Molina v. Astrue, No. 10-16578 (9th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff appealed the district court's decision affirming the Commission's denial of her application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income under the Social Security Act (SSA), 42 U.S.C. 301 et seq. The court held that the ALJ did not err in weighing the evidence as she did or finding that plaintiff's testimony regarding the severity of her impairment was not credible. 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 plaintiff's own testimony, and the ALJ's reasons for rejecting plaintiff's testimony applied with equal force to the lay testimony. Applying the principles set forth in the court's social security cases, as well as in Shinseki v. Sanders, the court upheld the ALJ's decision as supported by substantial evidence.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.