Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
Jessica Whelan sought disability benefits based on spinal disease, neuropathy, radiculopathy, and obesity. She testified that pain and numbness prevented prolonged sitting and required her to spend most of the day lying down. The administrative law judge accepted that her conditions could cause pain but concluded she could sit six hours and return to past work as a tax preparer.
The Court’s Holding
The court remanded because none of the ALJ’s stated grounds adequately supported discounting Whelan’s symptom testimony. Mostly normal imaging could be considered but could not carry the analysis alone; normal strength and range of motion were not connected to her claimed inability to sit; and the finding that she had not pursued physical therapy was factually wrong because the record documented ten sessions and a request for more.
Key Takeaways
- Social Security denial is remanded because the ALJ did not give clear and convincing reasons for rejecting pain testimony.
- The ruling turns on the governing legal standard and the specific evidentiary record, not labels alone.
- Practitioners should preserve a clear, fact-linked record for review and remedy.
Why It Matters
Claimant-side counsel should force the agency to connect cited clinical findings to the particular limitation being rejected. The decision also shows why correcting seemingly small factual mistakes about treatment matters: an erroneous premise cannot serve as a clear and convincing reason to reject symptom evidence.