Roberts v. Heckler

636 F. Supp. 136, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27029, 14 Soc. Serv. Rev. 542
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedApril 8, 1986
DocketNo. 84 C 8547
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 636 F. Supp. 136 (Roberts v. Heckler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts v. Heckler, 636 F. Supp. 136, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27029, 14 Soc. Serv. Rev. 542 (N.D. Ill. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ASPEN, District Judge:

On October 21, 1985, this Court adopted the Report and Recommendation of Magistrate James T. Balog that plaintiff Roberts’ motion for summary judgment be granted and that she be awarded “Widow’s Benefits” under 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(2)(B). She has moved for attorney’s fees, expenses and costs under the relevant section of the Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”). 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (as amended in August 1985). For the reasons stated below, her motion is granted in part.

28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A) commands the Court to award attorney’s fees to “a prevailing party” in a suit against the United States, “unless the court finds that the position of the United States was substantially justified.” This determination must be made on the basis of the administrative and court record. Section 2412(d)(1)(B) (as amended in 1985). “Position of the United States” means “in addition to the position taken by the United States in the civil action, the action or failure to act by the agency upon which the civil action is based.”1 Section 2412(d)(2)(D) (added in [137]*1371985). The United States’ position was “substantially justified” if it had a “reasonable basis in law and fact.” See, e.g., Ferrell v. Pierce, 743 F.2d 454, 466 (7th Cir.1984). The government’s position must have had a “solid though not necessarily correct basis in fact and law.” Gotches v. Heckler, 773 F.2d 108, 111 (7th Cir.1985), opinion amended and reh’g denied, 782 F.2d 765 (7th Cir.1986). The government bears the burden of proving that its position was substantially justified. See, e.g., Ferrell, 743 F.2d at 466. The parties agree about these standards but disagree about whether the government has met its burden. We hold it has not.

This case was a routine judicial review of a denial of disability benefits. The Secretary had found Roberts eligible for Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) benefits but not for “widow’s” benefits. To be entitled to the latter benefits, a claimant must show that the medical evidence proves that she has an impairment or combination of impairments which meets or equals the listing of impairments in the regulations. On review, Magistrate Balog found that the Secretary had not adequately considered Roberts’ combination of impairments to see whether she equalled the relevant listed impairment. See Report & Recommendation of Magistrate at 4-5. This Court adopted the Magistrate’s findings and reversed the Secretary. Consideration of the combination of impairments is required by controlling law. See Johnson v. Heckler, 769 F.2d 1202, 1213-15 (7th Cir.1985). It is especially important in a case like this where some of Roberts’ impairments brought her within a hair of meeting a listed impairment. See Report at 4 (claimant failed to exactly meet listing only because her heart cleared spine by five millimeters). The AU merely made a summary finding that Roberts failed to equal the listings; no rationale was offered, and the opinion does not suggest that he factored all of her impairments into his analysis. The Seventh Circuit has held that such cursory findings cannot support a denial of benefits. See, e.g., Zalewski v. Heckler, 760 F.2d 160, 166 (7th Cir.1985); Zblewski v. Schweiker, 732 F.2d 75, 78-79 (7th Cir.1984) . Even Stephens v. Heckler, 766 F.2d 284, 287 (7th Cir.1985), where a divided panel perhaps relaxed this requirement, demands more than this oversight of relevant evidence and a summary conclusion. Later decisions bear out the principle that the AU must give a minimal articulation of reasons for rejecting evidence favorable to a claimant, and must consider all relevant evidence. See Look v. Heckler, 775 F.2d 192, 195 (7th Cir.1985); Orlando v. Heckler, 776 F.2d 209, 213 (7th Cir.1985). In sum, we think that both the agency’s action below and the litigation position taken in Court were not “sound in fact or law” nor “reasonable” and thus were not “substantially justified.”

The Secretary incorrectly relies on Fox v. Heckler, 776 F.2d 738, 740-42 (7th Cir.1985) , in arguing that her position was “substantially justified.” Fox held, among other things, that a physician’s signature on a form finding that a claimant does not equal the listings could be enough evidence to support an AU’s finding of no disability. There was a similar physician’s signature and evaluation in this case. Besides this superficial similarity, this case does not resemble Fox. First, the AI in that case extensively considered and rejected the other evidence regarding the combination of impairments, see 766 F.2d at 741-42; the AU in this case made no such analysis. Second, the physician’s evaluation in this case was dated January 21,1983, and based on medical evidence from 1979 and 1982. However, in April 1983, before the AU hearing, new medical evidence showed that Roberts was even closer to the listed im[138]*138pairment. Thus, if the AU simply relied on the physician’s evaluation of January 1983, he did so incorrectly since that evaluation was out-of-date. Indeed, if he did so rely, he failed to adhere to Social Security Ruling 83-19, which requires an AU to get an updated medical opinion in the circumstances of this ease.2 In Fox, the AU adhered to Rule 83-19, and relied on an evaluation which was not out-of-date. Fox therefore does not warrant a conclusion that the AU’s decision or the Secretary’s litigation position had a “solid basis in law or fact.”

As for the amount of attorneys’ fees and expenses, the Secretary makes no objection to the amount requested by Roberts. We have reviewed the original and supplemental requests and find them to be reasonable. Accordingly, the total fee award shall be $4,378.45.

The parties disagree about whether Roberts is entitled to costs. Roberts’ petition for fees and costs was filed more than thirty days after judgment was entered. Although the EAJA requires that such petitions be filed “within thirty days of final judgment in the action,” 28 U.S.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
636 F. Supp. 136, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27029, 14 Soc. Serv. Rev. 542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-heckler-ilnd-1986.