Lemieux v. Berryhill, CIVIL ACTION NO. 17-11453-RWZ

323 F.Supp.3d 224

Jean Paul LEMIEUX

v.Nancy A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration

CIVIL ACTION NO. 17-11453-RWZ

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

Signed August 29, 2018

Filed August 30, 2018

Praven Shenoy, Babanikas, Ziedman & King, PC, Brockton, MA, for Jean Paul Lemieux.

Natasha Oeltjen, Social Security Administration-Office of the General Counsel, Boston, MA, for Nancy A. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

RYA W. ZOBEL, SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiff Jean Paul Lemieux appeals from a final decision by the Acting Commissioner of Social Security ("the Commissioner") upholding the ruling of the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") that rejected plaintiff's application for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Plaintiff urges two grounds for remand: first, the ALJ discounted treating physician opinions with insufficient explanation; and second, the ALJ's basis for discrediting plaintiff's subjective allegations of pain is unclear.

Pending before the court are plaintiff's motion to reverse or remand the decision of the Commissioner and defendant's motion for an order affirming that decision. For the reasons that follow, the decision of the Commissioner will be remanded.

I. Background

Plaintiff is a 51-year old former pipefitter. He was laid off in January 2014 when hip and back pain diminished his job performance, and he thereafter underwent right hip replacement surgery. Although the surgery provided some initial relief, his pain persisted and complications ensued. Plaintiff filed an application for disability benefits on July 29, 2014, alleging disability beginning on December 20, 2013. His claim was first denied on October 30, 2014, and again upon reconsideration on April 27, 2015. Plaintiff requested a hearing before an ALJ, and a hearing at which the plaintiff and a vocational expert ("VE") testified was held on April 28, 2016.

A. Applicable Statutes and Regulations

To receive Social Security disability benefits, a claimant must be "[unable] to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which ... has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve months." 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A). The impairment "must be of such severity that he is not only unable to do his previous work but cannot, considering his age, education, and work experience, engage in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy." 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A) ; see 20 C.F.R. § 416.905(a).

The ALJ analyzes whether a claimant is disabled using an established "five-step sequential evaluation process." See 20 C.F.R.§ 404.1520(a)(4)(i)–(v). Under this framework, the ALJ first determines whether the claimant is currently engaging in substantial gainful work activity. If not, then at step two, the ALJ decides whether he has a "severe" medical impairment or impairments, which means the impairment "significantly limits [the claimant's] physical or mental ability to do basic work activities," id. § 404.1520(c). If the claimant has a severe impairment or impairments, then the ALJ considers, third, whether such impairments meet or equal an entry in the Listing of Impairments, 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1, together with the duration requirement. If so, then the claimant is considered disabled and the analysis ends. If not, before moving to step four, the ALJ must determine the claimant's residual functional capacity ("RFC"), which is "the most [a claimant] can still do despite [his] limitations," id. § 404.1545(a)(1). At step four, the ALJ determines whether the RFC allows him to perform his past relevant work. If the claimant has the RFC to perform his past relevant work, he is not disabled. If the claimant does not, then the ALJ decides, at step five, whether he can do other work in light of his RFC, age, education, and work experience. If the claimant can, he is not considered disabled; otherwise, he is. "Once the applicant has met his or her burden at Step 4 to show that he or she is unable to do past work due to the significant limitation, the Commissioner then has the burden at Step 5 of coming forward with evidence of specific jobs in the national economy that the applicant can still perform." Seavey v. Barnhart, 276 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 2001) ; see also 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1512(b), 404.1560(c)(2).

B. The Initial Rejection and the ALJ's Decision

In his June 15, 2016 written decision, the ALJ's five-step analysis concluded that plaintiff was not disabled under the Social Security Act.¹ First, the ALJ found that plaintiff had not engaged in substantial gainful activity since his alleged onset date of December 20, 2013. Second, he determined that plaintiff had three severe impairments: osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, and obesity. See 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(c) (requirement of severe impairment). Third, the ALJ concluded that plaintiff did not have an impairment or combination of impairments that met or medically equaled the severity of one of the listed impairments in 20 CFR Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1. R.² 14. Before moving to step four, the ALJ determined plaintiff's RFC:

After careful consideration of the entire record, the undersigned finds that the claimant has the residual functional capacity to perform light work as defined in 20 CFR 404.1567(b) except that the claimant is limited to standing/walking for 2 hours in an 8-hour day; never climbing ropes, ladders, and scaffolds; occasionally climbing ramps and stairs; and occasionally balancing, crawling, stooping, kneeling, and crouching. The claimant must avoid extreme temperatures and hazards such as moving machinery, unprotected heights, and slippery/wet/uneven surfaces.

Id.

At the fourth step, the ALJ concluded based on the VE's testimony that plaintiff was unable to return to his past relevant work as a pipefitter. At step five, again relying on the VE's testimony, he found that, "considering [plaintiff's] age, education, work experience, and residual functional capacity, there were jobs that existed in significant numbers in the national economy that [plaintiff] could have performed." Id. at 22. The VE had testified that plaintiff would have been able to perform representative occupations such as bench assembler, hand packager/inspector, and parking lot attendant—all light work jobs. Id. at 23. Accordingly, the ALJ concluded that the claimant was not disabled. Id.

C. The Appeal

Plaintiff appealed the ALJ's decision to the Social Security Administration's Appeals Council, which denied review on June 13, 2017. The ALJ's decision then became the final decision of the Commissioner, and plaintiff brought this case under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), seeking reversal thereof.

II. Standard of Review

The Commissioner's findings of fact are conclusive if based on the correct legal standard and supported by substantial evidence. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) ; Seavey, 276 F.3d at 9. Substantial evidence includes "such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971) (quoting Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938) ). So long as the Commissioner's determinations are "supported by substantial evidence," they must be affirmed, "even if the record arguably could justify a different conclusion." Rodriguez Pagan v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 819 F.2d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 1987) (per curiam). Further, resolving credibility issues "and the drawing of permissible inference from evidentiary facts are the prime responsibility of the [Commissioner]." Rodriguez v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 647 F.2d 218, 222 (1st Cir. 1981) (quoting Rodriguez v. Celebrezze, 349 F.2d 494, 496 (1st Cir. 1965) ). Questions of law are reviewed de novo. Seavey, 276 F.3d at 9.

III. Discussion

Plaintiff argues that the ALJ's decision is unsupported by substantial evidence for two reasons. First, he contends that the ALJ failed to explain sufficiently the weight given to the medical opinions of plaintiff's treating physicians. Second, he questions the ALJ's basis for discrediting his subjective allegations of pain. I address each argument in turn.

A. Weight Accorded Treating Physician Opinions

Citing the general rule that a treating physician's opinion is accorded deference, plaintiff argues essentially that the ALJ erred in rejecting the limitations assessed by his hip replacement surgeon, Dr. Michael Langworthy, and his primary care physician, Dr. David Chesney. Both treating physicians opined that plaintiff could sit for one hour at a time for a total of one hour in an eight-hour day, and stand for 20 minutes at a time for a total of 20 minutes in an eight-hour day. The ALJ's RFC ultimately included a two-hour standing limitation, but no sitting limitation.

The opinions of treating physicians "are ordinarily accorded deference in Social Security disability proceedings." Richards v. Hewlett–Packard Corp., 592 F.3d 232, 240 n. 9 (1st Cir. 2010). This is because treating physicians are best situated to offer "a detailed, longitudinal picture ... and may bring a unique perspective to the medical evidence that cannot be obtained from the objective medical findings alone or from reports of individual examinations, such as consultative examinations or brief hospitalizations." 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527(c)(2). A treating source opinion that is well-supported by objective evidence and not inconsistent with the record is accorded "controlling weight." Id."If not ‘controlling,’ the treating opinion must still be evaluated against six criteria in order to fulfill the mandate that the ALJ ‘always give good reasons’ when determining the weight a treating opinion deserves." Santana v. Colvin, No. 15-CV-13232-IT, 2016 WL 7428223, at *3 (D. Mass. Dec. 23,...