Williams v. O'Malley (CONSENT)

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedApril 12, 2024
Docket1:23-cv-00527
StatusUnknown

This text of Williams v. O'Malley (CONSENT) (Williams v. O'Malley (CONSENT)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. O'Malley (CONSENT), (M.D. Ala. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION

MARCUS WILLIAMS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) CASE NO. 1:23-CV-527-KFP ) MARTIN J. O’MALLEY, ) Commissioner of Social Security, ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), Plaintiff Marcus Williams filed this action seeking review of the Social Security Administration’s decision to deny his application for supplemental security income (SSI). The Court construes Williams’s supporting brief (Doc. 14) as a motion for summary judgment and the Commissioner’s opposition brief (Doc. 16) as a motion for summary judgment. After scrutiny of the record and motions submitted by the parties, the Court finds that Williams’s motion is due to be DENIED, the Commissioner’s motion is due to be GRANTED, and the decision of the Commissioner must be AFFIRMED. I. STANDARD OF REVIEW This Court’s role in reviewing claims brought under the Social Security Act is a narrow one. The scope is limited to determining whether substantial evidence in the record as a whole supports the Commissioner’s decision and whether the correct legal standards were applied. Winschel v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 631 F.3d 1176, 1178 (11th Cir. 2011). Substantial evidence is more than a scintilla but less than a preponderance. Martin v. Sullivan, 894 F.2d 1520, 1529 (11th Cir. 1990). The Court may not reweigh evidence or substitute its judgment for that of the Commissioner, and, even if the evidence

preponderates against the Commissioner’s factual findings, the Court must affirm if the decision is supported by substantial evidence. Winschel, 631 F.3d at 1178; Bloodsworth v. Heckler, 703 F.2d 1233, 1239 (11th Cir. 1983). II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Williams applied for SSI with an alleged disability onset date of November 3, 2019. R. 20. When his initial application and reconsideration appeal were denied, he requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. Id. The ALJ issued an unfavorable decision on December 2, 2022. R. 20–35. Williams filed no response to the ALJ’s decision. Thus, the hearing decision became the final decision of the Commissioner. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

III. THE ALJ’S DECISION

The ALJ found that Williams will continue to meet the disability insured status coverage requirements of the Social Security Act through December 31, 2024, and Williams has not engaged in any substantial gainful work activity since November 3, 2019. He determined that Williams suffered from certain severe physical impairments1 but, with respect to his mental impairments, Williams did not have an impairment or combination of impairments that meets or medically equals the severity of one of the listed impairments in

1 Williams’s physical impairments are not at issue in this appeal. 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1 (20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(d), 404.1525, and 404.1526). R. 25. Accordingly, he found Williams’s medically determinable mental impairments of adjustment disorder with depression and anxiety to be non-severe. The ALJ

then determined Williams’s residual functional capacity (RFC), based solely on his physical impairments, and found that he was unable to perform any past relevant work. He also determined, based on Williams’s age, education, work experience, and RFC, that jobs exist in the national economy that Williams can perform, specifically, a parts cleaner, small products assembler, and marker or labeler. R. 35. Thus, the ALJ concluded that Williams

is not disabled. Id. IV. WILLIAMS’S ARGUMENTS On appeal, Williams argues the ALJ failed to properly consider his mental conditions, creating error at step two by holding him to a higher burden than is required to satisfy the “threshold” inquiry of step two. This error, according to Williams, is

compounded by the ALJ’s failure to account for mental conditions in assessing the RFC and in the hypothetical posed to the Vocational Expert. 2 Doc. 14 at 6. In addition, Williams asserts that the ALJ improperly considered his medical conditions in evaluating the relevant medical opinions and that all the medical providers who assessed his mental impairments opined he had mental conditions that caused work-related limitations more

restrictive than the ALJ’s findings. Id. at 7. Thus, Williams argues, the ALJ impermissibly

2 Because the Court finds the ALJ did not commit error at step two, the ALJ’s assessment of the RFC, the hypothetical posed to the VE, and the ALJ’s evaluation of the medical opinions were not erroneously impacted by the step-two determination. Additionally, there is no other challenge raised in the appeal as to the RFC or the hypothetical. substituted his opinion for that of the medical professionals, and his opinion is not supported by substantial evidence. R. 8. In response, the Commissioner argues that substantial evidence supports the ALJ’s finding that Williams did not have a severe mental

impairment or mental limitations. Doc. 16 at 4. V. DISCUSSION A. The Step-two Analysis In evaluating step-two challenges, the district court must determine whether substantial evidence supported the ALJ’s findings that an impairment was not severe and

instead was only a slight abnormality that would not be expected to interfere with an individual’s ability to work. Brady v. Heckler, 724 F.2d 914, 920–21 (11th Cir. 1984). ‘“If you do not have any impairment or combination of impairments which significantly limits your physical or mental ability to do basic work activities, we will find that you do not have a severe impairment and are, therefore, not disabled. We will not consider your age,

education, and work experience.”’ McDaniel v. Bowen, 800 F.2d 1026, 1031 (11th Cir. 1986) (quoting 20 C.F.R. § 416.920(c)). “With regard to step two of the sequential process, an impairment is severe if it significantly limits claimant’s physical or mental ability to do basic work activities.” Manzo v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 408 F. App’x 265, 268 (11th Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “Unless the claimant can prove, as

early as step two, that she is suffering from a severe impairment, she will be denied disability benefits.” McDaniel, 800 F.2d at 1031. Step two is a threshold inquiry. It allows only claims based on the most trivial impairments to be rejected. The claimant’s burden at step two is mild. An impairment is not severe only if the abnormality is so slight and its effect so minimal that it would clearly not be expected to interfere with the individual’s ability to work, irrespective of age, education, or work experience. Claimant need show only that her impairment is not so slight and its effect is not so minimal. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
Williams v. O'Malley (CONSENT), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-omalley-consent-almd-2024.