Crystal S. R. v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Oregon reviewed the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of Crystal S. R.’s application for Supplemental Security Income. The court held that any error concerning the order-clerk occupation was harmless because other occupations provided a significant number of jobs, and it rejected the challenge to the vocational expert’s job-number estimates. The Commissioner’s decision was affirmed and the case was dismissed.

Holdings

1. The ALJ erred in finding that plaintiff could perform the order-clerk occupation because reasoning level three is inconsistent with a limitation to simple, routine tasks, but the error was harmless because the ALJ properly identified two additional occupations—assembler and inspector—with a combined 28,000 national jobs.
2. The Job Browser Pro printouts and counsel's accompanying explanation did not constitute significant and probative evidence sufficient to undermine the ALJ's step-five finding or require remand.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ALJ harmlessly erred by finding that plaintiff could perform the order-clerk occupation despite the conflict between the RFC limitation to simple, routine tasks and the occupation's reasoning-level-three requirement.
2. Whether Job Browser Pro printouts and counsel's explanation submitted to the Appeals Council constituted significant and probative evidence requiring the ALJ's step-five job-number finding to be reconsidered or remanded.

Disposition

affirmed