Disability Benefits

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 20, 2023//

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Dennis Bakke v. Kilolo Kijakazi

Case No.: 22-2236

Officials: Ripple, Scudder, and St. Eve, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Disability Benefits

Bakke’s severe back pain impacts both his quality of life and his ability to work. It led him to apply for disability benefits in 2019. When this request was denied, he had a hearing before an administrative law judge (“ALJ”), who found that Bakke could still work full time. He sought review in the District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, where the judge affirmed the denial as supported by substantial evidence. He maintains that the doctors did not take all of Bakke’s medical testing into account and that the ALJ did not properly explain why their opinions were reliable. The Seventh Circuit concluded that the ALJ’s opinion is supported by substantial evidence and logically relates that evidence to his conclusion that Bakke can perform light work.

Affirmed.

Decided 03/13/23

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