Opinion
Case No. 13-10044
12-23-2013
LE'NETTA W. STONE, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant.
HON. TERRENCE G. BERG
HON. MONA K. MAJZOUB
ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION (Dkt. 20)
This matter is before the Court on Magistrate Judge Mona K. Majzoub's November 13, 2013 Report and Recommendation (Dkt. 20), recommending that Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 16) be GRANTED, that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 18) be DENIED, and that the case be REMANDED to the Commissioner for further proceedings, pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. §405(g).
The Court has reviewed the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation. The law provides that either party may serve and file written objections "[w]ithin fourteen days after being served with a copy" of the report and recommendations. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). The district court will make a "de novo determination of those portions of the report . . . to which objection is made." Id. Where, as here, neither party objects to the report, the district court is not obligated to independently review the record. See Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149-52 (1985). Nevertheless, the Court has carefully reviewed and does hereby accept the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation of November 13, 2013, as this Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law.
On December 2, 2013, Plaintiff filed a Response to the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation. Having reviewed this Response, the Court does not construe it as an objection. Rather, the Response conveys the exact opposite; i.e., that Plaintiff "welcome[s] the recommendation for reverse and remand." (Dkt. 21, Pl. Resp.).
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that Magistrate Judge Majzoub's Report and Recommendation of November 13, 2013 (Dkt. 20) is ACCEPTED and ADOPTED.
It is FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 16) is GRANTED, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 18) is DENIED, and the case is REMANDED to the Commissioner, pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. §405(g), for reconsideration of the weight to be assigned to the opinion of Dr. Sprague, at which point new evidence may also be considered in full.
______________________
TERRENCE G. BERG
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Certificate of Service
I hereby certify that this Order was electronically submitted on December 23, 2013, using the CM/ECF system; a copy of this Order was also addressed to Plaintiff and mailed to 22846 Nadyne Street, Brownstown, Michigan 48183.
A. Chubb
Case Manager