Tuni Hernandez v. Nancy Berryhill
Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Tuni Dee Hernandez appeals the district court’s order affirming an administrative law judge’s (“ALJ”) denial of her applications for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act,
1. The ALJ did not err by rejecting the opinions of Hernandez’s treating physicians, Doctors Kathleen King and Dennis Hart. The ALJ’s determination that Doctor Hart’s own treatment notes did not support the level of severity endorsed in his opinion was a “specific and legitimate reason[ ] supported by substantial evidence” for rejecting his opinion.
Valentine v. Comm’r Soc. Sec. Admin.,
2. The ALJ also did not err by rejecting Hernandez’s testimony regarding the severity of her symptoms,
1
The inconsistencies between Hernandez’s testimony and the objective medical evidence, including her doctors’ treatment notes and an MRI of her lumbar spine, were “clear and convincing reasons” for rejecting Hernandez’s testimony.
Morgan v. Comm’r Soc. Sec. Admin.,
3. Finally, the district court correctly concluded that any error committed by the ALJ at step five of the disability analysis was harmless.
See Molina,
AFFIRMED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
. Hernandez testified that she could neither sit nor stand for more than fifteen minutes at a time because of pain in her back and right anide.
. Level 2 reasoning requires,
inter alia,
the ability to ‘'[a]pply commonsense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions,’'
See
U.S. Department of Labor,
Dictionary of Occupational Titles
app. C,
. Nor did the opinion of Doctor T. Renfro, a government psychologist, that Hernandez was "able to understand, remember, and carry out simple one or two-step job instructions,” raise an apparent conflict with the vocational expert's testimony. True, this Court has found an "apparent conflict” between an ALJ's finding that a claimant is "limit[ed] ... to performing one- and two-step tasks” and a vocational expert's testimony that the claimant can meet "the demands of Level Two reasoning!;.]”
Rounds v. Comm'r. Soc. Sec. Admin.,
. Level 3 reasoning requires,
inter alia,
the ability to ”[a]pply commonsense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagrammatic form.”
See
DOT app. C,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Tuni Dee HERNANDEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Nancy A. BERRYHILL, Acting Commissioner Social Security, Defendant-Appellee
- Cited By
- 28 cases
- Status
- Unpublished