Cieutat v. Bowen

• Decision Date: 03 August 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-3340,86-3340
• Citation: 824 F.2d 348
• Parties: , 18 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 493, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 17,519 Charles P. CIEUTAT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant- Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 348

824 F.2d 348

56 USLW 2127, 18 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 493,

Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 17,519

Charles P. CIEUTAT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services Defendant- Appellee.

No. 86-3340.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Aug. 3, 1987.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 31, 1987.

William P. Schuler, Chalmette, La., for plaintiff-appellant.

Marquerite Lokey, Patrick A. Hudson, Attys., Office of the Gen. Counsel, Dept. of HHS, Dallas, Tex., for defendant-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.

Before WISDOM, JOHNSON, and GARWOOD, Circuit Judges.

GARWOOD, Circuit Judge: ^*

Plaintiff-appellant Charles Cieutat (Cieutat) appeals the district court's summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) dismissing Cieutat's suit, which sought to set aside the Secretary's denial of his claim for Social Security disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits under 42 U.S.C. Secs. 423(a), 1381a. In his appeal to this Court, Cieutat asserts that the Social Security Appeals Council lacked authority to reopen his case, and, alternatively, if it had the authority, that it improperly failed to treat his 1981 work as a trial work period; that the district court erred in making insured status a prerequisite to his eligibility for SSI; and that the Appeals Council's final decision was not supported by substantial evidence. We hold that the Appeals Council had the power to reopen the Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ) decision; that it properly treated Cieutat's 1981 work as substantial gainful activity rather than as a trial work period; and that substantial evidence supports its determination that Cieutat was not disabled. Although the district court erred in making insured status a requirement for SSI, we find the district court's error harmless because the Appeals Council applied the proper legal standards in denying Cieutat SSI benefits. Therefore, we affirm the district court's judgment upholding the decision of the Appeals Council.

Facts and Proceedings Below

At the time of the Secretary's decision, Cieutat was twenty-six years old and had a ninth grade education. He had worked for periods of varying duration as a stock clerk, framing carpenter, welder's helper, truck driver, and oilfield worker. In addition to the application for benefits that is the subject of this appeal, Cieutat previously had applied on two occasions for Social Security benefits, but both of the earlier applications were denied without appeal. Cieutat filed the present application on October 6, 1982, claiming that he was unable to work due to a back impairment. The Social Security Administration (SSA) denied this application initially and upon reconsideration. On July 19, 1983, Cieutat received a de novo hearing before an ALJ. Cieutat appeared in person and was represented by counsel. Cieutat's wife and his mother also appeared before the ALJ.

At the July 1983 hearing before the ALJ, Cieutat alleged the onset of his disability was in September 1977, when at age nineteen he fell at work and injured his back. He testified that he had been in pain since the 1977 injury, that he could sit comfortably only for ten minutes at a time, and that walking exacerbated the pain. Cieutat said that at first the pain was sporadic, but that since 1979 or 1980 it had worsened in intensity and had become constant. He stated that he could not bend to pick up objects on the floor and that he had difficulty opening doors. He said he took medication and used a heating pad and hot soaks daily to relieve the pain. He also said that he had been treated for depression and for an addiction to the painkillers he had taken for a period of time following the 1977 injury. Cieutat's wife and mother corroborated his testimony about his pain, depression, and drug addiction. Based upon this testimony and medical reports from ten physicians, the ALJ found that Cieutat was disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act. On August 11, 1983, the ALJ issued a decision awarding disability benefits and directing the component of the SSA responsible for SSI benefits to award those if Cieutat otherwise met the SSI eligibility requirements.

Subsequent to the ALJ's decision, the SSA received a Work Activity Report, dated January 23, 1984, and submitted on behalf of Cieutat. The Report stated that Cieutat had worked for six months in 1981 as a "truck driver/electrician" for ATI, Inc. The same month, the SSA received an employer report prepared by ATI, Inc., which verified that for the six-month period between July and December 1981 Cieutat earned approximately $1,000 per month, along with a memorandum from the Office of Disability Operations calling Cieutat's work activity to the SSA's attention.

Based on the receipt of these documents, on November 30, 1984, the Appeals Council on its own initiative reopened the ALJ's decision. On March 27, 1985, the Appeals Council issued a revised decision finding that Cieutat was not disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act. Specifically, the Appeals Council determined that Cieutat had a severe back impairment, and that he had suffered from drug abuse, which had been successfully treated, and from a brief depressive condition, but that he did not have an impairment or combination of impairments listed in, or medically equal to one listed in, Appendix 1 of the regulations. ¹ The Appeals Council also found that Cieutat's testimony regarding his extreme pain was inconsistent with the medical evidence and with his level of activity; that Cieutat could not perform his past relevant work, but that he had the residual functional capacity, which was not significantly affected by nonexertional limitations, for at least sedentary work; and that considering his residual functional capacity, age, education, and work experience, Cieutat was not disabled and, therefore, not entitled to disability insurance or SSI benefits.

After the Appeals Council's decision, Cieutat requested judicial review by timely filing a complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Upon submission of cross-motions for summary judgment, the magistrate issued Findings and Conclusions recommending that Cieutat's motion be granted. The district court on March 25, 1986 rejected this recommendation, entered judgment in favor of the Secretary, and denied Cieutat's motion for summary judgment. Cieutat appeals that decision.

Discussion

A. Authority to Reopen

Acting under the authority of the SSA regulations, see 20 C.F.R. Secs. 404.987-404.989, 416.1487-416.1489, the Appeals Council on November 30, 1984, reopened the ALJ's August 11, 1983, hearing decision. Cieutat's first argument for reversal is that in so doing, the Appeals Council violated the SSA's own regulations.

In addressing this argument, we first note that our review of an agency's regulations is circumscribed. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 706(2)(A) ²; DeSoto General Hosp. v. Heckler, 766 F.2d 182, 184-85 (5th Cir.1985). It is especially so in reviewing regulations promulgated by the Secretary in implementing the Act, since Congress has "conferred on the Secretary exceptionally broad authority to prescribe standards for applying certain sections of the Act," including those involved here. Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. 34, 101 S.Ct. 2633, 2640, 69 L.Ed.2d 460 (1981); Mercy Hosp. v. Heckler, 777 F.2d 1028, 1031 (5th Cir.1985). Where, as here, the statute expressly entrusts the Secretary with responsibility for implementing a provision of the Act by regulation, ³ judicial review is limited to determining whether the regulations exceed the Secretary's statutory authority and whether they are arbitrary or capricious. Heckler v. Campbell, 461 U.S. 458, 103 S.Ct. 1952, 1957, 76 L.Ed.2d 66 (1983); Marcello v. Bowen, 803 F.2d 851 (5th Cir.1986). The parties do not dispute, and we have no doubt, that the SSA regulations in question here were properly promulgated in accordance with the rule-making authority granted to the SSA under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 405(a) and that they are neither arbitrary nor capricious. Accord Butterworth v. Bowen, 796 F.2d 1379, 1384 (11th Cir.1986).

Cieutat contends, however, that the Secretary's interpretation of section 404.988 to permit him to reopen and revise the ALJ's decision in this case is inconsistent with language of the SSA regulations. In cases involving such challenges, longstanding precedent obligates us to give great deference to the agency's interpretation of its own regulations. Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Milhollin, 444 U.S. 555, 100 S.Ct. 790, 797, 63 L.Ed.2d 22 (1980); Udall v. Tallman, 380 U.S. 1, 85 S.Ct. 792, 801, 13 L.Ed.2d 616 (1965); Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410, 65 S.Ct. 1215, 1217, 89 L.Ed. 1700 (1945); Baylor Univ. Medical Center v. Heckler, 758 F.2d 1052, 1062 (5th Cir.1985). Given this deference, a party who challenges the agency's interpretation necessarily shoulders a heavy burden. Johnson's Professional Nursing Home v. Weinberger, 490 F.2d 841, 844 (5th Cir.1974). As the reviewing court, we are not free to set aside the Secretary's interpretation simply because we may have interpreted the regulations differently as an original matter. Marcello, 803 F.2d at 855; Baker v. Heckler, 730 F.2d 1147, 1149 (8th Cir.1984). We must accept the Secretary's interpretation unless that interpretation is plainly inconsistent with the language of the regulations. ⁴ United States v. Larionoff, 431 U.S. 864, 97 S.Ct. 2150, 2155, 53 L.Ed.2d 48 (1977); Diaz-Soto v. INS, 797 F.2d 262, 263 (5th Cir.1986); see also 2 K. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise Sec. 7:22 (2d ed. 1979).

Accordingly, we must determine whether the Secretary's interpretation of section 404.988 as sustaining the jurisdiction of the Appeals Council to reopen Cieutat's case is plainly inconsistent...