ALJ Error – Disability

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Sean C. Walker v. Nancy A. Berryhill

Case No.: 17-3391

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and SCUDDER and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: ALJ Error – Disability

Sean Walker has degrees in robotics and electrical engineering and worked for 21 years, primarily as an engineer, before suffering a stroke in 2008. Walker tried but was not able to return to work after his stroke. Medical records show that his physical and cognitive condition has gradually worsened since 2008. In a separate proceeding, the Social Security Administration determined that Walker became disabled as of December 2014. Before us in this appeal is the question of Walker’s disability status at an earlier point in time, from his stroke in January 2008 to December 2014. Here, an ALJ, though recognizing the agency’s prior finding of disability as of December 2014, determined that Walker was not disabled before that date, and the district court affirmed. We vacate and remand, as the ALJ’s conclusion sweeps too broadly by not accounting for medical and other evidence strongly suggesting that Walker’s condition and residual functional capacity had worsened to such a degree that he become disabled by approximately the middle of 2012.

Vacated and Remanded

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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.