U.S. District Court, Western District of New York Case Summaries:

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Sep 23, 2008

U.S. District Court, Western District of New York

Social Security

Gerace v. Astrue

07-CV-28

Judge Telesca

Background: The plaintiff was 34 years old in 2003 when he applied for disability benefits due to injuries to his lower back and left leg. The claim was denied and the plaintiff sought judicial review of the denial. The ALJ found the plaintiff retained residual functional capacity to perform light exertional work requiring no more than occasional stooping and crouching while avoiding prolonged exposure to cold temperature extremes and extreme wetness and humidity as well as exposure to unprotected heights, among a long list of limitations. Both parties moved for judgment on the pleadings.

Ruling: The court finds for the plaintiff and remands the case for further administrative development. The court noted the "troubling" statement of the ALJ, to which the claimant's attorney protested, that "it may be purely coincidental that an attorney fee tends to increase as the amount of past due benefits continues to accrue in a Social Security disability case," but that, nevertheless, it was difficult "to escape the conclusion that [this] case has been deliberately drawn out by legal maneuvering." The claimant's attorney requested a reassignment to a new ALJ but the court was confident the original ALJ would be impartial upon remand.

Joseph D. Clark of the Law Offices of Kenneth Hiller, and Kevin D. Robinson, U.S. Attorney's Office, for the defendant.

Czerniejewski v. Astrue

07-CV-476

Judge Arcara

Background: The plaintiff seeks review of the decision finding him disabled only as of December 2004 instead of the disability onset date of November 2002. Lumbar spine and arthritis problems form the basis of the plaintiff's disability. The plaintiff was 45 years old at the time of the hearing and his past work was as a rack washer. After the onset of disability, he wasn't able to lift anything heavier "than a quart of milk." Even after his alleged disability onset date, he admitted he had cut a neighbor's grass several times for "cigarette money" while experiencing severe pain doing so.

Ruling: The evidence on the issue of the disability onset date is ambiguous. The ALJ should have called a medical advisor to testify on the issue of the correct date of the onset of the plaintiff's disability. The case is remanded for further inquiry on that matter.

Lewis L. Schwartz of Myers, Quinn & Schwartz LLP for the plaintiff, and Kevin D. Robinson, U.S. Attorney's Office, for the defendant.