(SS) Gonzalez v. Commissioner of Social Security

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: August 16, 2024
• Docket: 1:24-cv-00135
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 VERONICA GONZALEZ, Case No. 1:24-cv-00135-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PARTIES’ STIPULATED MOTION TO REMAND 13 v. UNDER SENTENCE FOUR OF 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), REVERSING FINAL DECISION AND 14 MARTIN O’MALLEY, REMANDING CASE2 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL 15 SECURITY,1 (Doc. No. 18)

16 Defendant. ORDER MOOTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 17 (Doc. No. 16) 18

19 20 Pending before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to remand filed August 16, 2024. 21 (Doc. No. 18). Plaintiff Veronica Gonzalez and the Commissioner of Social Security agree that 22 this case should be remanded for further administrative proceedings under sentence four of 42 23 U.S.C. § 405(g). (Id.). 24 The United States Supreme Court held that the Social Security Act permits remand in 25 1 The Court has substituted Martin O’Malley, who has been appointed the Acting Commissioner of Social 26 Security, as the Defendant in this suit. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d). 2 Both parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 27 §636(c)(1). (Doc. No. 6).

28 1 | conjunction with a judgment either affirming, reversing, or modifying the Secretary’s decision. 2 | See Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89, 97-98 (1991) (addressing issue of attorney’s fees under 3 | the Equal Access to Justice Act and calculating deadline using date of final judgment). The 4 | Melkonyan court recognized 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) contemplates only two types of remand — 5 || sentence four or sentence six. /d. at 98. A sentence four remand authorizes a court to enter “a 6 | judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Secretary, with or without 7 | resetting the cause for a rehearing.” Jd. (other citations omitted). 8 The Court grants the parties’ motion to remand under sentence four and reverses the 9 | Commissioner’s final decision. As agreed upon by the parties, upon remand, the Commissioner 10 | will further develop the record as necessary, and issue a new decision. 11 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 12 1. Pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C.§ 405(g), the Court grants the joint motion to 13 remand (Doc. No. 18) and REVERSES the Commissioner’s decision. This case is 14 REMANDED to the Commissioner of Social Security for further proceedings 15 consistent with this Order. 16 2. A motion for attorney fees may be filed within thirty (30) days. 17 3. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 16) is MOOT. 18 4. The Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff, terminate any deadlines, and close 19 this case. 20 | Dated: _ August 16, 2024 Mihaw. Wh. foareh fackte 22 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 33 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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