Winkowitsch-Smith

MEMORANDUM **

I.

Appellant Grace Winkowitsch-Smith has not been able to work since she suffered a back injury at her job in 1997. 1 She subsequently applied for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. At two hearings before the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), Winkowitsch-Smith presented medical records detailing her physical and mental disabilities. All of her doctors agreed that these conditions resulted in impairments, but they differed in their opinions over their severity. The ALJ denied Winkowitsch-Smith’s claim because he found that: (1) the opinions of her treating physicians, who concluded that she cannot work, were not to be credited, largely because they relied on her subjective description of her pain; and (2) her pain is not so severe that she is not capable of performing sedentary work. Ultimately, the district court upheld the denial and Winkowitsch-Smith timely appealed.

II.

A. Pain Testimony

The ALJ failed to base his adverse determination with respect to Winkowitsch-Smith’s pain testimony on substantial evidence in the record because the evidence he cited is either inconsequential or his reasoning is unsupported by the record. See…