Angelina S. v. Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of Social Security

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico reviews the denial of Angelina S.’s claim for Social Security disability insurance benefits. The court rejects challenges to the vocational expert’s testimony concerning allegedly obsolete occupations and to the ALJ’s evaluation of a consulting psychologist’s opinion. The court denies the motion to remand and affirms the Commissioner’s decision.

Holdings

1. The ALJ properly relied on the vocational expert's testimony because the testimony addressed how the identified occupations are currently performed and established consistency with Plaintiff's residual functional capacity.
2. Plaintiff did not adequately develop her argument that the vocational expert's job-number estimates were unreliable or failed to establish significant numbers of jobs; the court therefore declined to remand on that basis.
3. The ALJ complied with the Appeals Council's mandate concerning Dr. Owen's opinion.
4. The ALJ adequately explained why she did not adopt Dr. Owen's limitations exceeding moderate severity or exceeding a mild limitation in understanding, remembering, and applying information.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ALJ could rely on vocational-expert testimony concerning document preparer, surveillance system monitor, and addresser occupations despite Plaintiff's argument that the occupations, as described in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, were obsolete.
2. Whether Plaintiff adequately demonstrated that the vocational expert's estimates of national job numbers were unreliable or insufficient to satisfy the Commissioner's step-five burden.
3. Whether the ALJ complied with the Appeals Council's remand mandate concerning Dr. Owen's opinion.
4. Whether the ALJ adequately explained the portions of Dr. Owen's opinion that were not adopted in the residual functional capacity assessment.

Disposition

affirmed