Opinion ID: 172190
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Res Judicata and the Law of the Case Doctrine

Text: Ms. Poppa contends that the second ALJ's decision violated either res judicata or the law of the case doctrine because those doctrines precluded the second ALJ from relitigating the issue of her RFC after it was established in the first ALJ's decision. We disagree with Ms. Poppa's contention. Res judicata applies in the social security context when there has been a previous determination or decision . . . about [the claimant's] rights on the same facts and on the same issue or issues, and this previous determination has become final by either administrative or judicial action.  20 C.F.R. § 416.1457(c)(1) (emphasis added). Here the first ALJ's decision does not constitute a final decision for the purposes of res judicata because Ms. Poppa sought review of the first ALJ's decision from the Appeals Council and then the district court. See id. § 416.1455(b) (explaining that an ALJ's decision is binding on all parties to the hearing unless the claimant requests review of the decision by the Appeals Council, the Appeals Council denies review, and the claimant seeks judicial review in district court). Our conclusion that administrative res judicata does not apply in this case is consistent with our precedent. See Hamlin v. Barnhart, 365 F.3d 1208, 1223-24 (10th Cir.2004) (noting that after remand from the Appeals Council, [i]t was certainly within the ALJ's province, upon reexamining [claimant's] record, to revise his RFC category); Campbell v. Bowen, 822 F.2d 1518, 1521-22 (10th Cir.1987) (holding that the ALJ did not err in changing claimant's RFC from sedentary to light after remand from the Appeals Council). The Sixth Circuit case cited by Ms. Poppa is distinguishable because that case involved two separate applications for benefits and a final decision had been issued on the earlier application, see Drummond v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 126 F.3d 837, 838-39, 841 (6th Cir.1997). In contrast, this case involves one application for benefits and the first ALJ's decision did not constitute a final decision. The second ALJ's RFC determination likewise does not violate the principles of the law of the case doctrine. Under that doctrine, an administrative agency, on remand from a court, [must] conform its further proceedings in the case to the principles set forth in the judicial decision . . . . Copart, Inc. v. Admin. Review Bd., U.S. Dep't of Labor, 495 F.3d 1197, 1201 (10th Cir.2007) (quotation omitted). The law of the case doctrine only applies to issues previously decided, either explicitly or by necessary implication. Id. (quotation omitted). Here, the district court's decision reversing and remanding the ALJ's first decision did not make any determinations, explicitly or implicitly, regarding the first ALJ's assessment of Ms. Poppa's RFC. On remand, the district court instructed the ALJ to reconsider Ms. Poppa's credibility applying the relevant factors from SSR 96-7p and to make findings linked to evidence in the record. [2] The regulations require that an ALJ's RFC be based on the entire case record, including the objective medical findings and the credibility of the claimant's subjective complaints. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 416.929, 416.945. Since the purpose of the credibility evaluation is to help the ALJ assess a claimant's RFC, the ALJ's credibility and RFC determinations are inherently intertwined. A new determination on Ms. Poppa's credibility necessarily required reassessment of the RFC. Because there was no explicit or implicit decision by the district court on the validity of the first ALJ's RFC determination, the second ALJ was free to reassess the RFC on remand without violating the law of the case doctrine. Cf. Campbell, 822 F.2d at 1521-22 (concluding that redetermination of RFC on remand from Appeals Council was not inconsistent with the Appeals Council's remand order and that the remand order did not bind the ALJ to the earlier decision).