Court Opinion

ID: 2966162
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:49:42.005753+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:43:08.778863
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

       [NOT FOR PUBLICATIONNOT TO BE CITED AS PRECEDENT]
                 United States Court of Appeals
                     For the First Circuit

No. 99-1514

                      JACQUELINE P. CUSHMAN,

                      Plaintiff, Appellant,

                                v.

                 KENNETH S. APFEL, COMMISSIONER,
                 SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,

                       Defendant, Appellee.

           APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                 FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND

        [Hon. Robert W. Lovegreen, U.S. Magistrate Judge]

                              Before

                     Torruella, Chief Judge,
                Stahl and Lipez, Circuit Judges.
                                
                                
                                
                                
     
     Kelly McKenna Cournoyer and Green and Greenberg on brief for
appellant.
     Margaret E. Curran, United States Attorney, Robin E. Feder,
Assistant United States Attorney, and Richard Fox, Assistant
Regional Counsel, on brief for appellee.

February 18, 2000

                                
            Per Curiam. Claimant Jacqueline P. Cushman appeals
  from the judgment of the district court upholding a
  determination of the Commissioner of Social Security that she
  is not entitled to disability insurance benefits or
  supplemental security income benefits.  Before an
  Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"), Cushman alleged disability
  due to Hepatitis C and "depressive or emotional conditions." 
  The ALJ denied disability at step four of the sequential
  analysis, concluding that she is capable of returning to her
  past work as a telemarketer or cashier.
            The issues raised on appeal were not raised in the
  district court and, thus, are not preserved for our review. 
  See Gonzalez-Ayala v. Secretary of Health & Human Servs., 807 
  F.2d 255, 256 (1st Cir. 1986).  In all events, we would not find
  them meritorious.  We briefly explain why.
            First, there was ample evidence based upon which the
  ALJ could reject claimant's allegation of disabling fatigue. 
  The medical expert testified that Hepatitis C sometimes has no
  symptoms or else "low grade symptomatology."  Claimant
  completed an "Activities of Daily Living" form indicating that
  she leads a fairly active lifestyle.  Although there are
  various references in the medical records to claimant reporting
  fatigue, there are also indications that the fatigue is
  "tolerable" and that claimant "operates with above average
  energy level each day[]."
            Second, as for claimant's complaint that the ALJ
  failed to elicit vocational expert testimony concerning the
  impact of her non-exertional limitations on her ability to
  perform past work, the short answer is that at step four of the
  sequential analysis the claimant is the primary source for
  vocational documentation.  Santiago v. Secretary of Health &
  Human Servs., 944 F.2d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 1991) (per curiam).  The
  claimant must describe those impairments which she says she has
  "so as to 'raise the point to the [Commissioner]'" how the
  impairments preclude the performance of her prior jobs.  Id. 
  (internal citations omitted).
            In the instant case, claimant's explanation as to why
  she couldn't return to her former work was that she was "always
  tired."  However, for the reasons already stated, the ALJ was
  justified in rejecting this statement.  As for claimant's
  mental limitations, the ALJ concluded that claimant retains the
  residual functional capacity to perform work-related activities
  except for work involving high pressure or highly complex
  tasks.  This conclusion was supported by substantial evidence. 
  Nothing raised by claimant indicates that her previous work was
  high pressure or complex.
            Affirmed.