Joshua Rogal v. Carolyn Colvin

590 F. App'x 667
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 6, 2014
Docket13-35319
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 590 F. App'x 667 (Joshua Rogal v. Carolyn Colvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Joshua Rogal v. Carolyn Colvin, 590 F. App'x 667 (9th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

*669 MEMORANDUM *

We affirm the district court’s judgment because substantial evidence supports the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) denial of benefits based on Rogal’s residual functional capacity (RFC) assessment, the ALJ’s finding that Rogal’s testimony was not fully credible, and the ALJ’s conclusion that Rogal could perform various low-intensity jobs.

In June 2002, Joshua Rogal was seriously injured in a car crash, requiring multiple procedures to aid his recovery. His injuries healed, but Rogal continued to suffer from complications that were intensified by a second car crash in 2006. Ro-gal worked at different times as a cashier, an administrative assistant, a teacher’s aide, a home attendant, a film/tape librarian, and a psychiatric aide.

On July 22, 2008, Rogal filed for disability benefits, alleging disability since May 15, 2008. After denials by the Social Security Administration, Rogal had a hearing before an ALJ on July 15, 2010. Rogal testified as to occupational and functional limitations arising from his claimed disability, including his inability to: (1) concentrate, sit, or stand for long periods; (2) walk for relatively short distances without stopping; or (8) perform basic household chores. A vocational expert also testified at the ALJ hearing, opining that a person of Rogal’s age, education, and work experience could — depending on factors including postural limitations — work as a film/ tape librarian, a teacher’s aide, a cashier, a hotel/motel housekeeper, a semiconductor die loader, a sack repairer, or an assembler.

On September 24, 2010, the ALJ found Rogal not disabled despite having certain “severe” impairments because Rogal’s age, education, work experience, and RFC showed that he could perform other jobs existing in significant numbers in the national economy. In assessing Rogal’s RFC, the ALJ considered Rogal’s medical records; Rogal’s testimony about his own limitations; and lay and medical testimony related to Rogal’s occupational and functional limitations.

The ALJ found that Rogal’s functional abilities were not as limited as he claimed and, consequently, found Rogal’s testimony not fully credible. The ALJ considered, but gave little weight to, the testimony of two doctors, finding their testimony to be internally inconsistent and largely unsupported by the medical evidence in the record. The ALJ also determined that the doctors based their testimony on Rogal’s own accounts of his limitations, which the ALJ found not fully credible. Similarly, the ALJ discounted lay evidence from Ro-gal’s mother and one of his friends because it was contradicted by the medical record and based largely on Rogal’s own representations.

After Rogal appealed to the district court, the magistrate judge, whose conclusions were adopted by the district court, found that the ALJ: (1) did not commit reversible error in evaluating the medical evidence; (2) gave valid reasons for finding Rogal not fully credible and for rejecting lay witness evidence; and (3) did not err in assessing Rogal’s RFC or in finding him capable of performing some of his past jobs or, alternatively, of performing other low-intensity jobs. The district court entered an order adopting the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and affirming the Agency’s decision to deny benefits. This appeal followed.

*670 We review de novo a district court’s judgment upholding a denial of Social Security benefits. Berry v. Astrue, 622 F.3d 1228, 1231 (9th Cir.2010). However, we may set aside a denial of Social Security benefits “only if it is not supported by substantial evidence or is based on legal error.” Robbins v. Soc. Sec. Admin., 466 F.3d 880, 882 (9th Cir.2006).

First, Rogal argues that the ALJ improperly found his testimony about his symptoms and limitations not fully credible. We disagree. Although the ALJ did not think that Rogal was “malingering,” she properly rejected Rogal’s testimony as to the severity of his symptoms by offering specific, clear and convincing reasons. See Lingenfelter v. Astrue, 504 F.3d 1028, 1036 (9th Cir.2007). The ALJ found that Ro-gal’s return to work shortly after his first car crash, though not dispositive, was evidence that his limitations were not severe enough to prevent him from working entirely. See, e.g., Bayliss v. Barnhart, 427 F.3d 1211, 1216 (9th Cir.2005); Gregory v. Bowen, 844 F.2d 664, 666-67 (9th Cir.1988). The ALJ also found that Rogal’s ability to perform daily activities contradicted his claimed cognitive limitations, the sort of inconsistency that an ALJ may consider when weighing a claimant’s credibility. See Light v. Soc. Sec. Admin., 119 F.3d 789, 792 (9th Cir.1997). Finally, the ALJ found that Rogal’s course of treatment did not support Rogal’s testimony, which is permissible as a “factor ... [in an ALJ’s] credibility analysis.” Burch v. Barnhart, 400 F.3d 676, 681 (9th Cir.2005). Accordingly, the ALJ’s credibility determination was not erroneous and was supported by substantial evidence in the record.

Second, Rogal argues that the ALJ did not correctly evaluate medical evidence in several ways, namely by not identifying all of Rogal’s “severe” impairments and by improperly evaluating, crediting, or rejecting various medical testimony. We conclude that there was no reversible error on any of these points. Rogal’s argument that the ALJ did not properly identify all of Rogal’s “severe” impairments is meritless. She recognized and properly satisfied her obligation to consider all of Rogal’s impairments, severe or non-severe. As to all medical testimony except for Dr. Dixon’s and Dr. Postigo’s, the ALJ satisfied her obligation for rejecting medical testimony by giving “specific and legitimate reasons ... supported by substantial evidence in the record.” See Lester v. Chater, 81 F.3d 821, 830-31 (9th Cir.1995), as amended (Apr. 9, 1996).

Although the ALJ did not discuss Dr. Postigo’s medical opinion, Dr. Postigo did not treat Rogal after the alleged disability onset date. An ALJ “need not discuss all evidence presented to her” if the evidence ignored is “neither significant nor probative.” Vincent v. Heckler, 739 F.2d 1393, 1394-95 (9th Cir.1984) (italics in original). Dr. Postigo’s opinion predates the alleged onset date of Rogal’s disability. The ALJ did not err by not considering Dr. Postigo’s opinion because it was not relevant to determine the disability alleged here.

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Bluebook (online)
590 F. App'x 667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joshua-rogal-v-carolyn-colvin-ca9-2014.