From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Holbrook v. Berryhill

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
Aug 30, 2017
No. 15-35552 (9th Cir. Aug. 30, 2017)

Summary

reversing the ALJ for failing to adequately consider a Washington DSHS decision finding the claimant disabled

Summary of this case from Leilani B. v. O'Malley

Opinion

No. 15-35552

08-30-2017

AMY HOLBROOK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee.


NOT FOR PUBLICATION

D.C. No. 1:14-cv-03039-FVS MEMORANDUM Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
Fred L. Van Sickle, District Judge, Presiding Before: D.W. NELSON, TROTT, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.

Amy Holbrook appeals the district court's decision affirming the Commissioner of Social Security's denial of her applications for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo, Berry v. Astrue, 622 F.3d 1228, 1231 (9th Cir. 2010), and we reverse and remand.

The administrative law judge ("ALJ") failed adequately to consider a Washington State decision finding Holbrook disabled approximately four months prior to her alleged Social Security disability onset date. See Social Security Ruling 06-03p (stating that "evidence of a disability decision by another governmental or nongovernmental agency cannot be ignored and must be considered"). The ALJ failed to provide persuasive, specific, and valid reasons for not according the Washington State decision great weight. See Berry, 622 F.3d at 1236 (holding that a decision of another agency is ordinarily entitled to great weight when that agency's disability program bears a "marked similarity" to the Social Security disability program); Wash. Admin. Code § 182-512-0050 (2014) (previously codified as Wash. Admin. Code § 388-475-0050) (providing for use of the five-step Social Security analytic framework).

The ALJ's error was not harmless because we cannot say that it was inconsequential to the ultimate nondisability determination. See Treichler v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 775 F.3d 1090, 1099 (9th Cir. 2014). We therefore reverse the district court's judgment and remand with instructions to remand to the agency for further proceedings. See id. at 1100-02.

Each party shall bear its own costs on appeal.

REVERSED and REMANDED.


Summaries of

Holbrook v. Berryhill

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
Aug 30, 2017
No. 15-35552 (9th Cir. Aug. 30, 2017)

reversing the ALJ for failing to adequately consider a Washington DSHS decision finding the claimant disabled

Summary of this case from Leilani B. v. O'Malley

reversing the ALJ for failing to adequately consider a Washington DSHS decision finding the claimant disabled

Summary of this case from Leilani B. v. Saul

reversing the ALJ for failing to adequately consider a Washington DSHS decision finding the claimant disabled

Summary of this case from Brian H. v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec.
Case details for

Holbrook v. Berryhill

Case Details

Full title:AMY HOLBROOK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting…

Court:UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

Date published: Aug 30, 2017

Citations

No. 15-35552 (9th Cir. Aug. 30, 2017)

Citing Cases

Silvia M. v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin.

The ALJ erred in rejecting Dr. Palasi's opinion. See e.g. Holbrook v. Berryhill, 696 Fed. Appx. 846 (9th Cir.…

Melvin N. v. Saul

Plaintiff also argues that the ALJ erred by failing to consider that Dr. Colby's opinion represented a…