Rivera v. Berryhill

312 F. Supp. 3d 375
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedMay 17, 2018
Docket16–CV–6775L
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 312 F. Supp. 3d 375 (Rivera 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
Rivera v. Berryhill, 312 F. Supp. 3d 375 (W.D.N.Y. 2018).

Opinion

DAVID G. LARIMER, United States District Judge

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.

On May 21, 2013, plaintiff, then thirty-two years old, filed an application for Supplemental Security Income benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, alleging an inability to work since January 1, 2002. (Administrative Transcript, Dkt. # 7 at 17).1 Her application was initially denied. Plaintiff requested a hearing, which was held on March 10, 2015 via videoconference before Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") Joseph L. Brinkley. The ALJ issued a decision on April 7, 2015, concluding that plaintiff was not disabled under the Social Security Act. (Dkt. # 7 at 17-34). That decision became the final decision of the Commissioner when the Appeals Council denied review on October 4, 2016. (Dkt. # 7 at 1-4). Plaintiff now appeals from that decision. The plaintiff has moved (Dkt. # 11), 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, the plaintiff's motion is denied, the Commissioner's cross motion is granted, and the Commissioner's decision that plaintiff is not disabled is affirmed.

DISCUSSION

Determination of whether a claimant is disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act follows a well-known five-step sequential evaluation, 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. The Commissioner's decision that a plaintiff is not disabled must be affirmed if it is supported by substantial evidence, and if the ALJ applied the correct legal standards. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) ; Machadio v. Apfel , 276 F.3d 103, 108 (2d Cir. 2002).

The ALJ's decision exhaustively summarizes plaintiff's medical records, particularly plaintiff's human immunodeficiency virus ("HIV"), low back pain, arthralgias (joint pain), myalgias (muscle pain), obesity, depression and anxiety, which he concluded together constituted a severe impairment not meeting or equaling a listed impairment. Upon consideration of the record, the ALJ determined that plaintiff had the residual functional capacity ("RFC") to perform light work, with the following limitations: ability to stand and walk for up to 4 hours, and sit for up to 6 hours, in an 8-hour workday, with interruptions and regularly scheduled breaks. Plaintiff can lift *378and carry 20 pounds occasionally and 10 pounds frequently, and can frequently use her upper extremities to handle, grasp, finger and feel. She can occasionally use her upper extremities to push, pull and reach overhead, and can frequently use them to push, pull and reach in all other directions. She can occasionally squat, bend, crouch, stoop, kneel, and climb stairs and ramps. Plaintiff can never crawl or climb ropes, ladders or scaffolding. She can occasionally use her lower extremities to operate foot and leg controls. She must avoid concentrated exposure to dangerous moving mechanical parts and unprotected heights, as well as concentrated exposure to extreme temperatures and vibrations. She is limited to simple, routine, repetitive tasks, and can understand, remember and complete simple 1-2 step instructions and make simple work-related decisions. Plaintiff is further limited to only occasional, superficial contact with the general public, occasional team and tandem work, and low stress jobs that do not require high volume production quotas or fast-paced assembly work. (Dkt. # 7 at 21-22).

Given this RFC, vocational expert Dian L. Haller testified that plaintiff could perform the positions of final assembler, polisher and packer, and inspector and packer of small plastic products. (Dkt. # 7 at 33).

I believe the evidence supports the ALJ's findings concerning the nature and extent of plaintiff's resulting limitations, and that his finding that the plaintiff was not disabled was supported by substantial evidence and was not the product of legal error.

I. The ALJ's Evaluation of Medical Opinions

On appeal, plaintiff initially objects to the weight given by the ALJ to the opinions of certain treating and examining physicians. These include assessments by plaintiff's treating internist, Dr. Michael Mancenido (who cosigned a mental health RFC assessment by treating psychiatric mental health nurse Sean Murphy), and consultative physicians, psychologist Dr. YuYing Lin and Dr. Harbinder Toor. Applying the treating physician rule, the ALJ opted to afford "little" weight to Dr. Mancenido's opinion (Dkt. # 7 at 28). See generally Shaw v. Chater , 221 F.3d 126, 134 (2d Cir. 2000) (the medical opinion of a claimant's treating physician is given controlling weight if it is well supported by medical findings and not inconsistent with other substantial record evidence). With respect to Dr. Lin, the ALJ credited the bulk of her opinion, rejecting two of the more extreme limitations that she described. The ALJ gave "limited" weight to the opinion of Dr. Toor, given its failure to make a quantifiable function-by-function analysis, instead rating plaintiff's degree of limitation with respect to postural activities in language such as "moderate" or "marked." (Dkt. # 7 at 25).

I do not find that the ALJ's assessments of the medical opinions of record were erroneous. First, it is well settled that the ALJ may decline to assign a treating source controlling weight if the ALJ cites good reasons for doing so. See e.g., Phillips v. Commissioner , 2018 WL 1768273 at *4, 2018 U.S. Dist.

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Bluebook (online)
312 F. Supp. 3d 375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-v-berryhill-nywd-2018.