United States Ninth Circuit

A ruling upholding a denial of Social Security disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income benefits is vacated and remanded to the Commissioner of Social Security for a hearing on the issue of whether claimant was entitled to benefits where: 1) the ALJ erred in discrediting claimant's symptom testimony, and applying the credit-as-true rule, on remand the ALJ is instructed to accept her symptom testimony as true in determining whether she is entitled to benefits; and 2) for purposes of a finding of mental impairment, the ALJ should have been afforded an opportunity to consider additional evidence generated between the ALJ's decision and an Appeals Council hearing.

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/15/2008
• Decided 11/05/2008
• Published 11/05/2008

Judges

• Before:  DIARMUID F. O'SCANNLAIN and HAWKINS, Circuit Judges, and JAMES V. SELNA, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• James Hunt Miller, Oakland, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• John C. Cusker, Special Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the General Counsel, Social Security Administration, San Francisco, CA, for the defendant-appellee.