Lim v. Colvin

243 F. Supp. 3d 307, 2017 WL 1102900, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44950
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 22, 2017
Docket15-CV-1680 (WFK)
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 243 F. Supp. 3d 307 (Lim v. Colvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lim v. Colvin, 243 F. Supp. 3d 307, 2017 WL 1102900, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44950 (E.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

HON. WILLIAM F. KUNTZ, II, ' UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Maria Dahlia C. Lim (“Plaintiff’), appearing pro se, brings this action under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) and seeks review of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration’s (the “Commissioner” or “Defendant”) August 28,2014 denial of her application for Social Security Disability (“SSD”) benefits. Compl. ¶ 1, 4, ECF No. 2. The Commissioner filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings on March 11, 2016, ECF No. 20, contending the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) correctly applied the relevant legal standards and her decision is supported by substantial evidence. Def.’s Mem. Law. Supp. Mot. J. Pleadings (“Def.’s Mot.”) at 1, ECF No. 21. In her reply, Plaintiff argues the ALJ’s decision did not adequately account for certain medical evidence in the record in determining she had the residual functional capacity (“RFC”) to perform light work and that the ALJ failed to properly develop the record, so Plaintiff should be granted SSD benefits. See Pl.’s Affirmation Opp. Defi’s Mot. (“PL’s Opp.”), ECF No. 19. For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s motion is DENIED and this action is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this decision.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff was born on November 23, 1963, in the Philippines. Administrative Transcript (“Tr.”) at 7, ECF No. 23. She immigrated to the United States in March 1989 and became a U.S. citizen in or around 1997. Id at 7-8. Plaintiff had trained as a nurse in the Philippines and, after moving to the United States, she continued in that profession, working in Massachusetts and, later on, in New York. Id at 7-8. Plaintiff worked as a nurse continually between 1987 and 2010, when she found she could no longer work due to pain in her legs and lower back. Id at 13-17. Plaintiff has an extensive medical history, including diagnoses of severe asthma and allergies, id at 388-400, irritable bowel syndrome, id at 338-40, and carpal tunnel syndrome, id at 480, as well as her allegedly disabling conditions, fibromyal-gia,1 neuritis,2 and back pain, id at 135-41, [311]*311218.3

Plaintiff applied for SSD on January 11, 2012, for a period of disability allegedly beginning on December 12, 2010. Id. at 117. After her initial application was denied on June 20, 2012, Plaintiff requested a hearing with an ALJ. Id. The ALJ, Marilyn P. Hoppenfeld, held a hearing on August 15, 2013, at which Plaintiff was represented by an attorney and testified on her own behalf. Id. at 1-97 (transcript of hearing), A medical expert, Dr. Levine (an orthopedic surgeon), and a vocational expert testified at the hearing as well. Id. at 61-78, 81-95. ALJ Hoppenfeld found Plaintiff did not have a disability within the meaning of the Social Security Act (the “Act”) between January 11, 2012, and August 28, 2014, the date of the decision. Id. at 129, Plaintiff appealed the ALJ’s decision to the Notice of Appeals Council, which declined to review the case on January 15, 2015. Id. at 98-100. This denial became the Commissioner’s final act.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

When a claimant challenges the Social Security Administration’s denial of disability benefits, the Court’s function is not to evaluate de novo whether the claimant is disabled, but rather to determine “whether the correct legal standards were applied and whether substantial evidence supports the decision.” Butts v. Barnhart, 388 F.3d 377, 384 (2d Cir. 2004), amended on reh’g, 416 F.3d 101 (2d Cir. 2005); see also 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (“The findings of the Commissioner of Social Security as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive [.] ”); Moran v. Astrue, 569 F.3d 108, 112 (2d Cir. 2009) (applying a “substantial evidence” standard of review). Substantial evidence is “more than a mere scintilla”; it is “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) (quoting Consol, Edison Co. of N.Y., Inc. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938)). The substantial evidence test applies not only to the Commissioner’s factual findings, but also to inferences and conclusions of law drawn from those facts. See Carballo ex rel. Cortes v. Apfel, 34 F.Supp.2d 208, 214 (S.D.N.Y. 1999) (Sweet, J.). In determining whether the record contains substantial evidence to support a denial of benefits, the reviewing court must examine the entire record, weighing the evidence on both sides to ensure the claim “has been fairly •evaluated.” See Brown v. Apfel, 174 F.3d 59, 62 (2d Cir. 1999) (quoting Grey v. Heckler, 721 F.2d 41, 46 (2d Cir. 1983)).

It is the function of the SSA, not the federal district court, “to resolve evi-dentiary conflicts and to appraise the credibility of witnesses, including the claimant.” Carroll v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 705 F.2d 638, 642 (2d Cir. 1983) (citing Richardson, 402 U.S. at 399, 91 S.Ct. 1420); see also Clark v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 143 F.3d 115, 118 (2d Cir. 1998) (“[Ijt is up to the agency, and not th[e] court, to weigh the conflicting evidence in the record[.]”). Although the ALJ need not resolve every conflict in the record, “the crucial factors in any determination must be set forth with sufficient specificity to enable [the reviewing court] to decide [312]*312whether the determination is supported by substantial evidence.” Calzada v. Asture, 753 F.Supp.2d 250, 268-69 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (Sullivan, J.) (internal quotation marks omitted) (citing Ferraris v. Heckler, 728 F.2d 582, 587 (2d Cir. 1984)).

To fulfill this burden, the ALJ must “adequately explain his reasoning in making the findings on which his ultimate decision rests” and must “address all pertinent evidence.” Kane v. Astrue, 942 F.Supp.2d 301, 305 (E.D.N.Y. 2013) (Kuntz, J.) (quoting Calzada, 753 F.Supp.2d at 269). “[A]n ALJ’s failure to acknowledge relevant evidence or to explain its implicit rejection is plain error.” Id

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243 F. Supp. 3d 307, 2017 WL 1102900, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44950, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lim-v-colvin-nyed-2017.