Urena v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec.

379 F. Supp. 3d 271
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 15, 2019
Docket17 Civ. 10077 (GWG)
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 379 F. Supp. 3d 271 (Urena v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Urena v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 379 F. Supp. 3d 271 (S.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

GABRIEL W. GORENSTEIN, United States Magistrate Judge *274Pro se plaintiff Dermy Urena seeks review of the Commissioner of Social Security's denial of her application for disability insurance benefits and supplement social security insurance. The Commissioner now moves for judgment on the pleadings.1 For the reasons stated below, the Commissioner's motion is granted.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Ms. Urena's Claim for Benefits and Procedural History

Ms. Urena first applied for disability insurance benefits on June 6, 2012, see Certified Administrative Record, filed June, 8, 2018 (Docket # 9) ("R."), at 48, and for supplemental security income on June 28, 2012, see R. 49, 96-111. Her applications listed a disability onset date of August 31, 2010. See R. 96, 105.

The Social Security Administration denied her applications on August 29, 2012. R. 52. Ms. Urena requested a hearing before an administrative law judge ("ALJ"), which occurred on August 8, 2013. R. 68-69; see R. 22-47. She was not represented by an attorney at the hearing. R. 24. In a written decision dated January 7, 2014, the ALJ denied Ms. Urena's application. R. 8-18. Ms. Urena requested a review of the ALJ's decision by the Appeals Council. R. 5-7. The Appeals Council denied this request on March 24, 2015. R. 1-4. Ms. Urena commenced a civil action in federal district court on May 1, 2015, and timely filed her complaint on that date pro se. See R. 385-88. On January 11, 2016, the district court remanded the case pursuant to the parties' stipulation. R. 397-99. On February 23, 2016, the Appeals Council vacated the ALJ's January 7, 2014, decision, giving specific instructions to the ALJ to evaluate certain medical opinions, develop the record, evaluate the claimant's impairments and residual functional capacity, and obtain vocational expert testimony. See R. 400-04.

On remand, a new hearing was held before a different ALJ on October 11, 2016. R. 345-66. On March 7, 2017, the ALJ issued a decision finding that Ms. Urena was not disabled. R. 325-38. On October 18, 2017, the Appeals Council denied review. R. 319-24. On December 22, 2017, Ms. Urena commenced this action. See Complaint, filed Dec. 22, 2017 (Docket # 2).

B. The Administrative Record and Medical Evidence

The Commissioner has provided a summary of the medical evidence contained in the administrative record. See Def. Mem. at 4-14. Plaintiff's submission does not object to the Commissioner's summary of the evidence. See Pl. Decl. Having examined the record, we adopt the Commissioner's summary as accurate and complete for the purposes of the issues raised in this suit. We discuss all the medical evidence pertinent to the adjudication of this case in section III below.

C. The March 7, 2017, Hearing Before the ALJ

Ms. Urena was not represented at the hearing held on October 11, 2016. R. 347. At the start of the hearing, the ALJ explained that she developed the medical record by sending Ms. Urena for an examination, *275and by requesting hospital records from Montefiore Medical Center. R. 348-49. The ALJ stated that she had not yet received psychiatric records from Montefiore but that she would keep the record open and send a follow-up request to obtain a complete record. R. 349.

Ms. Urena testified that she was born on December 14, 1968, and was 47 years old at the time of the hearing. R. 351. She was single and lived with her child, who was 14 years of age. R. 351-52. Her highest level of education was "some college." R. 352. The onset date of Ms. Urena's alleged disability was August 31, 2010. R. 351. During the hearing, Ms. Urena alleged that she experiences anxiety and panic attacks in noisy environments, R. 354-55, and in crowds, see R. 356; that she experiences depression that causes her to "not want[ ] to do anything," R. 359; and that she struggles with fear that she might "blackout and hurt someone," which causes her to shake and sometimes prevents her from leaving her house, see R. 360, 364.

During the hearing, Ms. Urena stated that she had worked since August 31, 2010, the alleged onset date of her disability. R. 352-55. She testified that she performed housekeeping work in the home of a person she knew on a sporadic basis, approximately two or three times per week, in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015. R. 352-53, 360-61. Ms. Urena stated that she was able to perform this work despite her anxiety because her employer "always gave [her] ... privacy" and left her alone in the house while she worked, and Ms. Urena would complete her work before anyone came home. R. 360-61. Ms. Urena also testified that she took a course and obtained a certificate in tax preparation from September 2015 through January 2016. R. 353. She subsequently worked as a tax preparer, but explained that her hours were cut after she "got sick ... a couple of times" while at work. R. 354. After her hours were cut to three days per week, and then to two days per week, she was let go in late March 2016. See R. 353-55. Ms. Urena testified that it was difficult for her to work in the office as a tax preparer when there was noise, but that "if it's quiet [she could] manage for a while, but then it bec[omes] ... overwhelming." R. 354-55.2 Once she becomes overwhelmed, Ms. Urena stated that she "get[s] anxiety and panic attacks," which she said would scare her coworkers. See R. 354-55. Ms. Urena also stated that her fears of blacking out and hurting someone have caused her to be afraid to leave the house, and to call into work to say that she cannot go. R. 364.

Ms. Urena testified that in a typical day, she would attend appointments, talk with her son, prepare his dinner, and watch television. R. 355. She stated that she does her laundry at home, and goes food shopping with a friend. R. 356. She testified that she does not go food shopping alone because "it's too crowded," and she does not like being in crowds. R. 356. For transportation, Ms. Urena testified that she takes taxis when she can afford it but will take buses when she cannot. R. 356. She testified that she leaves extra time to wait for an empty bus to arrive when she is traveling, and will not take trains because they are too crowded. R. 356-57. She testified that she sews to pass the time, R. 358, and that she is involved with her son's activities, but has to "force" herself to be involved because she will not allow him to see her in a depressed state, R. 359-60.

*276Ms. Urena testified that she takes Zoloft, Lamictal, Atarax, and Topamax, for her anxiety, R. 357, and attends therapy twice a month at Montefiore Medical Center, R. 357-58. She sees a psychiatrist every two months for medication refills. R. 358. Ms. Urena states that she does not sleep well, and at the time of the hearing could sleep straight for three hours due to drowsiness being a side effect of one of her medications. R. 358-59.

A vocational expert testified during Ms. Urena's hearing by telephone. See R. 361. The ALJ asked the vocational expert hypothetical questions about an individual of Ms.

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