Malone v. Commissioner of Social Security

Background

Quennel W. Malone brought the case under the Social Security Act to challenge the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of his application for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Both Malone and the Commissioner filed motions for judgment on the pleadings. The court considered Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron’s Report and Recommendation, which advised denying Malone’s motion and granting the Commissioner’s motion. No party objected to the recommendation.

Issues and analysis

The court reviewed the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake after reviewing the record. It found none. The court agreed that the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ’s) decision contained no legal error and was supported by substantial evidence, meaning relevant evidence sufficient to support the decision.

Malone argued that the ALJ failed to properly consider opinions from two treating physicians, including his treating psychiatrist. The court agreed that the ALJ did not fully incorporate those opinions into the analysis, but found that the ALJ considered the required factors and explained how persuasive each opinion was. The court said Malone’s disagreement concerned the weight given to the opinions, a matter within the ALJ’s discretion. Evidence that could support a different decision did not require overturning the ALJ’s decision.

Malone also argued that the ALJ should have ordered another examination to determine the full extent of his learning disability. The court agreed with the recommendation that Malone had not identified a missing part of the record that another examination was needed to address. The ALJ relied in part on Malone’s testimony that he could read at approximately a fourth-grade level and on intelligence testing that assessed his word reading at a third-grade level. The court concluded that this evidence supported the ALJ’s finding that Malone could perform simple work requiring the lowest language-skill level described in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

Disposition

The court adopted Magistrate Judge Aaron’s Report and Recommendation in full. Judge George B. Daniels granted the Commissioner’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and denied Malone’s motion. The Clerk was directed to terminate both motions and close the case.