Snell v. Apfel

• Decision Date: 20 May 1999
• Docket Number: Docket No. 97-6240
• Parties: Pearl SNELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Kenneth S. APFEL, Commissioner of Society Security, Defendant-Appellee,
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 128

177 F.3d 128

Pearl SNELL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Kenneth S. APFEL, Commissioner of Society Security,

Defendant-Appellee,

Docket No. 97-6240.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued April 21, 1999.

Decided May 20, 1999.

John Locurto and Robin Thorner, law students appearing pursuant to Student Practice Rule Section 46(e), Washington Square Legal Services, Inc., New York, N.Y. (Lynn Martell and Claudia Angelos, of counsel) for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Maria P. Fragassi Santangelo, for Denise E. O'Donnell, United States Attorney for the Western District of New York (Arthur J. Fried, Barbara L. Spivak, of counsel) for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: KEARSE, McLAUGHLIN, and CALABRESI, Circuit Judges.

CALABRESI, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff-appellant Pearl Snell injured herself in a fall in July 1991 and has not worked since that date. On the basis of the physical disability that she alleges resulted from that fall, Snell claimed to be entitled to Social Security Disability Insurance ("SSDI"). An administrative law judge ("ALJ") found that Snell was not entitled to SSDI payments on the basis of any physical disability. The ALJ also found, however, that Snell suffers from psychological impairments that render her unable to work, and, as a result, he awarded her SSDI benefits. The Social Security Administration's Office of Hearings and Appeals (the "Appeals Council") reviewed Snell sought review in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Telesca, J.), ¹ and both sides moved for judgment on the pleadings. On July 24, 1997, the district court dismissed Snell's complaint, finding that the decision of the Appeals Council was supported by substantial evidence. Snell appealed. We hold that the Appeals Council failed to provide Snell with adequate reasons for its decision, that it may have ignored evidence favorable to Snell, and that the record must be more fully developed before a final determination can be made with respect to her mental impairments. We therefore vacate the judgment of the district court and remand the case to the Appeals Council for further proceedings.

the case on its own motion, reversed the decision of the ALJ, and denied benefits to Snell.

BACKGROUND

Snell held various jobs before 1991. Among other occupations, she worked as an insurance claims processor, mental hygiene therapy aide, and taxi driver. At the beginning of July 1991, she was a food services manager in a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. On July 3, 1991, she fell while at work, landing on her buttocks and lower back. She sustained an injury and has not worked since.

A) Examinations and diagnoses

Snell's principal treating physician prior to 1995 was Dr. John Cooley. Initially, Dr. Cooley seemed to believe that Snell was not completely disabled as a result of the accident: on April 9, 1992, he noted that "it seems realistic for [Snell] to begin to identify restricted, part-time activity that she could pursue," though that would probably require some kind of retraining. He later became less optimistic. On August 6, 1993, Cooley wrote in a letter to the New York State Worker's Compensation Board that Snell suffered from "chronic lumbar strain, resulting in total disability for her previous or any other work." He also added, however, that she might become able to work again with proper conditioning, but he described that prognosis as "guarded." Later, on March 8, 1994, Cooley submitted a report to the Worker's Compensation Board stating that Snell was "participating in schooling for sedentary work appropriate to her limitations."

Snell was also treated on at least three occasions by Dr. Linda Clark. On February 16, 1995, Dr. Clark found that Snell could sit for up to six hours per day and could stand for the same length of time. On March 9, 1995, Clark said that Snell could stand for up to four hours in an eight-hour workday and could sit for up to three hours. On August 3, 1995, Dr. Clark reported that Snell could stand for only two hours during an eight-hour workday and could sit for not more than four hours.

Several other physicians examined Snell in consultative capacities. They seemed to believe that Snell was not permanently disabled, and several took a skeptical view of her symptoms. The first of these consultants was Dr. Lynn Myers, who examined Snell on October 3, 1991. Dr. Myers reported "mild decreased range with flexion" but few other abnormalities. She also noted that Snell "was able to ambulate to and from the examining room wearing high heeled shoes without any noted difficulty or reported increased complaints of her low back pain." Dr. Myers diagnosed Snell as having low back strain and "psychological factors influencing illness," but she did not explain what those psychological factors might be.

On June 1, 1992, Dr. John Devanny examined Snell's back, conducting a physical exam and taking X-rays. He wrote that "it is hard to explain exactly why she Another consultative examination performed two years later was consistent with the four evaluations described above. On September 19, 1995, Dr. Bharat Gupta conducted a physical exam and took X-rays. He reported that he observed Snell walking down the hallway before she knew herself to be officially under examination and that she exhibited "no distress." His examination found "minimal restriction of movements ... but her subjective symptoms of pain are way out of proportion to her physical findings."

                has had such a prolonged disability from a fall with essentially a normal exam.  I would feel that she only has a mild, partial disability at this time."   One year later, on June 1, 1993, a report from the University of Rochester Medical Center concluded that "Snell could return to full time employment in a[l]ight duty job following successful completion of an active Comprehensive Work ReEntry Program."   Also in July 1993, Dr. Andre Lefebvre reported that Snell "walked normally to the examining site" but then "had a waddling gait when she was officially examined."   In a similar vein, he wrote that Snell's ability to flex and bend was somewhat restricted during the official examination but that "[s]he flexed considerably more just assessing the examining table and climbing on the foot stool."   He concluded that Snell had a "[s]ubjective continued low pain back syndrome with absence of reproducible reliable physical findings" and a "very mild partial disability on the basis of her subjective complaints and inconsistent, non-reproducible physical findings."   Dr. Lefebrve found Snell "employable in a semi-sedentary capacity."
                

Snell also underwent a psychological exam, conducted by Dr. Nelson Freeling on September 21, 1995. Dr. Freeling diagnosed Snell as having "[p]assive aggressive personality disorder" and "[s]omatoform pain disorder," the latter meaning that she experiences pain for which there is no medical explanation. He rated Snell's abilities to exercise judgment and to interact with supervisors as "poor or none." He specifically found, however, that "there is no indication of any significant cognitive or regressed deterioration from a previously higher level of functioning."

Finally, the record contains a letter from Dr. Karen Gardner Moore to the Appeals Council, dated May 13, 1996. The letter says, among other things, that Snell suffers from depression and is unable to stand for more than two or sit for more than four hours out of a workday. The letter does not say, however, whether Dr. Moore conducted an examination herself or whether she was transcribing Snell's reports or the findings of other physicians.

B) Procedural history

Snell applied for SSDI on July 24, 1993. The application was denied, as was a request for reconsideration. On February 23, 1995, Snell had an administrative hearing before ALJ Stanley A. Moskal, Jr. ² The ALJ determined that Snell was covered by SSDI through December 31, 1993, and could receive disability insurance payments only if she had a qualifying disability at or before that date. The ALJ then found Snell to be disabled and granted benefits.

Acting sua sponte, the administrative Appeals Council vacated the ALJ's ruling and remanded for a new hearing. The second hearing was held on December 4, 1995. In a decision dated March 22, 1996, ALJ Moskal again ruled for Snell. He noted that Snell's "exertional capacity," meaning her physical condition, warranted a conclusion of "not disabled." But he found that Snell had "nonexertional limitations," meaning mental or psychological troubles, that would keep her from being The ALJ repeated Dr. Freeling's determinations that Snell was passive-aggressive, exhibited somataform pain disorder, showed poor judgment, and had poor ability to interact with supervisors. These factors were important to the ALJ's conclusion that Snell's "non-exertional limitations" prevented her from holding a job. At the hearing, the ALJ examined a vocational expert named Julie Andrews. The ALJ asked the vocational expert to comment on the employability of a series of hypothetical persons whose conditions approximated what the record might show about Snell. In response to all but the last two hypotheticals, the vocational expert said that such a person could indeed hold a job and identified what those jobs would be. At the end of his examination, however, the ALJ posed two hypotheticals in which the subject's ability to exercise judgment, to demonstrate reliability, and to interact with supervisors was "poor or none." The vocational expert said that such a person could not hold any available job. On the basis of that assessment, the ALJ awarded benefits.

able to work. The ALJ specifically wrote that "the record shows that the claimant's mental impairments are all that currently prevent her from reentering the workforce in some simple, entry level unskilled sedentary position."

On June 13, 1996, the Appeals Council sua sponte reconsidered and reversed the...