Opinion
Case No. 3:12-cv-188
04-02-2013
HEATHER YORK, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant.
Judge Timothy S. Black
Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz
DECISION AND ENTRY: (1) ADOPTING THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
OF THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE (Doc. 19) IN ITS ENTIRETY; (2) AFFIRMING THE
COMMISSIONER'S DECISION THAT PLAINTIFF WAS NOT DISABLED; AND (3)
TERMINATING THIS CASE
Plaintiff Heather York brought this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for judicial review of the decision of the Defendant Commissioner of Social Security denying her applications for Disability Insurance Benefits ("DIB") and Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") benefits. On March 3, 2013, United States Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz entered a Report and Recommendations recommending that the Commissioner's non-disability determination be affirmed and this case be terminated. (Doc. 19). Neither party filed objections to the Report and Recommendations of the Magistrate Judge and the time for doing so has expired. The case is now ripe for decision.
This Court's function is to determine whether the record as a whole contains substantial evidence to support the ALJ's decision. Bowen v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec, 478 F.3d 742, 745-46 (6th Cir. 2007). Regarding the substantial evidence requirement, the ALJ's findings must be affirmed if they are supported by "such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401 (1971) (citing Consol. Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229 (1938). Substantial evidence is more than a mere scintilla, but only so much as would be required to prevent a judgment as a matter of law if this case were being tried to a jury. Foster v. Bowen, 853 F.2d 483, 486 (6th Cir. 1988) (citing NLRB v. Columbian Enameling & Stamping Co., 306 U.S. 292, 300 (1939)).
This Court must also determine whether the ALJ applied the correct legal criteria. Bowen, 478 F.3d at 745-46. This second judicial inquiry may result in reversal even if the record contains substantial evidence supporting the ALJ's factual findings. Bowen, 478 F.3d at 746. A reversal based on the ALJ's legal criteria may occur, for example, when the ALJ has failed to follow the Commissioner's "own regulations and where that error prejudices a claimant on the merits or deprives the claimant of a substantial right." Id. (citing in part Wilson v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 378 F.3d 541, 546-47 (6th Cir. 2004)).
In this case, based upon a de novo review, the reasoning and citations of authority set forth by the Magistrate Judge (Doc. 19), and the absence of objections by the parties, the Court: (1) ADOPTS the Report and Recommendations of the Magistrate Judge (Doc. 19) in its entirety; (2) AFFIRMS the ALJ's non-disability finding; and (3) TERMINATES this case.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Timothy S. Black
United States District Judge