Grant v. Schweiker, 82-1303

• Decision Date: 01 February 1983
• Docket Number: No. 82-1303,82-1303
• Citation: 699 F.2d 189
• Parties: Walker G. GRANT, Appellant, v. Richard S. SCHWEIKER, Secretary Department of Health and Human Services, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 189

699 F.2d 189

1 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 163

Walker G. GRANT, Appellant, v. Richard S. SCHWEIKER, Secretary Department of Health and Human Services, Appellee.

No. 82-1303.

United States Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Argued Nov. 8, 1982.

Decided Feb. 1, 1983.

Dennis W. Carroll, Jr., Administrative Law Center, Legal Aid Bureau, Inc., Baltimore, Md., for appellant.

Joseph Friedman, Baltimore, Md. (J. Frederick Motz, U.S. Atty., Glenda Gordon, Asst. U.S. Atty., Gabriel L. Imperato, Dept. of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, Md., on brief), for appellee.

Before WINTER, Chief Judge, CHAPMAN, Circuit Judge, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

HARRISON L. WINTER, Chief Judge:

Walker Grant appeals from an order of the district court affirming the Secretary's denial of his claim for disability insurance benefits under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 401 et seq. Specifically, Grant contends that the Secretary erred in mechanically applying the "grid regulations," which directed a finding of nondisability, despite evidence indicating the presence of nonexertional, as well as exertional, impairments. We agree. We vacate the judgment of the district court and remand the case with instructions to return it to the Secretary for further proceedings.

I.

Grant applied for disability insurance benefits in March, 1980. His claim was denied, and after reconsideration again denied, by the Social Security Administration. He then requested a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ), which was held in November, 1980.

The evidence at the hearing disclosed that Grant was a thirty-five year-old man who had obtained a high school equivalency degree while in the military. His work history consisted of unskilled, heavy laborer work, including loading trucks and pick and shovel work. The first records of Grant's problems were hospital records from the spring of 1974, when Grant was admitted with preliminary diagnoses of intracranial brain lesion and diabetes mellitus. Against doctors' advice, however, Grant left the hospital before further testing could be done. The evidence indicates that subsequent to that time, Grant had not worked more than a few days at a time.

Grant submitted evidence at the hearing in an effort to demonstrate that he had suffered a cerebral vascular accident which had resulted in a permanent weakness in his left side ("hemiparesis"). Several medical evaluations concluded that Grant indeed did suffer from weakness on his left side, which is his nondominate side. One doctor estimated this to be about a 10-20 percent loss of strength, although he also indicated that Grant was exaggerating his weakness. Because of this evidence, the ALJ found that Grant was no longer able to perform his prior heavy work activities as a laborer.

On the basis of other evidence presented, however, the ALJ ruled that Grant retained the ability to perform sedentary work activity. Medical reports indicated that muscle bulk was normal and neurological examinations were essentially normal. The evidence indicated that Grant could dress, go shopping, and cook for himself, that his pain was relieved by medication, and that he could sit comfortably for extended periods without distress. Moreover, the ALJ noted that Grant had exaggerated his weakness and had failed to meet his responsibilities in his rehabilitation program. The ALJ thus found that Grant was able to perform sedentary work activity.

In addition to evidence as to his left side hemiparesis, however, Grant had also tendered evidence indicating that he suffered from low intelligence and from greatly impaired manual dexterity. The report from the vocational evaluator stated that Grant had scored an IQ of 72 on the Revised Beta Examination, placing him in the inferior range of intelligence. The Culture Fair Intelligence Test indicated an IQ below available norms. On the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IQ test, Grant had scored a verbal IQ of 89, a performance IQ of 74, and a full scale IQ of 82, indicating a "borderline retarded to dull normal level," according to the neurologist. The General Aptitude Test Battery gave contrary results, showing average intelligence, verbal aptitude, and numerical aptitude. Additionally, one report indicated that Grant had scored a 6.9 arithmetic grade level, a 7.5 vocabulary grade level, and a 6.5 paragraph comprehension level. The ALJ's only reference to Grant's intelligence was his statement that Grant had scored an 82 on the Wechsler test.

The vocational evaluator's report also indicated that Grant had gotten a "low score" on the Bennett Hand Tool Dexterity Test, and had scored in the low range on the Purdue Pegboard test of manipulative dexterity. In addition, the General Aptitude Test Battery indicated that finger dexterity and manual dexterity were at least one and one-half standard deviation units below the mean, offering no positive vocational significance. Yet the ALJ made no reference, let alone findings, as to possible impaired manual dexterity.

Instead, the ALJ took what he considered to be the four relevant findings--that Grant was thirty-five-years old, was a high school graduate, had prior work experience that was unskilled, and was presently able to perform sedentary work--and applied the "grid regulations," Appendix 2, Table No. 1, to 20 C.F.R. Part 404, subpart P. He found that those four findings put Grant within Rule 201.27 of that grid, which directs a finding of "Not disabled." The ALJ held that because in his opinion the criteria of the Rule were met exactly by the evidence of record, the grid's conclusion of not disabled had to be observed, and thus denied Grant's application in its entirety.

This decision was affirmed by the district court, which ruled that the ALJ's decision was supported by substantial evidence. The district court also noted that even if the high school equivalency degree that Grant earned...