Luis Rafael Gutierrez v. Nancy A. Berryhill

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff applied for DIB and SSI on July 28, 2015, alleging disability beginning August 7, 2013. See Dkt. 17, Administrative Record (“AR”) 245-52. After being denied initially and on reconsideration, Plaintiff received a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) on April 12, 2018. See AR 20- 48. On May 14, 2018, the ALJ issued a favorable decision finding that Plaintiff was disabled under the Social Security Act. See AR 145-58. The ALJ followed the five-step sequential evaluation process for determining whether an individual is disabled. At step one, the ALJ found that Plaintiff had not engaged in substantial gainful activity since his alleged disability onset date. See AR 152. At step two, the ALJ determined that Plaintiff had the following severe impairments: history of torn right medial meniscus, Baker’s cyst, right knee surgery, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with disc bulges, obesity, and asthma. See id. At step three, the ALJ determined that Plaintiff did not have an impairment or combination of impairments that met or medically equaled one of the listed impairments in 20 C.F.R. Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1. See AR 153. Before reaching…