Yeargan

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA THERESA Y., Case No.: 21-cv-0814-AGS Plaintiff, ORDER ON SUMMARY-JUDGMENT

MOTIONS (ECF 13 & 16)

v. Kilolo KIJAKAZI, Commissioner of Social Security,

Defendant. 9 The issue in this Social Security appeal is whether the judge gave specific, clear, and convincing reasons for discounting claimant’s hand-pain testimony. He did not. BACKGROUND In 2016, Theresa Y. quit her job as a casino dealer because the “pain level[] [in her hands] was so high” that it was taking a large “dosage of narcotics to get through the shift.” (AR 84–85.) When she applied for Social Security disability benefits, the agency doctors concluded that she could still perform light work, so her application was denied. (AR 124– 25, 169–71.) Theresa ultimately testified before an Administrative Law Judge about the severity of her pain and the attendant limitations. (See AR 93, 96, 99–103.) After the hearing, the ALJ determined that…