Opinion
No. 07-35955.
Argued and Submitted March 4, 2009 Portland, Oregon.
March 24, 2009.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Malcolm F. Marsh, District Judge, Presiding D.C. No. CV-06-01661-MA.
Before: GRABER, FISHER and M. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Daniel Stocki appeals the district court's order upholding the administrative law judge's denial of disability insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 401-434.We reverse and remand for payment of benefits.
The ALJ found that Stocki was disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act as of January 5, 1998, but not prior to December 31, 1996, the date Stocki was last insured for disability benefits. The ALJ did not adequately address the five submissions of Stocki's treating doctors that the Appeals Council's remand order required it to consider, and failed to provide "`specific, legitimate reasons'" for rejecting the opinions of those treating doctors regarding the onset date of his disability in favor of a non-examining psychologist's opinion. Orn v. Astrue, 495 F.3d 625, 632 (9th Cir. 2007) (quoting Lester v. Chater, 81 F.3d 821, 830 (9th Cir. 1995)); see also Smith v. Bowen, 849 F.2d 1222, 1225 (9th Cir. 1988) ("[M]edical reports are inevitably rendered retrospectively and should not be disregarded solely on that basis."). Because this disregarded evidence, "when it is given the effect required by law," establishes that Stocki was disabled during the relevant period, we remand with instructions to remand to the Commissioner of Social Security for immediate payment of benefits. Lester, 81 F.3d at 834; see Benecke v. Barnhart, 379 F.3d 587, 593 (9th Cir. 2004).
REVERSED and REMANDED for payment of benefits.