Opinion
20-cv-1066 (SRN/HB)
07-16-2021
Alaa M. K. A., Plaintiff, v. Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.
Laura S. Melnick, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc., for Plaintiff Alaa M. K. A. Elvi Jenkins, Social Security Administration. for Defendant Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
Laura S. Melnick, Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc., for Plaintiff Alaa M. K. A.
Elvi Jenkins, Social Security Administration. for Defendant Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security.
ORDER
SUSAN RICHARD NELSON United States District Judge
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 16], Defendant's Motion to Remand [Doc. No. 24], Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 36], and the Report and Recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer on July 1, 2021 [Doc. No. 39]. No. party has objected to the Report and Recommendation.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 16] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as set forth fully in the Report and Recommendation;
2. Defendant's Motion to Remand [Doc. No. 24] is GRANTED;
3. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 36] is DENIED;
4. The final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is REVERSED and the case is REMANDED to the Social Security Administration pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), with the following directives:
a. The ALJ must consider Dr. Sharma's March 7, 2016 treatment note and assign weight to Dr. Sharma's opinions, explain the weight given to those opinions, and give specific reasons for the weight assigned;
b. The ALJ must reconsider Dr. Kroupin's October 2018 declaration in light of the errors described in the Report and Recommendation;
c. The ALJ must consider Dr. Kroupin's May 2019 declaration in light of the errors described in the Report and Recommendation;
d. Plaintiff may submit an additional declaration from Dr. Kroupin concerning the decrease in Plaintiff's functioning a week or two after his arrival in the United States after he learned he would not be reunited with his deceased brother;
e. The ALJ must reconsider Dr. Karayusuf's opinion in light of the errors described in the Report and Recommendation; and f. The ALJ must re-evaluate whether Plaintiff has a medically determinable mental impairment and, if so, whether that impairment is severe.
LET JUDGMENT BE ENTERED ACCORDINGLY.