Schillo v. Saul, No. 20-3943 (2d Cir. 2022)
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Plaintiff filed a claim for Social Security benefits. In support of her disability claims, she presented the opinions of two of her treating physicians. After a hearing, an ALJ assigned partial weight to the treating physicians’ opinions, ultimately concluding that the plaintiff was not disabled. Congress has authorized federal courts to engage in a limited review of final SSA disability benefit decisions.
Plaintiff argued that the ALF’s residual functional capacity (“RFC”) finding was not supported by substantial evidence. The court reasoned that in this instance, the ALJ had complete records such as medical opinions, treatment notes, and relevant test results. The court found that the plaintiff failed to identify any missing medical records, and therefore the ALJ did not err in failing to supplement the administrative record.
Similarly, the ALJ found notable inconsistencies between the plaintiff's treating doctors' conclusions and the longitudinal records of the plaintiff’s physical health.
Thus, the court concluded that substantial evidence supports the ALJ’s ultimate RFC determination. Finally, although the ALJ committed procedural error by failing to explicitly apply each of the factors listed in 20 C.F.R. Sec. 404.1527(c), the error was harmless because substantial evidence supported the ALJ's determinations.
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