Court Opinion

ID: 9474665
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:04:35.215629+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:14.756555
License: Public Domain

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I agree that the Secretary has not developed a full and fair record in this case, and therefore, for the particular reasons set forth by the Court, ante at 872, I join in the decision remanding the case to the Secretary for reconsideration. I see no reason, however, to hold the second step of the sequential evaluation process invalid. All the second step really says is that if the claimant’s impairments do not significantly limit his or her ability to do basic work activities, then the claimant is not disabled. I do not read this as being merely a de minimis requirement, nor do I believe it is in conflict with the Social Security Act. Rather, I see it as being entirely consistent with the purpose of the Act, which is to compensate persons who cannot work, while denying the benefits of the Act to claimants who can. The statutory factors of age, education, and past work experience are appropriately taken into account, it seems to me, in the fifth step of the sequential evaluation process, which comes into play once the Secretary has determined that because of physical or mental problems the claimant cannot do any of the work he or she has done in the past. Indeed, if we invalidate the second step, then logically we also should invalidate the third step, see ante at 2-3 n. 2 (subsection (c)), which like the second excludes consideration of the statutory factors of age, education, and work experience.
The problem in this case, as I see it, is not the sequential analysis, but the Secretary’s failure to develop an adequate record and to consider all the evidence that should be considered if a proper step two determination of whether the claimant has a severe impairment is to be made. Accordingly, I concur in the decision to remand this case, but I respectfully dissent from the Court’s holding that the second step of the sequential evaluation process is invalid under the Social Security Act.