Taylor v. Chater

• Decision Date: 09 July 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-3501,96-3501
• Citation: 118 F.3d 1274
• Parties: , Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 15746B Sandra G. TAYLOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Shirley S. CHATER, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1274

118 F.3d 1274

53 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 780, Unempl.Ins.Rep. (CCH) P 15746B

Sandra G. TAYLOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Shirley S. CHATER, Commissioner of Social Security Defendant-Appellee.

No. 96-3501.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted March 12, 1997.

Decided July 9, 1997.

Kenneth W. Johnson, Springfield, MO, argued, for plaintiff-appellant.

Brett D. Leopold, Kansas City, MO, argued (Stephen L. Hill, Jr., on the brief), for defendant-appellee.

Before McMILLIAN, FLOYD R. GIBSON, and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges.

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Sandra G. Taylor appeals the district court's affirmance of a denial of Social Security benefits. Because the record does not contain substantial evidence to support the finding of the Administrative Law Judge, but instead contains substantial evidence of Taylor's disability, we reverse and award benefits to Taylor.

In July of 1993, Taylor applied for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income benefits, alleging that she had been disabled beginning March 15, 1989 due to severe back pain. ¹ The Department of Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, denied her application, as well as her request for reconsideration. Taylor then requested a hearing before an ALJ. At the time of the hearing on June 22, 1994, Taylor was 38 years old and had a high school degree. Taylor had worked at a cafeteria from October of 1975 to March of 1989, except for a three year period that Taylor took off to give birth to a child and to have back surgery. Her job at the cafeteria involved carrying trays, cleaning tables, filling in as a server, and filling coffee stations with ice, tea, and coffee, as well as doing whatever else needed to be done.

Taylor started to have problems with her back during the 1980's. In December of 1985 Taylor had a spinal fusion. After the surgery, Taylor did not go back to work until 1987 and then continued to work until March 1989. Toward the end of her employment, Taylor began suffering back problems again, which affected her ability to do her work, and eventually caused her to quit.

In 1989, Taylor saw Dr. Marion Wolf about her back pain. In 1990, she again saw Dr. Wolf who then referred her to Dr. Jim Cook. In November of 1990, Dr. Cook attempted an epidural block on Taylor's back. In 1993, Dr. Charles Ash examined Taylor and observed that she had limited motion in her spine and believed that her x-rays indicated that she might suffer from pseudarthrosis. Stedman's Medical Dictionary defines pseudarthrosis as "[a] new, false joint arising at the site of an ununited fracture." Stedman's Medical Dictionary 1449 (26th ed.1995). He further commented that Taylor had "significant impairment of function of the back." In January of 1993, Taylor saw Dr. Paul Olive about her back pain. In November of 1993, Dr. Aly Mohsen diagnosed Taylor with pseudarthrosis, chronic pain syndrome, as well as other complications related to her back.

At the hearing Taylor testified that she suffered back pain daily. Taylor's activities were limited because she could only sit for fifteen to twenty minutes at a time before she had to stand or lie down. She also stated that she could only stand for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time before she had to sit or lie down. In addition, Taylor testified that she had to lie down at least two or three times per day. Taylor said that she could not reach down or bend, and that she simply got down on her hands and knees and crawled in order to do an activity that required leaning over. For example, Taylor explained that she must get down on her hands and knees and crawl around the bed to make it. She testified that she had trouble washing dishes for twenty minutes, and that she needed help taking care of her home. She stated that she could walk only about one block before she needed to rest, and that she had difficulty walking up the two stair steps in her home. She also stated that she never attempted to lift more than ten pounds. ²

During the hearing, the ALJ called a vocational expert to testify. The ALJ asked the vocational expert a hypothetical question about whether an individual that could only lift occasionally a maximum of ten pounds, and frequently carry less than ten pounds, who could stand or walk for up to a total of two hours per eight-hour work day and sit for up to six hours per eight-hour work day, could do dining room attendant work. The expert testified that this hypothetical person could not work at Taylor's past job at the cafeteria, but could work in other sedentary, unskilled positions such as an addresser, ³ a patcher, ⁴ or a food and beverage order clerk. ⁵ Taylor's counsel then altered the hypothetical by asking the vocational expert to assume that the hypothetical individual described by the ALJ could stand or sit only ten to fifteen minutes at a time, would have to get up and move around frequently, and would have to lie down two or three times per day. The vocational expert stated that no jobs in the national or regional economy could be performed by an individual with these limitations.

The ALJ found Taylor's testimony that she had disabling back pain on a daily basis "inconsistent, self-serving, and exaggerated" and therefore found Taylor not credible. He found the vocational expert's testimony, however, to be credible, and thus determined that although Taylor could not perform her past job at the cafeteria, she could perform sedentary-type unskilled work that existed in the economy. The ALJ therefore concluded that Taylor was not disabled as defined in the Social Security Act.

The Appeals Council of the Social Security Administration denied Taylor's request for review, and she brought this action in federal district court. Taylor and the Commissioner both filed motions for summary judgment. On June 11, 1996, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Commissioner affirming the denial of benefits. Taylor appeals.

On appeal, Taylor argues that there is no substantial evidence in the record to support the ALJ's rationale for disbelieving her testimony, and therefore asserts that the hypothetical question posed to the vocational expert did not include all of Taylor's impairments. Because a vocational expert's testimony based on an insufficient hypothetical question does not constitute substantial evidence, Taylor argues the district court erred in denying her claim.

Our review is limited to whether the Commissioner's decision to deny disability benefits is supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. See Lorenzen v. Chater, 71 F.3d 316, 318 (8th Cir.1995). Substantial evidence is less than a preponderance, but enough that a reasonable mind might find it adequate to support the conclusion. See Johnson v. Chater, 108 F.3d 942, 944 (8th Cir.1997).

We conclude that the Commissioner's decision to deny benefits to Taylor is not supported by substantial evidence. The ALJ found that Taylor's testimony was not credible. An ALJ may discount a claimant's subjective complaints only if there are inconsistencies in the evidence as a whole. See Johnson, 108 F.3d at 947. The ALJ stated in his opinion that Taylor testified that she suffered from "daily intractable pain at all times since March 1989" and from "daily disabling back pain since 1989." The ALJ found this testimony "inconsistent, self-serving, and exaggerated." In support of this conclusion the ALJ stated that Taylor had admitted in her testimony that occasionally her back pain had been relieved or had improved.

There is no substantial evidence in the record to support the ALJ's conclusion that Taylor's testimony was inconsistent. Taylor testified that her pain had gotten worse since March 1989 and that her back problems placed great limitations on her activities. Though she did state that she had suffered and continues to suffer pain on a daily basis, she also testified that some days were better than others and that some treatments had at least temporarily improved her condition. Read in context, Taylor's testimony demonstrates that Taylor's back problems have caused her significant pain from 1989 to the hearing, though at times...