Source: http://or.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20190926_0001355.DOR.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2020-07-14 15:51:30
Document Index: 159661538

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 422', '§ 405', '§ 423', '§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 404']

FindACase™ | Linda B. v. Saul
Linda B. v. Saul
LINDA B., [1] Plaintiff,
Nancy J. Meserow, Attorneys for Plaintiff.
Billy J. Williams, United States Attorney, and Janice E. Hebert, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office, Heather L. Griffith, Special Assistant United States Attorney, Office of General Counsel, Social Security Administration, Attorneys for Defendant.
Linda B. (“Plaintiff”) seeks judicial review of the final decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (“Commissioner”) denying her application for Disability Insurance Benefits (“DIB”) under Title II of the Social Security Act (the “Act”). For the following reasons, the Commissioner’s decision is REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.
Plaintiff filed an application for DIB on June 2, 2014, alleging disability beginning on May 30, 2014. AR 18, 75, 85, 90, 186. Plaintiff was born in June 1951 and was 63 years old as of the alleged disability onset date. AR 156. She alleged disability due to lumbar and cervical spine disorders, including scoliosis, cervical spondylosis, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, demineralization of the spine, kyphosis, Klippel-Feil syndrome, and status post cervical fusion at ¶ 1-C3. AR 186. The Commissioner denied Plaintiffs application initially and upon reconsideration. AR 102-06. Thereafter, Plaintiff requested a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”). AR 125-26. In a decision dated March 10, 2017, the ALJ issued a decision finding Plaintiff was not disabled. AR 16-26. The Appeals Council denied Plaintiffs request for review, making the ALJ’s decision the final decision of the Commissioner. AR 1-6; see also 20 C.F.R. § 422.210(a). Plaintiff seeks judicial review of that decision. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).
A claimant is disabled if he or she is unable to “engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which . . . has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months[.]” 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A). “Social Security Regulations set out a five-step sequential process for determining whether an applicant is disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act.” Keyser v. Comm ’r Soc. Sec. Admin., 648 F.3d 721, 724 (9th Cir. 2011); see also 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520; Bowen v. Yuckert, 482 U.S. 137, 140 (1987). Each step is potentially dispositive. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4). The five-step sequential process asks the following series of questions:
1. Is the claimant performing “substantial gainful activity?” 20 C.F.R.§ 404.1520(a)(4)(i). This activity is work involving significant mental or physical duties done or intended to be done for pay or profit. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1510. If the claimant is performing such work, she is not disabled within the meaning of the Act. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4)(i). If the claimant is not performing substantial gainful activity, the analysis proceeds to step two.
2. Is the claimant’s impairment “severe” under the Commissioner’s regulations? 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4)(ii). An impairment or combination of impairments is “severe” if it significantly limits the claimant’s physical or mental ability to do basic work activities. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1521(a). Unless expected to result in death, this impairment must have lasted or be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1509. If the claimant does not have a severe ...