2008 D e c i sion s O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit 7-2-2008 

# C o s m a s v . C omm S o c i al S ecurity P r e c e de nt i al or N on-P r e c e de nt i al : N on-P r e c e de nt i al D ocke t N o . 07-1546

F o llow thi s and a dd it ion al work s at : http://d i git alc ommon s .l a w . vi ll anova . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2008

Thi s de c i sion i s br ou ght t o you for f r e e and ope n a c c e s s b y the O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit at V i ll anova U nive r sity S choo l of L a

w Di git al Reposit ory

. It h as be e n a c c ept e d for inclusion in 2008 D e c i sion s b y an authori z e d a dmini s tr at or of V i ll anova U nive r sity S choo l of L a

w Di git al Reposit ory

. F or mor e inform at ion, p le as e c ont a ct Be n j amin . C arl s on@l a

w . vi ll anova . e du . Re c omme nde d C it at ion " C os m as v . C omm S oc i al S e c urity " (2008). 2008 D e cisio n s . P ape r 919. http://d i git alc ommon s .l a

w . vi ll anova . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2008/919NOT P RE CE DE NT I AL UN I TED STATES CO UR T OF A PP EALS F O R T H E T H IR D C IR C U IT

N o. 07- 1546

N I CH O LA S CO SM A S, A ppel l ant

v. CO M M I SS I ON ER O F S OC I AL SECU RI TY O n A p p ea l from the U n it ed S tat es D istri ct C o u rt

forthe D i s tr i ctof N ew J er s ey ( D . C . C i vi l N o. 06- cv- 01300) D i s tr i ctJ udge: H on. G arr ettE . B r ow n, J r . , C hi ef J udge

Subm i t t ed U nderT hi r d C i r cui tL A R 34. 1( a)

J une 24, 2008 B efor e: SL O V I T E R , B A R R Y and R O T H , C i r cui tJ udges

( Fi l ed: J ul y2, 2008)

OP I NI ON2

SL O V I T E R , C i r cui tJ udge. A p p ell an t N icho las C o sm as a p p ea ls from the d ec isi o n o f th e D istri ct C o u rt aff i r m i ng the deni al of hi s cl ai m forD i s abi l i tyI ns ur ance B enef i t s ( “D I B ”) . C os m as a rg u e s th a t th e A d m in istra tiv e L a w Ju d g e ’s ( “ A L J” ) d e ter m in a tio n th a t h e w a s a b le to r es um e hi s pas tw or k w as nots uppor t ed bys ubs t ant i al evi dence . I. B e c a u se w e w rite p rin c ip a llyf o r th e p a rties , w e re c ite o n lyth o se f a c ts n e c e ss a ryto o u r d isp o sitio n . C o sm a s w a s e m p lo y e d a s a c o m p tro ller f o r m u c h o f

h is lif e , w o rk in g in th is c a p a c ity a t L o n d o n R e c o rd s a n d th e n a t T ri -S ta te E n v ir o n m e n ta l C o n tr a c tin g , a companypart i al l yow ned byC os m as ’ w i fe. C os m as ’ dut i es atT r i - St at e i ncl uded hi r i ng a n d f i r i n g e mp l o y e e s , s u p e r v i s i n g s t a f f me mb e r s , a n d r e v i e wi n g f i n a n c i a l r e p o r t s . He w as pai d $1, 800 perw eek f orhi s w or k atT r i - St at e, earni ng $121, 900 i n 2001. C os m as al l eged thathi s j ob r equi r ed hi m t o w al k fortw o hour s perday , s t and fortw o hour s per day , and si tfor fou r hours per day . W hen he b ecam e i l l , his w i fe t oo k o ver hi s duti es. C os m as ’ m edi cal hi s t oryappea r s i n the D i s tr i ctC our t ’ s w el l - r eas oned opi ni on, w h ich se ts f

o rth th a t C o sm a s u n d e rw e n t a s e rie s o f m e d ica l p ro c e d u re s a n d su rg e rie s to tr eathi s hi s t oryof s ar coma of the gr oi n begi nni ng i n 2000 and endi ng i n 2001. C os m as s ubs equent l yfi l ed an appl i cat i on forD I B , w hi ch w as deni ed. F o llo w in g a h e a rin g , the A L J d e n ied h is a p p lica tio n a n d th e A p p e a ls C o u n c il decl i ned hi s r eques tforfur therr evi ew . C os m as then fi l ed s ui ti n the U ni t ed St at es3

D istri ct C o u rtfo r th e D istri ct of N ew Jerse y , see k ing rev iew o f th e C o m m issi o n er’s d e c isio n . T h e D istric t C o u rt a f f irm e d th e C o m m iss io n e r’s d e n ial o f b e n e f its. T h is tim e ly appea l fol l ow ed. II. W e r evi ew the C om m i s s i oner ’ s deci s i on t o denyD I B fors ubs t ant i al evi dence . Pl um m erv. A pfel , 186 F. 3d 422, 427 ( 3d C i r . 1999) . W e ar e bound bythe fa ctual fi ndi ngs of the C om m i s s i oneri f theyar e s uppor t ed bys ubs t ant i al evi dence . I d. III . C l ai m ant s s eeki ng D I B underthe Soci al Secur i tyA ctm us ts at i s fythe fi ve- s t ep s e q u e n t i a l a n a l y s i s p r o v i d e d b yth e r e g u l a t i o n s . 2 0 C. F. R. § 4 0 4 . 1 5 2 0 . Th e ALJ per form ed thi s r equi r ed ana l y s i s and det erm i ned that : ( 1) C os m as had notengage d i n any su b sta n tial g a in f

u l ac tiv ity ; (2 ) C o sm a s’ im p a irm e n ts w e re se v e re ; (3 ) h is im p a irm e n ts did not m eetor equa l the im pairm ents l i st s i n ap pen dix 1 of the regu l at i on s; (4) C osm as’ al l egat i ons r egar di ng hi s l i m i t at i ons w er e nott ot al l ycr edi bl e; ( 5) C os m as had the r es i dual f u n c tio n a l ca p a c ity(“ R F C ” ) to f u lf ill th e f u ll ran g e o f

se d e n tar yw o rk ; an d (6 ) c o u ld r eturn t o hi s “pas tr el evantw or k as contr ol l er - tr eas ur er. . . as the j ob i s per form ed i n the nat i onal economy . ” A . R . at23. T hus , the A L J det erm i ned thatC os m as w as not

“ d isa b led ” w ith in th e m e a n in g o f th e S o c ial S e c u rityA c t. A c c o rd in g to C o sm a s, th is det erm i nat i on w as r eac hed i n contr avent i on of the r ecor d evi dence . W e di s agr ee. O u r rev iew o f th e re co rd re v ea ls th at su b stan ti al ev iden ce su p p o rt s the A L J’s4

fi ndi ng that , des pi t e the ef fec t s of C os m as ’ s ur ger i es , he r et ai ned the R FC fora ful l r ange of sed entaryw ork. F or exam ple, bo th D r. G oy do s and D r. S al vati (C osm as’ surgeon s) r eport ed thatther e w as no evi dence of r eocc urr ence of C os m as ’ s ar coma. D r . G oy dos fur thernot ed thatC os m as ’ w ound- s i t e w as w el l - heal ed, and thatC os m as ’ gai tw as n o rm a l. D r. L iar e n a , the S tate a g e n c ym e d ica l co n su ltan t, op in e d th a t C o sm a s c o u ld o c c a s i o n a l l y l i f

ttw e n ty p o u n d s , s t a n d / a n d o rw a l k tw o h o u r s i n a n e i g h t - h o u rw o r k d a y, and s i tappr oxi m at el ys i x hour s i n an ei ght - hourw or k day . Fi nal l y , D r . W i el i czko not ed th a t a lth o u g h C o s m a s s u f f e re d f ro m d e p re s s io n h e w a s n o t s e v e re ly m e d ic a lly im p a ir e d . Cons i de r e d a s a w ho l e , thi s e vi de nc e s up po r t s the c on c l us i on tha tCos mas r e t a i ne d RFC t o per form s edent aryw or k. C os m as ’ as s ert i on thatthe s har ed conc l us i ons of D r s . G or don, B hokar i , and M urr ay— al l of w hom not ed thatC os m as s uffe r ed fr om depr es s i on — contr adi ctthe fi ndi ng of R FC i s unavai l i ng. T he A L J cons i der ed thi s evi dence , butconcl uded that C o sm as’ m en tal co n d it ion w as b en ign . M o reo v er, th e A L J ref erred to D r. G o rdo n ’s rep o rt , w h ich n o ted th at alth o u g h C o sm as h ad b ee n d iagn o sed w ith a d ep ressive d isord er, “the bal ance of the ment al s t atus exami nat i on w as nor m al , s i nce the cl ai m antw as or i ent ed i n t hr ee s pher es , hi s s peec h w as i nt act , he had good j udgm entand he w as not s ui ci dal . ” A . R . at21. I n addi t i on, the A L J r el i ed on r ecor d evi dence demonstr at i ng t hat C os m as w as abl e t o compl et e s er i al s even s ubtr act i ons and bas i c mem oryexer ci s es , and thathe l acke d decompens at i on epi s odes i n hi s m edi cal hi s t ory , ther ebys how i ng that5

C os m as di d nothave a n i m pai r m entw i th anygr eat erthan a s l i ghteff ecton hi s m ent al abi l i tyt o per form hi s w or k. G i ven thi s evi dence , w e ca nnots aythatthe A L J ’ s deni al w as notbas ed on s ubs t ant i al evi dence . N or can w e saythat the A L J’ s r ej ect i on of D r. M urr ay ’s m edical op i nion w as i m pr oper . D r . Si m on D . M urr ay , C os m as ’ tr eat i ng phy s i ci an, opi ned byl ett erdat ed O ct ober10, 2002, thatC os m as “ha[ d] s uffe r ed gr eat l ydur i ng the pas ty earbeca us e of s ever e s tr es s es i n hi s l i fe” ; thatC os m as w as “unabl e t o w or k and i t[w as ] unl i kel ythathe [w oul d] everbe abl e t o w or k”; and thati n hi s “opi ni on, [C os m as ] s houl d be on perm anent d isa b ili ty .” A .R . at 5 1 . A lth o u g h th e o p in io n o f a c laim a n t’s tre a tin g p h y sic ian is u su a lly ent i t l ed t o defe r ence , i tonl yr ece i ves contr ol l i ng w ei ghtw hen i ti s “w el l - s uppor t ed by m edi cal l yacc ept abl e cl i ni cal and l abor at orydi agnos t i c t echni ques and i s noti ncons i s t ent w ith th e o th e r s u b s ta n tia l e v id e n c e [ in th e c la im a n t’ s ] r e c o rd . . . .” 2 0 C .F .R . § 4 0 4 . 1 5 2 7 (d)(2 ). H ere , there is no su ch su p p o rt . A s n o ted b ythe A L J, D r. M u rray ’s eval uat i on w as bas ed onl yon C os m as ’ s el f- r eport ed s ym pt om s of fa t i gue. B ey ond the fac tthatD r . M urr ay ’ s as s es s m entw as bas ed on C os m as ’ s ubj ect i ve compl ai nt s , the rec o rd a s a w h o le co n tr ad ict s D r. M u rray ’s op inion that C o sm as c o u ld sitfo r fo u r ho u rs and neve rs t and, w al k, pus h orpul l foranyl ength of t i m e. I n addi t i on t o t he medi cal evi dence di s cus s ed above , the non- m edi cal evi dence of r ecor d al s o contr adi ct s D r . M urr ay ’ s concl us i on. Forexampl e, C os m as not ed thathe w at ched t el evis i on , read, op erat ed a v ehicl e, garden ed, and helped w i th h ou sehold cho res .6

A s the r ecor d as a w hol e does nots uppor tD r . M urr ay ’ s opi ni on, w e ca nnots aythatthe A L J f a i l e d t o c o n s i d e ri tp r o p e r l y. C o sm a s’ f

in a l ar g u m e n t is th a t th e A L J f a iled to f o llo w th e S o c ial S e c u rity A dm i ni s tr at i on’ s r egul at orypr ot ocol bynotcompar i ng the phy s i cal and ment al r e q u i r e m e n t s o f

p a s tr e l e v a n tw o r k w i th C o s m a s ’ p h ys i c a l a n d m e n t a l R F C o n a t a s k b y task b asis. T h e A L J, h o w ev er, m ad e sp ec ifi c re fe ren ce to the U . S . D ep artm en t of L ab o r’s D i ct i onaryof O ccupa t i on T i t l es ( 4th ed. 1991) , avai l abl e at ht tp: //w w w . oal

j . dol . gov/ l i bdot . ht m , w hi ch s t at ed thatC os m as ’ pr i orpos i t i on i s per form ed a t a s e d e n ta ry le v e l a n d re q u ir e s s ig n if ic a n t e d u c a tio n a l d e v e lo p m e n t. S e e 2 0 C .F .R . § 404. 1566( d) ( 1) ( pr ovi di ng thatthe C om m i s s i onerm ayt ake a dm i ni s tr at i ve not i ce of j ob d e sc rip tio n s a n d th e ir a tten d a n t d e m a n d s). A s d isc u ss e d a b o v e , the A L J p ro p e rly d eterm ined that C o sm as lac k ed a m en tal im p airm en t and that C o sm as c o u ld p erf o rm s edent aryw or k. A ccor di ngl y , gi ven the demands of hi s pr evi ous occupa t i on, w e ca nnot sa yth a t th e A L J’s f

in d in g th a t C o sm a s c o u ld re su m e h is w o rk a s a c o n tro ller- tre a su re r is u n s u p p o rt e d b ys u b s ta n tia l e v id e n c e . I V. F o r th e a b o v e -sta ted re a so n s, w e w ill a f f irm th e ju d g m e n t o f

th e D istric t C o u rt.