Sito v. Commissioner of Social Security

229 F. Supp. 3d 633, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6094, 2017 WL 168496
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedJanuary 17, 2017
DocketCASE NO. 3:15 CV 2551
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 229 F. Supp. 3d 633 (Sito v. Commissioner of Social Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sito v. Commissioner of Social Security, 229 F. Supp. 3d 633, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6094, 2017 WL 168496 (N.D. Ohio 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

William H. Baughman, Jr., United States Magistrate Judge

Introduction

Before me1 is an action by Denise Renee Sito under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for judicial review of the final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security denying her application for disability insurance benefits.2 The Commissioner has answered3 and filed the transcript of the administrative record.4 Under my initial5 and procedural6 orders, the parties have briefed their positions7 and filed supplemental charts8 and the fact sheet.9 They have participated in a telephonic oral argument.10

Facts

A. Background facts and decision of the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”)

Sito who was 48 years old at the time of the administrative hearing,11 is a high school graduate12 who lives with her husband and his two children.13 Her past relevant work history includes employment as a cashier, waitress, bartender, small parts assembler, janitor and machine operator.14

The ALJ, whose decision became the final decision of the Commissioner, found that Sito had the following severe impairments: depression/dysthymie disorder (20 [637]*637CFR 404.1520(C)).15

After concluding that the relevant impairments did not meet or equal a listing, the ALJ made the following finding regarding Sito’s residual functional capacity (“RFC”):

After careful consideration of the entire record, the undersigned finds that, through the date last insured, the claimant had the residual functional capacity to perform a full range of work at all exertional levels but with the following non-exertional limitations: no climbing ladders and the like and no exposure to obvious hazards. The claimant could also: understand, carry out and remember simple instructions where the pace of productivity is not dictated by an external source over which the claimant has no control such as an assembly line or conveyor belt; make judgments on simple work, and respond appropriately to usual work situations and changes in a routine work setting that is repetitive from day to day with few and expected changes; and respond appropriately to supervision, the general public and coworkers.16

Based on that residual functional capacity, the ALJ found Sito capable of her past relevant work as a small parts assembler and, therefore, not under a disability.17

Based on an answer to a hypothetical question posed to the vocational expert at the hearing setting forth the residual functional capacity finding quoted above, the ALJ determined that a significant number of jobs existed locally and nationally that Sito could perform.18 The ALJ, therefore, found Sito not under a disability.19

B. Issues on judicial review

Sito asks for reversal of the Commissioner’s decision on the ground that it does not have the support of substantial evidence in the administrative record. Specifically, Sito presents the following issues for judicial review:

• Whether the final agency decision is not supported by substantial evidence because there were two separate administrative hearings but no explanation for if or why plaintiffs case may have been reassigned to a different ALJ after the first hearing. Thereby, the agency decision erred by failing to address plaintiffs testimony at the first hearing and the agency also violated plaintiffs constitutional due process rights.20
• Whether the ALJ found at Step 2 that plaintiffs . physical impairments were non-medially determinable impairments. This finding lacks the support of substantial evidence because the ALJ failed to properly consider plaintiffs physical impairments.21 v
• Whether the ALJ found at Step 3 that plaintiff has the RFC to perform a full range of work at all exertional levels with some non-exertional limitations. This finding lacks support of substantial evidence because the ALJ failed to properly consider the opinion evidence of record and failed to consider the combined effects of plaintiffs severe mental impairment and non-medieally determinable physical impairments.22
[638]*638• Whether the ALJ found at Step 3 that plaintiffs statements concerning the intensity, persistence and limiting effects of her symptoms are not entirely credible. This finding lacks support of substantial evidence because the reasons given by the ALJ for the credibility assessment are not supported by the evidence of the record.23
• Whether the ALJ found at Step 4 that, through the date last insured, plaintiff was capable of performing past relevant work as a small parts assembler and at Step 5 that plaintiff was capable of making a successful adjustment to other work that existed in significant numbers in the national economy. These findings lack the support of substantial evidence because the ALJ relied on responses to an incomplete hypothetical question, plaintiffs past work and the jobs identified by the YE are inconsistent with the ALJ’s RFC determination, and the ALJ’s errors at the previous steps make the Steps 4 and 5 findings inherently unsupported by substantial evidence.24
• Whether the Appeals Council erred as a matter of law in failing to consider new and material evidence.25

For the reasons that follow, I will conclude that the ALJ’s finding of no disability is not supported by substantial evidence and, therefore, must be reversed and remanded.

Analysis

A. Standards of review

1. Substantial evidence

The Sixth Circuit in Buxton v. Halter reemphasized the standard of review applicable to decisions of the ALJs in disability cases:

Congress has provided for federal court review of Social Security administrative decisions. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). However, the scope of review is limited under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g): “The findings of the Secretary as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive.... ” In other words, on review of the Commissioner’s decision that claimant is not totally disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act, the only issue reviewable by this court is whether the decision is supported by substantial evidence. Substantial evidence is ‘more than a mere scintilla. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.’ ”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
229 F. Supp. 3d 633, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6094, 2017 WL 168496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sito-v-commissioner-of-social-security-ohnd-2017.