February 2024 Unpublished Ninth Circuit Memoranda -- Slayton v. O'Malley

Two months into the 2024 calendar and the Ninth Circuit has issued nine unpublished memoranda, seven in February. We take a look at one of those seven dispositions, all losses for the claimant-appellant. 

1. Slayton v. O'Malley - the Court affirmed.

    a. Dr. Haggerty opined that Slayton could sit or stand for just 15 minutes and lift no more than 10 pounds, limited to working one hour in a workday with high levels of absenteeism. The record contains contradicting evidence. The ALJ rejected Dr. Haggerty's opinions citing contradiction, minimal treatment, and easily performed activities of daily living. The ALJ found that the opinion was "largely conclusory" and had little to objectively support the extreme limitations. 

    b. Dr. Rado described Slayton as needing a 10 minute break every hour. The ALJ found the opinion contradicted and at odds with the objective record including normal neurological examinations. 

    COMMENT: The presence of contradiction with other opinions is never a reason to reject the evidence. The presence of contradiction triggers the need to state why the ALJ rejected the opinion evidence. When an ALJ uses adverbs that exclude always, the ALJ is fudging the record. Largely, mostly, normally, frequently -- all of those words mean that some of the objective findings were abnormal. For some opinion sources, the glass is half full, when the findings are normal, the person can function. For other opinion sources, the glass is half empty, when the findings are abnormal, the person has limited function. When the half empty view casts the limited function as persistent or always, the source has exaggerated. That allows the ALJ to reject the evidence. It is equally true that the half full opinion is flawed. Counsel should focus on why the ALJ erred in accepting that opinion for the reasons stated to reject the other evidence. 

    c. The ALJ rejected Slayton's symptom and limitation testimony. The ALJ relied on conservative treatment and activities of daily living. 

    COMMENT: The Ninth Circuit has dueling panels. The Court cites "Valentine v. Commissioner Soc. Sec. Admin., 574 F.3d 685, 693 (9th Cir. 2009) (finding that a claimant’s daily activities suggested that his “claims about the severity of his limitations were exaggerated”); Parra v. Astrue, 481 F.3d 742, 750–51 (9th Cir. 2007) (explaining that evidence of conservative treatment 'is sufficient to discount a claimant’s testimony regarding severity of an impairment')." The Court does not consider the other line of case finding that activities of daily living do not translate easily to the rigors of work. Garrison v. Colvin, 759 F.3d 995, 1016 (9th Cir. 2014). There is a synthesis that turns first on the denial or minimizing of ADL. The nature of a memorandum disposition does not lend itself to the hard consideration of nuanced questions. We must remain diligent to and address those nuanced questions. 

    d. Slayton raised a step four question. Courts and parties sometimes conflate the RFC assessment as a step four finding. It is not. It is the second half of step three, or what I call an interim step. The consideration of vocational questions is never an opportunity to argue about the RFC -- again. 

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Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, February 2024 Unpublished Ninth Circuit Memoranda -- Slayton v. O'Malley, California Social Security Attorney (March 17, 2024)

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