Disability Benefits

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Elizabeth G. Taylor v. Carolyn W. Colvin

Case No.: 15-3529

Officials: POSNER, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Disability Benefits     

ALJ improperly denial of benefits for appellant were unsupported as appellant was clearly impaired.

“As is customary in disability hearings a vocational expert employed by the Social Security Administration was asked what full‐time jobs if any the applicant could perform, assuming the applicant wasn’t totally disabled from gainful employment. The vocational expert testified that “if” (a huge “if”) Taylor could do routine or unskilled work involving only infrequent interpersonal contact and no exposure to hazards, she could work as a cleaner, assembler, hand packer, or machine feeder. The vocational expert failed, however, to explain the source or accuracy of her data concerning the number of such jobs that exist in the economy, an oversight we criticized in Alaura v. Colvin, 797 F.3d 503, 507–08 (7th Cir. 2015), and Voigt v. Colvin, supra, 781 F.3d at 879.”

Reversed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.