Birgit Putz v. Michael Astrue

MEMORANDUM

Birgit Putz appeals the district court’s denial of her motion for attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. § 2412 . We affirm.

To be “substantially justified” under the EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412 (d)(1)(A), the government’s position must have a “reasonable basis in law and fact.” Corbin v. Apfel, 149 F.3d 1051, 1052 (9th Cir.1998). A position is likely to be substantially justified if it is taken in the context of a “dispute over which ‘reasonable minds could differ.’” Gonzales v. Free Speech Coal., 408 F.3d 613 , 618 (9th Cir.2005).

Although a majority of the prior panel reversed the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) disability ruling and remanded for payment of benefits, the dispute was one in which reasonable minds did differ: the ALJ, the district judge, and a dissenting circuit judge were all convinced that Putz was not disabled. See Putz v. Astrue, 371 Fed.Appx. 801, 802, 805 (9th Cir.2010).

The dispute over the ALJ’s disability determination centered on the ALJ’s assessment of the evidence and not on whether he employed the correct decisional processes required by the Social Security Administration’s policies and…