United States District Court, D. Arizona
Rita B. Francisco, Plaintiff,
v.
Commissioner of Social Security Administration, Defendant.
ORDER
Honorable John Z. Boyle, United States Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff
Rita B. Francisco seeks review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)
of the final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security
(“the Commissioner”), which denied her disability
insurance benefits and supplemental security income under
sections 216(i), 223(d), and 1614(a)(3)(A) of the Social
Security Act. Because the decision of the Administrative Law
Judge (“ALJ”) is based on legal error, the
Commissioner's decision will be vacated and the matter
remanded for further administrative proceedings.
I.
Background.
On
March 24, 2014, Plaintiff applied for disability insurance
benefits and supplemental security income, alleging
disability beginning May 31, 2011. (AR 15.) On October 21,
2016, she appeared with her attorney and testified at a video
hearing before the ALJ. A vocational expert also testified.
On February 3, 2017, the ALJ issued a decision that Plaintiff
was not disabled within the meaning of the Social Security
Act. The Appeals Council denied Plaintiff's request for
review of the hearing decision, making the ALJ's decision
the Commissioner's final decision.
II.
Legal Standard.
The
district court reviews only those issues raised by the party
challenging the ALJ's decision. See Lewis v.
Apfel, 236 F.3d 503, 517 n.13 (9th Cir. 2001). The court
may set aside the Commissioner's disability determination
only if the determination is not supported by substantial
evidence or is based on legal error. Orn v. Astrue,
495 F.3d 625, 630 (9th Cir. 2007). Substantial evidence is
more than a scintilla, less than a preponderance, and
relevant evidence that a reasonable person might accept as
adequate to support a conclusion considering the record as a
whole. Id. In determining whether substantial
evidence supports a decision, the court must consider the
record as a whole and may not affirm simply by isolating a
“specific quantum of supporting evidence.”
Id. As a general rule, “[w]here the evidence
is susceptible to more than one rational interpretation, one
of which supports the ALJ's decision, the ALJ's
conclusion must be upheld.” Thomas v.
Barnhart, 278 F.3d 947, 954 (9th Cir. 2002) (citations
omitted).
Harmless
error principles apply in the Social Security Act context.
Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104, 1115 (9th Cir.
2012). An error is harmless if there remains substantial
evidence supporting the ALJ's decision and the error does
not affect the ultimate nondisability determination.
Id. The claimant usually bears the burden of showing
that an error is harmful. Id. at 1111.
The ALJ
is responsible for resolving conflicts in medical testimony,
determining credibility, and resolving ambiguities.
Andrews v. Shalala, 53 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir.
1995). In reviewing the ALJ's reasoning, the court is
“not deprived of [its] faculties for drawing specific
and legitimate inferences from the ALJ's opinion.”
Magallanes v. Bowen, 881 F.2d 747, 755 (9th Cir.
1989).
III.
The ALJ's Five-Step Evaluation Process.
To
determine whether a claimant is disabled for purposes of the
Social Security Act, the ALJ follows a five-step process. 20
C.F.R. § 404.1520(a). The claimant bears the burden of
proof on the first four steps, but at step five, the burden
shifts to the Commissioner. Tackett v. Apfel, 180
F.3d 1094, 1098 (9th Cir. 1999).
At the
first step, the ALJ determines whether the claimant is
engaging in substantial gainful activity. 20 C.F.R. §
404.1520(a)(4)(i). If so, the claimant is not disabled and
the inquiry ends. Id. At step two, the ALJ
determines whether the claimant has a “severe”
medically determinable physical or mental impairment. §
404.1520(a)(4)(ii). If not, the claimant is not disabled and
the inquiry ends. Id. At step three, the ALJ
considers whether the claimant's impairment or
combination of impairments meets or medically equals an
impairment listed in Appendix 1 to Subpart P of 20 C.F.R. Pt.
404. § 404.1520(a)(4)(iii). If so, the claimant is
automatically found to be disabled. Id. If not, the
ALJ proceeds to step four. At step four, the ALJ assesses the
claimant's residual functional capacity
(“RFC”) and determines whether the claimant is
still capable of performing past relevant work. §
404.1520(a)(4)(iv). If so, the claimant is not disabled and
the inquiry ends. Id. If not, the ALJ proceeds to
the fifth and final step, where he determines whether the
claimant can perform any other work based on the
claimant's RFC, age, education, and work experience.
§ 404.1520(a)(4)(v). If so, the claimant is not
disabled. Id. If not, the claimant is disabled.
Id.
At step
one, the ALJ found that Plaintiff meets the insured status
requirements of the Social Security Act through December 31,
2016, and that she has not engaged in substantial gainful
activity since May 31, 2011. At step two, the ALJ found that
Plaintiff has the following severe impairments:
“vertiginous syndromes and hearing loss.” At step
three, the ALJ determined that Plaintiff does not have an
impairment or combination of impairments that meets or
medically equals an impairment listed in Appendix 1 to
Subpart P of 20 C.F.R. Pt. 404. At step four, the ALJ found
that Plaintiff has the RFC to perform:
the full range of light work as defined in 20 CFR 404.1567(b)
except she must avoid concentrated exposure to fumes, odors,
dusts gases and poor ventilation as well as hazards.
(AR 18.) The ALJ further found that Plaintiff is able to
perform any of his past relevant work, and thus Plaintiff
“was not under a disability, as defined in the Social
Security Act, at any time from May 31, 2011, the alleged
onset date, through December 31, ...