Sawtelle v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration

Filing 23

ORDER that the decision of the ALJ (Doc. 13-1 at 11-12) is reversed. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED remanding the case for further administrative proceedings pursuant to sentence six of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (see attached PDF for further details). Signed by Magistrate Judge Eileen S Willett on 9/2/2015. (ACL)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Lorrie Sawtelle,

No. CV-15-08009-PCT-ESW
Plaintiff,

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v.

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ORDER

Commissioner of Social Security
Administration,

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Defendant.
The Court has considered Motion for Remand (Doc. 19), Plaintiff’s Response

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(Doc. 20), and Defendant’s Reply (Doc. 21).

The matter is deemed submitted for

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decision. The parties are in agreement that remand is appropriate and the factual basis for

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remand is not in dispute. The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 405(g). Both

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parties have consented to U.S. Magistrate Judge jurisdiction (Doc. 11).

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The Court finds that proper notification procedures were not followed by the

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Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in determining that Plaintiff did not have good cause for

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failing to appear at a hearing. The error was not harmless because the ALJ must consider

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the good cause reasons provided by a claimant under 20 C.F.R. §§ 405.380, 405.20(a).

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The ALJ failed to do so. See Tommasetti v. Astrue, 533 F.3d 1035, 1038 (9th Cir. 2008)

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(citations omitted); Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104, 1115 (an error is harmless so long

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as there remains substantial evidence supporting the ALJ’s decision and the error “does

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not negate the validity of the ALJ’s ultimate conclusion”) (citations omitted). Remand is

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required under sentence six of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for further administrative proceedings.

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The Court further finds that a determination of good cause by this Court or an

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award of benefits is not appropriate. The ALJ did not hold a hearing on the merits. Nor

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did the ALJ consider any information presented by the Plaintiff regarding good cause for

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failing to appear at the hearing. The District Court is not a finder of fact in the first

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instance. Remand for development of the administrative record is appropriate. See

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Trerchler v. Comm’r of Social Sec Admin, 775 F.3d 1090 (9th Cir. 2014).

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Therefore,

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IT IS ORDERED that the decision of the ALJ (Doc. 13-1 at 11-12) is reversed.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED remanding the case for further administrative

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proceedings pursuant to sentence six of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). The Appeals Council shall

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instruct the ALJ to further develop the record as to whether the Plaintiff had good cause

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for failing to appear at the hearing by mailing a Form HA-L90 and giving Plaintiff the

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opportunity to explain her absence. The ALJ shall consider if Plaintiff established good

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cause and reschedule the hearing if necessary.

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Dated this 2nd day of September, 2015.

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Honorable Eileen S. Willett
United States Magistrate Judge

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