Roberts v. Saul

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 9, 2023
Docket1:20-cv-03691
StatusUnknown

This text of Roberts v. Saul (Roberts v. Saul) 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. Saul, (N.D. Ill. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION KEITH R., 1 ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 20 C 3691 v. ) ) Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes KILOLO KIJAKAZI, Acting ) Commissioner of Social Security,2 ) ) Defendant. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER3 Before the Court is Plaintiff Keith R.’s motion seeking remand of the Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) opinion denying his application for disability insurance benefits (“DIB”) (D.E. 21), and the Commissioner’s cross motion to affirm that decision. (D.E. 25). I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY Plaintiff filed his claim for DIB on February 16, 2017, alleging he has been disabled due to liver problems since August 7, 2014; his date last insured (“DLI”) was December 31, 2015. (R. 106, 107, 109.) On November 15, 2018, Plaintiff, who was represented by counsel, testified at a hearing before an administrative law judge (“ALJ”). A vocational expert (“VE”) also testified at 1 Plaintiff’s surname has been omitted from this opinion in compliance with the Court’s Internal Operating Procedure No. 22. 2 The Court substitutes Kilolo Kijakazi for her predecessor, Andrew Saul, as the proper defendant in this action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d) (a public officer’s successor is automatically substituted as a party). 3 On August 31, 2020, by consent of the parties and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Local Rule 73.1, this case was reassigned to this Court for all proceedings, including entry of final judgment. (D.E. 12.) the hearing. On April 30, 2019, the ALJ denied Plaintiff’s claim for benefits, finding him not disabled under the Social Security Act. (R. 12.) 4 This appeal followed. II. ALJ’s DECISION The ALJ analyzed Plaintiff’s claim in accordance with the Social Security Administration’s five-step sequential evaluation process. (R. 15-42.) The ALJ found at Step One that Plaintiff had

not engaged in substantial gainful activity since his alleged onset date. (R. 15.) At Step Two, the ALJ concluded that Plaintiff had the following severe impairments: major depressive disorder, anxiety, substance abuse disorder, ascites (excess abdominal fluid related to liver disease), cirrhosis of the liver, and obesity, and that Plaintiff’s fatigue, insomnia, anemia, ventral hernia, altered mental state/seizures, hypothyroidism, esophageal lesion and thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) were not severe. (R. 17-18.) The ALJ concluded at Step Three that Plaintiff’s impairments, alone or in combination, did not meet or medically equal one of the Social Security Administration’s listings of impairments (a “Listing”). (R. 18.) Before Step Four, the ALJ determined that Plaintiff retained the residual functional capacity (“RFC”) to perform light work as

defined in 20 CFR 404.1567(b) except that he could occasionally stoop, kneel, crouch and crawl and never climb ladders, ropes, or scaffolds and have occasional interaction with co-workers and supervisors. (R. 26.)5 At Step Five, the ALJ concluded that based upon the VE’s testimony and Plaintiff’s age, education, work experience, and RFC, Plaintiff could perform jobs existing in significant numbers

4 The Appeals Council (“AC”) subsequently denied review of the opinion (R. 1-6), making the ALJ’s decision the final decision of the Commissioner. Butler v. Kijakazi, 4 F.4th 498, 500 (7th Cir. 2021).

5 Social Security regulations define “light work” as “lifting no more than 20 pounds at a time with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds . . . the full range of light work requires standing or walking, on and off, or a total of approximately six hours in an eight-hour workday.” SSR 83-10 (ssa.gov), last visited on May 22, 2023. in the national economy, leading to a finding that he is not disabled under the Social Security Act prior to his DLI. (R. 42.) III. ANALYSIS A. Legal Standard An ALJ’s decision will be affirmed if it is supported by “substantial evidence,” which

means “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Biestek v. Berryhill, – U.S. –, 139 S. Ct. 1148, 1154 (2019). “[T]he threshold for such evidentiary sufficiency is not high.” Id. The Court “will not reweigh the evidence, resolve debatable evidentiary conflicts, determine credibility, or substitute our judgment for the ALJ’s determination. Rather, this court asks whether the ALJ’s decision reflects an adequate logical bridge from the evidence to the conclusions.” Reynolds v. Kijakazi, 25 F.4th 470, 473 (7th Cir. 2022) (citations and quotations omitted). The claimant has the burden of proof at steps one through four of the five-step sequential process for determining disability. See Mandrell v. Kijakazi, 25 F.4th 514, 516 (7th Cir. 2022). At Step Five, the burden of proof shifts to the Commissioner of

Social Security to show that the claimant can adjust to other work existing in “a significant number of jobs…in the national economy.” See Brace v. Saul, 970 F.3d 818, 820 (7th Cir. 2020). The ALJ also has a basic obligation to develop a full and fair record, and to “build an accurate and logical bridge between the evidence and the result to afford the claimant meaningful judicial review of the administrative findings.” Jarnutowski v. Kijakazi, 48 F.4th 769, 773 (7th Cir. 2022). Although the ALJ is not required to mention every piece of evidence in the record, the ALJ’s analysis “must provide some glimpse into the reasoning behind her decision to deny benefits.” Zurawski v. Halter, 245 F.3d 881, 889 (7th Cir. 2001); accord Craft v. Astrue, 539 F.3d 668, 673 (7th Cir. 2008). Plaintiff makes two arguments in favor of remand: (1) the ALJ did not evaluate Plaintiff’s physical RFC in accordance with SSR 96-8p and (2) the ALJ did not evaluate Plaintiff’s allegations in accordance with SSR 16-3p. (Pl. Mem. in Support of Sum. J. at 2, 11). We will address each

allegation in turn, starting with Plaintiff’s second assignment of error because the ALJ’s consideration of the severity of Plaintiff’s symptoms bears on her RFC determination. In reaching our conclusion, we recognize that while the ALJ also discussed evidence from 2016 and beyond, she properly focused her determination on Plaintiff’s condition and ability to work prior to his DLI of December 31, 2015. A. The ALJ Properly Evaluated Plaintiff’s Subjective Symptoms. Social Security Regulation 16-3p guides an ALJ about how to evaluate the intensity and persistence of a claimant’s subjective symptoms so that he or she can determine how those symptoms might limit the claimant’s ability to perform work-related activities.6 As the ALJ

explained, the question “is not whether such symptoms exist, but whether they occur with such frequency, duration, or severity as to reduce the claimant’s residual functional capacity or to preclude all work activity on a continuing and regular basis.” (R.

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Roberts v. Saul, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-saul-ilnd-2023.