Preparing Meals as a Reason for Rejecting Symptom and Limitation Testimony

 I traveled back in the cases to find Fair v. Bowen, an old, reported instance of using the preparation of meals as a basis for rejecting symptom and limitation testimony.  More recently, Ahearn v. Saul cited preparing meals as an activity inconsistent with claims of disability. The regulations are clear:

We will consider all of your statements about your symptoms, such as pain, and any description your medical sources or nonmedical sources may provide about how the symptoms affect your activities of daily living and your ability to work.

The problem is ambiguity.  Without context, I do not know what preparing meals requires.  Getting a bowl and spoon, a box of cereal, a half-empty half-gallon of milk, and sitting down to consume that food did involve preparing a meal.  A person would never be on their feet for more than a few minutes, never lift over two pounds, and it does not take a hungry person very long to consume that bowl of cereal.  Yet, that is preparing and consuming a meal.  

Contrast that with Beef Wellington.  According to the Food Network, this dish requires seven hours to prepare.    Not only does it take all day long to prepare, but it is also a complicated dish to prepare with the pastry crust, the duxelles, the green pepper corn sauce, and then the side dishes.  Someone testifies to making Beef Wellington two or three times a month, that is inconsistent with a claim of inability to engage in the long standing and walking required of light work.  If 37 years of representing people, I have never heard or read testimony that someone prepared this culinary delight.  Too complicated, too much time, and too expensive for a person that has not worked in a year to five years.  

How about poached eggs, what does the Food Network say about that? This recipe carries the classification of easy to make.  The prep time is 10 minutes and the cook time is five minutes.  One inch of water in a two-quart pot, that is not even close to 10 pounds.  Making poached eggs is not inconsistent with either the inability to sit or stand for prolonged periods.  

A lunch consisting of a Cuban Sandwich is another item that I would not expect from my clients.  Food Network classifies this tasty lunch entree as easy to make.  The sandwich takes 25 minutes to prepare and cook.  Making Cuban Sandwich is not inconsistent with either the inability to sit or stand for prolonged periods.  

And what are we having for dinner?  Chicken Broccoli Casserole!  Food Network says it is easy to make and has active time of 35 minutes during almost three hours of total time.  Most of that time is waiting for the chicken to cook or the casserole to bake.  The three-quart baking dish weighs 3.1 pounds.  If this person were meal-prepping for a week (the recipe is 10 servings), that effort would not require more than occasional standing/walking with 40 minutes of rest time during the three hours of prep and cook time, TWICE.  Making Chicken Broccoli Casserole is not inconsistent with either the inability to sit or stand for prolonged periods.  

Next time your client says in testimony or in the function reports that he/she prepares meals, ask that per what he/she prepares.  Ask that person how long it takes, how much time on the feet is required to make that basic item of sustenance.  Don't allow the record to give an inference that your client ever makes Beef Wellington but more likely to have toast and coffee.  

Looking at recipes has piqued my appetite.  I find cooking to give me a catharsis.  It is creative, delicious, and a complete diversion from the practice of law.  

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Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Preparing Meals as a Reason for Rejecting Symptom and Limitation Testimony, California Social Security Attorney (August 1, 2022) https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com

The author is AV rated for 23 years and listed in Super Lawyers for 14 years.