Opinion
Case No. 15-12988
09-26-2016
LAURIE E. MORGAN, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant.
Magistrate Judge David R. Grand
ORDER ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
At a session of said Court, held in the U.S. Courthouse, Detroit, Michigan on September 26, 2016 PRESENT: Honorable Gerald E. Rosen United States District Judge
On July 15, 2016, Magistrate Judge David R. Grand issued a Report and Recommendation ("R & R") recommending that the Court deny Plaintiff Laurie E. Morgan's motion for summary judgment and grant the Defendant Commissioner of Social Security's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff filed objections to the R & R on July 29, 2016, and Defendant responded to these objections on August 11, 2016. Upon reviewing the R & R, Plaintiff's objections, Defendant's response to these objections, the parties' underlying motions for summary judgment, and the record as a whole, the Court overrules Plaintiff's objections and adopts the R & R in its entirety.
As Defendant observes, Plaintiff's objections to the R & R generally reiterate (sometimes verbatim) the arguments advanced in her underlying summary judgment motion. Because the Magistrate Judge ably addressed each of these contentions in the R & R, the Court finds that further analysis is not warranted. In essence, Plaintiff's objections, like the arguments made in her underlying motion, rest largely on the premise that the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") unduly discounted or overlooked evidence in the record that was supportive of Plaintiff's claimed limitations. Yet, as explained by the Magistrate Judge, the ALJ need not "discuss every piece of evidence in the administrative record," and an ALJ's decision that is supported by substantial evidence "must be affirmed," even if "substantial evidence also supports the opposite conclusion." (R & R at 8 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).) Upon thoroughly reviewing the record, the Magistrate Judge determined that the ALJ's decision satisfies this standard, and the Court sees no basis for disturbing this ruling.
Accordingly,
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's July 29, 2016 objections (docket #13) to the Magistrate Judge's R & R are OVERRULED, and that the Magistrate Judge's July 15, 2016 Report and Recommendation (docket #12) is ADOPTED as the opinion of this Court. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, for the reasons stated in the R & R, that Plaintiff's December 7, 2015 motion for summary judgment (docket #9) is DENIED, and that Defendant's February 4, 2016 motion for summary judgment (docket #11) is GRANTED.
s/Gerald E. Rosen
United States District Judge Dated: September 26, 2016 I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the parties and/or counsel of record on September 26, 2016, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
s/Julie Owens
Case Manager, (313) 234-5135