Hall v. Colvin

Filing 20

ORDER ADOPTING the Report and Recommendation, Affirming the decision by ALJ; and Dismissing Plaintiff's Complaint with Prejudice by Judge James L. Robart. (LMK)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 9 10 MICHAEL W. HALL, Plaintiff, 11 ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION v. 12 13 CASE NO. C13-1679JLR CAROLYN COLVIN, Defendant. 14 15 I. 16 17 18 19 20 21 INTRODUCTION This matter comes before the court on the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) of United States Magistrate Judge John L. Weinberg (R&R (Dkt. # 17)), and Plaintiff Michael Hall’s objections thereto (Objections (Dkt. # 18)). Having carefully reviewed all of the foregoing, along with all other relevant documents and the governing law, the court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation (Dkt. # 17), AFFIRMS the decision of the 22 ORDER- 1 1 Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”), and DISMISSES Mr. Hall’s complaint with 2 prejudice. 3 4 II. BACKGROUND Mr. Hall is a 40-year-old male who applied for and was denied social security 5 benefits. (R&R at 1-2.) He suffers from lower back injury, depression, bipolar disorder, 6 anxiety, and anger, and has had at least one stroke. (Id. at 1.) He has not worked since 7 2008, but his previous work experience includes working as a derrick on an oil rig and a 8 cook. (Id.) He has a GED. (Id.) He alleges that he has been disabled since 2007. (Id.) 9 His initial application for social security benefits was denied. (Id. at 1-2.) In 2011, he 10 had a hearing before an ALJ to determine if he was disabled. (Id. at 2.) The ALJ 11 determined that he was not disabled and therefore not entitled to social security benefits. 12 (Id. (citing Administrative Record (“AR”) at 11-25).) The ALJ explained his decision in 13 a 15-page written opinion that details the ALJ’s reasoning. (AR at 11-25.) Mr. Hall 14 appealed, but the Appeals Council affirmed the ALJ. (Id.) Mr. Hall then appealed to this 15 court. Magistrate Judge Weinberg issued a comprehensive, 15-page R&R recommending 16 that the commissioner be affirmed, and Mr. Hall objected to that R&R. 17 18 II. STANDARD OF REVIEW A district court has jurisdiction to review a Magistrate Judge’s R&R on dispositive 19 matters. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b). “The district judge must determine de novo any part of 20 the magistrate judge’s disposition that has been properly objected to.” Id. “A judge of 21 the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or 22 recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). The court ORDER- 2 1 reviews de novo those portions of the R&R to which specific written objection is made. 2 United States v. Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc). “The 3 statute makes it clear that the district judge must review the magistrate judge’s findings 4 and recommendations de novo if objection is made, but not otherwise.” Id. When no 5 objections are filed, the court need not review de novo the R&R. Wang v. Masaitis, 416 6 F.3d 992, 1000 n.13 (9th Cir. 2005). 7 Although review of an R&R is de novo, the court must defer to the ALJ’s factual 8 findings and may set aside the Commissioner’s denial of social security benefits only if 9 the ALJ’s findings are based on legal error or not supported by substantial evidence in the 10 record. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); Bayliss v. Barnhart, 427 F.3d 1211, 1214 (9th Cir. 2005). In 11 this way, the court’s review of the R&R is different from the court’s review of the 12 underlying decision of the ALJ. With respect to the underlying decision, the court must 13 examine the record as a whole and may not reweigh the evidence or substitute its 14 judgment for that of the Commissioner. Thomas v. Barnhart, 278 F.3d 947, 954 (9th Cir. 15 2002). The ALJ determines credibility, resolves conflicts in medical testimony, and 16 resolves any other ambiguities that may exist. Andrews v. Shalala, 53 F.3d 1035, 1039 17 (9th Cir. 1995). When the evidence is susceptible to more than one rational 18 interpretation, the court must uphold the ALJ’s conclusion. Thomas, 278 F.3d at 954. 19 20 III. DISCUSSION Mr. Hall raises two categories of objections. First, he objects to Magistrate Judge 21 Weinberg’s conclusion that the ALJ properly found Mr. Hall to be not credible. 22 (Objections at 1-6.) In doing so, he disputes many of the ALJ’s conclusions, citing ORDER- 3 1 evidence from the hearing and suggesting that the ALJ drew the wrong conclusions from 2 that evidence. (Id.) Second, he objects to the manner in which the ALJ weighed medical 3 testimony. (Id. at 6-9.) He argues that the ALJ should have given certain medical 4 testimony more weight than he did, and that he should have given other medical 5 testimony less weight than he did. The court considers each of Mr. Hall’s objections in 6 turn. 7 A. Credibility 8 Magistrate Judge Weinberg’s treatment of the credibility issue is thorough and 9 correct. The court has examined the R&R in light of the record and concludes that 10 Magistrate Judge Weinberg did not err in his consideration of this issue. As Magistrate 11 Judge Weinberg points out, an ALJ’s credibility findings must be supported by specific, 12 cogent reasons. (R&R at 5 (citing Greger v. Barnhart, 464 F.3d 968, 972 (9th Cir. 13 2006)).) Moreover, an ALJ must provide clear and convincing reasons for rejecting a 14 claimant’s testimony about the severity of his symptoms unless there is evidence of 15 malingering. (Id. (citing Lingenfelter v. Astrue, 504 F.3d 1028, 1035-36 (9th Cir. 16 2007)).) Here, as Magistrate Weinberg made clear, the ALJ undertook a “detailed 17 assessment of Plaintiff’s credibility by discussing medical reports, evidence of his daily 18 activities and Plaintiff’s own testimony.” (Id. at 6.) Indeed, the ALJ listed eight separate 1 19 reasons for finding Mr. Hall’s testimony not credible. (AR at 17-21.) The ALJ’s 20 21 1 Magistrate Judge Weinberg found that one of these eight reasons was not valid but that 22 any error with respect to this reason was harmless in light of the other seven reasons. (R&R at ORDER- 4 1 reasons are specific, cogent, clear, and convincing. See Greger, 464 F.3d at 972; 2 Lingenfelter, 504 F.3d at 1035-36. Accordingly, Magistrate Judge Weinberg did not err 3 in recommending that the court affirm the ALJ. Moreover, none of Mr. Hall’s objections concerning credibility raise any new 4 5 issues that are not adequately addressed in Magistrate Judge Weinberg’s R&R. (See 6 Objections.) For the most part, Mr. Hall’s objections ask that the court re-weigh the 7 evidence and reach a different conclusion than the ALJ. (See id. at 2-6.) This is not 8 permitted. Thomas, 278 F.3d at 954. When the evidence is susceptible to more than one 9 rational interpretation, the court must uphold the ALJ’s conclusion. Id. Mr. Hall’s 10 objections also frequently suggest that the ALJ’s conclusions were not supported by 11 substantial evidence, but a review of the record demonstrates that this is not true. (See 12 Objections at 2-6.) Instead, in raising his objections, Mr. Hall ignores the evidence that 13 supported the ALJ’s conclusions and argues that the court should pay attention to his 14 evidence instead. (See id.) This is tantamount to re-weighing the evidence, and the court 15 is not persuaded that this is warranted in this case. The court has independently reviewed 16 the R&R and Mr. Hall’s objections thereto in light of the record and adopts this portion 17 of Magistrate Judge Weinberg’s R&R for the same reasons discussed in the R&R. 18 B. Medical Testimony 19 Next, Mr. Hall objects to Magistrate Judge Weinberg’s treatment of three different 20 medical opinions. As explained in more detail below, the court concludes that none of 21 6.) The court agrees with Magistrate Judge Weinberg’s assessment of this issue and adopts it in 22 full herein. ORDER- 5 1 Mr. Hall’s objections raise issues that justify reversing the ALJ or otherwise disagreeing 2 with the persuasive reasoning of Magistrate Judge Weinberg’s R&R. 3 1. Mr. Arnold 4 Mr. Hall argues that the ALJ improperly gave substantial weight to a 2011 report 5 by Greg Arnold, a mental health professional, and little weight to a 2010 report by Mr. 6 Arnold. (Objections at 6-7.) Once again, the court notes that it may not reweigh the 7 evidence or substitute its judgment for that of the Commissioner. Thomas, 278 F.3d at 8 954. It is the job of the ALJ, not the court, to resolve conflicts in medical testimony. 9 Andrews, 53 F.3d at 1039. When the evidence is susceptible to more than one rational 10 interpretation, the court must uphold the ALJ’s conclusion. Thomas, 278 F.3d at 954. 11 Here, the court cannot conclude from its review of the record that Dr. Arnold’s reports 12 are susceptible to only one rational interpretation. In other words, the ALJ did not err in 13 crediting one of the reports over the other. 14 The ALJ also supported his findings with sufficient reasons. The ALJ was 15 required to provide “germane reasons” for discounting Mr. Arnold’s testimony because 16 Mr. Arnold is a so-called “other source” mental health professional. (R&R at 9 (citing 17 Turner v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 613 F.3d 1217, 1223 (9th Cir. 2010)).) In his written 18 opinion, the ALJ provided at least five such reasons. (Id.) For example, he found that 19 the 2010 opinion was inconsistent with treatment notes, was inconsistent with Plaintiff’s 20 activities, and relied too heavily on Mr. Hall’s subjective complaints. (AR at 24.) As for 21 the 2011 opinion, the ALJ found that it “more accurately reflects the longitudinal medical 22 evidence and the claimant’s activities.” (Id.) These are all germane reasons, and the ORDER- 6 1 court agrees with Magistrate Judge Weinberg that the ALJ’s conclusions should be 2 upheld. In choosing one report over the other, the ALJ did nothing more than his job. 3 See Andrews, 53 F.3d at 1039. 4 2. Dr. Edwards 5 Mr. Hall next argues that the ALJ erred in rejecting certain opinions of Dr. 6 Edwards. To reject this testimony, the ALJ was required to provide specific and 7 legitimate reasons based on substantial evidence in the record. Valentine v. Comm’r of 8 Soc. Sec. Admin., 574 F.3d 685, 692 (9th Cir. 2009); (see R&R at 11.) The ALJ provided 9 four separate reasons for rejecting Dr. Edwards’ opinion, finding her opinion inconsistent 10 with other medical evidence and too heavily reliant on Mr. Hall’s subjective complaints, 11 and finding that Dr. Edwards did not have an appropriate opportunity to observe Mr. 12 Hall’s symptoms. (AR at 23.) All of these reasons are specific, legitimate, and supported 13 by substantial evidence in the record. See Valentine, 574 F.3d at 692. Moreover, none of 14 Mr. Hall’s objections raise any persuasive argument that convinces the court that the ALJ 15 in any way erred by discounting Dr. Edwards’ opinions or that Magistrate Judge 16 Weinberg erred by upholding the ALJ’s resolution of conflicting testimony. 17 3. Drs. Fisher and Fligstein 18 Last, Mr. Hall argues briefly that Magistrate Judge Weinberg “erred in upholding 19 the ALJ’s rejection of the opinions of Drs. Fisher and Fligstein.” (Objections at 8.) The 20 ALJ noted that he did “generally agree” with the opinions of these doctors, but that he 21 disagreed that Mr. Hall needed “significant accommodations” in the workplace in order 22 to succeed. (AR at 23.) The ALJ pointed to specific and substantial evidence supporting ORDER- 7 1 his finding (see id.), but Mr. Hall suggests that the court overturn that finding in support 2 of another inference that could be drawn from the available evidence (Objections at 8). 3 This is not the court’s role in reviewing the ALJ’s opinion. Thomas, 278 F.3d at 954. 4 Because the evidence before the ALJ was susceptible to more than one rational 5 interpretation, the court must uphold the ALJ’s conclusion. Id. Again, Mr. Hall has 6 failed to demonstrate error by either the ALJ or Magistrate Judge Weinberg. 7 8 IV. CONCLUSION In sum, none of Mr. Hall’s objections raise any novel issues that were not 9 addressed by Magistrate Judge Weinberg’s R&R. Moreover, the court has thoroughly 10 examined the record before it and finds the Magistrate Judge’s reasoning persuasive in 11 light of that record. For these reasons, the court ADOPTS the Report and 12 Recommendation (Dkt. # 17) in its entirety, AFFIRMS the decision of the ALJ, 13 DISMISSES Mr. Hall’s complaint with prejudice, and DIRECTS the Clerk to send copies 14 of this Order to Mr. Hall, to counsel for respondent, and to Magistrate Judge Weinberg. 15 Dated this 21st day of July, 2014. 16 18 A 19 JAMES L. ROBART United States District Judge 17 20 21 22 ORDER- 8

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