Opinion ID: 2824994
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: unclear if alj’s error was harmless

Text: We next consider whether the CRB erred in holding that the ALJ’s reliance on evidence outside the record, namely the Fifth Edition of the AMA Guides, was harmless error “[b]ecause the ALJ relied on sufficient evidence in the record to discount Dr. Phillips’ impairment rating.” DOES’s brief on appeal merely argues that “Ms. Bowles’s challenges to this determination and the CRB’s decision to affirm are unavailing.” We review de novo but cannot conclude that the ALJ’s error was harmless. See Georgetown Univ. Hosp. v. District of Columbia Dep’t of Emp’t Servs., 929 A.2d 865, 870 (D.C. 2007). The ALJ discredited Dr. Phillips assignment of 17% disability for antalgic gait because a “[r]eview of Table 17.5 reveals that [the Fifth Edition of] the [AMA] Guides suggest a maximum of 7% for mild antalgic gait.” Unfortunately, the Fifth Edition of the AMA Guides was not admitted into evidence. The CRB found that the ALJ erred by going beyond the record and reaching an independent medical opinion “without affording the parties an opportunity to rebut any fact officially noticed in the documents.” This finding is not contested in the petition 15 for review. 2 The CRB goes on to explain that the error is harmless because “the ALJ did not rely solely on the AMA Guides to reduce Dr. Phillips’ impairment rating.” The CRB cites Dr. Meyer’s finding that Bowles suffered “only a very mild effusion and a mildly right antalgic gait” and Bowles’s testimony that she gets “stuck” and has trouble traversing stairs. Given that the ALJ’s explanation of its 10% PPD calculation was not sufficient to afford this court the opportunity to review for substantial evidence, we also cannot evaluate whether the ALJ’s reliance on evidence not in the record was harmless error.