Balester v. Commissioner of Social Security
Filing
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ORDER Accepting Report and Recommendation and Dismissing Action. Signed by District Judge Denise Page Hood. (KWin)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
LUCY BALESTER,
Plaintiff,
V.
Case No. 15-11050
Honorable Denise Page Hood
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant.
/
ORDER ACCEPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
AND DISMISSING ACTION
This matter comes before the Court on Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Stafford’s
Report and Recommendation. [#20] Plaintiff Lucy Balester filed this action on March
20, 2015, asking this Court to review the Commissioner’s final decision to deny her
application for disability insurance benefits. The parties filed cross motions for
summary judgment. The Magistrate Judge recommends that the Court grant the
Commissioner’s Motion for Summary Judgment, deny Plaintiff’s Motion for
Summary Judgment, and dismiss Plaintiff’s cause of action. Neither party filed any
objections to the Report and Recommendation.
Judicial review of the Commissioner’s decision is limited in scope to
determining whether the Commissioner employed the proper legal criteria in reaching
his conclusion. Garner v. Heckler, 745 F.2d 383 (6th Cir. 1984). The credibility
findings of an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) must not be discarded lightly and
should be accorded great deference. Hardaway v. Secretary of Health and Human
Services, 823 F.2d 922, 928 (6th Cir. 1987). A district court’s review of an ALJ’s
decision is not a de novo review. The district court may not resolve conflicts in the
evidence nor decide questions of credibility. Garner, 745 F.2d at 397. The decision
of the Commissioner must be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence, even
if the record might support a contrary decision or if the district court arrives at a
different conclusion. Smith v. Secretary of HHS, 893 F.2d 106, 108 (6th Cir. 1984);
Mullen v. Bowen, 800 F.2d 535, 545 (6th Cir. 1986).
The Court has had an opportunity to review this matter and finds that the
Magistrate Judge reached the correct conclusions for the proper reasons. Finding no
error in the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, the Court adopts the
Report and Recommendation in its entirety. Furthermore, as neither party has raised
an objection to the Report and Recommendation, the Court finds that the parties have
waived any further objections to the Report and Recommendation. Smith v. Detroit
Fed’n of Teachers Local 231, 829 F.2d 1370, 1373 (6th Cir. 1987) (a party’s failure
to file any objections waives his or her right to further appeal); Thomas v. Arn, 474
U.S. 140, 149 (1985).
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For the reasons stated above,
IT IS ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation [Docket No. 20, filed
July 20, 2016] is ADOPTED as this Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment
[Docket No. 13, filed June 20, 2015] is DENIED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commissioner’s Motion for Summary
Judgment [Docket No. 16, filed September 23, 2015] is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this action is DISMISSED with prejudice.
s/Denise Page Hood
DENISE PAGE HOOD
United States District Judge
DATED: September 15, 2016
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned certifies that the foregoing document was served upon counsel of record and
any unrepresented parties via the Court’s ECF System to their respective email addresses or First
Class U.S. mail disclosed on the Notice of Electronic Filing on September 15, 2016.
s/Kelly Winslow for
La Shawn Saulsberry
Case Manager for Chief Judge Denise Page Hood
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