Ivan Alekseyevets v. Carolyn W. Colvin

MEMORANDUM

Appellant Ivan Alekseyevets (“Appellant”) appeals an adverse decision on his claim for Supplemental Social Security Income disability benefits (“SSI”), based on the administrative law judge’s (“ALJ”) finding that he was not disabled. The district court affirmed the ALJ’s decision. Appellant contends that the ALJ erred by failing to: (1) find that Appellant had established a colorable mental impairment claim and utilize the psychiatric review technique (“PRT”); (2) consider Appellant’s mental limitations in applying the Medical-Vocational Guidelines (“the Grids”); (3) adopt a previous ALJ’s Residual Functional Capacity (“RFC”) determination after finding that Appellant had not shown changed circumstances; and (4) credit a physician assistant’s medical reports and Appellant’s testimony in formulating the RFC.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and review the district court’s decision to uphold an ALJ’s benefits decision de novo. See Hiler v. Astrue, 687 F.3d 1208, 1211 (9th Cir.2012). We will “reverse [a nondisability finding] only if the ALJ’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole or if the ALJ applied the wrong legal…