Nail v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 26

Order Adopting the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge. The court hereby reverses the Commissioner's decision and remands the case to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings consistent with the Report and Recommendation. Related document 24 . Signed by Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr on 7/10/2017. (R,Sh)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
EASTERN DIVISION

MICHELLE L. NAIL,
Plaintiff
v.
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,
Defendant

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Case No.: 4:16 CV 1302

JUDGE SOLOMON OLIVER, JR.

ORDER

The Commissioner of Social Security Administration (“Commissioner”) denied supplemental
security income to Plaintiff Michelle L. Nail (“Plaintiff”or “Nail”), in the above-captioned case.
Plaintiff sought judicial review of the Commissioner’s decision, and this court referred the case to
Magistrate Judge William H. Baughman, Jr. (“Magistrate Judge” or “Judge Baughman”) for
preparation of a Report and Recommendation (“R & R”). Both parties submitted briefs on the
merits. Plaintiff requested an order reversing the Commissioner’s decision on the basis that the
Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) determination that she was not under a disability was not
supported by substantial evidence. The Commissioner sought final judgment upholding the decision
below.
Judge Baughman submitted his R & R (ECF No. 24) on June 30, 2017, concluding that the
court should reverse the Commissioner’s decision and remand the matter back to the Commissioner
for further administrative proceedings. Specifically, the Magistrate Judge concluded that the ALJ’s
decision to accord little weight to the opinion of Plaintiff’s treating physician while assigning great

weight to the prior opinions of two state agency reviewing psychologists was not supported by
substantial evidence and should be reversed.

(R & R at 13–17.)

Judge Baughman also

recommended remanding the case in light of the ALJ’s failure to properly consider the findings of
Plaintiff’s treating physician in determining whether Nail’s impairments match the criteria for a
listed disability. (Id. at 17–18.) On July 6, 2017, the Commissioner filed a Response to Magistrate
Judge’s Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 25) indicating that Defendant would not be filing
Objections.
The court finds, after careful de novo review of the Magistrate Judge’s R & R and all other
relevant documents in the record, that the Magistrate Judge’s conclusions are fully supported by the
record and controlling case law. Accordingly, the court adopts as its own the Judge Baughman’s
Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 24). The court hereby reverses the Commissioner’s decision
and remands the case to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings consistent with
the Report and Recommendation.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

/s/ SOLOMON OLIVER, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

July 10, 2017

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