Lewis v. Califano, 77-1783

• Decision Date: 25 April 1978
• Docket Number: No. 77-1783,77-1783
• Citation: 574 F.2d 452
• Parties: Frances LEWIS, Appellant, v. Joseph A. CALIFANO, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 452

574 F.2d 452

Frances LEWIS, Appellant, v. Joseph A. CALIFANO, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Appellee.

No. 77-1783.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Feb. 17, 1978.

Decided April 25, 1978.

Kim C. Brown, The Legal Aid Society, Welfare Law Unit, St. Louis, Mo., for appellant; Shirley E. Allen and J. L. Whaley, St. Louis, Mo., on brief.

Jean Hamilton (former Asst. U. S. Atty.), St. Louis, Mo., for appellee; Robert D. Kingsland, U. S. Atty. and Wesley D. Wedemeyer, Asst. U. S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., on brief.

Before HEANEY and HENLEY, Circuit Judges, and HANSON, District Judge. ^*

HANSON, District Judge.

Frances Lewis appeals from an order of the district court sustaining the decision of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to deny her claim for disability insurance benefits and supplemental income benefits based on disability. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Claimant filed an application for disability insurance benefits on April 7, 1975. Benefits were denied both initially and on reconsideration by the Social Security Administration. Thereafter, on September 29, 1975, claimant filed an application for supplemental security income disability benefits. This petition was also considered and reconsidered by the Social Security Administration and denied. At claimant's request, a hearing was then held before an administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ denied her claim on October 27, 1976, and the Appeals Council affirmed that ruling on December 23, 1976.

Claimant filed this action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri seeking judicial review of the Secretary's final decision. Cross-motions for summary judgment were subsequently filed. The trial court, upon the recommendation of the magistrate, found claimant was entitled neither to disability insurance benefits under Sections 416(i) and 423 nor to supplemental security income benefits under Sections 1382(a) and 1382c of Title 42 of the United States Code. Summary judgment was entered in favor of the Secretary. On appeal, claimant argues that the district court erred in finding that the decision of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to deny her benefits was supported by substantial evidence.

Lewis was born on August 25, 1931 and, while having an eleventh grade education, she has no vocational or special training. Her past employment record consists principally of maid work in a nursing home from 1969 until June of 1971, at a restaurant from 1967 to 1969, and at the University of Alabama for some twelve or thirteen years prior to that time. She claims to have lost her last two jobs because of a severe skin rash on her hands.

In the hearing before the ALJ, it became apparent that Lewis predicated her disability upon four chronic conditions: severe eczematous dermatitis, hypertension, depressive neurosis, and alcoholism. There was also some evidence to the effect that she suffered from chest pains, backaches, and headaches.

Medical evidence adduced at the hearing included St. Louis City Hospital records and evaluation reports from Dr. F. Crimi, M.D., and Dr. John Anderson, M.D. The St. Louis City Hospital records indicated that between March 25, 1972 and August 19, 1974, claimant had problems with hypertension and chronic dermatitis and alcoholism. Dr. Crimi's report, which was completed at Malcolm Bliss Mental Health Center on September 11, 1974, revealed dermatological problems and resultant insomnia. The report of Dr. Anderson, who examined Lewis on June 20, 1975, confirmed the dermatological problem and further diagnosed plaintiff to be suffering from chronic depressive neurosis.

It was claimant's apparent alcoholism, however, that took on importance during the administrative hearing. The ALJ's inquiry into Lewis' use of alcohol revealed that claimant drank up to two fifths of wine a day, often drank up to a fifth of gin before or after work, and suffered from resultant memory lapses. Claimant's daughter testified that her mother has drank heavily since becoming unemployed.

Despite this evidence regarding claimant's apparent alcoholism, the ALJ made no mention of it in any of the medical findings from which his determination of no disability followed.

3. The medical evidence establishes that the claimant is presently suffering from chronic depressive neurosis and atopic dermatitis.

4. The evidence establishes that these impairments have not reached the level of severity which would prevent claimant from engaging in substantial gainful activities as an inspector, hand packer or bench assembly work (sic).

6. The claimant was not under a "disability," as defined in the Social Security Act, as amended, commencing at any time prior to the issuance of this decision.

Lewis, as claimant, must establish the existence of a disability that entitles her to benefits under Sections 423(d) and 1382c(a)(3) of Title 42 of the United States Code (Social Security Act). ¹ Yawitz v. Weinberger, 498 F.2d 956, 959 (8th Cir. 1974). To satisfy the statutory definition of disability, there must be evidence showing a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that will last for at least twelve months, or result in death, and an inability to engage in substantial, gainful activity. The evidence must also demonstrate that the claimant is unable to engage in substantial, gainful activity because of the alleged impairment. Dressel v. Califano, 558 F.2d 504, 506-07 (8th Cir. 1977); Timmerman v. Weinberger, 510 F.2d 439, 442 (8th Cir. 1975).

It is the claimant's burden to show an inability to perform her past occupation due to the medically determinable ailment. Once she has done so, the burden shifts to the Secretary to show that the claimant can perform some other type of substantial, gainful employment. See Johnson v. Califano, 572 F.2d 186 (8th Cir. 1978).

In this case, the ALJ determined that claimant was not entitled to benefits because the Secretary demonstrated Lewis to be capable of other employment. The district court's review of that determination is limited under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) to a substantial evidence test:

The findings of the Secretary as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive . . . .

Substantial evidence has been defined as ". . . such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion, and it must be based on the record as a whole." Celebrezze v. Bolas, 316 F.2d 498, 501 (8th Cir. 1963).

On appeal Lewis asserts that the ALJ's adverse decision is dependent upon the affirmative answer of vocational expert Dr. Arthur E. Smith to the following hypothetical question, a...