Biestek v. Berryhill

• Decision Date: 01 April 2019
• Docket Number: No. 17-1184,17-1184
• Citation: 139 S.Ct. 1148,203 L.Ed.2d 504
• Parties: Michael J. BIESTEK, Petitioner v. Nancy A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of Social Security
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

139 S.Ct. 1148

203 L.Ed.2d 504

Michael J. BIESTEK, Petitioner

v.Nancy A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of Social Security

No. 17-1184

Supreme Court of the United States.

Argued December 4, 2018

Decided April 1, 2019

Noel J. Francisco, Solicitor General, Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General, Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy Solicitor General, Anthony A. Yang, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Alisa B. Klein, Rachel F. Homer, Attorneys, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Frederick J. Daley, Jr., Meredith Marcus, Daley Disability Law, PC, Chicago, IL, Ishan K. Bhabha, Natacha Y. Lam, Lauren J. Hartz, Jenner & Block LLP, Washington, DC, for Petitioner.

Justice KAGAN delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides benefits to individuals who cannot obtain work because of a physical or mental disability

. To determine whether an applicant is entitled to benefits, the agency may hold an informal hearing examining (among other things) the kind and number of jobs available for someone with the applicant's disability and other characteristics. The agency's factual findings on that score are "conclusive" in judicial review of the benefits decision so long as they are supported by "substantial evidence." 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

This case arises from the SSA's reliance on an expert's testimony about the availability of certain jobs in the economy. The expert largely based her opinion on private market-survey data. The question presented is whether her refusal to provide that data upon the applicant's request categorically precludes her testimony from counting as "substantial evidence." We hold it does not.

I

Petitioner Michael Biestek once worked as a carpenter and general laborer on construction sites. But he stopped working after he developed degenerative disc disease

, Hepatitis C, and depression. He then applied for social security disability benefits, claiming eligibility as of October 2009.

After some preliminary proceedings, the SSA assigned an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to hold a hearing on Biestek's application. Those hearings, as described in the Social Security Act, 49 Stat. 620, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 301 et seq. , are recognizably adjudicative in nature. The ALJ may "receive evidence" and "examine witnesses" about the contested issues in a case. §§ 405(b)(1), 1383(c) (1)(A). But many of the rules governing such hearings are less rigid than those a court would follow. See Richardson v. Perales , 402 U.S. 389, 400–401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971). An ALJ is to conduct a disability hearing in "an informal, non-adversarial manner." 20 CFR § 404.900(b) (2018) ; § 416.1400(b). Most notably, an ALJ may receive evidence in a disability hearing that "would not be admissible in court." §§ 404.950(c), 416.1450(c); see 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(b) (1), 1383(c)(1)(A).

To rule on Biestek's application, the ALJ had to determine whether the former construction laborer could successfully transition to less physically demanding work. That required exploring two issues. The ALJ needed to identify the types of jobs Biestek could perform notwithstanding his disabilities. See 20 CFR §§ 404.1560(c)(1), 416.960(c)(1). And the ALJ needed to ascertain whether those kinds of jobs "exist[ed] in significant numbers in the national economy." §§ 404.1560(c)(1), 416.960(c)(1) ; see §§ 404.1566, 416.966.

For guidance on such questions, ALJs often seek the views of "vocational experts." See §§ 404.1566(e), 416.966(e); SSA, Hearings, Appeals, and Litigation Law Manual I–2–5–50 (Aug. 29, 2014). Those experts are professionals under contract with SSA to provide impartial testimony in agency proceedings. See id. , at I–2–1–31.B.1 (June 16, 2016); id. , at I–2–5–48. They must have "expertise" and "current knowledge" of "[w]orking conditions and physical demands of various" jobs; "[k]nowledge of the existence and numbers of [those jobs] in the national economy"; and "[i]nvolvement in or knowledge of placing adult workers[ ] with disabilities[ ] into jobs." Id. , at I–2–1–31.B.1. Many vocational experts simultaneously work in the private sector locating employment for persons with disabilities. See C. Kubitschek & J. Dubin, Social Security Disability Law & Procedure in Federal Court § 3:89 (2019). When offering testimony, the experts may invoke not only publicly available sources but also "information obtained directly from employers" and data otherwise developed from their own "experience in job placement or career counseling." Social Security Ruling, SSR 00–4p, 65 Fed. Reg. 75760 (2000).

At Biestek's hearing, the ALJ asked a vocational expert named Erin O'Callaghan to identify a sampling of "sedentary" jobs that a person with Biestek's disabilities, education, and job history could perform. Tr. 59 (July 21, 2015); see 20 CFR §§ 404.1567(a), 416.967(a) (defining a "sedentary" job as one that "involves sitting" and requires "lifting no more than 10 pounds"). O'Callaghan had served as a vocational expert in SSA proceedings for five years; she also had more than ten years' experience counseling people with disabilities about employment opportunities. See Stachowiak v. Commissioner of Social Security , 2013 WL 593825, *1 (E.D. Mich., Jan. 11, 2013) ; Record in No. 16–10422 (ED Mich.), Doc. 17–13, p. 1274 (resume). In response to the ALJ's query, O'Callaghan listed sedentary jobs "such as a bench assembler [or] sorter" that did not require many skills. Tr. 58–59. And she further testified that 240,000 bench assembler jobs and 120,000 sorter jobs existed in the national economy. See ibid.

On cross-examination, Biestek's attorney asked O'Callaghan "where [she was] getting those [numbers] from." Id. , at 71. O'Callaghan replied that they came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and her "own individual labor market surveys." Ibid. The lawyer then requested that O'Callaghan turn over the private surveys so he could review them. Ibid. O'Callaghan responded that she wished to keep the surveys confidential because they were "part of [her] client files." Id ., at 72. The lawyer suggested that O'Callaghan could "take the clients' names out." Ibid. But at that point the ALJ interjected that he "would not require" O'Callaghan to produce the files in any form. Ibid. Biestek's counsel asked no further questions about the basis for O'Callaghan's assembler and sorter numbers.

After the hearing concluded, the ALJ issued a decision granting Biestek's application in part and denying it in part. According to the ALJ, Biestek was entitled to benefits beginning in May 2013, when his advancing age (he turned fifty that month) adversely affected his ability to find employment. See App. to Pet. for Cert. 19a, 112a–113a. But before that time, the ALJ held, Biestek's disabilities should not have prevented a "successful adjustment to other work." Id. , at 110a–112a. The ALJ based that conclusion on O'Callaghan's testimony about the availability in the economy of "sedentary unskilled occupations such as bench assembler [or] sorter."Id. , at 111a (emphasis deleted).

Biestek sought review in federal court of the ALJ's denial of benefits for the period between October 2009 and May 2013. On judicial review, an ALJ's factual findings—such as the determination that Biestek could have found sedentary work—"shall be conclusive" if supported by "substantial evidence." 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) ; see supra , at 1151. Biestek contended that O'Callaghan's testimony could not possibly constitute such evidence because she had declined, upon request, to produce her supporting data. See Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment in No. 16–10422 (ED Mich.), Doc. 22, p. 23. But the District Court rejected that argument. See 2017 WL 1173775, *2 (Mar. 30, 2017). And the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed. See Biestek v. Commissioner of Social Security , 880 F.3d 778 (2017). That court recognized that the Seventh Circuit had adopted the categorical rule Biestek proposed, precluding a vocational expert's testimony from qualifying as substantial if the expert had declined an applicant's request to provide supporting data. See id. , at 790 (citing McKinnie v. Barnhart , 368 F.3d 907, 910–911 (2004) ). But that rule, the Sixth Circuit observed in joining the ranks of unconvinced courts, "ha[d] not been a popular export." 880 F.3d at 790 (internal quotation marks omitted).

And no more is it so today.

II

The phrase "substantial evidence" is a "term of art" used throughout administrative law to describe how courts are to review agency factfinding. T-Mobile South , LLC v. Roswell , 574 U.S. ––––, ––––, 135 S.Ct. 808, 815, 190 L.Ed.2d 679 (2015). Under the substantial-evidence standard, a court looks to an existing administrative record and asks whether it contains "sufficien[t] evidence" to support the agency's factual determinations. Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB , 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938) (emphasis deleted). And whatever the meaning of "substantial" in other contexts, the threshold for such evidentiary sufficiency is not high. Substantial evidence, this Court has said, is "more than a mere scintilla." Ibid. ; see, e.g. , Perales , 402 U.S. at 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420 (internal quotation marks omitted). It means—and means only—"such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Consolidated Edison , 305 U.S. at 229, 59 S.Ct. 206. See Dickinson v. Zurko , 527 U.S. 150, 153, 119 S.Ct. 1816, 144 L.Ed.2d 143 (1999) (comparing the substantial-evidence standard to the deferential clearly-erroneous standard).

Today, Biestek argues that the testimony of a vocational expert who (like O'Callaghan) refuses a request for supporting data about job availability can never clear the substantial-evidence bar. See Brief for Petitioner 21–34. As that formulation makes clear, Biestek's proposed rule is categorical, rendering expert testimony insufficient to sustain an ALJ's factfinding whenever such a refusal...