Allen v. Bowen

• Decision Date: 07 May 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-8542,86-8542
• Parties: , Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 17,369 Lewis H. ALLEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 600

816 F.2d 600

17 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 433, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 17,369

Lewis H. ALLEN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, Secretary of Health and Human Services,

Defendant-Appellee.

No. 86-8542.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

May 7, 1987.

Thomas C. Chambers, III, Homerville, Ga., Robert Rosenblum, Savannah, Ga., for plaintiff-appellant.

Hinton R. Pierce, U.S. Atty., Augusta, Ga., Elyse S. Sharfman, Office of General Counsel, D.H.H.S., Atlanta, Ga., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Before RONEY, Chief Judge, HATCHETT, Circuit Judge, and TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge.

TUTTLE, Senior Circuit Judge:

This case concerns the Secretary's denial of a claimant's application for supplemental security income and disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act. As the Social Security appeals council disallowed review in this case, the administrative law judge's decision stands as the final decision of the Secretary. The district court, adopting a magistrate's findings, upheld the ALJ's decision to deny benefits. We affirm.

I.

Lewis Allen was 60 years old at the time of his administrative hearing on September 28, 1984. Allen, who holds a GED certificate, worked predominately as a repairer of major household appliances. Allen used small hand tools in his trade. He learned his job through observation and by attending refresher courses at General Electric.

In August, 1983, Allen suffered an injury to his left arm in an auto accident. His ability to use his left arm is now limited. Allen, who is right handed, also suffers from back and neck pain, claustrophobia, and hyperventilation. Allen ceased work shortly after the accident.

At Allen's hearing on the issue of his disability, the ALJ considered his medical evidence concerning the impairment of his left arm and shoulder and probable herniated cervical disc and found that Allen was indeed disabled to the extent that he could perform no more than sedentary work. A vocational expert testified that Allen possessed skills which were readily transferable to the job of small appliance repair, that Allen could adapt to this job, and that a significant number of such jobs exist in the economy. Utilizing the grids as a framework for decision making and on the basis of the medical and vocational evidence adduced at the hearing, the ALJ found Allen not disabled. The ALJ concluded that despite the claimant's limitations, he could still engage in substantial gainful employment which exists in the national economy. Allen assigns error to the sufficiency of the evidence relied on by the ALJ to reach this finding and to the appeals council's refusal to review his case.

II.

In order to establish entitlement to Social Security benefits the claimant must demonstrate an inability to perform his or her previous relevant work. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 335-36, 96 S.Ct. 893, 903, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976). Once this showing of disability is made, the burden shifts to the Secretary to show the existence of other types of substantial gainful employment that the claimant can perform. Western v. Harris, 633 F.2d 1204, 1206 (5th Cir.1981). ¹ Allen claims that once he established his disability, the Secretary failed to show through substantial evidence that his skills were transferable to other types of work existing in the economy.

A vocational expert's (VE) testimony supported the ALJ's finding concerning the transferability of Allen's skills and the existence of substantially gainful employment in the economy. The VE testified that Allen's skills from his prior experience as a large appliance repairman were transferable to other types of skilled bench work, one form being small appliance repair. The VE also testified that there are 174 such positions in the area where Allen resides. In addition to this testimony, the record contains evidence that there are some 1,600 general appliance repair jobs in the State of Georgia and some 80,000 such jobs nationwide. A considerable number of these general appliance repair jobs are in the small appliance field.

Allen complains that the Secretary failed to establish that the work he is able to perform exists in sufficient quantity to preclude a finding of disability. To show this, Allen cites the information he proffered to the appeals council with his request for review of the ALJ's decision. This evidence included statistics from the Georgia Department of Labor, a computer printout from the Georgia Career Information System, an excerpt from the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook, and copies of advertisements from yellow page telephone directories. Allen contends that this evidence undermines the Secretary's finding that a sufficient number of small appliance repair jobs exists in the economy.

In addressing Allen's claim, this Court must remain mindful of the standard of review that applies in this case. Here, we are bound by the substantial evidence standard: "The findings of the Secretary as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence shall be conclusive." 42 U.S.C. 405(g). Our role is limited in that we may not decide the facts anew or substitute our judgment for that of the Secretary. Graham v. Bowen, 790 F.2d 1572, 1574 (11th Cir.1986). If the Secretary's decision is supported by substantial evidence, it must stand. Id.

Here, the claimant's assertion that...