Bracksieck v. Saul

• Decision Date: 20 June 2019
• Docket Number: No. 2:18-cv-00661 AC,2:18-cv-00661 AC
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California
• Parties: GREGORY ALAN BRACKSIECK, Plaintiff, v. ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.

GREGORY ALAN BRACKSIECK, Plaintiff, v. ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security,¹ Defendant.

No. 2:18-cv-00661 AC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

June 20, 2019

ORDER

Plaintiff seeks judicial review of a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security ("Commissioner") granting him disability insurance benefits ("DIB") for a closed period from August 11, 2014 through April 28, 2016, and denying him DIB thereafter. Benefits were sought under Title II of the Social Security Act ("the Act"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 401-34, and under Part A of Title XVIII of the Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395(c) et seq.² The Commissioner determined that plaintiff had been disabled during the closed period due to a severe spine impairment, but that his disability ceased on April 29, 2016, when he experienced a medical improvement followingspinal surgery. For the reasons that follow, plaintiff's motion for summary judgment will be GRANTED, and defendant's cross-motion for summary judgment will be DENIED.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff applied for DIB on September 16, 2014. Administrative Record ("AR") 17.³ The disability onset date was alleged to be August 11, 2014. Id. The application was disapproved initially and on reconsideration. AR 86-93, 95-103. On September 23, 2016, ALJ Sheila Walters presided over the hearing on plaintiff's challenge to the disapprovals. AR 55-85 (transcript). Plaintiff, who appeared with his counsel, Ms. Langley Kreuze, was present at the hearing. AR 57. Mr. Stephen Schmidt, a Vocational Expert ("VE"), also testified at the hearing. Id.

On December 21, 2016, the ALJ found that plaintiff was disabled from August 11, 2014 through April 28, 2016, but improved following surgery and was no longer disabled as of April 29, 2016. AR 17-30 (decision). On January 22, 2018, the Appeals Council denied plaintiff's request for review, leaving the ALJ's decision as the final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security. AR 1-3.

Plaintiff filed this action on March 9, 2018. ECF No. 1; see 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). The parties consented to the jurisdiction of the magistrate judge. ECF Nos. 5, 9. The parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, based upon the Administrative Record filed by the Commissioner, have been fully briefed. ECF Nos. 14 (plaintiff's summary judgment motion), 14 (Commissioner's cross-motion for summary judgment), 16 (plaintiff's reply).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff was born in 1959, and accordingly was, at age 55, a "[p]erson of advanced age" under the regulations, 20 C.F.R. § 404.1563(e), when he filed his application. AR 208. Plaintiff has at least a high school education, and can communicate in English. AR 62-63, 203. Plaintiff worked as an estimator for a construction company from 2010 - 2014. AR 203.

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III. LEGAL STANDARDS

The Commissioner's decision that a claimant is not disabled will be upheld "if it is supported by substantial evidence and if the Commissioner applied the correct legal standards." Howard ex rel. Wolff v. Barnhart, 341 F.3d 1006, 1011 (9th Cir. 2003). "'The findings of the Secretary as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive . . . .'" Andrews v. Shalala, 53 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 1995) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)).

Substantial evidence is "more than a mere scintilla," but "may be less than a preponderance." Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104, 1111 (9th Cir. 2012). "It means such evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401 (1971) (internal quotation marks omitted). "While inferences from the record can constitute substantial evidence, only those 'reasonably drawn from the record' will suffice." Widmark v. Barnhart, 454 F.3d 1063, 1066 (9th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). Although this court cannot substitute its discretion for that of the Commissioner, the court nonetheless must review the record as a whole, "weighing both the evidence that supports and the evidence that detracts from the [Commissioner's] conclusion." Desrosiers v. Secretary of HHS, 846 F.2d 573, 576 (9th Cir. 1988); Jones v. Heckler, 760 F.2d 993, 995 (9th Cir. 1985) ("The court must consider both evidence that supports and evidence that detracts from the ALJ's conclusion; it may not affirm simply by isolating a specific quantum of supporting evidence.").

"The ALJ is responsible for determining credibility, resolving conflicts in medical testimony, and resolving ambiguities." Edlund v. Massanari, 253 F.3d 1152, 1156 (9th Cir. 2001). "Where the evidence is susceptible to more than one rational interpretation, one of which supports the ALJ's decision, the ALJ's conclusion must be upheld." Thomas v. Barnhart, 278 F.3d 947, 954 (9th Cir. 2002). However, the court may review only the reasons stated by the ALJ in his decision "and may not affirm the ALJ on a ground upon which he did not rely." Orn v. Astrue, 495 F.3d 625, 630 (9th Cir. 2007); Connett v. Barnhart, 340 F.3d 871, 874 (9th Cir. 2003) ("It was error for the district court to affirm the ALJ's credibility decision based on evidence that the ALJ did not discuss").

//// The court will not reverse the Commissioner's decision if it is based on harmless error, which exists only when it is "clear from the record that an ALJ's error was 'inconsequential to the ultimate nondisability determination.'" Robbins v. Soc. Sec. Admin., 466 F.3d 880, 885 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Stout v. Commissioner, 454 F.3d 1050, 1055 (9th Cir. 2006)); see also Burch v. Barnhart, 400 F.3d 676, 679 (9th Cir. 2005).

IV. RELEVANT LAW

Disability Insurance Benefits are available for every eligible individual who is "disabled." 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1)(B)(ii). Plaintiff is "disabled" if he is "'unable to engage in substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable physical or mental impairment . . . .'" Bowen v. Yuckert, 482 U.S. 137, 140 (1987) (quoting identically worded provisions of 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(d)(1)(A), 1382c(a)(3)(A)).

The Commissioner uses a five-step sequential evaluation process to determine whether an applicant is disabled and entitled to benefits. 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4), 416.920(a)(4); Barnhart v. Thomas, 540 U.S. 20, 24-25 (2003) (setting forth the "five-step sequential evaluation process to determine disability" under Title II and Title XVI). The following summarizes the sequential evaluation:

Step one: Is the claimant engaging in substantial gainful activity? If so, the claimant is not disabled. If not, proceed to step two.

20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4)(i), (b).

Step two: Does the claimant have a "severe" impairment? If so, proceed to step three. If not, the claimant is not disabled.

Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(ii), (c).

Step three: Does the claimant's impairment or combination of impairments meet or equal an impairment listed in 20 C.F.R., Pt. 404, Subpt. P, App. 1? If so, the claimant is disabled. If not, proceed to step four.

Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(iii), (d).

Step four: Does the claimant's residual functional capacity make him capable of performing his past work? If so, the claimant is not disabled. If not, proceed to step five.

Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(iv), (e), (f).

Step five: Does the claimant have the residual functional capacity perform any other work? If so, the claimant is not disabled. If not, the claimant is disabled.

Id. § 404.1520(a)(4)(v), (g).

If the claimant is found disabled at any point in this process, the ALJ must also determine if the disability continues through the date of the decision. DIB cannot be terminated unless substantial evidence demonstrates medical improvement in the claimant's impairment so that the claimant is able to engage in substantial gainful activity. See 42 U.S.C. § 423(f). The Commissioner has established an eight-step sequential evaluation process under Title II for continuing disability review ("CDR"):

(1) Are you engaging in substantial gainful activity? If you are (and any applicable trial work period has been completed), we will find disability to have ended (see paragraph (d)(5) of this section).

(2) If you are not, do you have an impairment or combination of impairments which meets or equals the severity of an impairment listed in appendix 1 of this subpart? If you do, your disability will be found to continue.

(3) If you do not, has there been medical improvement as defined in paragraph (b)(1) of this section? If there has been medical improvement as shown by a decrease in medical severity, see step (4). If there has been no decrease in medical severity, there has been no medical improvement. (See step (5).)

(4) If there has been medical improvement, we must determine whether it is related to your ability to do work in accordance with paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section; i.e., whether or not there has been an increase in the residual functional capacity based on the impairment(s) that was present at the time of the most recent favorable medical determination. If medical improvement is not related to your ability to do work, see step (5). If medical improvement is related to your ability to do work, see step (6).

(5) If we found at step (3) that there has been no medical improvement or if we found at step (4) that the medical improvement is not related to your ability to work, we consider whether any of the exceptions in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section apply. If none of them apply, your disability will be found to continue. If one of the first group of exceptions to medical improvement applies, see step (6). If an exception from the second group of exceptions to medical improvement applies, your disability will be found to have ended. The second group of exceptions to medical improvement may be considered at any point in this process.

(6) If medical improvement is shown to be related to your ability to do work or if one of the first group of exceptions to medicalimprovement applies, we will determine whether all your current impairments in combination are severe (see § 404.1521).

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