UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN 

NORTHERN DIVISION 

DARRELL T EDWARDS, 

 Plaintiff, Case No. 15-cv-11560 

v Honorable Thomas L. Ludington 

 Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis 

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 

 

Defendant. 

__________________________________________/ 

ORDER ADOPTING THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION, 

DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, 

GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, 

 AND AFFIRMING THE DECISION OF THE COMMISSIONER 

 Plaintiff Darrell T. Edwards filed an application for Supplemental Security Income on 

March 13, 2012, alleging a disability onset date of January 1, 2010. After his claim was initially 

denied Plaintiff timely requested an administrative hearing, which was held on November 19, 

2013. On December 23, 2013 the ALJ issued a written decision finding that Plaintiff was not 

disabled under the Social Security Act. That decision became final when the Appeals Council 

denied Plaintiff’s request for review. Plaintiff then appealed to this Court on April 30, 2015. See 

Compl., ECF No. 1. 

Plaintiff Edwards filed a motion for summary judgment on July 15, 2016. ECF No. 14. 

Defendant Commissioner then filed a motion for summary judgment on September 9, 2016. ECF 

No. 16. On January 31, 2017, Magistrate Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis issued a report and 

recommendation, concluding that the ALJ’s determination that Edwards was not disabled was 

supported by substantial evidence. ECF No. 17. In so concluding, the magistrate judge found 

that substantial evidence supported the ALJ’s finding that Plaintiff did not have a condition that 

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met or equaled Listing 12.04 (Affective Disorder). The magistrate judge therefore recommended 

that Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment be denied, Defendant Commissioner’s motion for 

summary judgment be granted, and the decision of the ALJ be affirmed. 

Although the magistrate judge’s report explicitly stated that the parties to this action 

could object to and seek review of the recommendation within fourteen days of service of the 

report, neither Plaintiff nor Defendant filed any objections. The election not to file objections to 

the magistrate judge’s report releases the Court from its duty to independently review the record. 

Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149 (1985). The failure to file objections to the report and 

recommendation waives any further right to appeal. 

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, 

ECF No. 17, is ADOPTED. 

It is further ORDERED that Plaintiff Edwards’s motion for summary judgment, ECF 

No. 14, is DENIED. 

It is further ORDERED that Defendant Commissioner’s motion for summary judgment, 

ECF No. 16, is GRANTED. 

 It is further ORDERED that the Commissioner’s decision is AFFIRMED. 

s/Thomas L. Ludington 

 THOMAS L. LUDINGTON 

 United States District Judge 

Dated: February 22, 2017 

 

PROOF OF SERVICE 

The undersigned certifies that a copy of the foregoing order was served 

upon each attorney or party of record herein by electronic means or first 

class U.S. mail on February 22, 2017. 

 s/Kelly Winslow for 

 MICHAEL A. SIAN, Case Manager 

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