Carmen Celaya v. William S. Halter, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration

Opinion by Judge BETTY B. FLETCHER; Dissent by Judge RAWLINSON.

Plaintiff-Appellant Carmen Celaya appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant-Appellee Commissioner of Social Security denying Celaya’s application for supplemental security and disability benefits. Celaya, acting pro se through the initial hearing, asserted an inability to work due to diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, dizziness, headaches, foot pain, fatigue, and, she asserts, at least implicitly obesity. She alleges that the district court over-looked six errors by the ALJ. The most important of these regarded the failure to credit the significance of her obesity, especially as related to her ability to return to work. Because we find that the ALJ did not meet his obligation to develop the record, we reverse the district court’s decision and remand for further development of the record, particularly in respect to claimant’s obesity.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Carmen Celaya was 57 years old when she applied for supplemental security and disability benefits in August 1996. She is illiterate. In the fifteen years preceding her claim, she was employed as a broccoli…

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent.

Examination of the phraseology in the majority opinion exposes the tenuous basis upon which the majority gifts the claimant, Carmen Celaya, with a disability she never even claimed.

*1185 Our charge is to examine the record of proceedings and determine whether substantial evidence supports the ruling of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). See Thomas v. Barnhart, 278 F.3d 947, 954 (9th Cir.2002). The majority opinion strays from that charge.

A careful reading of the majority’s opinion reveals its failure to remain faithful to the confines of appellate review. The majority reveals its willingness to disregard the administrative record by stating that the claimant “asserts, at least implicitly, obesity.” Majority opinion at 1179. Yet search the record as one might, no assertion of obesity by the claimant, implicit or otherwise, may be found. The majority also states as a fact that “[wjith a Body Mass Index of at least over 44, [Celaya] well exceeded the criterion level of 40 that would categorize her as ‘extremely obese,’ the highest category used by the SSA.” Majority opinion at 1179. This referenced Body Mass Index is nowhere reflected in the…

332 F.3d 1177 Carmen CELAYA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William S. HALTER, Commissioner of The Social Security Administration, Defendant-Appellee. No. 01-16964. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted November 7, 2002. Filed June 17, 2003. James Hunt Miller, Oakland, California, for the appellant. Jacqueline A. Forslund, Assistant Regional Counsel, Social Security Administration, San Francisco, California, for the appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California; Ronald M. Whyte, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-00-20487-RMY(EAI). Before B. FLETCHER, RICHARD S. ARNOLD, * and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges. Opinion by Judge BETTY B. FLETCHER; Dissent by Judge RAWLINSON. BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge. 1 Plaintiff-Appellant Carmen Celaya appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment to Defendant-Appellee Commissioner of Social Security denying Celaya's application for supplemental security and disability benefits. Celaya, acting pro se through the initial hearing, asserted an inability to work due to diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, dizziness, headaches, foot pain, fatigue, and, she asserts, at…