Rodriguez v. Commissioner of Social Security

633 F. App'x 770
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedDecember 31, 2015
DocketNo. 15-12356
StatusPublished

This text of 633 F. App'x 770 (Rodriguez v. Commissioner of Social Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodriguez v. Commissioner of Social Security, 633 F. App'x 770 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Luis Rodriguez appeals from the district court’s order affirming the Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) denial of his application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income (collectively, “disability benefits”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g), 1383(c)(3). On appeal, Rodriguez argues that the ALJ erred in determining, at step three of the sequential evaluation, that his mental impairments did not meet or equal the requirements of Listing 12.05(B) or (C), relating to intellectual disability. After careful review, we affirm.

In Social Security appeals, we review whether the Commissioner’s decision is supported by substantial evidence and based on proper legal standards. Winschel v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 631 F.3d 1176, 1178 (11th Cir.2011); Doughty v. Apfel, 245 F.3d 1274, 1278 (11th Cir.2001). [772]*772“Substantial evidence is more than a scintilla and is such relevant evidence as a reasonable person would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Winschel, 631 F.3d at 1178 (internal quotation marks omitted). Our deferential review precludes us from deciding the facts anew, making credibility determinations, or reweighing the evidence. Id. Consequently, we must affirm the agency’s findings if they are supported by substantial evidence, even if the evidence preponderates against them. Mitchell v. Comm’r, Soc. Sec. Admin., 771 F.3d 780, 782 (11th Cir.2014).

A claimant must be under a disability to be eligible for disability benefits. 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(a)(1), 1382(a)(1)-(2). In relevant part, a claimant is under a disability if he is unable to engage in substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable impairment that can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months. 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(d)(1)(A), 1382c(a)(3)(A). The claimant bears the. burden of proving his disability, and he is responsible for producing evidence in support of his claim. Ellison v. Barnhart, 355 F.3d 1272, 1276 (11th Cir.2003).

The Commissioner uses a five-step, sequential evaluation process to determine whether a claimant is disabled. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4), 416.920(a)(4). First, the claimant must show that he is not currently engaged in substantial gainful activity. See id. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)®, 416.920(a)(4)®. At the second step, the claimant must show that he has a severe impairment. See id. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)(h), 416.920(a)(4)(h). A severe impairment is an “impairment or combination of impairments which significantly limits [the claimant’s] physical or mental ability to do basic work activities.” Id. §§ 404.1520(c), 416.920(a)(4)(c). Third, the claimant has the opportunity to show that the impairment meets or equals the criteria contained in one of the Listings of Impairments. See id. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)(iii), 416.920(a)(4)(iii). If a claimant meets that burden, the sequential evaluation process terminates, and the claimant is presumptively determined to be disabled. Carnes v. Sullivan, 936 F.2d 1215, 1218 (11th Cir.1991). If no listing is met, then, at the fourth step, the ALJ considers the claimant’s residual functional capacity and the claimant’s past relevant work to determine if he has an impairment that prevents him from performing his past relevant work. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)(iv), (e), 416.920(a)(4)(iv), (e). Finally, once a claimant establishes that he cannot perform his past relevant work due to some severe impairment, the burden shifts to the Commissioner to show that a significant number of jobs exist in the national economy that the claimant can perform. See id. §§ 404.1520(a)(4)(v), 416.920(a)(4)(v); Jones v. Apfel, 190 F.3d 1224, 1228 (11th Cir.1999). The ALJ must consider the combined effects of a claimant’s impairments throughout the disability determination process. Davis v. Shalala, 985 F.2d 528, 532 (11th Cir.1993).

Rodriguez alleges that the ALJ committed error at step three of the analysis. In particular, Rodriguez contends that he met Listing 12.05(B) or (C), relating to intellectual disability,1

[773]*773To qualify under Listing 12.05, Rodriguez must first meet the diagnostic criteria in Listing 12.05’s introductory paragraph. That is, Rodriguez must show that he has (i) significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (ii) with deficits in adaptive functioning (iii) that manifested before age twenty-two. Crayton v. Callahan, 120 F.3d 1217, 1219 (11th Cir.1997); 20 C.F.R. Pt. 404, Subpt. P, App’x 1, §§ 12.00(A), 12.05. A valid IQ score of below 70 creates a rebuttable presumption that a claimant manifested deficits in adaptive functioning before age twenty-two. Hodges v. Barnhart, 276 F.3d 1265, 1268-69 (11th Cir.2001).

Second, Rodriguez must meet the specific severity requirements of one of four subparagraphs, A through D. 20 C.F.R. Pt. 404, Subpt. P, App’x 1, § 12.05. Rodriguez contends that he meets or equals subpara-graphs B and C. Listing 12.05(B) requires a claimant to have “a valid verbal, performance, or full scale IQ of 59 or less.” Id. § 12.05(B). Listing 12.05(C) requires a claimant to show: (1) a valid verbal, performance, or full scale IQ of 60 through 70; and (2) a physical or other mental impairment imposing an additional and significant work-related limitation of function. Id. § 12.05(C).

Here, Rodriguez facially met the requirements of subparagraph C of Listing 12.05. He had a valid full-scale IQ score of 62 and an additional severe impairment — bipolar disorder. Lowery v. Sullivan, 979 F.2d 835, 837 (11th Cir.1992) (“Generally, a claimant meets the criteria for presumptive disability under section 12.05(C) when the claimant presents a valid I.Q. score of 60 to 70 inclusive, and evidence of an additional mental or physical impairment that has more than ‘minimal effect’ on the claimant’s ability to perform basic work activities.”). Under our precedent, a “severe” impairment, for purposes of step two, has a “significant work-related limitation of function” under 12.05(C).2 Id.; Davis, 985 F.2d at 531-32; see also Edwards by Edwards v. Heckler,

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633 F. App'x 770, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-v-commissioner-of-social-security-ca11-2015.