Larry Furr v. Commissioner of SSA

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 6:13-cv-01229-RMG Copies to all parties and the district court. [999541692]. Mailed to: Larry Fur. [14-1998]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-1998

LARRY CHARLES FURR,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,
Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Greenville.
Richard M. Gergel, District
Judge. (6:13-cv-01229-RMG)

Submitted:

February 27, 2015

Decided:

March 9, 2015

Before KEENAN and WYNN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Larry Charles Furr, Appellant Pro Se.
Barbara Murcier Bowens,
Assistant United States Attorney, Columbia, South Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Larry
insurance
(“SSI”)

Charles

Furr

benefits

benefits,

filed

(“DIB”)
claiming

applications

and

supplemental

that

he

unable to work on March 1, 2010.
by

the

Commissioner

(“Commissioner”).

of

the

had

for

disability

security

become

income

disabled

and

Both applications were denied

Social

Security

Administration

Upon Furr’s request, an administrative law

judge (“ALJ”) held a hearing, in which Furr amended the alleged
onset

date

of

his

disability

to

October

3,

2011.

After

considering the evidence, the ALJ concluded that Furr had not
been disabled for purposes of his DIB and SSI applications.
After exhausting his administrative appeal, Furr filed a
complaint in the district court.

He asserted that the decisions

of the ALJ and the Appeals Council were contrary to law and not
supported by substantial evidence.
the

magistrate

determined

judge’s

that

The district court, adopting

recommendation

substantial

over

evidence

Furr’s

objections,

supported

the

Commissioner’s decision and affirmed the denial of benefits.
Although Furr raises numerous issues for review on appeal,
we address only one.

Furr claims that the ALJ erred by deciding

his case without considering the documents constituting his SSI
application.

The Commissioner concedes, and our review of the

record before us confirms, that Furr’s SSI application is absent
from the administrative record submitted by the Commissioner to
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the district court.
cannot

say

that

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Furthermore, after reviewing the record, we
the

SSI

application

administrative record before the ALJ.

was

included

in

the

Furr further alleges that

his SSI application included evidence of a neuropathy diagnosis,
which, if he is accurate, is inconsistent with the ALJ’s finding
that the record contained no diagnosis of neuropathy.
We “review[] the record to ensure that the ALJ’s factual
findings

are

supported

by

substantial

legal findings are free of error.”
288, 295 (4th Cir. 2013).

evidence

and

that

its

Radford v. Colvin, 734 F.3d

“A necessary predicate to engaging in

substantial evidence review is a record of the basis for the
ALJ’s ruling.”

Id.

Thus, “[i]f the reviewing court has no way

of evaluating the basis for the ALJ’s decision, then the proper
course, except in rare circumstances, is to remand to the agency
for

additional

investigation

quotation marks omitted).
fairly

develop

the

explanation.”

Id.

(internal

Additionally, “the ALJ must fully and

record

disability may be made.”

or

so

that

a

just

determination

of

Clark v. Shalala, 28 F.3d 828, 830

(8th Cir. 1994); see also Marsh v. Harris, 632 F.2d 296, 299
(4th Cir. 1980).
Based on the record before us, we conclude that the only
evidence in the administrative record that was considered by the
ALJ concerned the period of disability and impairments alleged
by Furr in his DIB application.

Although Furr’s SSI application
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appears to concern the same period of disability and impairments
as he alleged in his DIB application, Furr asserts that his SSI
application included evidence that was not adduced in his DIB
application and that apparently was not considered by the ALJ.
The absence of Furr’s SSI application from the administrative
and

district

Furr’s

court

allegations

records

precludes

concerning

application are accurate.

the

a

determination

evidence

from

whether
his

SSI

Due to this absence, we conclude that

the ALJ failed to adequately develop the record, and that the
record before the district court did not allow it to adequately
evaluate the basis for the ALJ’s decision.
Accordingly,
remand

the

case

we
to

vacate
the

the

district

district
court

court’s

with

order

instructions

and
to

remand the case to the agency for further proceedings consistent
with this opinion.
facts

and

materials

legal
before

We dispense with oral argument because the

contentions

are

adequately

this

and

argument

court

presented

would

not

in

the

aid

the

decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED

4