Thompson v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 20

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 2/25/15 ordering that the Commissioner shall file by March 4, 2015, a final and signed copy of ALJ Snellings February 22, 2010 decision. (Hinkle, T)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
11

NOREEN LYNETTE THOMPSON,

12

Plaintiff,

13
14
15

No. 2:13-cv-1787-EFB

v.

ORDER

CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Acting
Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant.

16
17

Plaintiff seeks judicial review of a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security

18
19

(“Commissioner”) denying her application for Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) under Title

20

XVI of the Social Security Act. The parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment are pending.

21

In her motion for summary judgment, plaintiff argues, among other things, that the Commissioner

22

failed to file a complete record as required by 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), by not including all of the

23

evidence relied upon by the administrative law judge (“ALJ”) in his decision denying her

24

application for SSI. ECF No. 15-1 at 12-14. Specifically, the Commissioner submitted a draft

25

(including editorial comments to correct typographical errors) rather than final version of a

26

decision by an ALJ that was relied upon in issuing the decision that is now before the court for

27

review.

28
1

1

Plaintiff previously filed an application for SSI on June 2, 2008, alleging that she had been

2

disabled since July 12, 2002. Administrative Record (“AR”) 91. On February 22, 2010,

3

Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) Timothy S. Snelling apparently issued a decision finding that

4

plaintiff was not disabled under section 1614(a)(3)(A) of the Act. Id. at 88-101. A copy of the

5

final version of that decision has not been included in the record before the court and the

6

Commissioner has not otherwise filed a copy.1

7

Plaintiff filed a new application for SSI on June 25, 2010, alleging disability since June

8

12, 2008. After a hearing on her claim of disability, the assigned ALJ, William C. Thompson,

9

issued a decision finding that plaintiff was not disabled under section 1614(a)(3)(A) of the Act.

10

Id. at 13-27. Significantly, in reaching this decision, the ALJ relied heavily on ALJ Snelling’s

11

prior decision, which concluded that plaintiff was not disabled on or before February 22, 2010.

12

However, the administrative record filed in this case does not contain the final decision issued by

13

ALJ Snelling in plaintiff’s prior SSI case. Instead, the record contains what appears to be a draft

14

of ALJ Snelling’s decision. AR 91-98. The document contains notations in the margins with

15

proposed corrections and while purporting to bears “/s/” on the signature line it is not actually

16

signed by ALJ Snelling. Furthermore, there are so many editorial comments calling for further

17

edits and corrections to the document that there is no reason to conclude that the ALJ intended

18

that version to serve as a final decision. There is simply no evidence to authenticate that the

19

unsigned version is in fact the final decision issued by ALJ Snelling.

20

The absence of a copy of the final decision issued by ALJ Snelling was raised by plaintiff

21

in her motion for summary judgment. The Commissioner’s cross-motion for summary judgment

22

does not squarely address this concern and glosses over the fact that only a working draft is

23

contained in the record. Given ALJ Thompson’s heavy reliance on ALJ Snelling’s prior decision,

24

a properly authenticated final version of Snelling’s decision should have been included in the

25

administrative record so that the court could properly evaluate the merits of plaintiff’s

26

/////

27
28

1

According to the Commissioner, plaintiff did not appeal that decision.
2

1

argument. As it was not, the Commissioner is ordered to file by March 4, 2015, a final and

2

signed copy of ALJ Snelling’s February 22, 2010 decision.

3

DATED: February 25, 2015.

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
3