Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. 4:15CV791
02-24-2017
JOE BIDWELL, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER, SSA, Defendant.
JUDGE MAZZANT/JUDGE JOHNSON MEMORANDUM ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Came on for consideration the report of the United States Magistrate Judge in this action, the matter having been heretofore referred to the United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636. On January 26, 2017, the report of the Magistrate Judge (Dkt. #22) was entered containing proposed findings of fact and recommendations that the decision of the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") be affirmed in part and remanded in part.
Having received the report of the United States Magistrate Judge, and no objections thereto having been timely filed, this Court is of the opinion that the findings and conclusions of the Magistrate Judge are correct and adopts the Magistrate Judge's report as the findings and conclusions of the court.
It is, therefore, ORDERED that the decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED IN PART AND REMANDED IN PART. The Commissioner's decision finding that Plaintiff did not meet or equal listing 4.05 disability at step three of the analysis is AFFIRMED. However, the ALJ erred in applying the "younger person" age category without explanation at step five of the analysis. Thus, the Court remands the case to the ALJ to reconsider whether applying the "closely approaching advanced age" category to Plaintiff is proper in accordance with the Report (Dkt. #22), and render a decision accordingly.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
SIGNED this 24th day of February, 2017.
/s/_________
AMOS L. MAZZANT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE