v. Massanari, 261 F.3d 853, 856–57 (9th Cir. 2001). Finally, even crediting Defendant’s argument that the Report and Recommendation did not address the ALJ’s reliance on a lack of objective medical evidence to support Plaintiff’s subjective complaints, such reasoning, standing alone, is not sufficient to support the ALJ’s decision. See Burch v. Barnhart, 400 F.3d 676, 680 (9th Cir. 2005) (“an ALJ may not reject a claimant’s subjective complaints based solely on a lack of medical evidence to fully corroborate the alleged severity” of the symptoms) (citations omitted). 1 For those reasons, the Court hereby ORDERS as follows: 2 l. The Social Security Commissioner’s decision is REVERSED and this 3 case is REMANDED to the Social Security Administration for further 4 proceedings. 5 2. Judgment shall issue accordingly. 7 8 Dated: April 10, 2023 “HM 9 HONORABLE JOHN W. HOLCOMB United States District Judge