Opinion ID: 3034974
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: VA GAF scores

Text: The ALJ gave the VA GAF scores “little weight” because she found that (1) they were not consistent or supported by evidence of severe limitations and (2) they were based on the underlying premise that Mooney “basically had no work history since his discharge from the Army in 1991” even though he had worked as a parking lot attendant. The GAF scores assigned by medical providers ranged from 43 to 49, all within the “serious symptoms” range. The ALJ overstated the significance of the score variance and did not consider the consistency of the scores with all treatment comments and diagnoses. -3- While the ALJ correctly noted that many of Mooney’s treatment providers explicitly mentioned his lack of employment as partial support for their diagnoses, this is not sufficient justification for discrediting the diagnoses altogether. The record does not reflect whether the providers knew that Mooney had done some limited work—approximately 3 hours per day for one day per week—as a parking lot attendant. It is possible that they knew of the work but found it insignificant or, perhaps, even considered it additional evidence of Mooney’s inability to be competitively employed, especially in light of their knowledge of his chronic homelessness and joblessness. Regardless, it is unlikely that their diagnoses would have been different had they known of his limited work experience because, as suggested by their diagnoses, he was unable to sustain this job. See Smolen v. Chater, 80 F.3d 1273, 1286-88 (9th Cir. 1996)