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Timestamp: 2019-08-23 17:30:04
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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 405', '§ 405', '§ 404', '§ 556', '§ 404', '§ 201', '§ 202', '§ 404', '§ 200']

HECKLER V. CAMPBELL, 461 U. S. 458 - Volume 461 - 1983 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 461 > HECKLER V. CAMPBELL, 461 U. S. 458 (1983) > Full Text
The regulations divide this last inquiry into two stages. First, the Secretary must assess each claimant's present job qualifications. The regulations direct the Secretary to consider the factors Congress has identified as relevant: physical ability, age, education, and work experience. [Footnote 1] See 42
In 1979, Calmen Campbell applied for disability benefits because a back condition and hypertension prevented her from continuing her work as a hotel maid. After her application was denied, she requested a hearing de novo before an Administrative Law Judge. [Footnote 6] He determined that her back
We granted certiorari to resolve a conflict among the Courts of Appeals. [Footnote 8] Schweiker v. Campbell, 457 U.S. 1131 (1982). We now reverse.
665 F.2d at 54. It thus rejected the proposition that "the guidelines provide adequate evidence of a claimant's ability to perform a specific alternative occupation," id. at 53, and remanded for the Secretary to put into evidence "particular types of jobs suitable to the capabilities of Ms. Campbell," id. at 54. The court's requirement that additional evidence be introduced on this issue prevents the Secretary from putting the guidelines to their intended use and implicitly calls their validity into question. [Footnote 9] Accordingly,
in disability cases. 42 U.S.C. § 405(a). As we previously have recognized, Congress has "conferred on the Secretary exceptionally broad authority to prescribe standards for applying certain sections of the [Social Security] Act." Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U. S. 34, 453 U. S. 43 (1981); see Batterton v. Francis, 432 U. S. 416, 432 U. S. 425 (1977). Where, as here, the statute expressly entrusts the Secretary with the responsibility for implementing a provision by regulation, [Footnote 10] our review is limited to determining whether the regulations promulgated exceeded the Secretary's statutory authority and whether they are arbitrary and capricious. Herweg v. Ray, 455 U. S. 265, 455 U. S. 275 (1982); Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, supra, at 453 U. S. 44.
The Secretary's decision to rely on medical-vocational guidelines is consistent with Texaco and Storer. As noted above, in determining whether a claimant can perform less strenuous work, the Secretary must make two determinations. She must assess each claimant's individual abilities and then determine whether jobs exist that a person having the claimant's qualifications could perform. The first inquiry involves a determination of historic facts, and the regulations properly require the Secretary to make these findings on the basis of evidence adduced at a hearing. We note that the regulations afford claimants ample opportunity both to present evidence relating to their own abilities and to offer evidence that the guidelines do not apply to them. [Footnote 11] The second
By referring to notice and an opportunity to respond, see 665 F.2d at 53-54, the decision below invites the interpretation given it by respondent. But we do not think that the decision fairly can be said to present the issues she raises. [Footnote 12]
The Court of Appeals did not find that the Secretary failed to give sufficient notice in violation of the Due Process Clause or any statutory provision designed to implement it. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(b) (1976 ed., Supp. V) (requiring that disability claimants be given "reasonable notice and [an] opportunity for a hearing"). Nor did it find that the Secretary violated any duty imposed by regulation. See 20 CFR § 404.944 (1982) (requiring the administrative law judge to "loo[k] fully into the issues"). Rather, the court's reference to notice and an opportunity to respond appears to be based on a principle of administrative law -- that, when an agency takes official or administrative notice of facts, a litigant must be given an adequate opportunity to respond. [Footnote 13] See 5 U.S.C. § 556(e); McDaniel v. Celebrezze, 331 F.2d 426 (CA4 1964).
I join the Court's opinion. It merits comment, however, that the hearing respondent received, see ante at 461 U. S. 462-463, if it is in any way indicative of standard practice, reflects
Broz v. Schweiker, 677 F.2d 1351, 1364 (CA11 1982). [Footnote 2/1] In her brief to this Court, the Secretary acknowledges that the Social Security regulations embody this duty, and relies upon it in answering respondent's due process contentions. Brief for Petitioner 42 (citing Broz v. Schweiker, supra); see 20 CFR § 404.944 (1982); ante at 461 U. S. 468, and n. 12. The Administrative Law Judge's "duty to inquire" takes on special urgency where, as here, the claimant has little education and limited fluency in English, and, given that the claimant already has a right to a hearing, the additional cost of pursuing relevant issues at the hearing is minimal.
In order to find that respondent was not disabled, the Secretary had to determine that she had the physical capacity to do "light work," compare 20 CFR pt. 404, subpt. P, app. 2, § 201.10 (1982), with id. § 202.10, a determination that required a finding that she was capable of frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 10 pounds and sometimes lifting up to 20 pounds, 20 CFR § 404.1567(b) (1982). The hearing record included one disinterested doctor's report of a medical examination of respondent that concluded with the unexplained statement "Patient may return to light-duty work," App. 11, and a subsequent report by a second disinterested doctor stating that respondent could lift and carry only "up to 10 pounds," id. at 32. In finding that respondent could perform "light work," the Administrative Law Judge rejected the second doctor's report as "without basis." App. to Pet. for Cert. 23a-25a. Yet he failed entirely to adduce evidence relevant to this issue at respondent's hearing. At several points during the hearing, respondent stated that she could not lift things, but the Administrative Law Judge did not question her on the subject at all, [Footnote 2/2] nor did he make any inquiry whether, by "light-duty work," the first doctor meant the same thing as the Secretary's term "light work." The Administrative Law Judge further failed to inquire whether factors besides strength, age, or education, combined with her other impairments, rendered respondent disabled. See 20 CFR pt. 404, supra, § 200.00(e)(2); ante at 461 U. S. 462, n. 5. Apparently such factors could have been dispositive of
I do not agree with the Court, ante at 461 U. S. 468-469, that the decision below does not question the adequacy of the Administrative Law Judge's inquiry at the hearing. Although the Court of Appeals' opinion is not entirely clear, the court appears
issue at respondent's hearing was whether she was capable of performing "light work." [Footnote 3/2] If Campbell had shown that she was unable to perform "light work," she would have been entitled to disability benefits under the Secretary's guidelines. Although Campbell was afforded a hearing to determine whether she was disabled, she was never apprised of this central issue either in advance of or during the hearing. She was not represented by counsel, and the Administrative Law Judge who conducted the hearing never explained to her what "light work" entailed. Moreover, although the judge inquired at length into respondent's medical problems, he conducted little inquiry into the effect of her medical problems on her capacity to perform work. Yet reasonably complete questioning concerning the claimant's ability to function in her daily activity was essential to resolving this question in a fair manner. [Footnote 3/3]
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