Burnam v. Schweiker, 81-2971
| Decision Date | 25 June 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-2971,81-2971 |
| Citation | 682 F.2d 456 |
| Parties | Arthur L. BURNAM, Appellant, v. Richard S. SCHWEIKER, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Appellee. . Submitted Under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Joseph L. Gijanto, Shebell & Schibell, Asbury Park, N. J., for appellant.
G. Donald Haneke, Asst. U. S. Atty., W. Hunt Dumont, U. S. Atty., Trenton, N. J., for appellee.
Before GARTH and BECKER, Circuit Judges, and FULLAM, District Judge. *
In Santise v. Schweiker, 676 F.2d 925 (3d Cir. 1982), in upholding the validity of the medical-vocational regulations used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in making determinations of disability under the Social Security Act, 20 C.F.R. pt. 404, subpt. P (1981); id. pt. 416, subpt. I, we stressed that the four-factor decision "grids" established by those regulations "do not govern-and indeed were not intended to govern-all disability cases." Santise, supra, 676 F.2d at 934. We observed that, by their own terms, the regulatory "rules 'may not be fully applicable' where a claimant suffers from non-exertional, instead of or in addition to exertional, impairments." Id. at 934-35. The regulations state:
Since the rules are predicated on an individual's having an impairment which manifests itself by limitations in meeting the strength requirements of jobs, they may not be fully applicable where the nature of an individual's impairment does not result in such limitations, e.g., certain mental, sensory, or skin impairments....
(2) (W)here an individual has an impairment or combination of impairments resulting in both strength limitations and nonexertional limitations, the rules in this subpart are considered in determining first whether a finding of disabled may be possible based on the strength limitations alone and, if not, the rule(s) reflecting the individual's maximum residual strength capabilities, age, education, and work experience provide a framework for consideration of how much the individual's work capability is further diminished in terms of any types of jobs that would be contraindicated by the nonexertional limitations. Also, in these combinations of nonexertional and exertional limitations which cannot be wholly determined under the rules in this Appendix 2, full consideration must be given to all of the relevant facts in the case in accordance with the definitions and discussions of each factor in the appropriate sections of the regulations, which will provide insight into the adjudicative weight to be accorded each factor.
20 C.F.R. pt. 404, subpt. P, app. 2, § 200.00(e) (1981).
In this appeal, Arthur L. Burnam challenges the denial by the Secretary of his application for disability insurance and supplemental security income benefits. After a hearing held on July 9, 1980, an administrative law judge found on August 12, 1980 that even though Burnam suffered from myelitis of the cervical and lumbosacral spine, poor vision, poor hearing, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and depression, Burnam was not disabled under the rules set forth in the medical-vocational regulations. 1 The administrative law judge reached this conclusion by finding that Burnam, despite his exertional impairments, had the capacity to engage in sedentary work; that Burnam was age 49 at the time of the hearing; that he had a limited educational background; and that he had previously engaged in semi-skilled work that provided him with no transferrable skills. The administrative law judge then consulted the grid contained in the medical-vocational regulations and concluded that Rule 201.19 of the regulations "mandate(d) a finding that (Burnam was) not disabled." App. at 22.
Having determined on the basis of the grid that Burnam was not disabled based on his exertional impairments, the administrative law judge failed to follow the regulatory directive that he then consider "how much (Burnam's) work capability (was) further diminished in terms of any types of jobs that would be contraindicated by (his) nonexertional limitations." 20 C.F.R. pt. 404, subpt. P, app. 2, § 200.00(e)(2) (1981). These nonexertional limitations included a 100 percent hearing loss in Burnam's left ear and a 71 percent hearing loss in his right ear; visual acuity of 20/400 bilaterally, corrected only to the extent of 20/200 in his left eye and 20/100 in his right eye; and anxiety and depression. The administrative law judge chose to disregard these nonexertional limitations on the ground that, standing alone, they would not be sufficient to find that Burnam was disabled. 2
The error in the administrative law judge's approach is clear. The fact that work exists in...
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