Ryan v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec.

307 F. Supp. 3d 797
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedJuly 24, 2017
DocketCase No. 3:16–cv–124
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 307 F. Supp. 3d 797 (Ryan v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryan v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 307 F. Supp. 3d 797 (S.D. Ohio 2017).

Opinion

Michael J. Newman, United States Magistrate Judge

This is a Social Security disability benefits appeal. At issue is whether the Administrative *800Law Judge ("ALJ") erred in finding Plaintiff not "disabled" and therefore unentitled to Supplemental Security Income ("SSI"). This case is before the Court upon Plaintiff's Statement of Errors (doc. 10), the Commissioner's memorandum in opposition (doc. 11), the administrative record (docs. 6, 7, 8),2 and the record as a whole.

I.

A. Procedural History

Plaintiff filed for SSI on June 11, 2007 (PageID 170-75), alleging disability as a result of a number of alleged impairments including, inter alia , an anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD"). PageID 1839.

After initial denial of her application, Plaintiff received a hearing before ALJ Amelia Lombardo on February 12, 2010. PageID 80-101. ALJ Lombardo issued a written decision on April 23, 2010 finding Plaintiff not disabled. PageID 58-70. The Appeals Council denied Plaintiff's request for a review on April 8, 2011. PageID 76-79. After appealing to this Court, Judge Black reversed ALJ Lombardo's non-disability finding and remanded the case for further proceedings. Ryan v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. , No. 3:11-CV-191, 2012 WL 1132762, at *9 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 4, 2012).

On remand, Plaintiff received a second hearing before ALJ Lombardo on August 15, 2013. PageID 878-909. On November 20, 2013, ALJ Lombardo issued a second decision, again finding Plaintiff not disabled. PageID 856-69. Plaintiff did not seek Appeals Council review of ALJ Lombardo's second decision, and instead elected to file a complaint in this Court. See 20 C.F.R. § 416.1484(d) (stating that, in a case remanded by a federal court, "[i]f no exceptions are filed and the Appeals Council does not assume jurisdiction of [the] case, the decision of the [ALJ] becomes the final decision of the Commissioner after remand"); see also Ryan v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. , No. 3:14-cv-93, 2015 WL 4550546, at *2 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 12, 2015). On appeal, undersigned reversed ALJ Lombardo's second non-disability decision and again remanded the case to the Commissioner for further proceedings. Id. at 7.

On remand for the second time, Plaintiff received a third hearing on January 12, 2016, this time before ALJ Benjamin Chaykin. PageID 1937. On February 3, 2016, ALJ Chaykin issued a written decision finding Plaintiff not disabled. PageID 1830-45. Specifically, ALJ Chaykin found at Step 5 that, based upon Plaintiff's residual functional capacity ("RFC") to perform a reduced range of sedentary work,3 "there are jobs in that exist in significant numbers in the national economy that [Plaintiff] can perform[.]" PageID 1835-44. Plaintiff now timely appeals ALJ Chaykin's decision. See 20 C.F.R. § 416.1484(c) and (d).

B. Evidence of Record

The evidence of record is adequately summarized in ALJ Chaykin's decision (PageID 1835-1843), Plaintiff's Statement of Errors (doc. 10), and the Commissioner's memorandum in opposition (doc. 11). The undersigned incorporates all of the *801foregoing and sets forth the facts relevant to this appeal herein.

II.

A. Standard of Review

The Court's inquiry on a Social Security appeal is to determine (1) whether the ALJ's non-disability finding is supported by substantial evidence, and (2) whether the ALJ employed the correct legal criteria. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) ; Bowen v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 478 F.3d 742,745-46 (6th Cir. 2007). In performing this review, the Court must consider the record as a whole. Hephner v. Mathews , 574 F.2d 359, 362 (6th Cir. 1978).

Substantial evidence is "such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971). When substantial evidence supports the ALJ's denial of benefits, that finding must be affirmed, even if substantial evidence also exists in the record upon which the ALJ could have found Plaintiff disabled. Buxton v. Halter , 246 F.3d 762, 772 (6th Cir. 2001). Thus, the ALJ has a " 'zone of choice' within which he [or she] can act without the fear of court interference." Id. at 773.

The second judicial inquiry-reviewing the correctness of the ALJ's legal analysis-may result in reversal even if the ALJ's decision is supported by substantial evidence in the record. Rabbers v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. , 582 F.3d 647, 651 (6th Cir. 2009). "[A] decision of the Commissioner will not be upheld where the [Social Security Administration] fails to follow its own regulations and where that error prejudices a claimant on the merits or deprives the claimant of a substantial right." Bowen

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307 F. Supp. 3d 797, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryan-v-commr-of-soc-sec-ohsd-2017.