Opinion ID: 2708446
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ms. Beardsley’s Self-Reported Capabilities

Text: Ms. Beardsley testified at her hearing that she experienced moderate to extreme pain throughout her leg and into her back. She had difficulty walking or standing for more than about ten minutes at a time, and although she could drive without using her injured left knee, she had trouble getting in and out of the car and did not like going out. She estimated that she shopped for necessities about once a week, leaning on the grocery cart for support, and that her pain would usually be worse the next day. Much of Ms. Beardsley’s weekdays were spent keeping her mother company, which involved watching television, playing cards, doing light housework, preparing simple meals, and helping her mother into bed in the evening. The ALJ acknowledged that these daily activities were “fairly limited,” but he was not persuaded that they weighed in favor of a disability finding because “allegedly limited 6 No. 13-3609 daily activities cannot be objectively verified with any reasonable degree of certainty.” Whatever uncertainty may exist around such self-reports is not by itself reason to discount them—otherwise, why ask in the first place?—and the relevant regulations specifically allow ALJs to consider claimants’ “daily activities.” 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1529(a), 416.929(a). By the ALJ’s reasoning, the agency could ignore applicants’ claims of severe pain simply because such subjective states are impossible to verify with complete certainty, yet the law is to the contrary. See Carradine v. Barnhart, 360 F.3d 751 (7th Cir. 2004) (reversing and remanding where ALJ improperly discounted applicant’s claims of severe pain); 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1529, 416.929 (regulations governing evaluation of symptoms, including complaints of pain). Nor was the record lacking in evidence to corroborate Ms. Beardsley’s reported activities. Her mother gave a similar account of her daughter’s daily routine and limitations, and both of their descriptions were consistent with the medical evidence of a severe knee injury. The ALJ also highlighted what he saw as inconsistencies in Ms. Beardsley’s self-reports. To the extent we see any inconsistencies here, they do not rise above trivial matters that the ALJ did not inquire into during Ms. Beardsley’s hearing. Ms. Beardsley wrote in her application for benefits that she went to her mother’s every weekday, but also said in the same document that she “went outside” about three times a week. She acknowledged paying her own bills but also said she had difficulty handling money because of her depression and other mental difficulties. Sometimes when she went out, she needed someone to accompany her, but sometimes not. “An ALJ's credibility assessment will stand as long as there is some support in the record,” Berger v. Astrue, 516 F.3d 539, No. 13-3609 7 546 (7th Cir. 2008) (internal formatting omitted), but without some attempt by the ALJ to explore the supposed contradictions here, they do not provide a sound basis for concluding that Ms. Beardsley’s report was inaccurate. See Zurawski, 245 F.3d at 887–88 (ALJ’s adverse credibility determination could not be upheld because it was based solely on unsupported “inconsistencies” with medical record and daily activities); Social Security Ruling 96-7p, 1996 WL 374186 (July 2, 1996) (explaining process by which ALJs must evaluate credibility of applicants). The ALJ’s main reason for discounting the evidence of Ms. Beardsley’s physical limitations was the care she provided for her mother. The ALJ commented that such care “can be quite demanding both physically and emotionally.” As we have said, it is proper for the Social Security Administration to consider a claimant’s daily activities in judging disability, but we have urged caution in equating these activities with the challenges of daily employment in a competitive environment, especially when the claimant is caring for a family member. See Mendez v. Barnhart, 439 F.3d 360, 362 (7th Cir. 2006) (“The pressures, the nature of the work, flexibility in the use of time, and other aspects of the working environment as well, often differ dramatically between home and office.”); Gentle v. Barnhart, 430 F.3d 865, 867 (7th Cir. 2005) (“Gentle must take care of her children, or else abandon them to foster care or perhaps her sister, and the choice may impel her to heroic efforts.”); Clifford v. Apfel, 227 F.3d 863, 872 (7th Cir. 2000) (“minimal daily activities” such as preparing simple meals, weekly grocery shopping, taking care of family member, and playing cards “do not establish that a person is capable of engaging in substantial physical activity”); SSR 96-p7 (claimants may sometimes have struc- 8 No. 13-3609 tured daily activities to minimize symptoms and avoid physical and mental stressors). The ALJ’s reliance was especially troublesome in this case because most of what Ms. Beardsley did at her mother’s house was sedentary: playing cards, watching television, and preparing sandwiches or simple meals on the stove. These tasks “differ dramatically” from the type of jobs the ALJ believed Ms. Beardsley was capable of performing, see Mendez, 439 F.3d at 362, and lend no support to the conclusion that she would be able to spend six hours a day, every day, on her feet working. The ALJ cited additional activities, such as taking care of pets, doing laundry, cleaning, and shopping, that might support a more robust residual functional capacity. But undisputed evidence in the record undermines the ALJ’s reliance on each of these activities. Ms. Beardsley did not say that she took care of the animals at her mother’s house— only that she pet them to help with her depression and that her daughter fed and cleaned up after them. Ms. Beardsley did say she could clean and do laundry, but also that it took her several days to complete each chore. And while she went shopping once a week, those trips lasted only half an hour and often left her knee in worse pain the next day, despite leaning on the shopping cart. The fact that she helped lift her mother’s legs into bed each evening, which the ALJ singled out in his decision, is likewise miles removed from the demands and pressures of a regular workplace where Ms. Beardsley would be required, according to the ALJ, to stand or walk around for most of the workday. Like the other evidence of Ms. Beardsley’s daily activities, it did not support the ALJ’s conclusion. No. 13-3609 9