Reported / Citable
Background
O.W. applied for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income, alleging disability beginning March 7, 2022. An administrative law judge found that her impairments, including mental-health conditions, seizure disorder, degenerative conditions, and substance use, were disabling when substance use was considered. The ALJ concluded that, absent substance use, she could perform limited sedentary work.
At step five, the ALJ relied on vocational-expert testimony that O.W. could work as a final assembler, table worker, or toy stuffer, totaling 12,177 jobs nationwide. After the decision, O.W. submitted a report from vocational expert Karen Starr to the Appeals Council. The report challenged the availability and suitability of the table-worker and toy-stuffer occupations. The Appeals Council declined review, stating that the report did not show a reasonable probability of changing the outcome.
The Court’s Holding
The court granted O.W.’s summary-judgment motion, denied the Commissioner’s cross-motion, vacated the benefits denial, and remanded. It held that the Starr Report was new and material evidence because it could reasonably alter the ALJ’s step-five finding.
The report potentially eliminated or sharply reduced two of the three occupations on which the ALJ relied, reducing the available-job total by nearly 60 percent. That reduction raised doubts about the reliability of the vocational testimony and left no other evidence supporting the ALJ’s conclusion that a significant number of jobs existed. The Appeals Council had rejected the report solely on materiality grounds, so the court declined to uphold the decision based on the Commissioner’s later good-cause argument.
Key Takeaways
- An Appeals Council submission is material when it could reasonably change the disability determination.
- Evidence undermining most jobs identified at step five can require remand, even if one identified occupation remains.
- A court may not affirm the agency on a rationale the Appeals Council did not state.
Why It Matters
The ruling underscores the importance of vocational evidence in Social Security cases at step five, where the Commissioner bears the burden to show that work exists in significant numbers. On remand, the ALJ must consider the Starr Report and make a new step-five determination, with a new hearing if necessary.