Vazquez v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 81-1566
| Decision Date | 16 June 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-1566,81-1566 |
| Parties | Rafael A. VAZQUEZ, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Defendant, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Carlos M. Mangual Lopez, Rio Piedras, P. R., for plaintiff, appellant.
Linda Lee Walker, Asst. Regional Atty., Dept. of Health and Human Services, New York City, with whom Raymond L. Acosta, U. S. Atty., San Juan, P. R., J. Paul McGrath, Asst. Atty. Gen., Civil Div., Dept. of Justice, and Annette H. Blum, Acting Regional Atty., Dept. of Health and Human Services, Washington, D. C., were on brief, for defendant, appellee.
Before COFFIN, Chief Judge, GIBSON, * Senior Circuit Judge, and BREYER, Circuit Judge.
The appellant, Rafael Vazquez, is a former recipient of disability insurance benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program of the Social Security Act. 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq. In May 1978, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, having ultimate responsibility for administering the program, determined that Vazquez's physical condition had improved and terminated the benefits. Vazquez contested the Secretary's determination and obtained a de novo hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. The ALJ agreed with the Secretary that Vazquez was no longer qualified for benefits; Vazquez exhausted all internal agency appeals; the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Secretary; and Vazquez appeals from this decision. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).
The ultimate question in this case is whether Vazquez is disabled within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 423(d). That provision defines "disability" as
inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment ... (lasting at least a year and) of such severity that (the claimant) ... is not only unable to do his previous work but cannot, considering his age, education, and work experience, engage in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy, regardless of whether such work exists in the immediate area in which he lives, or whether a specific job vacancy exists for him or whether he would be hired if he applied for such work.
It is well established that, in applying this statutory standard, the claimant has the burden of showing a disability serious enough to prevent him from working at his former jobs, at which point the burden shifts to the Secretary to show the existence of other jobs in the national economy that the claimant can nonetheless perform. Torres v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 677 F.2d 167 at 168 (1st Cir. 1982); Geoffroy v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 663 F.2d 315, 317 (1st Cir. 1981).
Health and Human Services' ALJs hear thousands upon thousands of cases each year. Santise v. Schweiker, 676 F.2d 925 at 930 (3d Cir. 1982), quoting Dobrowolsky v. Califano, 606 F.2d 403, 409 n.18 (3d Cir. 1979). To simplify the task of proving the existence of a disability in these cases, the Secretary has promulgated a set of Medical-Vocational Guidelines ("the Grid"). 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 2 (1981). The Grid is basically designed to help the Secretary, when appropriate, satisfy his burden of proving the existence of other jobs in the economy that the claimant can perform.
The Grid is basically a matrix, combining different permutations of the four essential factors set out in the statute (age, education, work experience, and residual work capacity) and stating, as to each combination, whether a claimant with those characteristics is "disabled" or "not disabled." It consists of three separate tables, one for those who retain the residual exertional capacity to perform "sedentary" work, one for those who retain the residual capacity to perform "light" work, and one for those who retain the residual capacity to perform "medium" work. Each table has five columns for rule number, age, education, work experience, and decision. Thus, each row on the table presents a different combination of age, education, and work experience categories. The ALJ simply selects the proper table and row based on the characteristics he finds the claimant to possess, and reads the decision, "disabled" or "not disabled" from the right-hand column in that row.
The Secretary's instructions for the use of the Grid are explicit. The ALJ is to determine the claimant's relevant characteristics. Each of these "findings of fact is subject to rebuttal and the individual may present evidence to refute such findings." Grid § 200.00(a). Once found, the claimant's characteristics will either fit squarely within one of the rules in the table or they will not. If they do-if the "findings of fact ... coincide with all of the criteria of a particular rule"-then "the rule directs a conclusion as to whether the individual is or is not disabled." Id. (Emphasis added.) If the facts do not fit squarely within a rule because they reveal a borderline case or a case lying between two rules, those rules still "provide guidance;" they are to be given "consideration," and they "provide an overall structure for evaluation." Id. § 200.00(d). If instead, the facts do not fit squarely within a rule because the claimant has a combination of impairments-particularly if the claimant has a nonexertional impairment-the guidelines suggest still more individualized consideration. Id. § 200.00(e).
We have previously held the Grid to be a proper exercise of the Secretary's general rulemaking authority under 42 U.S.C. § 405(a). See Torres v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, supra. See also Santise v. Schweiker, supra; Cummins v. Schweiker, 670 F.2d 81 (7th Cir. 1982); Salinas v. Schweiker, 662 F.2d 345 (5th Cir. 1981) (); Frady v. Harris, 646 F.2d 143 (4th Cir. 1981). But cf. Campbell v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, 665 F.2d 48, 53-54 (2d Cir. 1981), cert. granted, 50 U.S.L.W. 3994 (June 22, 1982); Hall v. Harris, 658 F.2d 260, 268 (4th Cir. 1981). Vazquez does not challenge the validity of the Grid, but rather the manner in which it was applied in his case.
All parties agree that Vazquez, who was fifty-five years old at the time of the ALJ hearing, is properly classified as an "individual of advanced age." They also agree that his education, discontinued in the tenth grade, should be classified as "limited." They disagree on the proper classification of his residual functional ability, that is, whether his impairments (arthritis, obesity, high blood pressure, and shortness of breath, among others) are so severe that he can do no work at all, that he can only do "sedentary" work, or that he can do "light" work. Finally, they disagree about the classification of Vazquez's previous work experience.
Based upon these facts, seven rules are potentially applicable to Vazquez. If Vazquez can perform "light" work, three rules from the "light" work table might govern his case:
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Rule Age Education Previous work experience Decision
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202.01 .. Advanced age Limited or
less ..... Unskilled or none........ Disabled
202.02 .. ....do ...... ....do ..... Skilled or Do
semiskilled--skills
not transferable
202.03 .. ....do ...... ....do ..... Skilled or Not
semiskilled--skills disabled
transferable 1.
201.01 .. Advanced age Limited or
less ..... Unskilled or none........
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