Rodriguez v. Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:20-cv-03687
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rodriguez v. Commissioner, Judge Broderick granted Rodriguez’s remand motion, denied the Commissioner’s motion, and sent the Social Security case back to the agency.
Melissa Rodriguez and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; the case was sent back to the agency for further proceedings.
What happened
In Rodriguez v. Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Melissa Rodriguez asked the court to send her Social Security case back to the agency for further proceedings. The Commissioner asked for judgment based on the existing court filings.
A magistrate judge recommended granting Rodriguez’s motion and denying the Commissioner’s motion. Neither side objected to that recommendation or requested more time.
Judge Broderick found no clear error, adopted the recommendation in full, granted Rodriguez’s motion, and denied the Commissioner’s motion. The case was remanded to the agency, and the court directed the clerk to close the motions and end the action.
The detailed version
- Rodriguez v. Commissioner of the Social Security Administration · No. 1:20-cv-03687
- Vernon Broderick
- Mar. 24, 2022
Background
Melissa Rodriguez brought this Social Security case against the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Rodriguez moved to remand, meaning to send the case back to the agency for further proceedings. The Commissioner moved for judgment on the pleadings, which asks the court to decide the case based on the parties’ written filings.
Report and Recommendation
On August 19, 2021, Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger issued a 50-page report and recommendation. It recommended that Rodriguez’s motion to remand be granted and that the Commissioner’s motion for judgment on the pleadings be denied. The report gave the parties 14 days to file objections and warned that failing to do so would waive objections and prevent appellate review. Neither party objected or requested additional time.
Court’s Ruling
Because no objections were filed, the court reviewed the record and the report and recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake on the face of the record. Judge Vernon S. Broderick found no clear error and adopted the report and recommendation in its entirety as the court’s opinion. The court granted Rodriguez’s motion, denied the Commissioner’s motion, and remanded the case. The clerk was directed to close the motions at docket numbers 23 and 27 and terminate the action.
Scope of the Opinion
The order provided here does not describe the underlying Social Security issues or the reasons the magistrate judge recommended remand; it states only that the district court adopted the report and recommendation after finding no clear error.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.