Opinion
CV-21-00206-PHX-MTL ORDER
12-01-2021
Greta Switz, Plaintiff, v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration, Defendant.
ORDER
Michael T. Liburdi United Slates District Judge
Pending before the Court is Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Voluntary Remand (Doc. 19). For the reasons that follow, the motion will be granted.
Plaintiff filed an application for disability insurance benefits on June 30, 2017, for a period of disability beginning on May 1, 2016. (Doc. 14 at 2.) Her claim was denied initially on December 8, 2017, and again upon reconsideration on May 29, 2018. (Id.) Plaintiff appeared before an Administrate Law Judge (“ALJ”) for a hearing regarding her claim on December 5, 2019, which the ALJ denied on March 11, 2020. (Id.) On December 14, 2020, the Appeals Council denied Plaintiff's request for review, thus rendering the agency's decision final. (Id. at 3.) On February 8, 2021, Plaintiff timely filed the instant action, seeking review of the agency's decision. (Doc. 1.)
On November 3, 2021, Defendant filed the instant motion to remand this action to the Commission for further administrative proceedings. (Doc. 19). The motion states that “[t]he agency has further reviewed Plaintiff's case and determined that remand for further proceedings is warranted.” (Id. at 2.) The motion is unopposed. (Id.)
Sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) grants the Court “power to enter . . . a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing.” Pursuant to that authority, the Court will grant Defendant's unopposed motion. Because a “sentence-four” remand is treated as a final judgment, the Court must enter judgment against Defendant. See Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302-303 (1993) (holding that a sentence-four remand is a “final judgment” and that therefore “a ‘separate document' of judgment should [be] entered” upon such remand).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED granting Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Voluntary Remand (Doc. 19).
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED reversing the Commissioner's decision and remanding the case to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings. The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter final judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant and to close the case.