Opinion ID: 2752120
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Heightened Duty to Develop the Record

Text: Forrest relies on Lashley v. Secretary of Health & Human Services, 708 F.2d 1048, 1051– 52 (6th Cir. 1983), to argue that the ALJ failed to discharge his heightened duty to develop the record on behalf of an unrepresented claimant. He identifies at least four alleged deficiencies in the ALJ’s performance of that duty. First, Forrest argues that the ALJ erred in concluding his hearing after only fifteen minutes, noting that we found a twenty-five-minute hearing insufficient in Lashley. Id. at 1052. But Lashley directed courts to determine on a case-by-case basis whether the ALJ satisfied his heightened duty to develop the record fully on behalf of a pro se claimant, and established no bright-line rule requiring ALJs to conduct hearings of certain lengths. Id. In this case, a fifteenminute hearing sufficed because the record included thorough documentation of Forrest’s surgeries and treatment for hip pain, and the ALJ needed little time to inquire into his negligible work experience. See Duncan v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 801 F.2d 847, 856 (6th Cir. 1986) (explaining that the ALJ adequately developed the record during a “relatively short hearing”). Forrest’s second argument—that the ALJ failed to inquire about the full extent of his symptoms—is similarly unavailing. Whatever the merits of the ALJ’s refusal to let Forrest discuss his pre-April 2009 symptoms at the hearing, we cannot see how Forrest’s testimony about those symptoms would have altered the outcome. The ALJ mentioned at the hearing that he read Forrest’s entire file, which included records of Forrest’s subjective reports of pain dating -6- Case No. 14-5421 Forrest v. Commissioner of Social Security back to 2006, and he described Forrest’s reports of pain in April 2007, March 2009, and May 2009 in his decision. And, in general, the ALJ found Forrest’s claims of incapacitating pain not credible and inconsistent with objective evidence. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1529(a) (“In determining whether you are disabled, we consider all your symptoms, including pain, and the extent to which your symptoms can reasonably be accepted as consistent with the objective medical evidence.”); Born v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 923 F.2d 1168, 1172 (6th Cir. 1990) (citing Duncan, 801 F.2d at 856) (“Even if the ALJ had questioned claimant in greater detail concerning his ability to sit or stand, claimant’s subjective complaints of pain must be supported by objective evidence.”). Third, Forrest argues that the ALJ should not have permitted the vocational expert to testify from his “work experience” that four jobs listed in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) include a “sit/stand” option. He maintains that the ALJ defied Social Security Ruling 004p, which requires ALJs to “elicit a reasonable explanation” for any “apparent unresolved conflict” between vocational experts’ testimony and DOT job descriptions. See SSR 00-4p, 2000 WL 1898704, at  (Dec. 4, 2000). But the DOT does not discuss whether jobs have a sit/stand option, see Baranich v. Barnhart, 128 F. App’x 481, 486 n.3 (6th Cir. 2005), and therefore the vocational expert’s testimony supplemented, rather than conflicted with, DOT job descriptions. See Lindsley v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 560 F.3d 601, 605 (6th Cir. 2009) (finding no conflict where a vocational expert testified about an occupation that did not specifically appear in the DOT); Zblewski v. Astrue, 302 F. App’x 488, 494 (7th Cir. 2008) (“Because the DOT does not address the subject of sit/stand options, it is not apparent that the testimony conflicts with the DOT.”). -7- Case No. 14-5421 Forrest v. Commissioner of Social Security Finally, we reject Forrest’s unsupported and undeveloped argument that the ALJ needed to obtain Dr. Pechacek’s “findings and opinions” in order to fully develop the record. Under the then-applicable regulations, ALJs sought additional evidence from treating physicians only when they could not determine disability from previously-provided evidence, see 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1512(e), 416.912(e) (2011), and the ALJ in Forrest’s case found the existing record sufficient. Further, Forrest provides no support for his implied argument that Dr. Pechacek, if asked, would have opined that he was disabled. If anything, Dr. Pechacek’s treatment notes suggest the opposite: for instance, he noted in April 2010 that he had advised Forrest “to increase his activity level [and] get back to some sort [of] work even if it is helping his sisters at their store.” (R. 7-14, Apr. 16, 2010 Medical Record.)