Nicholas C. J. v. Kijakazi

Background

Nicholas C. J. sought judicial review of Kilolo Kijakazi’s decision denying his application for disability benefits. Both parties moved for summary judgment. United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright recommended denying Nicholas C. J.’s motion and granting Kijakazi’s motion. Nicholas C. J. filed objections to that recommendation, and Kijakazi did not respond.

Analysis

The district court reviewed the parts of the recommendation that Nicholas C. J. specifically challenged without deferring to the magistrate judge. It reviewed the remaining parts for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake in the record.

Nicholas C. J. argued that 20,500 jobs in the national economy was not a significant number of jobs. The court rejected that argument. The vocational expert had testified that 32,500 jobs existed nationally that Nicholas C. J. could perform, and the magistrate judge determined that 20,500 jobs remained significant even without counting the document-preparer position. The court concluded that the Administrative Law Judge did not err in relying on that testimony and in finding that a significant number of jobs existed.

Nicholas C. J. also argued that his residual functional capacity—the work-related limitations the decision found him to have—conflicted with the document-preparer job. The court did not decide whether that conflict existed because the remaining jobs were sufficient to support summary judgment. The court also rejected his argument that the addresser and cutter-paster jobs no longer existed in significant numbers, finding that he had not identified an error in the recommendation.

Disposition

The court overruled Nicholas C. J.’s objections, adopted the January 20, 2022 Report and Recommendation, denied Nicholas C. J.’s motion for summary judgment, and granted Kijakazi’s motion for summary judgment. The court ordered that judgment be entered accordingly.