Weetman v. Sullivan
| Decision Date | 14 September 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-3600,88-3600 |
| Citation | 877 F.2d 20 |
| Parties | , Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 14803A Edythe WEETMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Louis J. SULLIVAN, * Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Dana C. Madsen, Spokane, Wash., for plaintiff-appellant.
Ellen A. Miyasato, Asst. Regional Counsel, Dept. of Health & Human Services, Seattle, Wash., for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
Before WRIGHT, TANG and WIGGINS, Circuit Judges.
Appellant Edythe Weetman appeals the district court's affirmance of a decision of
the Secretary of Health and Human Services ("Secretary") denying her claim for disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. Appellant contends that the Secretary improperly discounted her subjective pain testimony and erroneously ignored the evidence of disability offered by her treating physicians. We believe substantial evidence supports the Secretary's decision and, accordingly, we affirm.
Appellant filed for Title II benefits in September 1984. Her claim was denied initially and again after reconsideration. Appellant then obtained a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") who decided at the outset that her eligibility for benefits was restricted to the period between November 25, 1979, and June 30, 1982. 1 The ALJ then heard testimony from Appellant, Appellant's husband, and a vocational expert. Appellant testified that she suffered from symptoms of Meniers disease, which, according to her, effectively prevented her from standing or sitting for extended periods. Further, Appellant testified that her ailment prevented her from using her hands, from hearing, from seeing, from concentrating, and even from sleeping. Appellant admitted, however, that she had earned $791.38 in 1980, $5,999.38 in 1981, and $298.39 in 1982 working as a part-time nurse. Appellant's husband corroborated Appellant's testimony by stating that he had observed her suffer dizzy spells on a daily basis. The vocational expert, in response to a hypothetical question posed by the ALJ, stated that anyone with Appellant's background in nursing had transferable work skills for most sedentary positions and that these positions were widely available in the regional economy.
The ALJ decided that Appellant had engaged in substantial gainful activity throughout the calendar year 1981 and up to April 1, 1982, because her earnings exceeded $300 per month. For the periods preceding January 1, 1981, and following April 1, 1982, the ALJ concluded that Appellant had the capacity to perform sedentary work. The ALJ did not doubt the sincerity of Appellant's subjective pain testimony but he nevertheless concluded that her condition at the time of the hearing was inconsistent with the medical notes recording her physical condition in 1981 and 1982. The ALJ then concluded that, although Appellant was unable to return to her previous occupation as a registered nurse, she nevertheless possessed work skills transferable to existing job opportunities. Thus, the ALJ concluded that Appellant was not "disabled" within the meaning of Title II for the period in which she was entitled to disability benefits.
The Board of Appeals declined to review the ALJ's decision even though Appellant submitted a letter from her medical doctor opining that she had been disabled during the entire eligibility period. The Board of Appeals reasoned that the newly submitted evidence was inconsistent with the medical doctor's contemporaneous medical evaluations and therefore did not contradict the ALJ's finding of no disability. The ALJ's decision thus represented the final decision of the Secretary. Appellant then sought review of the Secretary's decision in the District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. The magistrate assigned to consider the matter concluded that substantial evidence supported the Secretary's ultimate conclusion that Appellant was not disabled during the entire eligibility period. This timely appeal followed and we now have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 (1982).
DISCUSSION
Appellant does not quarrel with the Secretary's conclusion, as modified by the district court, that she engaged in substantial gainful activity throughout the 1981 calendar year. Nor does she seriously quarrel with the Secretary's conclusion that she possessed transferable work skills and that jobs would have been available to her. Instead, the crux of Appellant's appeal is that the Secretary wrongly discounted her testimony concerning her physical condition during the eligibility period. Appellant also contends that the Secretary improperly rejected her medical doctor's opinion that she had been totally disabled during the entire eligibility period. Appellant argues that when combined these errors caused the Secretary to reach the incorrect conclusion that she was able to do sedentary work. We believe this contention lacks merit.
As stated in many decisions of this court,
The Secretary is not required to believe a claimant's complaints of pain. The Secretary can disregard such self-serving testimony whenever the claimant fails to submit...
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