Brenda Dee Baker Riojas v. Commissioner of Social Security

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California reviews a partially favorable Social Security disability determination concerning Brenda Dee Baker Riojas. The court concludes that the administrative law judge did not provide specific and legitimate, substantially supported reasons for discounting certain medical opinion evidence, and remands the case to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings.

Holdings

1. The ALJ failed to provide specific and legitimate reasons supported by substantial evidence for assigning only some weight to Dr. Graham's opinions.
2. The ALJ failed to properly consider Dr. MacClean's October 2009 and August 2010 opinions concerning Plaintiff's lifting, neck, and left-upper-extremity limitations.
3. The ALJ's consideration of Dr. Mendelsohn's opinion required reconsideration on remand because the ALJ failed to adequately explain why the examination findings did not support the stated postural limitations.
4. The ALJ did not err by failing to provide specific reasons for rejecting the records of Dr. Allende and Dr. Quesada because those records did not themselves assess specific functional limitations.
5. The proper remedy was reversal and remand for further administrative proceedings rather than an immediate award of benefits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ALJ properly evaluated the medical opinions of Robert Graham, Craig R. MacClean, and Peter Mendelsohn.
2. Whether the ALJ properly evaluated the records of Diego Allende and Abel Quesada.
3. Whether the case should be remanded for payment of benefits or for further administrative proceedings.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded