Matthews v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 20

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS for 19 Report and Recommendations as the finding of this Court; and that this matter is remanded to the Commissioner of Social Security for further proceedings consistent with US Magistrate Judge Isaacs 19 Report and Recommendation entered on 12/30/22. See Order for more details. Signed by District Judge Halil S. Ozerden on 1/19/23. (RLW)

Case 1:20-cv-00234-HSO-LGI Document 20 Filed 01/19/23 Page 1 of 4

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
SOUTHERN DIVISION
ERIC C. MATTHEWS
v.
ACTING COMMISSIONER OF
SOCIAL SECURITY, Kilolo
Kijakazi1

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PLAINTIFF
Civil No. 1:20-cv-234-HSO-LGI
DEFENDANT

ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION [19] AND REMANDING
TO THE COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY
BEFORE THE COURT is the Report and Recommendation [19] of United
States Magistrate Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac, entered on December 30, 2022. The
Magistrate Judge recommended that this matter be remanded to the Commissioner
of Social Security for further proceedings. R.&R. [19] at 10 (filed restricted access).
No party has objected to the Report and Recommendation [19]. After review of the
record and relevant law, the Court finds that the Report and Recommendation [19]
should be adopted, and this matter should be remanded for further proceedings
consistent with the Report and Recommendation [19].
I. BACKGROUND
On or about September 26, 2018, Plaintiff Eric Matthews (“Plaintiff” or
“Matthews”) filed an application with the Social Security Administration for

Kilolo Kijakazi became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security on July 9, 2021. Pursuant to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d), Kilolo Kijakazi is automatically substituted in place of Andrew
Saul as Defendant in this action. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d); 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).
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Disability Insurance Benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 423(d)(1)(A). Compl. [1] at 1 (filed restricted access). An Administrative Law
Judge (“ALJ”) rendered an unfavorable decision finding that he had not established
a disability within the meaning of the Social Security Act. Id. at 2. Matthews
unsuccessfully appealed the ALJ’s decision and has exhausted his administrative
remedies. Id. On July 14, 2020, Matthews filed his Complaint [1] in this Court
against the Commissioner of Social Security, seeking judicial review of the
Commissioner’s decision. Id. In his Brief [11], Matthews argues that “[t]he ALJ’s
opinion is not supported by substantial evidence as she did not discuss multiple
medical examinations in the record that indicate marked mental limitations,” and
asserts that the ALJ’s “failure to consider all the evidence of record is reversible
error.” Br. [11] at 1 (filed restricted access).
On December 30, 2022, the Magistrate Judge entered a Report and
Recommendation [19] recommending that the case be remanded for further
development and proceedings, including for the ALJ to “set forth with greater
specificity her findings regarding how she weighed the evidence in determining
Plaintiff’s residual functional capacity, taking care to link her findings to specific
evidence through the date last insured.” R.&.R [19] at 10 (filed restricted access).
No party has objected to the Report and Recommendation [19], and the time for
doing so has expired. See L.U. Civ. R. 72(a)(3).

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II. DISCUSSION
Where no party has objected to a Magistrate Judge’s report and
recommendation, the Court need not conduct a de novo review of it. 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(b)(1) (“A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those
portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which
objection is made.”). When there are no objections, the Court applies the “clearly
erroneous, abuse of discretion and contrary to law” standard of review to the report
and recommendation. United States v. Wilson, 864 F.2d 1219, 1221 (5th Cir. 1989).
Having conducted this required review, the Court concludes that the Report and
Recommendation [19] is neither clearly erroneous nor contrary to law. The Court
will adopt the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation [19] as the opinion
of this Court and remand this matter to the Commissioner of Social Security for
further proceedings.
III. CONCLUSION
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that, United States
Magistrate Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac’s Report and Recommendation [19] entered
on December 30, 2022, is ADOPTED as the finding of this Court.

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IT IS, FURTHER, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that, this matter is
REMANDED to the Commissioner of Social Security for further proceedings
consistent with United States Magistrate Judge LaKeysha Greer Isaac’s Report and
Recommendation [19] entered on December 30, 2022. This Court will enter a
separate final judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58.
SO ORDERED AND ADJUDGED, this the 19th day of January, 2023.

s/ Halil Suleyman Ozerden
HALIL SULEYMAN OZERDEN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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