Court Opinion

ID: 9805975
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 18:31:34.970782+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:53:40.925224
License: Public Domain

LEAVY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The ALJ found that Ernst has severe impairments in the form of borderline intellectual functioning, mood disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. However, the ALJ also found that Ernst’s statements concerning the intensity, persistence, and limiting effects of these symptoms are not credible to the extent they are inconsistent with the residual functional capacity assessment, and that Ernst reported inconsistently regarding his activities of daily living. The ALJ considered the opinions of two consulting psychologists, Dr. Boltwood and Dr. Brown.
The ALJ found Dr. Boltwood’s opinion well-supported with clinical findings and consistent with the medical record as a whole. Dr. Boltwood opined, “I agree that [Ernst] would be a good candidate for a program such as DVR [Department of Vocational Rehabilitation] that would help him with the process of finding suitable employment and hopefully also providing ongoing vocational support.” Dr. Bolt-wood gave no opinion about working in a “sheltered workshop.”
The ALJ discussed Dr. Norma Brown’s opinion that the claimant “may have mild mental retardation and would likely need to work in a sheltered work environment that provides on-on-one supervision.” The ALJ gave Dr. Brown’s opinion little weight because, although her opinion was consistent with her own clinical findings, her opinion was inconsistent with the record as a whole. The ALJ explained:
“As noted above, upon examination in 2009, the claimant performed relatively *478well on mental status exam and described relatively intact daily activities. It does not appear that [Dr. Brown] had the opportunity to review the claimant’s 2009 WAIS-III test scores. In addition, she did not adequately consider the fact that the claimant worked successfully at Safeway and reported that he lost the job due to partying too much.”
The ALJ discussed the findings and opinions of both consulting psychologists, and based his finding of “not disabled” on the testimony of a vocational expert to the effect that claimant could do the jobs of janitor, production assembler, and hand packager.
I dissent because I can find no fault with the ALJ’s findings and decision.