2009 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 3-6-2009 

# B urk e 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 . 06-4911

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_2009

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 2009 D e c i sion s b y an author i 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 " B urke v . C omm S oc i al S e c ur ity " (2009). 2009 D e cisio n s . P ape r 1770. http://d i git alc ommon s .l a

w . vi ll anova . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2009/1770H on. L oui s H . Pol l ak, Seni or J udge, U ni t ed St at es D i s t r i ct * C our tfort he East ern D i s t ri ctof Penns y l vani a, s i t t i ng by des i gnat i on. NOT 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. 06- 4911 KA REN BU RK E, 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

fort he D i s t r i ctof N ew J er s ey ( D . C . C i vi l N o. 04- cv- 03031) D i s t r i ctJ udge: H on. M aryL . C ooper Subm i t t ed U nderT hi r d C i r cui tL A R 34. 1( a)

M ar ch 5, 2009 B efor e: SL O V I T E R , H A R D I M A N , C i r cui tJ udges , and

PO L L A K , D i s t r i ctJ udge

* Fi l ed: M ar ch 6, 2009

OP I NI ON2

SL O V I T E R , C i r cui tJ udge. A ppel l antK ar en B ur ke appe al s the or derof the U ni t ed St at es D i s t r i ctC our tfort he D istric t o f

N e w Je rse y , af

f irm in g th e C o m m iss io n e r’s d e n ial o f h e r c laim f

o r D isa b ili ty In s u ra n c e B e n e f

its (“ D IB ” ). I. B ur ke, a hi gh s chool gr aduat e, w ho w as appr oxi m at el y50 y ear s ol d w hen s he a p p lie d f o r D IB , c la im e d th a t s h e w a s d is a b le d d u e to p h y s ic a l a n d m e n ta l im p a ir m e n ts . H erm os tr ece ntw or k w as as a r ece pt i oni s t , s ecr et ary , and cus t om ers ervi ce r epr es ent at i ve forFl eetM or t gage unt i l appr oxi m at el y1997, w hen s he l os therj ob due t o t he r el ocat i on o f h er e m p loy er. B u rk e a p p lied f

o r D IB in 2 0 0 2 . S h e c laim e d p a in in h e r b a c k a n d leg s, in a b ili tyto st and or si tfor l on g p eri od s of t i m e, cram ping of her thu m b, dep res si on , head aches, as t hm a, di abet es , heartbur n, carpal tunnel s yndr om e, nerve damage i n bot h arm s , and hi gh blood p res sure. S he is 5 fee tt al l and w ei gh s approx i m at el y25 0 p ou nd s. H ercl ai m w as deni ed admi ni s t r at i vel yand ther eaf t erbyan admi ni s t r at i ve l aw j udge ( “A L J ”) aft era hea r i ng. T he A ppeal s C ounci l deni ed B ur ke’ s r eques tforr evi ew and t he D i stri ctC ou rtaffirm ed the C om m i ssi on er’ s denial of b enef i t s. B urke ap peals . II. A t th e A L J h ea ri n g , the f o ll o w ing rep o rt s w ere o ff ere d into e v iden ce . B u rke ’s t r eat i ng phy s i ci an, D r . A nt oni o T s om pani di s , s ubm i t t ed r ecor ds s how i ng thathe had3

t r eat ed herforhyper t ens i on, arm and bac k pai n, and depr es s i on. H e al s o s ubm i t t ed a Phy s i cal R es i dual Funct i onal C apac i t yA s s es s m ent( “R FC A ”) aft erthe hea r i ng, con cl ud i ng t hat B urke ha d the abi l i t yt o o ccasi on al l yl i ftand / or carryt en p ou nd s, fre q u en tl yli ft an d /or ca rryless than ten p o u n d s, stan d an d /or w alk less th an tw o h o u rs and si tfor l ess than si x h ou rs i n an ei gh t -hour w orkday , and had l i m i t ed ab i l i t yt o p ush a n d p u l l wi t h h e rl o we re x t r e mi t i e s . Dr . Ts o mp a n i d i s a l s o f o u n d th a tBu r k e ’ s a s t h ma caused her env i ronm ental l i m i t at i on s. D r . Fl oy d K r engel , D . O . , exami ned B ur ke atthe r eques tof herat t orney s and re p o rt e d th a t s h e w a s u n a b le to s q u a t, “ a m b u la te [ d ] w ith [ a lim p in g ] a n d w a d d lin g g a it,” and had l i m i t ed r ot at i on of herhands and w r i s t s . A . R . at242. H e di agnos ed herw i t h a num berof di s or der s r el at ed t o herl um bars pi ne and a r m s . H e opi ned thatB ur ke

“ sa tisf ies th e c riter ia f

o r d isa b ili tye v a lu a tio n u n d e r S o c ial S e c u rityo n a n o rth o p e d ic bas i s . ” A . R . at243. D r. P hil i p Il ari a, w ho exam i ned B urke be cause o f her com plai nts of h eadac hes, r ecomm ended thats he under go a ce r ebr al angi ogr aphyw hi ch s how ed no evi dence of an eu ry sm an d w as o therw ise n o rm al ex ce p t fo r m ino r athe rosc leroti c d isease . D r. H ey eun K ahng, a cons ul t i ng phy s i ci an, exami ned B ur ke and f ound t hats he w al ked u n a ss iste d a t a “ slo w strid e b u t n o rm a l h e e l to to e g a it p a ttern ” a n d c o u ld sq u a t to e ig h ty per centof norm al . A . R . at207. H e di agnos ed herw i t h pr obabl e ca rpal tunnel s yndr om e,

“ p ro b a b le d e g e n e ra tiv e d is c d is e a s e o f th e lu m b o s a c ra l s p in e ,” a n d m o d e ra te o b e s ity.A M e n tal R F C A c o m p lete d b ya n o n - e x a m in in g sta te 1 agen cy do ct or at abo ut the sam e t i m e fou nd no m ental l i m i t at i on s, apar t f r om a moder at el yl i m i t ed ca paci t yfor“s us t ai ned conce nt r at i on and per s i s t ence . ” A . R . at224. 4 A . R . at207. A not hercons ul t ant , ps y chol ogi s tJ oy ce Schr ei ber , E d. D . , exami ned B ur ke an d co n clud ed that sh e w as o f a v era g e intell igen ce an d co n ce n tr ati o n , b u t her m em o ry w as m i l dl yi m pai r ed “s econda r yt o s om e emot i onal i t y . ” A . R . at220. She found:

“ [ B u rk e ’s] d if

f icu ltyw o u ld b e a p p ro p ria telyd e a lin g w ith stre ss a n d so m e p o ss ib le p h y sical l im it ati o n sec o n d aryto h er m ed ical co m p li ca ti o n s. ” A . R . at 22 1 . D r. S c h re ib e r’s m a in d iag n o sis w a s “ [ m ]a jo r d e p re ss iv e d iso rd e r, m o d e ra te w ith o u t p sy c h o tic fea tur es . ” A . R . at221. 1 T h e A L J h e a rd tes tim o n yf ro m R o c c o J. M e o la, a v o c a tio n a l ex p e rt, th e o n ly w i t nes s ot hert han B ur ke w ho t es t i fi ed or al l yatthe hea r i ng. T he A L J as ked hi m i f a h yp o th e tica l p e rso n c o u ld p e rf o rm th e re c e p tio n ist jo b th a t B u rk e d e sc rib e d if sh e c o u ld : li ft an d ca rryo b

jects w eigh ing u p to 2 0 p o u n d s[;] [f ]req u en tl yli ft an d ca rry o b jec ts w e ig h in g u p to 1 0 p o u n d s[ ;] [ s]it, sta n d , an d w a lku p to six h o u rs in an ei ghthourday [; and] [p] us h and pul l arm and l eg contr ol s noti nvol vi ng c o m p le x ta s k s o r h ig h s tr e s s s itu a tio n s o r e x te n s iv e f in e m a n ip u la tio n . . . [i ]n an en vir on m ent fr ee of excessi ve . . . pu l m on aryi rr i t ants . A . R . at292. M eol a conc l uded thats he coul d per form the j ob as B ur ke des cr i bed i t , but notas i ti s gener al l yper form ed i n t he nat i onal economy . W hen the A L J ’ s hypothet i cal w as al t er ed s uch thatt he per s on coul d l i ftonl yt en pounds , s i tup t o s i x hour s and w al k up t o t w o hour s , M eol a’ s concl us i on w as the s ame.5

I n hercl ai m , B ur ke s t at ed thats he di d m os thous ehol d chor es , gr ocerys hopped ( w i t h s om e as s i s t ance ) and cooke d m eal s forherfami l y , m anage d t he fi nance s , and dr ove s hor tdi s t ance s . A tt he hea r i ng, B ur ke t es t i fi ed thats he coul d nei t hers t and nors i tfor l ong per i ods of t i m e and thats he us ed a c ane t o w al k forl ong per i ods , butonl yl eftthe hous e aboutonce a w eek. She l i s t ed hers oci al act i vi t i es as w at chi ng t el evi s i on and vi s i t i ng hergr andchi l dr en. B ur ke w as abl e t o att end t o herper s onal hy gi ene buthad di ffi cul tycombi ng herhai r . She s t at ed thatherbl ood pr es s ur e had be en undercontr ol t hr ough m edi cat i on foratl eas tt w o m ont hs , butdepr es s i on “ha[ d] t aken ove r[her ] l i fe” and thats he had thought s of s ui ci de. A . R . at271. She t ook m edi cat i on fordepr es s i on pr es cr i bed byherpr i m arycar e phy s i ci an, buthad nots ought“tr eatm entfr om a ment al h e a lth p ro f

e ss io n a l.” A .R . at 2 7 1 . B u rk e c o n c e d e d th a t h e r p rio r w o rk b a sic a lly c o n sis ted o f

sittin g a n d o n lyre q u ire d lig h t li f tin g – if a n ya t all. Fol l ow i ng t he hea r i ng, t he A L J pr ocee ded thr ough t he r equi r ed fi ve- s t ep s equent i al anal y s i s , s ee 20 C. F. R . § 404. 1520, and found that( 1) B ur ke had notengage d i n “sub st anti al gainful act i vity ” si nce A pri l 1, 20 00 ; (2) B urke ha d severe i m pairm ents , i ncl udi ng degene r at i ve di s c di s eas e, hyper t ens i on, obes i t y , carpal tunnel s yndr om e, depr es s i on, and as t hm a; ( 3) t hos e “i m pai r m ent s [di d] notm eetorm edi cal l yequal anyof the list ed im p airm en ts i n A p p en d ix 1 , S u b p art P , R eg u lat ion s N o . 4 ;” (4) B u rke ’s “al l egat i ons r egar di ng herl i m i t at i ons [w er e] nott ot al l ycr edi bl e; ” ( 5) B ur ke “r et ai ned the r es i dual . . . capa ci t yforl i ghtw or k noti nvol vi ng compl ex t as ks , hi gh- s t r es s s i tuat i ons , orT h e D is tr ic t C o u rt h a d ju ri s d ic tio n u n d e r 4 2 U . S .C . § 2 405( g) . W e have j ur i s di ct i on under28 U . S. C . § 1291. 6 ext ens i ve fi ne mani pul at i on; i n an envi r onm entfr ee of exce s s i ve pul m onaryi r r i t ant s ; ” ( 6) B urke’s i m pairm ents “[did] notpreven t[her] fr om perform i ng her pastrel evan tw ork as a r ece pt i oni s t ; ” and, t her efor e, ( 7) B ur ke “w as notundera ‘ di s abi l i t y ’ as defi ned i n t he Soci al Secur i t yA ct . ” A . R . at21. III . W e r evi ew t he C om m i s s i oner ’ s fac tual fi ndi ngs t o det erm i ne i f theyw er e bas ed on su b stan ti al ev iden ce . 4 2 U . S . C . § 4 0 5 (g); K n ep p v . A p fe l, 2 0 4 F . 3 d 7 8 , 8 3 (3d C ir . 2 0 0 0 ). A p p ly ing that stan d ard , w e c o n clud e tha t sub stan ti al ev iden ce su p p o rt s the A L J’s

2 d eterm ination at st ep fo u r th at B u rke co u ld p erf o rm li g h t w o rk. In d eterm ining B u rke ’s r es i dual funct i onal capa ci t y , t he A L J eval uat ed B ur ke’ s t es t i m ony , as w el l as m edi cal r ecor ds fr om t r eat i ng, exami ni ng, and cons ul t i ng phy s i ci ans . T he A L J di s cus s ed the c o n f lictin g m e d ica l re p o rts a n d e x p lain e d th a t h e “ a c c o rd [ e d ] . . . n o sig n if ica n t w e ig h t” t o “D r . K r engel ’ s as s es s m entof di s abi l i t yand D r . T s om pani di s ’ r es i dual funct i on capa ci t yas s es s m ent[bec aus e they ] ar e uns uppor t ed bythei robj ect i ve fi ndi ngs [on] the r ecor d as a w hol e. ” A . R . at18. Forexampl e, t he A L J not ed thatD r . T s om pani di s di d not“pr ovi de anyobj ect i ve m edi cal evi dence i n s uppor tof thes e ext ens i ve l i m i t at i ons , ” and w as i ncons i s t entw i t h the ot herm edi cal evi dence of r ecor d and w i t h hi s ow n pr ogr es s not es . A . R . at17. A tr eat i ng7

p h y sic ian ’s o p in io n m a yb e g iv e n c o n tro lli n g w e ig h t if it is “ w e ll-su p p o rte d b ym e d ica lly acc ept abl e cl i ni cal and l abor at or ydi agnos t i c t echni ques and i s noti ncons i s t entw i t h the ot hers ubs t ant i al evi dence . ” 20 C . F. R . § 404. 1527( d) ( 2) . A s thi s w as notthe ca s e her e, t h e ALJ d i d n o te r ri n a c c o r d i n g Dr . Ts o mp a n i d i s ’ o p i n i o n “ n o s i g n i f i c a n twe i g h t . ” A. R. at18. B ur ke ar gues t hat , ats t ep thr ee, the A L J di d notpr oper l ycons i derw hetherher i m pai rm ent s m etorequal ed a l i s t ed i m pai r m ent . B ur ke’ s ar gum enti s w i t houtm er i t . T he A L J e v a lu a ted th e m e d ica l ev id e n c e a n d c o n sid e re d f iv e d isa b ili tylistin g s re late d to B ur ke’ s i m pai r m ent s and gave r eas ons w hyheri m pai r m ent s fai l ed t o m eetorequal eac h one. Forexampl e, w i t h r egar d t o B ur ke’ s s pi nal pr obl ems, the A L J expl ai ned: “[C]l ai m ant ’ s i m pai r m entdoes notm eetthe cr i t er i a of Li s t i ng 1. 04, D i s or der s of the Spi ne, as s he does nothave a herni at ed di s c orthe nec es s aryevi dence of nerve r oot c o m p re ss io n .” A .R . at 1 5 . W e re jec t B u rk e ’s a rg u m e n t. B u rk e c o n ten d s th a t th e A L J e rre d in f a ili n g to c re d it h e r su b

jec tiv e sy m p to m s in eval uat i ng herr es i dual funct i onal capa ci t y . T he A L J eval uat ed B ur ke’ s t es t i m onyand m ade a n expr es s fi ndi ng t hathers t at ement s w er e “notent i r el ycr edi bl e” be caus e the

“ o b j e c t i v e me d i c a l e v i d e n c e f a i l s t o s u p p o r t[ h e r ] e x t e n s i v e s u b j e c t i v e c o mp l a i n t s . ” A. R. at19 -20. T he A L J al so fou nd t hat B urke’s ow n tes t i m on yregar ding her dail yact i vit i es – “i ncl udi ng cooki ng di nnerni ght l y , . . . doi ng l aundry , s uperm arkets hoppi ng, and dr i vi ng” – underm i ned hercl ai m s . A . R . at20. T he A L J not ed thatB ur ke’ s us e of a cane had not8

been pr es cr i bed bya doct orand thats he had ne vers ought“tr eatm entfr om a ment al heal t h pr ofes s i onal , ” des pi t e cl ai m i ng s ever e depr es s i on. A . R . at20. H avi ng r evi ew ed the evi dence of r ecor d, w e conc l ude thatthe A L J ’ s det erm i nat i on w as bas ed on s ubs t ant i al evi dence . 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.