Leisgang v. Kijakazi, No. 22-1970 (7th Cir. 2023)
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Leisgang suffers from depression, anxiety, and a personality disorder, among other conditions. He sought supplemental security income and disability insurance benefits. The ALJ concluded that Leisgang could undertake only simple, routine, and repetitive work; could not work at a rapid, production-rate pace; could tolerate few changes in routine work settings; and could interact only occasionally with supervisors, coworkers, and the public. Those limitations precluded Leisgang from performing his past work. To determine whether Leisgang could perform other available jobs, the ALJ sought assistance from a vocational expert, who testified that someone with Leisgang’s limitations could work as a kitchen helper, sweeper/cleaner, or hospital cleaner. The expert estimated that there were meaningful numbers of each job across the country, identifying job titles using the Department of Labor's 1977 dictionary, not revised since 1991. The primary data came from the Occupational Employment Quarterly, which applies the equal distribution method to estimate the distribution of job numbers within a larger group of occupations. When Leisgang asked if that method was reliable, the expert reported that it was the only method he had available. Leisgang asked no further questions about the methodology.
The district court and Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of benefits. Leisgang forfeited his argument that the ALJ should have done more to ensure the soundness of the vocational expert’s methodology by failing to object at the hearing. Substantial evidence otherwise supports the ALJ’s determination.
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