Peterson v. Commissioner Social Security Administration

123 F. Supp. 3d 1256, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107873, 2015 WL 4917054
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedAugust 17, 2015
DocketCase No. 6:14-cv-01024-MA
StatusPublished

This text of 123 F. Supp. 3d 1256 (Peterson v. Commissioner Social Security Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peterson v. Commissioner Social Security Administration, 123 F. Supp. 3d 1256, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107873, 2015 WL 4917054 (D. Or. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MARSH, District Judge.

Plaintiff Kathleen J. Peterson seeks judicial review of the final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security that partially denied her applications for Disabled Widow’s Benefits (DWB) under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 401-403, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1381—1383f. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g) and 1383(c)(3). For the reasons that follow, I reverse and remand that portion of the Commissioner’s decision denying benefits from March 24, 2008 through September 24, 2012, for an immediate calculation and award of benefits.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff protectively filed applications for DWB and SSI on March 17, 2010, alleging disability beginning March 24, 2008,1 due to post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, depression, intestinal problems, fibromyalgia, arthritis in her back, and arch problems creating leg pain. Plaintiffs claims were denied initially and [1259]*1259upon reconsideration. Plaintiff filed a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). An ALJ held a hearing on August 23, 2012, at which plaintiff appeared with her attorney and testified. A vocational expert, Mark Mann, also appeared at the hearing and testified. Oh October 15, 2012, the ALJ issued a partially favorable decision finding plaintiff disabled as of September 24, 2012, but not before that date. The Appeals Council denied plaintiffs request .for, review, and therefore, the ALJ’s decision became the final decision of the Commissioner for purposes of review.

Plaintiff was born on March 24, 1958, and was 50 years old on her amended alleged onset of disability date, and 54 years old on the date of the ALJ’s adverse decision. Plaintiff has completed her GED and previously worked as a custodian in 1997. Plaintiff has a very limited work history and has no earnings since 1997. Tr. 193.

THE ALES DISABILITY ANALYSIS

The Commissioner has established a five-step sequential process for determining whether a person is disabled. Bowen v. Yuckert, 482 U.S. 137, 140, 107 S.Ct. 2287, 96 L.Ed.2d 119 (1987); 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520; 416.920. Each step is potentially dispositive, The claimant bears the burden of proof at steps one through four. See Valentine v. Commissioner Soc. Sec. Admin., 574 F.3d 685, 689 (9th Cir.2009); Tackett v. Apfel, 180 F.3d 1094, 1098 (9th Cir.1999). At step five, the burden shifts to the Commissioner to' show that the claimant can do other work which exists in the national economy. Hill v. Astrue, 698 F.3d 1153, 1161 (9th Cir.2012).

The ALJ concluded that plaintiff is the unmarried widow of a deceased insured worker and has attained the age of 50, and that plaintiff meets the non-disability requirements'for disabled widow’s benefits'. Plaintiff must establish that her disability began on or before October- 31, 2012 in order to be entitled to DWB.

At step one, the ALJ found that plaintiff has hot engaged in substantial gainful activity since her ’alleged onset of disability. At step two, the ALJ found that plaintiff had the following severe impairments: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with panic attacks, chronic .pain secondary to degenerative disc' disease of the thoracic spine, scoliosis, degenerative joint'disease of the bilateral shoulders, restless leg syndrome, abdominal pain, hyperlipidemia, substance abuse, and depression. At step three, the ALJ found that plaintiffs impairments, or combination of impairments, did not meet or medically equal a listed impairment.

The ALJ assessed plaintiff with a residual functional capacity (RFC) to perform a range of light work, except that plaintiff can perform tasks that involve about six hours of standing/walking, and about six hours of sitting in an eight-hour workday (with normál breaks); she is capable bf frequent, but not continuous, exposure to industrial hazards or unprotected heights due to marijuana use, she remains able to use commonsense Understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved oral or written instructions, or deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in or from standardized situations, and she is able to j work with things rather than people or data.

At step four, the ALJ found that plaintiff has ,no past relevant work. The ALJ found that prior to plaintiffs disability onset date, she was an individual closely approaching advanced age, and that applying the age categories non-mechanieally, as of September 24, 2012, plaintiffs age category changed to an individual of advanced age. At Step Five, the ALJ ■ concluded that prior to the date plaintiffs age catego[1260]*1260ry changed, considering plaintiffs age, education, work experience, and residual functional capacity, jobs existed in significant numbers in the national economy that plaintiff could perform, such as cleaner/housekeeper, small parts assembler, and warehouse worker. However, beginning the date plaintiffs age category changed, there are no jobs that exist in significant numbers in the national economy that plaintiff can perform, and therefore, she has been under a disability under the Social Security Act from September 24, 2012, through the date of the decision.

ISSUES ON REVIEW

On appeal to this court, plaintiff contends the following errors were committed: (1) the ALJ failed to properly evaluate the medical evidence of treating physician Shelly Spiller, D.O.; (2) the ALJ failed to properly evaluate plaintiffs testimony; (3) the ALJ failed to incorporate all the limitations identified by examining physician Gale Smolen, M.D.; (4) the ALJ failed to properly evaluate the lay testimony of plaintiffs daughter-in-law Sara Bagg and neighbor Brenda Lee Pope; and (5) the ALJ erred at Step Five. Because plaintiffs challenges to the ALJ’s evaluation of Dr. Spiller’s opinions and plaintiffs credibility are dispositive, the court declines to address plaintiffs remaining arguments as moot.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The district court must affirm the Commissioner’s decision if the Commissioner applied proper legal standards and the findings are supported by substantial evidence in the record. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); Berry v. Astrue, 622 F.3d 1228, 1231 (9th Gir.2010). “Substantial evidence is more than a mei-e scintilla but less than a preponderance; it is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Hill,

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Related

Bowen v. Yuckert
482 U.S. 137 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Berry v. Astrue
622 F.3d 1228 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
Molina v. Astrue
674 F.3d 1104 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Debbra Hill v. Michael Astrue
698 F.3d 1153 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
Tommasetti v. Astrue
533 F.3d 1035 (Ninth Circuit, 2008)
Orn v. Astrue
495 F.3d 625 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Lingenfelter v. Astrue
504 F.3d 1028 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
Vasquez v. Astrue
572 F.3d 586 (Ninth Circuit, 2009)
Karen Garrison v. Carolyn W. Colvin
759 F.3d 995 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
123 F. Supp. 3d 1256, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107873, 2015 WL 4917054, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peterson-v-commissioner-social-security-administration-ord-2015.