Martinez v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 29

DECISION & ORDER adopting Report and Recommendations re Dkt. # 28 Report and Recommendations: is hereby ACCEPTED and ADOPTED. Plaintiffs motion for judgment on the pleadings, dkt. # 18 , is hereby GRANTED. Defendants motion for judgment on the ple adings, dkt. # 22 , is hereby DENIED. The matter is remanded to the Commissioner of Social Security so that the ALJ can determine in the first instance whether improper notice constituted good cause for Plaintiff failure to attend the hearing on February 20, 2020. Signed by Senior Judge Thomas J. McAvoy on August 1, 2022. (gmd)

Case 5:20-cv-01480-TJM-TWD Document 29 Filed 08/01/22 Page 1 of 2

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________
MILTON M.,
Plaintiff,
vs.

5:20-CV-1480
(TJM/TWD)

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant.
___________________________________________
Thomas J. McAvoy,
Sr. U.S. District Judge

DECISION & ORDER
The Court referred this civil action, brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405 to seek
judicial review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of a request for Social
Security Disability Benefits, to Magistrate Judge Thérèse Wiley Dancks for a ReportRecommendation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Local Rule 72.3(c). Plaintif f alleged
that the Commissioner improperly dismissed his request for a hearing and dismissed
Plaintiff’s claim. Plaintiff did not attend his scheduled hearing, and the parties dispute
whether he had good cause for failing to appear.
Each side filed a brief in support of their position, and, pursuant to local rules,
Judge Dancks treated those briefs as if they contained motions for judgement on the
pleadings. Judge Dancks’s Report-Recommendation, dkt. # 28, issued on June 8, 2022,
recommends that the Court deny Defendant’s motion for summary judgment and grant

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Case 5:20-cv-01480-TJM-TWD Document 29 Filed 08/01/22 Page 2 of 2

Plaintiff’s. Judge Dancks finds that the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) assigned to the
case erred by failing to evaluate whether the improper notice Plaintiff received of the
hearing gave him good cause for failing to appear. Judge Dancks recommends that the
Court remand the matter to the ALJ to address the issue of notice and good cause in the
first instance.
No party objected to the Report-Recommendation, and the time for such objection
has passed. After examining the record, this Court has determined that the ReportRecommendation is not subject to attack for plain error or manifest injustice and the Court
will accept and adopt the Report-Recommendation for the reasons stated therein.
The Report-Recommendation of Magistrate Judge Dancks, dkt. # 28, is hereby
ACCEPTED and ADOPTED. Plaintiff’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, dkt. # 18, is
hereby GRANTED. Defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, dkt. # 22, is
hereby DENIED. The matter is remanded to the Commissioner of Social Security so that
the ALJ can determine in the first instance whether improper notice constituted good
cause for Plaintiff failure to attend the hearing on February 20, 2020.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: August 1, 2022

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