Kreidler v. Astrue
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Patricia A. Kreidler (“Kreidler”) appeals from a judgment, entered on January 10, 2007, dismissing her action for review of the Commissioner of Social Security’s (“the Commissioner”) denial of her motion to reopen her 1982 disability-insurance-benefits (“DIB”) application.
On appeal from a district court decision dismissing an action for review, “we conduct a plenary review of the administrative record to determine if there is substantial evidence, considering the record as a whole, to support the Commissioner’s decision and if the correct legal standards have been applied.” Burgess v. Astrue, 537
In conducting our review, we assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts and the record of prior proceedings, which we reference only as necessary to explain our decision.
1. Substantial-Evidence Challenge
Kreidler contends that the Commissioner’s decision is not supported by substantial evidence because (1) as part of her 1994 DIB application, the Commissioner determined that Kreidler was in fact disabled due to a mental disorder as of August 20, 1975; and (2) the record revealed that Kreidler scored 66 on an IQ test, which reflected a level of diminished mental capacity consistent with her asserted dependence on others.
The argument is unconvincing. The criteria for establishing a disability and for extending a deadline are not identical. The former look, inter alia, to whether a severe impairment “significantly limit[ed]” a claimant’s ability “to do basic work activities.” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(c). The latter focus on whether a claimant “lacked the mental capacity to understand the procedures for requesting review.” SSR 91-5p, 1991 WL 208067, at *2 (emphasis added); see also Byam v. Barnhart, 336 F.3d at 182 (explaining that relevant due-process inquiry is whether claimant understood and was able to act upon notice of administrative remedies). The evidence relevant to each inquiry is necessarily different, as this case demonstrates. Critically, when considering Kreidler’s reopening motion, the ALJ noted that claimant, in a handwritten disability report submitted with the 1994 application, stated that she had not appealed the denial of her 1982 application because her then-husband would not let her. The ALJ further noted that Kreidler had filled out the disability report mostly, if not solely, on her own, and had indicated therein that she had graduated from high school, and worked as a nurse’s aide and as an inspector of glass products. These facts constitute substantial evidence supporting the ALJ’s determination that Kreidler was sufficiently mentally capable timely to pursue appellate-review channels, and that factors unrelated to her mental status materially contributed to her lengthy delay in failing to do so.
In light of those findings, the ALJ reasonably declined to infer from Kreidler’s IQ-test score that she was mentally incapable of timely appealing the 1982 denial. When reviewing Kreidler’s medical history, the ALJ found that emotional disorders may have affected Kreidler’s test score, and that the relevant diagnoses revealed, at most, that Kreidler had “low average intelligence — not mental retardation.” In re Patricia Kreidler, at 7 (S.S.A. Mar. 23, 1999) (decision of ALJ). In fact, the ALJ noted that, in 1996, a reviewing agency disability consultant opined that Kreidler’s IQ-test score “ ‘significantly] underestimate[d]’” her potential. Id. at 6. These record-based findings added to the evidence already substantially supporting the Commissioner’s denial of Kreidler’s reopening motion.
2. Constructive-Reopening Challenge
As a further exception to the general jurisdictional bar against reviewing
For these reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
. The agency decision under review is the March 23, 1999 decision of the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ”), which, by means of an October 25, 2003 ruling of the Social Security Administration Appeals Council, became the final decision of the Commissioner. For purposes of our decision, we will use the terms "Commissioner” and “ALJ” interchangeably.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Patricia A. KREIDLER v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
- Status
- Published