Dale v. Colvin

• Decision Date: 19 May 2016
• Docket Number: No. 14–35583.,14–35583.
• Parties: Sarah E. DALE, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Carolyn W. COLVIN, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

823 F.3d 941

Sarah E. DALE, Plaintiff–Appellant
v.
Carolyn W. COLVIN, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 14–35583.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Submitted Dec. 31, 2015.^*
Filed May 19, 2016.

823 F.3d 942

Merrill Schneider, Schneider, Kerr & Gibney Law Offices, Portland, OR, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Lisa Goldoftas, Assistant Regional Counsel, David Morado, Regional Chief Counsel, Social Security Administration, Office of the General Counsel; Ronald K. Silver, Assistant United States Attorney, and S. Amanda Marshall, United States Attorney, Seattle, WA, for Defendant–Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, Marco A. Hernandez, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 3:13–cv–01187–HZ.

Before: EDWARD LEAVY, SUSAN P. GRABER, and JOHN B. OWENS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge GRABER ; Dissent by Judge LEAVY.

OPINION

GRABER, Circuit Judge:

Claimant Sarah E. Dale appeals the district court's judgment affirming the Commissioner of Social Security's denial of her application for supplemental security income under Title XVI of the Social Security Act. An administrative law judge (“ALJ”) found that, despite having severe impairments, Claimant is not disabled. The sole issue on appeal is whether the ALJ erred in according “limited weight” to the opinion of a nurse practitioner. We hold that the ALJ did err and, therefore, reverse and remand for further proceedings.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Claimant was born in 1985. She had a difficult childhood, experiencing both sexual and physical abuse; frequent moves; exposure to violence and drugs; and the death of her mother when she was 12 years old. At age 17, she earned a GED, which is the equivalent of a high school diploma. She also completed a residential drug treatment program to deal with methamphetamine use. Claimant has two young children and a minimal work history.

823 F.3d 943

In late 2009, Claimant filed an application for supplemental security income, alleging that she had been disabled since January 1, 2007. Claimant alleged that her disability resulted from post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”), anxiety, panic disorder, degenerative disc disease, high blood pressure, and dyslexia. The claim was denied initially and on reconsideration.

At Claimant's request, a hearing was held on her claim. The ALJ received testimony from Claimant, a lay witness, and a vocational expert. The ALJ also reviewed the medical records. Applying the familiar five-step sequential evaluation, 20 C.F.R. § 416.920, the ALJ denied benefits, concluding:

• Step One: Claimant had not engaged in substantial gainful activity since her application date.

• Step Two: Claimant had severe impairments, specifically, mild degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine; minimal disc bulging in the cervical spine; anxiety; and panic disorder.

• Step Three: Claimant's impairments did not meet or equal a listed impairment.

• Step Four: Claimant had no past relevant work.

• Step Five: Claimant's residual functional capacity (“RFC”) allowed her to perform light work, except that she could occasionally climb ladders, ropes, and scaffolds and could frequently climb ramps and stairs. Claimant could frequently balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, and crawl. She could reach overhead with her left arm, occasionally. But she was limited to performing simple, routine tasks that involved no more than occasional interaction with coworkers and the public. The ALJ next found that there were jobs that existed in significant numbers in the national economy that Claimant could perform, including assembler, cleaner/polisher, and night cleaner or housekeeper. Thus, Claimant was not disabled.

The Appeals Council denied Claimant's request for review, making the ALJ's decision the Commissioner's final decision. The district court affirmed the Commissioner's decision and dismissed the case with prejudice. This timely appeal followed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the district court's decision de novo. Valentine v. Comm'r Soc. Sec. Admin., 574 F.3d 685, 690 (9th Cir.2009). We must affirm the Commissioner's final decision if it is supported by substantial evidence and is free of legal error. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

DISCUSSION

The sole issue on appeal is whether, at Step Five, the ALJ erred by improperly evaluating the opinion of Laurie Beeson, a family nurse practitioner. Nurse practitioners are considered “other sources.” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1513(a) & (d)(1) ; Britton v. Colvin, 787 F.3d 1011, 1013 (9th Cir.2015) (per curiam). “The ALJ may discount testimony from these ‘other sources' if the ALJ ‘gives reasons germane to each witness for doing so.’ ” Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104, 1111 (9th Cir.2012) (quoting Turner v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 613 F.3d 1217, 1224 (9th Cir.2010) ).

Beeson completed a medical questionnaire in 2012. Beeson provided opinions concerning both Claimant's physical limitations and her mental limitations. Beeson had been treating Claimant for about three years. She opined that Claimant's medical conditions included chronic back pain, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder

823 F.3d 944

(with agoraphobia and panic attacks), PTSD, obesity, incontinence, hypertension, left shoulder pain, and chronic leg pain. Claimant's main problems consisted of panic disorder, agoraphobia, and lower back pain with sciatica in the left leg.

With respect to Claimant's physical functional capacity, Beeson stated that Claimant could lift or carry less than ten pounds frequently and occasionally, stand or walk fifteen minutes at a time for a total of two hours per day, and sit two hours at a time for a total of eight hours per day. Claimant was limited in both upper and lower extremities; Claimant's ability to push and pull was limited, she could never climb, balance, crouch, or crawl, and she could occasionally stoop, bend, kneel, and engage in gross manipulation.

With respect to mental impairments, Beeson opined that Claimant was moderately limited in concentration, persistence, and pace. Because of her fear of leaving her house, Claimant's social functioning was markedly limited due to agoraphobia. Claimant's ability to handle the stress of performing even simple, routine work was limited by what Beeson considered a “severe anxiety disorder.” Claimant's attention and concentration would likely be impaired such that she would be unable to perform even simple work tasks for 20 percent of the workweek. Because of Claimant's mental impairments, Beeson expected her to miss 16 hours or more per month from even a simple and routine sedentary job. The vocational expert testified that a person with those mental limitations would not be able to perform any jobs in the economy.

The record also contained opinions from a non-examining physician, a non-examining psychologist, and an examining neurologist. The ALJ gave “great weight” to the psychologist's opinion but only “limited weight” to Beeson's opinion. The ALJ's reason for discounting Beeson's opinion reads, in full:

Overall, the longitudinal record, including Ms. Beeson's treatment notes[, does] not objectively support the degree of exertional and postural limitation that she proposes. Nevertheless, the residual functional capacity found in this decision includes manipulative and mental limitations that are generally consistent with Ms. Beeson's assessment.

That is, the ALJ found a single inconsistency: Beeson's evaluation of Claimant's exertional and postural limitations was not supported by her own treatment notes. By contrast, the ALJ gave no reason—germane or otherwise—to discount Beeson's assessment of Claimant's manipulative and mental limitations, which differed from the assessment given by the psychologist to whose opinion the ALJ deferred. And, of course, we are limited to considering the reasons the agency gave for its decision. Bray v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 554 F.3d 1219, 1225–26 (9th Cir.2009).

Typically, of course, the reason for discounting an “other” source applies to the entire testimony of the witness. For example, in Turn...