Shelly Jones v. Michael Astrue

MEMORANDUM

Shelly S. Jones appeals the district court’s judgment affirming the decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ) denying Jones’s application for Social Security disability benefits. We reverse on two separate grounds.

First, the ALJ stated that he gave “little weight” to a July 2007 opinion by Dr. George Dueber because “it is unsupported by objective findings and is inconsistent with the claimant’s own reports of her activities.” However, it is not clear whether, in deeming the opinion “unsupported by objective findings,” the ALJ considered the treatment notes in the record, and if so, what specifically made them insufficient to support the opinion. With respect to Jones’s reported activities, we do not find them inconsistent with the July 2007 opinion’s conclusion that unpredictable flare-ups in her symptoms would prevent her from keeping a regular job. See Vertigan v. Halter, 260 F.3d 1044, 1049-50 (9th Cir.2001). Accordingly, the ALJ failed to provide “specific and legitimate reasons supported by substantial evidence in the record” for rejecting the July 2007 opinion. Lester v. Chater, 81 F.3d 821, 830 (9th Cir.1995) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Second,…