10-3454 Bassett v. Astrue

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Public Health
Disability benefits; attorney fees

Where the precise date when a disability benefits applicant became eligible is debatable, the applicant is not entitled to attorney fees incurred in successfully establishing an eligibility date.

“We do not think that Chief Judge McCuskey abused his discretion when he decided that the commissioner’s position in Bassett’s case was substantially justified. There is no dispute that, at some point between April 2005 and December 2007, Bassett’s ability to perform light work took a hit, leaving him able to take on only sedentary work; the question merely is when. True, the ALJ’s opinion pinpointed a precise date without offering an explanation. But in making this mistake the ALJ did not ignore, mischaracterize, selectively cite, or otherwise bungle a significant body of relevant evidence; in fact, Judge Scott found that the ALJ’s discussion of the evidence was beyond reproach. Rather the ALJ committed the very sort of articulation error that, we have held, ordinarily does not taint the commissioner’s position. No doubt it is difficult to determine, on this record, the exact day when Bassett’s gradually deteriorating back prevented him from performing light work. And although the difficulty of drawing this line does not excuse the ALJ’s error, we think it does show that a reasonable person could conclude that both the ALJ’s opinion and the commissioner’s defense of the opinion had a rational basis in fact and law.”

Affirmed.

10-3454 Bassett v. Astrue

Appeal from the United States District court for the Central District of Illinois, McCuskey, J., Rovner, J.

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