Thornton v. Comm'r
| Decision Date | 11 February 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 13-15165,13-15165 |
| Parties | JOANN THORNTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. COMMISSIONER, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
JOANN THORNTON, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
COMMISSIONER, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 13-15165
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
February 11, 2015
D.C. Docket No. 3:12-cv-00101-CDL
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia
Before MARTIN and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and COTE,* District Judge.
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PER CURIAM:
Joann Thornton ("Thornton") appeals the district court's order affirming the denial of disability insurance benefits ("DIB") and supplemental security income ("SSI"), pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g) and 1383(c)(3), by the Commissioner of Social Security ("Commissioner"). We affirm the district court's decision.
In the summer of 2007, Thornton filed applications for DIB and SSI, alleging a disability commencing on September 1, 2005 due to fibromyalgia, arthritis, hypertension, and bipolar disorder. At the time of her application, Thornton was 41 years old and had not worked since September 1, 2005. For the six years preceding September 1, 2005, Thornton had worked as a clerk/cashier at a discount department store.
Dr. George Ude ("Ude") completed a psychiatric review technique ("PRT")1 for Thornton on September 21, 2007. Ude indicated that Thornton had "bipolar syndrome with a history of episodic periods manifested by the full symptomatic picture of both manic and depressive syndromes," as well as a medically determinable impairment of anxiety. Ude also noted that Thornton had moderate difficulties in maintaining social functioning, and mild difficulties in maintaining
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concentration, persistence, or pace. Ude did not find that Thornton had any limitations in her ability to understand, remember, and carry out simple or detailed instructions. Ude concluded that Thornton "would not be able to deal with the public in frequent or in depth interactions" and "will have interpersonal difficulties," but that these limits were "not substantial" and "would not preclude [her from] working with other employees."
The Commissioner denied Thornton's applications on September 26, 2007, and again on reconsideration on February 20, 2008. On March 21, 2008, Thornton requested a hearing before an ALJ. The hearing was held on January 7, 2010. The evidence at the hearing included testimony from Thornton and John Blakeman, a VE, as well as medical records.
A second PRT, completed by Dr. Steve O'Hagan ("O'Hagan") on February 15, 2008, was considered at the hearing. In this report, O'Hagan indicated that Thornton had a medically determinable impairment of depression, as well as "moderate difficulties maintaining concentration, persistence, or pace." O'Hagan indicated that Thornton also had moderate limitations in her ability to understand, remember, and carry out detailed instructions, and to maintain concentration for extended periods. He concluded, however, that her ability to understand, remember, and carry out simple instructions was not significantly limited and her concentration was adequate for basic activities.
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At the ALJ hearing, the VE testified as to the existence of jobs in the national economy for the claimant in response to a hypothetical posed by the ALJ. The ALJ asked the VE to assume that the claimant is 44 years old, possesses a GED, and has worked in the past as a cashier/checker and stocker. It was assumed that neither job provided any transferrable skills. The ALJ also asked the VE to assume that the claimant could perform "medium work"2 but is restricted from frequent or repetitive stooping, crouching, kneeling, crawling, or climbing, and is further limited to "simple, non-detailed tasks" that did not involve dealing with the public or cooperative efforts with coworkers. The VE testified that jobs existed for an individual with the aforementioned limitations in the national and regional economy.3 The jobs identified by the VE included commercial or institutional cleaner, motel cleaner, packer, laundry sorter, small item sorter, and ticket seller.
At the hearing, Thornton advised the ALJ that she was scheduled to be seen within a few days at a mental health clinic. On January 11 2010, Dr. J. D. Hubbard ("Hubbard"), a psychiatrist, completed an assessment of Thornton. Based on his interview with Thornton on that day, and what he described as incomplete medical
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records, Hubbard found that "she is not employable." He found Thornton "agitated, tearful [and] angry," noting that "in this state [she] could not be expected to work." Hubbard checked each of the eight boxes related to an individual's ability to make an occupational adjustment and in each classified Thornton as having "Poor/No[]" skills, which was the most impaired category on the form. These eight categories included the ability to relate to coworkers, interact with supervisors, deal with the public, and maintain attention/concentration. Hubbard gave Thornton a Global Assessment of Functionality ("GAF") score of 41,4 and prescribed medication and treatment. Hubbard saw Thornton again on January 26. Hubbard noted that the medication she had started taking following the January 11 appointment had not resulted in increased mood stabilization and recommended increasing the dosage.
In response to a request from Thornton's counsel, Dr. Justin Huthwaite ("Huthwaite"), a clinical psychologist and consultative examiner for the Social Security Administration ("SSA"), completed a psychological evaluation of Thornton on April 16, 2010. Huthwaite assessed Thornton's IQ as 66, which is in the mildly mentally retarded range. Huthwaite's diagnostic impressions of Thornton included major depressive disorder and borderline intellectual
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functioning. Huthwaite concluded that Thornton could follow simple instructions, but would experience difficulties following more complex instructions. Huthwaite expected that if she were employed, Thornton would work at a slightly reduced pace, but noted that she is likely to be able to persist with tasks. Huthwaite also recommended intermittent supervision of Thornton at work.
In an opinion issued on June 7, 2010, the ALJ concluded that Thornton was not disabled from September 1, 2005 through June 7, 2010, as defined by the Social Security Act, employing the five-step sequential evaluation process set out in 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520(a)(4) and 416.920(a)(4). With respect to the first three steps of the sequential evaluation process, the ALJ concluded that (1) Thornton had not engaged in substantial gainful activity since September 1, 2005; (2) she had severe impairments of arthralgia/fibromyalgia, major depressive disorder, hypertension, borderline intellectual function, and a history of polysubstance abuse in sustained full remission; and (3) her physical and mental impairments did not meet or medically equal a listed impairment.
In determining that her mental impairments did not rise to the level of a listed impairment, the ALJ discussed in detail the medical evidence related to Thornton's mental impairments, including her history of depression and bipolar disease, which affected her ability to interact with others. The ALJ recognized that Hubbard had assigned Thornton a GAF score of 41, rated her as having "poor-to-
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no capacities" in almost all vocational areas, and concluded that she was unable to work. In a footnote, the ALJ noted that GAF scores do not necessarily reflect an ability to work as there is no correlation between GAF scores and disability. The ALJ observed that Thornton's condition appeared to have been worsened in January 2010, both during the hearing and Hubbard's examination, because a significant relationship in Thornton's life had ended in September 2009 and she had discontinued taking her medications. By April 2010, however, when she was examined by Huthwaite, she was back on medication and participating in mental health therapy. As a result, the ALJ concluded that her residual functional capacity ("RFC") had returned to its September 2009 baseline.5
At the fourth step in the evaluation process, the ALJ concluded that Thornton was unable to perform any prior work, but had the RFC to perform "medium work" with some limitations—specifically, that she could not frequently or repetitively stoop, crouch, crawl, or climb. As a further restriction, the ALJ added that Thornton was limited to simple, non-detailed tasks without public interaction or cooperation with co-workers.
At step five, the ALJ concluded that, based on the VE's testimony, work meeting these limitations existed in significant numbers in the national economy. Because Thornton was capable of making an adjustment to other jobs that existed
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in significant numbers in the national economy, the ALJ found that Thornton was not disabled.
Thornton timely appealed the ALJ's decision to the Appeals Council. In support of her appeal, Thornton submitted an evaluation conducted by Dr. Harvey Gayer ("Gayer") on December 6, 2010. Thornton argued that Gayer's evaluation constituted new medical evidence corroborating Hubbard's conclusions regarding her inability to work. The Appeals Council did not add Gayer's evaluation to the administrative record. On June 7, 2012, the Appeals Council denied Thornton's request for review.
On August 7, 2012, Thornton timely sought district court review of the ALJ's decision. In a report and recommendation issued on August 23, 2013, the magistrate judge found that Thornton's inability to cooperate with coworkers did not render her disabled, the hypothetical the ALJ posed to the VE was complete, the ALJ had correctly noted the lack of correlation between a GAF score and a disability determination, and the Appeals Council did not err in denying review of or in refusing to consider Gayer's evaluation. On September 11, 2013, over Thornton's objections, the district court adopted the magistrate judge's report affirming the ALJ's decision. This appeal followed.
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