Juan C. v. Commissioner of Social Security

Background

The court had referred the case to a magistrate judge for a report and recommendation concerning any motion for judgment on the pleadings. Juan C. filed his motion on June 6, 2022, and the Commissioner filed a motion on August 5, 2022.

The assigned magistrate judge was later re-designated as Judge Gary J. Jones. On October 24, 2022, Judge Jones issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that Juan C.’s motion be granted, the Commissioner’s motion be denied, and the case be remanded for further proceedings.

Reason for the Recommendation

The Report and Recommendation concluded that the administrative law judge erred by relying on testimony from a vocational expert that conflicted with the Department of Labor’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles. The Social Security Administration has taken administrative notice of that dictionary. The administrative law judge did not resolve the conflict or provide the required reasonable explanation for crediting the vocational expert’s testimony over the dictionary.

The parties had fourteen days to object to the Report and Recommendation, but no timely objections were filed. Because there were no timely objections, the district court reviewed the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record.

Ruling

Judge Schofield found no clear error and adopted the Report and Recommendation in full. The court granted Juan C.’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, denied the Commissioner’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with the Report and Recommendation. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the docket entries for the two motions.