Smith v. Berryhill

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 17, 2020
Docket1:18-cv-01251
StatusUnknown

This text of Smith v. Berryhill (Smith v. Berryhill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Berryhill, (W.D. Tenn. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE WESTERN DIVISION

ASHLEY M. SMITH, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 18-1251-TMP ) ANDREW M. SAUL, ) COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL ) SECURITY, ) ) Defendant. )

ORDER REVERSING THE DECISION OF THE COMMISSIONER AND REMANDING CASE PURSUANT TO SENTENCE FOUR OF 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)

Before the court is plaintiff Ashley M. Smith’s appeal from a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security (“Commissioner”) denying her application for supplemental security income under Title XVI of the Social Security Act (“the Act”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 1381-1385. The parties have consented to the jurisdiction of the United States magistrate judge under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). (ECF No. 12.) For the reasons below, the decision is reversed and remanded pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). I. FINDINGS OF FACT On August 11, 2015, Smith applied for supplemental security income under Title XVI of the Act. (R. 135.) Smith alleged disability beginning on August 4, 2015, due to asthma, depression, anxiety, chronic cystitis, bipolar disorder, and restless leg syndrome. (R. 159.) Smith’s application was denied initially and upon reconsideration by the Social Security Administration (“SSA”). (R. 40-79.) At Smith’s request, a hearing was held before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) on August 23, 2017. (R. 29.)

After considering the record and the testimony given at the hearing, the ALJ used the five-step analysis to conclude that Smith was not disabled from August 4, 2015, through the date of his decision. (R. 23.) At the first step, the ALJ found that Smith had not “engaged in substantial gainful activity since August 4, 2015[.]” (R. 17.) At the second step, the ALJ concluded that Smith suffers from the following severe impairments: asthma, affective mood disorder, and personality disorder. (R. 17.) At the third step, the ALJ concluded that Smith’s impairments do not meet or medically equal, either alone or in the aggregate, one of the impairments listed in 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1. (R. 17.) Accordingly, the ALJ had to then determine whether Smith

retained the residual functional capacity (“RFC”) to perform past relevant work or could adjust to other work. The ALJ found that: [Smith] has the residual functional capacity to perform a full range of work at all exertional levels, but with the following nonexertional limitations: should avoid concentrated exposure to dusts, fumes, odors, gases, poor ventilation, and other pulmonary irritants; can understand and remember for simple and detailed tasks and can sustain concentration and persistence for the above tasks; cannot work with the public but can interact infrequently with supervisors and coworkers; and can set goals on a limited basis and adapt to infrequent change.

-2- (R. 19.) The ALJ then found at step four that Smith was unable to perform any of her past relevant work. (R. 22.) However, at step five the ALJ found that considering Smith’s age, education, work experience, and RFC, there are jobs that exist in significant numbers in the national economy that Smith can perform. (R. 22.) Accordingly, on October 2, 2017, the ALJ issued a decision denying Smith’s request for benefits after finding that Smith was not under a disability because she retained the RFC to adjust to work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy. (R. 23.)

On October 30, 2018, the SSA’s Appeals Council denied Smith’s request for review. (R. 1.) The ALJ’s decision then became the final decision of the Commissioner. (R. 1.) On December 21, 2018, Smith filed the instant action. Smith argues that: (1) the ALJ failed to comply with the treating source rule in evaluating the opinion of Dr. Sylvester Nwedo, Smith’s psychiatrist; (2) the ALJ erred in not calling a vocational expert to testify at the hearing and instead relying on the medical- vocational guidelines established by SSA regulation at Step Five; and (3) the ALJ’s decision on Smith’s RFC is not supported by substantial evidence. Because reversal and remand is justified

based on the ALJ’s failure to comply with the treating source rule, the court only addresses Smith’s first argument here.

-3- II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW A. Standard of Review Under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), a claimant may obtain judicial

review of any final decision made by the Commissioner after a hearing to which he or she was a party. “The court shall have power to enter, upon the pleadings and transcript of the record, a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing.” 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Judicial review of the Commissioner’s decision is limited to whether there is substantial evidence to support the decision and whether the Commissioner used the proper legal criteria in making the decision. Id.; Cardew v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 896 F.3d 742, 745 (6th Cir. 2018); Cole v. Astrue, 661 F.3d 931, 937 (6th Cir. 2011); Rogers v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 486 F.3d 234, 241 (6th Cir. 2007). Substantial evidence

is more than a scintilla of evidence but less than a preponderance, and is “such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Kirk v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 667 F.2d 524, 535 (6th Cir. 1981) (quoting Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401 (1971)). In determining whether substantial evidence exists, the reviewing court must examine the evidence in the record as a whole

-4- and “must ‘take into account whatever in the record fairly detracts from its weight.’” Abbott v. Sullivan, 905 F.2d 918, 923 (6th Cir. 1990) (quoting Garner v. Heckler, 745 F.2d 383, 388 (6th Cir.

1984)). If substantial evidence is found to support the Commissioner’s decision, however, the court must affirm that decision and “may not even inquire whether the record could support a decision the other way.” Barker v. Shalala, 40 F.3d 789, 794 (6th Cir. 1994) (quoting Smith v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 893 F.2d 106, 108 (6th Cir. 1989)). Similarly, the court may not try the case de novo, resolve conflicts in the evidence, or decide questions of credibility. Ulman v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 693 F.3d 709, 713 (6th Cir. 2012) (citing Bass v. McMahon,

Related

Richardson v. Perales
402 U.S. 389 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Kirk v. Secretary of Health and Human Services
667 F.2d 524 (Sixth Circuit, 1981)
Robert M. Wilson v. Commissioner of Social Security
378 F.3d 541 (Sixth Circuit, 2004)
Debra Rogers v. Commissioner of Social Security
486 F.3d 234 (Sixth Circuit, 2007)
Lynn Ulman v. Commissioner of Social Security
693 F.3d 709 (Sixth Circuit, 2012)
Cheryl Minor v. Commissioner of Social Security
513 F. App'x 417 (Sixth Circuit, 2013)
Charles Gayheart v. Commissioner of Social Security
710 F.3d 365 (Sixth Circuit, 2013)
Blakley v. Commissioner of Social Security
581 F.3d 399 (Sixth Circuit, 2009)
Bass v. McMahon
499 F.3d 506 (Sixth Circuit, 2007)
Hensley v. Astrue
573 F.3d 263 (Sixth Circuit, 2009)
Steven Friend v. Commissioner of Social Security
375 F. App'x 543 (Sixth Circuit, 2010)
Belinda Oliver v. Comm'r of Social Security
415 F. App'x 681 (Sixth Circuit, 2011)
Patrick Sawdy v. Commissioner of Social Security
436 F. App'x 551 (Sixth Circuit, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
Smith v. Berryhill, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-berryhill-tnwd-2020.