Chad W. Whitehead v. Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of Social Security

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS CHAD W. WHITEHEAD, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 25-CV-01763-SPM FRANK BISIGNANO, COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,

Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER McGLYNN, District Judge: Before the Court is the parties’ Agreed Motion to Remand to the Commissioner of Social Security under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). (Doc. 23). A sentence four remand (as opposed to a sentence six remand) depends upon a finding of error, and is itself a final, appealable order. See Perlman v. Swiss Bank Corp. Comprehensive Disability Prot. Plan, 195 F.3d 975, 978 (7th Cir. 1999). Upon a sentence four remand, judgment should be entered in favor of the plaintiff. Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302–03 (1993).

The parties agree that, upon remand, the Appeals Council will vacate all findings in the Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) decision and remand the matter to an ALJ. On remand, the ALJ should proceed through the sequential disability evaluation process, including evaluating the medical source assessments, as appropriate and issue a new decision.

Whitehead applied for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income and received an unfavorable decision from the ALJ July 5, 2023. (Doc. 1). Plaintiff filed a timely Request for Review with the Social Security Administration’s Appeals Council, which denied review on July 7, 2025.

Therefore, for good cause shown, the Parties’ Joint Motion to Remand (Doc. 23) is GRANTED. The final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security denying Plaintiff’s application for social security disability benefits is REVERSED and REMANDED to the Commissioner for rehearing and reconsideration of the evidence, pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff and to close this case on the Court’s docket.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

DATED: April 7, 2026 s/ Stephen P. McGlynn STEPHEN P. McGLYNN U.S. District Judge