Overstreet v. Berryhill

335 F. Supp. 3d 500
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedOctober 1, 2018
Docket17-CV-6413L
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 335 F. Supp. 3d 500 (Overstreet v. Berryhill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Overstreet v. Berryhill, 335 F. Supp. 3d 500 (W.D.N.Y. 2018).

Opinion

DAVID G. LARIMER, United States District Judge

DECISION AND ORDER

Plaintiff appeals from a denial of disability benefits by the Commissioner of Social Security ("the Commissioner"). The action is one brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) to review the Commissioner's final determination.

January 16, 2014, plaintiff filed an application for supplemental security income, alleging disability beginning January 2, 2011. (Dkt. # 8-2 at 81).1 Her application was initially denied. Plaintiff requested a hearing, which was held December 7, 2015 via videoconference before Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") David S. Pang. The ALJ issued an unfavorable decision on January 20, 2016, concluding that plaintiff was not disabled under the Social Security Act. (Dkt. # 8-2 at 81-94).

Plaintiff thereafter appealed, submitting additional medical records to the Appeals Council. The ALJ's decision became the final decision of the Commissioner when the Appeals Council denied review on April 26, 2017, finding that despite "consider[ation of] the additional evidence]" plaintiff had submitted, there was no "basis for changing the Administrative Law Judge's decision," and that some of the evidence submitted was dated weeks or months after the ALJ's decision, and was therefore "new information about a later time." (Dkt. # 8-2 at 1-3). Plaintiff now appeals.

The plaintiff has moved (Dkt. # 12), and the Commissioner has cross moved (Dkt. # 15) for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 12(c). For the reasons set forth below, plaintiff's motion is denied, the Commissioner's cross motion is granted, and the complaint is dismissed.

DISCUSSION

I. The ALJ's Evaluation

Determination of whether a claimant is disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act requires a five-step sequential *502evaluation, familiarity with which is presumed. See Bowen v. City of New York , 476 U.S. 467, 470-71, 106 S.Ct. 2022, 90 L.Ed.2d 462 (1986). See 20 CFR §§ 404.1509, 404.1520. Where, as here, a claimant's alleged disability also includes mental components, the ALJ must apply the so-called "special technique" in addition to the usual five-step analysis. See Kohler v. Astrue , 546 F.3d 260, 265 (2d Cir. 2008).

The Commissioner's decision that plaintiff is not disabled must be affirmed if it is supported by substantial evidence, and if the ALJ has applied the correct legal standards. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) ; Machadio v. Apfel , 276 F.3d 103, 108 (2d Cir.2002).

Here, the ALJ determined that the plaintiff had severe impairments, consisting of fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, asthma, allergies, and depression. (Dkt. # 8-2 at 83). He found that plaintiff, then a twenty-seven year old woman with at least a high school education and no previous employment, retained the residual functional capacity ("RFC") to perform a limited range sedentary work.

Specifically, plaintiff could lift up to 10 pounds occasionally, stand and/or walk for up to two hours and sit for up to six hours in an eight-hour workday, and could frequently reach overhead and in all directions, handle, finger and feel. Plaintiff could occasionally climb ramps and stairs, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch and crawl, and could never climb ladders, ropes or scaffolds. Plaintiff was further limited to occasional exposure to environmental irritants, could never be exposed to peanuts (to which she is allergic), and could perform only simple work, with frequent interaction with supervisors, coworkers and the public. (Dkt. # 8-2 at 86). The ALJ asked vocational expert Edward Pagella at the hearing whether an individual with this RFC could perform work existing in significant numbers in the national economy. In response, the vocational expert testified that such a person could perform the representative sedentary positions of sorter, packer and assembler. (Dkt. # 8-2 at 94).

II. The Appeals Council's Consideration of Additional Evidence

Plaintiff alleges that the Appeals Council erred by failing to properly consider, and/or to grant controlling weight to, an opinion by her treating rheumatologist, Dr. Ya Li Chen, which plaintiff submitted to the Appeals Council after the ALJ's decision had been rendered.

Initially, plaintiff suggests that the Appeals Council may have overlooked the opinion, since it described plaintiff's later evidence as "medical records," instead of identifying the component parts of plaintiff's submission - a combination of treatment records and the opinion - in detail. The Court is unpersuaded: the Appeals Council's use of a the generalized term "medical records" to describe plaintiff's submission does not suggest that it considered the entire submission to be comprised of treatment notes, and there is no reason for the Court to doubt the Appeals Council's representation that plaintiff's submissions had been reviewed and considered in their entirety.

Moreover, the Court finds no reason to disturb the Appeals Council's conclusion that the records plaintiff had provided did not present a basis for reversing the ALJ's decision. Dr. Chen's opinion, dated February 11, 2016 (about three weeks after the ALJ rendered his decision), appears to have been based on his periodic treatment of plaintiff beginning in November 2013, with routine follow-up visits about every four months. (Dkt. # 8-10 at 1782). Dr. *503Chen found that plaintiff has an unspecified "chronic medical condition, unlikely to improve," which causes her to have "low back pain, nerve pain, fatigue" as well as "depression." Id. Dr.

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335 F. Supp. 3d 500, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/overstreet-v-berryhill-nywd-2018.