Sylvia Jackson v. Michael Astrue

Filing

UNPUBLISHED AUTHORED OPINION filed. Originating case number: 3:09-cv-00193-RJC-DCK Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998794403].. [10-2226]

Appeal: 10-2226

Document: 43

Date Filed: 02/23/2012

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-2226

SYLVIA JACKSON,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
MICHAEL J. ASTRUE, at Office
(Administrative Law Judges),

of

Disability

Adjudication

Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte.
Robert J. Conrad,
Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:09-cv-00193-RJC-DCK)

Argued:

December 6, 2011

Decided:

February 23, 2012

Before MOTZ, GREGORY, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Remanded by unpublished opinion.
Judge Gregory
opinion, in which Judge Motz and Judge Keenan joined.

wrote

the

ARGUED: Hannah Rogers Metcalfe, HANNAH ROGERS METCALFE, PA,
Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellant.
Lisa G. Smoller,
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, Boston, Massachusetts, for
Appellee.
ON BRIEF: Anne M. Tompkins, United States Attorney,
Jennifer A. Youngs, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF
THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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GREGORY, Circuit Judge:
In

2004,

Sylvia

Jackson

filed

supplemental security income (“SSI”).
number

of

depression

mental

and

disorder

physical

and

an

application

Jackson suffers from a

impairments,

diminished

for

including

intellectual

major

functioning.

After her claim was denied by the commissioner of the Social
Security Administration, Jackson requested a hearing before the
Administrative Law Court.

The administrative law judge (“ALJ”)

denied her claim, and the Appeals Council likewise denied her
request

for

review.

Having

exhausted

her

administrative

remedies, Jackson filed a civil action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 405(g).

The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s

recommendation to affirm the commissioner’s denial of Jackson’s
application for SSI.
order

affirming

reasons

that

the

Jackson now appeals the district court’s
commissioner’s

follow,

sentence six remand.

we

find

that

final

decision.

Jackson

is

For

entitled

the
to

a

See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (“The court may

. . . at any time order additional evidence be taken before the
Secretary . . . upon a showing that there is new evidence which
is material. . . .”).

I.
Judicial review of the commissioner’s decision is governed
by 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

Johnson v. Barnhart, 434 F.3d 650, 653
2

Appeal: 10-2226

(4th

Document: 43

Cir.

2005)

Date Filed: 02/23/2012

(per

curiam).

Page: 3 of 10

When

reviewing

a

denial

of

benefits, this Court must accept the commissioner’s findings of
fact if they are supported by substantial evidence and if they
Hines v.

were reached by applying the correct legal standard.
Barnhart, 453 F.3d 559, 561 (4th Cir. 2006).

A finding is

supported by substantial evidence if it is based on “relevant
evidence [that] a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to
support a conclusion.”

Johnson, 434 F.3d at 653.

As we have

explained, substantial evidence requires more than a scintilla,
but

less

Apfel,

than

270

evidence

a

preponderance,

F.3d

allows

171,

176

reasonable

of

(4th

the

Cir.

minds

to

evidence.

2001).
differ

If
as

Mastro

v.

“conflicting
to

whether

a

claimant is disabled,” the Court defers to the commissioner’s
decision.

Johnson, 434 F.3d at 653.

II.
The

commissioner

disability

claims.

416.920(a)(4).

uses

a

See

five-step
20

C.F.R.

process

to

evaluate

§§ 404.1520(a)(4),

Under this process, the commissioner asks, in

sequence, whether the applicant (1) is performing substantial
gainful

activity;

(2)

has

a

severe

impairment;

(3)

has

an

impairment that meets or equals the requirements of a listed
impairment; (4) is capable of performing her past relevant work;
and (5) is capable of adjusting to other work that is available
3

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in significant numbers in the national economy.
§ 416.920(a)(4).

See 20 C.F.R.

The claimant has the burden of production and

proof in steps 1-4.

See Hunter v. Sullivan, 993 F.2d 31, 35

(4th Cir. 1992) (per curiam).

At step 5, however, the burden

shifts to the commissioner “to produce evidence that other jobs
exist

in

the

national

economy

that

the

claimant

can

perform

considering h[er] age, education, and work experience.”
a

determination

of

disability

can

be

made

at

any

Commissioner need not analyze subsequent steps.

Id.

If

step,

the

See 20 C.F.R.

§§ 404.1520(a)(4), 416.920(a)(4).
At

steps

1

and

2,

the

ALJ

found

that

Jackson

had

not

engaged in substantial gainful activity since the date of her
application

for

SSI

and

that

she

impairments,

including

functioning.

At step 3, the ALJ found that Jackson did not have

depression

suffered

from

and

diminished

severe

intellectual

an impairment that met or equaled one of the listed impairments
found at 20 C.F.R. Pt. 404, Subpt. P, App’x 1.

Finally, at

steps 4 and 5, the ALJ found that Jackson could return to her
past work as a housekeeper and that other jobs existed in the
national

economy

that

she

could

perform.

Based

on

these

findings, the ALJ denied her application for SSI, concluding
that

she

was

not

disabled

within

Security Act.

4

the

meaning

of

the

Social

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The

only

Date Filed: 02/23/2012

issue

on

appeal

Page: 5 of 10

is

whether

the

ALJ

properly

evaluated Jackson’s case at the third step, which requires the
ALJ to identify the relevant listed impairments and compare the
listing criteria with the evidence of the plaintiff’s symptoms.
As grounds for reversal, Jackson argues that the ALJ erred by
concluding that her level of cognitive functioning did not meet
or equal the listed impairment for mental retardation, detailed
in Listing 12.05.
in

adaptive

Listing 12.05 requires a showing of “deficits

functioning

developmental

period;

initially

i.e.,

the

manifested
evidence

demonstrates

supports onset of the impairment before age 22.”
404, Subpt. P, App’x 1, § 12.05.
the

satisfaction

identified

as

of

one

Requirements

of

during

the
or

20 C.F.R. Pt.

Listing 12.05 also requires
four

A-D.

additional

At

issue

in

requirements
this

case

was

Requirement C, which requires “[a] valid verbal, performance, or
full scale IQ of 60 through 70,” as well as “a physical or other
mental impairment imposing an additional and significant workrelated limitation of function.”
The ALJ found that Jackson did not establish any of the
impairments

listed

in

Appendix

1,

including

Listing

12.05C.

Jackson argues that the ALJ erred with regard to this finding by
(1)

discrediting

Jackson’s

IQ

scores

without

sufficient

explanation, (2) ignoring substantial evidence indicating that
Jackson currently exhibits deficits in adaptive functioning and
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exhibited these deficits during her development period, and (3)
improperly relying on work history at the third step to deny
benefits.

We now consider whether substantial evidence existed

to support the ALJ’s findings with respect to Listing 12.05C.

III.
The record contains undisputed evidence that Jackson’s IQ
scores are within the 60 to 70 range as required for the first
prong of Listing 12.05C.

In an effort to satisfy this first

prong, Jackson submitted intelligence testing from a 2004 courtordered

psychological

evaluation.

The

examiner,

Mr.

Nunez,

reported that Jackson had a verbal IQ of 60, a performance IQ of
73, and a full scale IQ of 65.

In addition, school records from

Jackson’s childhood indicate a verbal IQ score of 67.
Jackson also satisfied the second prong of Listing 12.05C,
presence of a “physical or other mental impairment imposing an
additional and significant work-related limitation of function.”
20

C.F.R.

determined

Pt.

404,

that

Subpt.

Jackson

P.,

App’x

suffers

1,

from

§ 12.05.

severe

The

impairments

depression and diminished intellectual function.

ALJ
of

Moreover, the

evidence in the record reveals that Jackson has been diagnosed
by a number of clinicians as suffering from (1) major depressive
disorder

with

disorder,

and

psychotic
(4)

symptoms,

personality

(2)

psychosis,

disorder.
6

The

(3)

record

anxiety
is

also

Appeal: 10-2226

filled

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with

Date Filed: 02/23/2012

evidence

limitations

of

including

activities,

and

Jackson’s

marked

difficulties

Page: 7 of 10

significant,

restriction

in

of

maintaining

work-related
daily-living

social

function,

concentration, persistence, and pace.
To the extent that the ALJ based its determination on a
failure to satisfy the first two prongs of Listing 12.05C -- the
IQ-score requirement and the presence of another impairment –such a decision was not supported by substantial evidence.
such,

we

are

left

to

determine

whether

substantial

As

evidence

supports the finding that Jackson has failed to establish the
final deficits-in-adaptive-behavior requirement.
Deficits in adaptive functioning can include limitations in
areas

such

as

communication,

self-care,

home

living,

social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, selfdirection,
and safety.

functional

academic

skills,

work,

leisure,

health,

Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 309 n.3 (2002).

In support of this prong, Jackson submitted evidence that
she has deficiencies in the areas of functional academic skills,
social/interpersonal

skills

and

communication,

self-care,

safety, and health.

With respect to the area of functional

academic skills, Jackson testified that she was in special needs
classes, that she dropped out of school in the tenth grade, and
that she has been unable to obtain her GED.

Moreover, she reads

at a sixth-grade level, and her cognitive functioning has been
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evaluated

as

Date Filed: 02/23/2012

within

the

“mildly

Page: 8 of 10

mentally

retarded

range

of

intellectual functioning.”
In this case, the ALJ found no evidence of deficits in
Jackson’s adaptive functioning on the grounds that there was no
documentation to support her testimony that she was in special
education classes and that it found her testimony on the matter
to

be

incredible.

supported

by

Jackson

substantial

argues

evidence

that
in

this
the

finding

record

is

and

not
that

evidence submitted to the Appeals Council further contradicts
this finding.
During

the

ALJ

proceeding,

Jackson’s

representative

requested an extension of time to submit additional evidence in
support of these allegations, but was unable to obtain Jackson’s
school records prior to the ALJ ruling because of the age of the
records.

When Jackson did ultimately retrieve the report of the

special education review committee, she submitted a copy to the
Appeals Council.
School

District

These school records from the Freeport Public
indicate

that

Jackson

was

identified

special needs student as early as the seventh grade.

as

a

What is

more, they demonstrate that further academic testing during that
time showed Jackson to be severely deficient in her intellectual
abilities, and in particular, reported her as having a verbal IQ
of 67.

While the Appeals Council acknowledged receipt of the

records, it did not provide any explanation for discounting the
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records apart from summarily stating that it “found that this
information

does

not

provide

a

basis

for

changing

the

Administrative Law Judge’s decision.”
Not only did these forms provide documentation that the
ALJ’s decision was lacking and eliminate the ALJ’s very reason
for

denying

credibility

Jackson’s
of

claim,

Jackson’s

they

testimony.

also

reinforced

Moreover,

the

information

reflected in the school record is directly material to the final
prong

of

Listing

suffered

12.05C

--

“significantly

functioning

with

the

question

subaverage

deficits

in

of

whether

general

adaptive

Jackson

intellectual

behavior

initially

manifested during the developmental period . . . before age 22.”
20 C.F.R. Pt. 404, Subpt. P., App’x 1, § 12.05.
that

substantial

evidence

supports

the

We cannot say

finding

that

Jackson

failed to establish this prong where new and material evidence
submitted

to

findings

the

and

Appeals

underlying

Council

contradicts

reasoning,

and

the

both

the

Appeals

ALJ’s

Council

failed to provide any reason for disregarding this additional
evidence.

In

this

situation,

our

proper

disposition

is

to

remand pursuant to sentence six of § 405(g) which authorizes a
remand

upon

a

showing

of

new

material

405(g).

9

evidence.

42

U.S.C.

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IV.
For the reasons above, we remand the case for consideration
of the new and material evidence.
REMANDED

10