Marta Valencia v. Carolyn Colvin

MEMORANDUM

1. The district court correctly concluded that the ALJ erred in discrediting Valencia’s testimony. When, as here, a claimant is not malingering and “has provided objective medical evidence of an underlying impairment which might reasonably produce the pain or other symptoms alleged, the ALJ may ‘reject the claimant’s testimony about the severity of her symptoms only by offering specific, clear and convincing reasons for doing so.’ ” Brown-Hunter v. Colvin, No. 13-15213, 2015 WL 4620123 , at *5 (9th Cir. Aug. 4, 2015) (quoting Lingenfelter v. Astrue, 504 F.3d 1028, 1036 (9th Cir.2007)). The ALJ failed to explain with specific, clear, and convincing reasons why Valencia’s testimony about her symptoms and their severity was not credible.

2. If the ALJ has erred, “we determine whether the record has been fully developed, whether there are outstanding issues that must be resolved before a determination of disability can be made, and whether further administrative proceedings would be useful.” Treichler v. Comm’r of Soc., Sec., Admin., 775 F.3d 1090, 1101 (9th Cir.2014) (citations omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Brown-Hunter, 2015 WL 4620123 , at *7.…