Walker v. Califano

455 F. Supp. 330, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16197
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. North Carolina
DecidedAugust 3, 1978
DocketNo. C-C-76-235
StatusPublished

This text of 455 F. Supp. 330 (Walker v. Califano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Walker v. Califano, 455 F. Supp. 330, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16197 (W.D.N.C. 1978).

Opinion

ORDER

McMILLAN, District Judge.

This case is before the court for review of a final decision of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare denying plaintiff’s applications for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security benefits. Plaintiff’s various applications were filed on October 9, 1973, December 3, 1973, and February 4, 1974. An earlier application, filed in 1972 and denied in 1973, is not involved in this case.

Plaintiff’s applications were initially denied and denied again after reconsideration. She requested and was given a hearing before an administrative law judge. On the basis of the testimony at the hearing and the medical records in the file the administrative law judge determined that plaintiff had been disabled since April 26, 1971, that her disability had lasted and was [331]*331likely to last for a continuous period of more than twelve months, and that she was entitled to benefits.

On its own motion the Appeals Council ordered additional medical examinations of plaintiff and, on the basis of the record before the administrative law judge and the new medical information, reversed the decision awarding benefits.

Both parties have moved for summary judgment, and the case is now ready for decision. The only issue is whether the Secretary’s decision is supported by substantial evidence in the record. For the reasons which follow I conclude that it is not and that the decision of the Appeals Council should be reversed.

At the time of the hearing before the administrative law judge plaintiff was fifty years old, five feet four inches tall and one hundred and seventy-four pounds. She had spent twenty eight years working as a winder operator in various cotton mills and, in the last two years of employment, had worked briefly as a waitress and then as a change maker at a pool room and an amusement park. She had no formal education beyond the fifth grade. Plaintiff claimed that she had become disabled as of April, 1971, due to spinal arthritis, stomach trouble, nerves, hernia, “filling up with fluid,” muscle spasms, an enlarged liver, a stab wound and goiter.

The administrative law judge based his decision not so much on the objective findings regarding plaintiff’s claimed physical impairments as on the evidence in the record with respect to emotional or psychological disability. He stated:

“The medical evidence of record furnished us with diagnoses of degenerative disc disease, goiter, and carpal tunnel syndrome, most of which do not seem to be severe enough to be causing claimant’s alleged symptomatology. She is, however, being treated with multiple drug therapy including Darvocet, Tylenol, Robaxin, phenobarbital, Choledyl, thyroid, diuretics, ear drops, penicillin, etc. Certainly claimant sincerely believes she is acutely ill and it was apparent that she does have arthritic swelling on the distal joints of her fingers. It is also apparent that claimant suffers from severe emotional problems which have been diagnosed as anxiety reaction, depression and conversion reaction. The vocational expert testified that claimant has been and is incapable of performing any work activity since April 1971 because of a combination of multiple physical and mental impairments. Due to claimant’s limited education and intelligence, the prognosis for recovery is quite guarded even with psychotherapy.”

Plaintiff’s principal complaints at the hearing were her nervousness and her problems with her hands and her left arm. Plaintiff stated that she would frequently experience pain and weakening in her left arm and that the arm would “go dead.” It was because of this problem with her arm that she stopped work as a winder operator. Since she last worked in April 1971, plaintiff had only once attempted to find another job. She was sent by the welfare department to a local hospital where she was given a job putting labels on bottles. Plaintiff testified that she had only worked one hour at the hospital and had been sent home because of the weakness and swelling in her hands and because she was “too nervous.” Record p. 47. She stated that she had not been able to work as a waitress because she was too nervous to work around all the customers in the restaurant. Record p. 62. Her job as a change maker required her to wear an apron filled with coins and to walk around the grounds of an amusement park. She quit this job because the weight of the apron pulling on her back caused pain.

Plaintiff testified that the main sources of pain were in her lower back and in her shoulders and neck, radiating down into her arms. She claimed that her fingers would frequently swell and stiffen, making working with her hands difficult. The administrative law judge himself observed at the hearing that plaintiff’s fingers were swollen. Record p. 71. Plaintiff stated that when her arm went dead she could not pick [332]*332up a cup of coffee, that she had difficulty standing for more than one hour and that she couldn’t walk more than two or three blocks. She also mentioned a choking sensation due to her goiter condition. At the time of the hearing plaintiff was taking pain medication, tranquilizers, pills to reduce fluid accumulation, a muscle relaxant and medication for goiter.

Throughout the hearing her constant complaint was about the state of her “nerves.” At one point in the hearing plaintiff’s counsel remarked on her behavior:

“MRS. GREEN: I notice you keep working with your hands. Is that because they bother you, or because you’re nervous?
“CLAIMANT: I’m nervous. I don’t mean to be doing it.”

Record p. 77. The administrative law judge’s findings suggest that he, too, observed significant anxiety in plaintiff’s behavior throughout the hearing.

In addition to plaintiff’s own testimony the administrative law judge heard testimony from Dr. (Ph.D., psychology) George Demos, a vocational expert with experience in psychotherapy and counseling. Dr. Demos’ opinion was unequivocal:

“It is my opinion the claimant is, in my judgment, unable to work at any full-time gainful work activities. The combination of the many impairments that she described that are also documented, some of which are documented in the medical evidence, coupled with the obvious emotional aspects of the case, the overlay of possible hysteria, conversion hysteria, which was indicated in the record and is obvious from her testimony; the necessity of taking heavy medication, particularly Triville [sic] 425, which is a [sic] antidepressant-tranquilizer combination, all of which indicates apparent emotional disturbance as well as physical impairments which would, as she indicated in her testimony, make it extremely difficult for her to relate with people, to stay at a job, even the most simple job such as she was tried out at, simply putting labels on bottles, which is about as sedentary of work as one could find. Coupled with and in addition to that, the inability of finger dexterity, obviously her arthritic condition in her hands and the syndrome that she also has with the wrist and fingers, and affects her finger dexterity to such a degree where most of the jobs that a person with her background of experience could do, mainly sedentary or light assembly, inspection type jobs would require much more dexterity than she obviously has.”

Record pp. 79-80. (Emphasis added.) Dr.

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Related

Kelly v. Matthews
420 F. Supp. 359 (W.D. North Carolina, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
455 F. Supp. 330, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-califano-ncwd-1978.