Phuong Doan v. Michael Astrue
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Ethel Gutierrez, Sandor Hejja, Karen Kraintz, Vien Mai, Shelby Mittner and Hoa Nguyen (“Appellants” or “class members”) appeal the district court’s denial of their motion for summary judgment and its grant of the Commissioner of Social Security’s (“Commissioner”) motions for summary judgment. In granting the Commissioner’s motions for summary judgment, the district court found that Hejja, Kraintz, Mai, Mittner and Nguyen had not produced sufficient evidence to establish grounds for equitable tolling or waiver of the administrative exhaustion requirement under 42 U.S.C. § 405 (g), and that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at issue was not biased.
First, we affirm the district court’s determination that Appellants Hejja, Kraintz, Mai, Mittner and Nguyen are not entitled to equitable tolling or waiver of the administrative exhaustion requirement under § 405(g) and that the district court lacked authority to decide their claims. Second, we reverse the summary judgment ruling addressing the merits of Appellants’ bias claims and remand to the district court with instructions to vacate Part IV.B of its March 19, 2010 order because Gutierrez’s claim is moot.