Summary
stating that the “ALJ was not required to adopt the exact limitations set forth in the opinions she found persuasive,” and citing a Fifth Circuit case in which the “ALJ did not adopt opinion verbatim which limited claimant to minimal interaction with others,” but “incorporated opinion by limiting claimant to occasional public contact”
Summary of this case from Kathryne L. v. O'MalleyOpinion
23-1559
10-12-2023
John Wyatt Plaintiff - Appellant v. Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security Administration Defendant-Appellee
Unpublished
Submitted: October 6, 2023
Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
Before ERICKSON, GRASZ, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM
John Wyatt appeals the district court's order affirming the denial of disability insurance benefits. We agree with the court that substantial evidence in the record as a whole supports the adverse decision. See Kraus v. Saul, 988 F.3d 1019, 1023-24 (8th Cir. 2021) (standard of review). We find that the administrative law judge (ALJ) did not err in declining to include more restrictive limitations regarding interactions with coworkers and supervisors in Wyatt's residual functional capacity (RFC) determination. See Swink v. Saul, 931 F.3d 765, 770 (8th Cir. 2019) (ALJ did not err in failing to include in RFC certain limitations set forth in medical opinion, as record contained substantial evidence that supported RFC assessment). The ALJ was not required to adopt the exact limitations set forth in the opinions she found persuasive, and substantial evidence supported the RFC findings regarding Wyatt's abilities to interact with others in the workplace. See Webster v. Kijakazi, 19 F.4th 715, 719 (5 th Cir. 2021) (while ALJ did not adopt opinion verbatim which limited claimant to minimal interaction with others, ALJ incorporated opinion by limiting claimant to occasional public contact, and RFC assessment was supported by substantial evidence); Krogmeier v. Barnhart, 294 F.3d 1019, 1024 (8th Cir. 2002) (substantial evidence supported RFC determination based on medical records, consultant and other medical opinions, and some aspects of claimant's testimony).
The Honorable Paul A. Magnuson, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.
The judgment is affirmed.