Opinion
CASE NO. C13-0414-JLR-MAT
08-06-2013
ALFRED JOHN WEBER, Plaintiff, v. CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Plaintiff brought this action to seek judicial review of the denial of his application for disability benefits by the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. The parties have now stipulated that this case should be reversed and remanded. (Dkt. 19.)
Based on the stipulation of the parties, the Court recommends this case be REVERSED and REMANDED for further administrative proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). The parties stipulate that, on remand, the ALJ shall offer plaintiff an opportunity for a new hearing, further update the medical record, and issue a new decision, and shall: (1) further evaluate the severity of all impairments with the assistance of a psychological expert regarding the nature and severity of plaintiff's mental impairments; (2) consider all medical source opinions and fashion a complete residual functional capacity (RFC) finding; (3) provide specific reasoning for the weight given to opinion evidence, discussing the evidentiary basis for conclusions, along with an adequate rationale for either accepting or rejecting probative medical opinions; (4) include all unrejected work related limitations in the RFC finding; (5) reassess steps four and five with the assistance of a vocational expert, ensuring that the vocational expert is provided a hypothetical that is consistent with the RFC; and (6) consider materiality of substance abuse as envisioned under Social Security Ruling 13-2p. Also, upon proper presentation, the Court will consider plaintiff's application for attorney's fees and expenses under 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), and costs under 28 U.S.C. § 1920.
Given the above, the Court recommends that United States District Judge James L. Robart immediately approve this Report and Recommendation and order the case REVERSED and REMANDED for further administrative proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). A proposed order accompanies this Report and Recommendation.
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Mary Alice Theiler
United States Magistrate Judge