Britt v. Commissioner of Social Security

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Britt v. Commissioner of Social Security

Trial Court Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA OCALA DIVISION

DENNIS NOLAN BRITT,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 5:21-cv-128-GKS-JSS

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,

Defendant. ___________________________________/ REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant’s Unopposed Motion for Entry of Judgment with Remand (“Motion”). (Dkt. 43.) Defendant, the Commissioner of Social Security (“Commissioner”) requests, under sentence four of

42 U.S.C. § 405

(g), that this action be reversed and remanded to Commissioner for “further consideration and administrative action, including further consideration of medical opinion evidence and other evidence, and issuing a new decision.” (Dkt. 43 at 1.) Plaintiff has no objection to the requested relief. Pursuant to sentence four of

42 U.S.C. § 405

(g), the Court has the “power to enter, upon the pleadings and transcript of the record, a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing.”

42 U.S.C. § 405

(g). When a case is remanded under sentence four of § 405(g), the district court’s jurisdiction over the plaintiff’s case is terminated. Jackson v. Chater,

99 F.3d 1086, 1095

(11th Cir. 1996); Sullivan v. Finkelstein,

496 U.S. 617, 625

(1990) (finding that a district court’s order remanding under sentence four of § 405(g) “terminated the civil action challenging the

Secretary’s final determination that respondent was not entitled to benefits”). “Immediate entry of judgment (as opposed to entry of judgment after postremand agency proceedings have been completed and their results filed with the court) is in fact the principal feature that distinguishes a sentence-four remand from a sentence- six remand.” Shalala v. Schaefer,

509 U.S. 292, 297

(1993).

A remand under sentence four of § 405(g) “is based upon a determination that the Commissioner erred in some respect in reaching the decision to deny benefits.” Jackson,

99 F.3d at 1095

. Here, the Commissioner concedes error by requesting a reversal of the Commissioner’s decision. Accordingly, it is

RECOMMENDED: 1. The Commissioner’s Unopposed Motion for Entry of Judgment with Remand (Dkt. 43) be GRANTED. 2. The Commissioner’s decision denying Plaintiff’s application for social security disability insurance benefits be REVERSED.

3. The case be REMANDED to the Commissioner pursuant to sentence four of

42 U.S.C. § 405

(g) for further administrative proceedings consistent with the reasons stated in the Commissioner’s Unopposed Motion for Entry of Judgment with Remand (Dkt. 43) and herein. 4. The Clerk of the Court be directed to enter judgment in Plaintiffs favor, terminate all other pending motions, and close this case. IT IS SO REPORTED in Tampa, Florida, on October 28, 2021.

: Aces = JUEKIE $. SNEED UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

NOTICE TO PARTIES A party has fourteen days from this date to file written objections to the Report and Recommendation’s factual findings and legal conclusions. A party’s failure to file written objections waives that party’s right to challenge on appeal any unobjected-to factual finding or legal conclusion the district judge adopts from the Report and Recommendation. See 11th Cir. R. 3-1. Copies furnished to: The Honorable G. Kendall Sharp Counsel of Record

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