United States Ninth Circuit

In a case in which the plaintiff applied for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under the Social Security Act, denial of the benefits is affirmed, where: 1) the administrative law judge (ALJ) did not err in weighing the evidence as she did or in finding that the plaintiff's testimony regarding the severity of her impairment was not credible; and 2) although the ALJ erred in failing to give germane reasons for rejecting the lay witness testimony, such error was harmless given that the lay testimony described the same limitations as the plaintiff's own testimony, and the ALJ's reasons for rejecting the plaintiff's testimony applied with equal force to the lay testimony.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/02/2012
• Published 04/02/2012

Judges

• Ikuta

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• John A. Gravina, Michael A. Thomas