Bailey

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner Jessie Bailey appeals the district court’s affirmance of the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of her application for Supplemental Security Income payments. Because we conclude that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) applied the correct legal standards and because his decision to deny Bailey benefits is supported by substantial evidence, we affirm the judgment. As the parties are familiar with the facts, procedural history, and arguments, we cite them only as necessary.

Bailey asserts that the ALJ erred when he: 1) rejected the medical opinion of examining physician Dr. Truhn, 2) rejected the testimony of treating therapist Kristin Bezdek, 3) found Bailey’s testimony to be not credible, and 4) posed a defective hypothetical to the vocational expert.

Dr. Truhn examined Bailey on a single occasion in May 2000. Almost a year later in April 2001, though he did not examine Bailey again, Dr. Truhn completed a Medical Source Statement concluding that Bailey was “markedly limited” in her ability to carry out simple one or two step tasks, and in her ability to maintain attention and concentration for extended periods. Although the ALJ agreed that Bailey…

dissenting.

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge.

Among the numerous physicians and other mental health professionals who have come into contact with Jesse Bailey, there is no disagreement that she has a severe bipolar disorder as well as other mental health illnesses. Even the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) admits that Bailey will probably never work in the formal economy. Nonetheless, he found that Bailey was not disabled under the Social Security Act. For the following reasons, I disagree and would reverse.

In contrast to the majority, I believe that the ALJ failed to provide legitimate reasons supported by substantial evidence for rejecting the opinion of Dr. David Truhn, the clinical psychologist who examined Bailey in May 2000. The ALJ’s primary reason for discrediting Dr. Truhn was that his findings contradicted those of Dr. Adrian Dean, the physician who had treated Bailey earlier. However, both doctors scored Bailey similarly on the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, which indicates that they agreed that her psychological and occupational impairments were serious. Although Dr. Truhn’s diagnosis reflected greater impairments than Dr. Dean identified, his evaluation was…