STEWARD v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY

Filing 40

ENTRY ON JUDICIAL REVIEW: Accordingly, the Commissioner of Social Security's decision is AFFIRMED ***SEE ENTRY FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION***. Signed by Judge William T. Lawrence on 5/16/2012. Copy sent to Bobby Steward via US Mail. (DW) Modified on 5/17/2012 (DW).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
BOBBY JOE STEWARD,

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Plaintiff,
vs.
MICHAEL J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of
the Social Security Administration,
Defendant.

Cause No. 1:11-cv-350-WTL-DKL

ENTRY ON JUDICIAL REVIEW
Plaintiff Bobby Joe Steward brings this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. § 1383(c), which
incorporates the procedures found in 42 U.S.C.A. § 405(g), seeking judicial review of the
decision of the Commissioner of Social Security that he is not entitled to social security
retirement benefits. The Court, having reviewed the record and the briefs of the parties, rules as
follows.
Mr. Steward is entitled to receive social security retirement benefits only if he has “40
quarters of coverage.” 42 U.S.C.A. § 414(a). A quarter of coverage is earned when a person
earns a minimum amount (which varies depending on the year) of wages during a particular
calendar quarter. There is no dispute that Mr. Steward earned sufficient wages in the following
quarters so that those quarters qualify as “quarters of coverage”:
Year

Qualifying Quarters

Total Qualifying Quarters for Year

1958

Q4

1

1959

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

4

1960

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

4

1961

Q1, Q2, Q3

3

1962

Q4

1

1963

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

4

1964

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

4

1965

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

4

1966

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

4

1967

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

4

1968

Q1, Q2

2

1991

Q1

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In addition, because he served in the armed forces, Mr. Steward benefits from the following
provision:
(a)

General. In determining your entitlement to, and the amount of your
monthly benefit (or lump sum death payment) based on your wages while
on active duty as a member of the uniformed service from 1957 through
2001 . . . we add wage credits to the wages paid you as a member of that
service. The amount of the wage credits, the applicable time periods, the
wage credit amount limits, and the requirement of a minimum period of
active duty service for granting these wage credits, are discussed in
paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section.

20 C.F.R. § 404.1341(a). The amount of wage credit added is “$300 for each calendar quarter in
1957 through 1977, regardless of the amount of wages actually paid you during that quarter for
your service.” 20 CFR § 404.1341(b)(2). Mr. Steward did not earn enough in the third quarter
of 1958 for that quarter to qualify as a “quarter of coverage.” However, because he served in the
military during that quarter, a wage credit of $300 is added to his reported wages for that quarter,
which then makes that quarter qualify as a “quarter of coverage.” Therefore, Mr. Steward has
accumulated 37 quarters of coverage.1

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The Administrative Law Judge who considered Mr. Steward’s claim failed to give Mr.
Steward the $300 credit he was due pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 404.1341(a) and therefore
2

Mr. Steward argues that the determination that he has 37 quarters of coverage is
incorrect. His argument is based upon his interpretation of 20 C.F.R. § 404.1341, which he reads
as providing for an “additional noncontributory, extra, special, free, gratuitous credit” for each
quarter in which he served in the military. More specifically, Mr. Steward believes that he is
entitled to two quarters of credit for each calendar quarter he spent serving in the military.
Mr. Steward is correct that the purpose of 20 C.F.R. § 404.1341 is to help those who have
served in active duty in the military qualify for (or obtain greater) social security retirement
benefits that they might not otherwise qualify for because their base wages while in the military
were too low. The regulation accomplishes this goal by adding “wage credits” of $300 (for the
years at issue in this case) per quarter to the wages the person received for their military service
during that quarter. The regulation does not provide for counting a single calendar quarter as
more than one “quarter of coverage,” however. Indeed, the relevant statute expressly provides
that “not more than one quarter of coverage may be credited to a calendar quarter.” 42 U.S.C.
§ 413(a)(2)(B)(iv).
Congress certainly could have passed a statute that provided that every quarter of military
service would be credited as two “quarters of coverage” for purposes of determining eligibility
for social security retirement benefits. It did not do so, however. What it did was provide for
“wage credits” to be added to the amount of wages earned for active military service in a given
quarter. When those wage credits are applied in Mr. Steward’s case, he is entitled to one
additional quarter of credit. Unfortunately, it still leaves him three short of qualifying for social

erroneously found that Mr. Steward has 36 quarters of coverage. The Appeals Council
recognized the error and issued a decision finding that Mr. Steward has 37 quarters of coverage.
This decision became the final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security.
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security retirement benefits. Accordingly, the Commissioner of Social Security’s decision is
AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED: 05/16/2012

_______________________________
Hon. William T. Lawrence, Judge
United States District Court
Southern District of Indiana

COPY BY UNITED STATES MAIL TO:
Bobby Joe Steward
1900 Mackey Ferry Road
Mount Vernon, IN 47620

Copies to all counsel of record via electronic notification

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