Higgins v. Commissioner, No. 17-2737 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of social security disability benefits to plaintiff. The court held that the ALJ properly relied on testimony from the vocational expert's testimony that a certain needed modification is part of the functional workplace. In this case, the vocational expert testified based on her expertise that bariatric chairs were commonly provided to individuals in the workplace and identified jobs that an individual who, like plaintiff, needs a bariatric chair, could perform. Therefore, substantial evidence supported the ALJ's finding that jobs exist in the national economy that plaintiff could adjust to, and that finding did not result from an error of law.
Court Description: Smith, Author, with Wollman and Loken, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Social Security. ALJs may properly rely on Vocational Expert testimony that a certain needed modification is part of the functional workplace, and it makes no difference that a particular workplace modification, in claimant's case, a bariatric chair, might be called an accommodation or a reasonable accommodation; what matters is that the particular modification has become prevalent and is commonly offered - whether required by the ADA or not; here, the Vocational Expert presented evidence that providing such a chair is a common accommodation, and the ALJ could rely on that evidence in finding jobs existed in the national economy that claimant could adjust to and perform. Home | Contact Us | Employment | Glossary of Legal Terms | Site Map | RSS Privacy Policy|BrowseAloud
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