Court Opinion

ID: 9775519
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:01:25.933575+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:27.611771
License: Public Domain

THORNE, Judge
(concurring):
4 21 I coneur in the majority opinion, both as to its analysis and its result. However, I write separately to briefly expand on the ALJ's responsibility to accommodate a witness's known medical condition. It has become apparent on appeal that Dr. Hwu had significant medical reason to seek a continuance in advance of the hearing and that, as a result of her medical condition, she suffered substantial physical distress during her testimony. Dr. Hwu's medical cireumstances clearly warranted a continuance in exeess of eight days, and had the ALJ been apprised of the totality of Dr. Hwu's cireumstances then, in my opinion, the failure to grant a longer continuance would have constituted an abuse of discretion-particularly where no prior continuance had been sought and granted. Similarly, had the ALJ become aware of Dr. Hwu's medical difficulties during her testimony, the ordinary exercise of discretion would have required some accommodation of those difficulties, including, quite possibly, a continuance. However, because the ALJ was not effectively placed on notice of the severity of Dr. Hwu's medical issues, either before the hearing or as her testimony developed, no abuse of discretion occurred.