Miller v. Saul
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:19-cv-01579
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Miller v. Saul, Judge Gardephe adopted the recommendation and dismissed Miller’s Social Security case as time-barred.
Jeannine L. Miller’s claim for judicial review of the denial of Disability Insurance Benefits was dismissed as filed after the court’s stated deadline; the Commissioner’s motion to dismiss was granted.
What happened
In Miller v. Saul, Jeannine L. Miller sought court review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of her application for Disability Insurance Benefits. The Commissioner asked the court to dismiss the case as filed too late.
A magistrate judge recommended granting the motion. The recommendation concluded that Miller’s filing deadline was February 15, 2019, but the Clerk’s Office did not receive her complaint until February 19, 2019. Neither side objected to the recommendation.
Judge Paul G. Gardephe reviewed the recommendation for clear error, adopted it in full, granted the Commissioner’s motion to dismiss, and directed the Clerk to close the case.
The detailed version
- Miller v. Saul · No. 1:19-cv-01579
- Paul Gardephe
- July 30, 2020
Background
Jeannine L. Miller brought this action under Section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), seeking judicial review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s final decision denying her application for Disability Insurance Benefits. The Commissioner moved to dismiss the complaint as time-barred under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which permits dismissal when a complaint does not state a legally sufficient claim.
Report and recommendation
The court had referred the case to Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses. Judge Moses recommended granting the Commissioner’s motion and dismissing the action. She determined that the filing deadline was February 15, 2019. The complaint was dated February 13, 2019, but the Clerk’s Office did not receive it until February 19, 2019.
The opinion states that the Commissioner had extended Miller’s deadline for 30 days from the date she received an extension letter, while assuming receipt five days after the letter’s date unless shown otherwise. Judge Moses concluded that the complaint was not filed until the Clerk’s Office received it and was therefore late. She also noted that Miller had not requested equitable tolling, a possible extension of a deadline in exceptional circumstances. Mailing the complaint by certified mail two days before the deadline did not change the filing date.
Neither party objected to the report and recommendation, despite being warned that failing to object could waive further judicial review. The district court nevertheless reviewed the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake.
Ruling
Judge Paul G. Gardephe found the recommendation well-reasoned and free of clear error. He adopted Judge Moses’s report and recommendation in its entirety. The Commissioner’s motion to dismiss was granted, the complaint was dismissed as time-barred, and the Clerk was directed to terminate the motion and close the case.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.