Winters v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration ( 2021 )

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Tanya Winters, No. CV-21-00034-PHX-SMB 10 Plaintiff, ORDER 11 v. 12 Commissioner of Social Security Administration, 13 Defendant. 14 15 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff Tanya Winter’s Complaint. (Doc. 1.) Plaintiff 16 filed her Complaint pro se on January 6, 2021 against the Social Security Administration 17 (“SSA”). (Id.) The Court granted Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis on 18 January 12, 2021. (Doc. 5.) The Court has screened Plaintiff’s Complaint pursuant to 28 19 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) and dismisses Plaintiff’s Complaint with leave to amend. 20 I. Legal Standard 21 When a party proceeds in forma pauperis, 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) requires the Court 22 to screen lawsuits and dismiss them sue sponte if it determines “the action or appeal…fails 23 to state a claim on which relief may be granted...” Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1126 24 (9th Cir. 2000). To adequately state a claim, Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil 25 Procedure requires a complaint contain (1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for 26 the court’s jurisdiction, (2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader 27 is entitled to relief, and (3) a demand for judgment for the relief the pleader seeks. Fed. R. 28 Civ. P. 8(a)(3). While detailed factual allegations are not required, “Threadbare recitals of 1 the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” 2 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). A complaint “must contain sufficient factual 3 matter, accepted as true, ‘to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting 4 Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). Thus, a complaint should 5 contain “factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the 6 defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). 7 II. Statutory Screening 8 The Court has determined that Plaintiff’s Complaint must be dismissed because it 9 does not contain a sufficient statement of a claim showing that the pleader is entitled to 10 relief.1 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Plaintiff’s Complaint appears to seek judicial review of an 11 SSA determination. However, Plaintiff’s Complaint only references the date that the SSA 12 determination was believed to be made, December 27, 2020. (Doc. 1 at 1.) It does not 13 appear to reference specifically which SSA decision she is appealing or include a case 14 number. Further, Plaintiff’s Complaint contains an insufficient statement of her claim. 15 Although the Complaint alleges generally that the State of Arizona does not see traumatic 16 brain injury as an injury and that the State gave Plaintiff a false disability that was used to 17 deny disability benefits, (Id. at 2b), Plaintiff does not state specifically how she believes 18 the administrative law judge erred in deciding her case. Without this information, the Court 19 will not be able to determine why Plaintiff believes that the decision should be overturned. 20 Plaintiff should include these details in her amended complaint. 21 III. Leave to Amend 22 In accordance with the well-settled law in this Circuit, the Court will grant Plaintiff 23 leave to amend to cure the defects in her Complaint. See Jackson v. Barnes, 749 F.3d 755, 24 767 (9th Cir. 2014) (citations omitted); Lopez, 203 F.3d at 1131 (en banc) (holding a pro 25 se litigant must be given leave to amend “if it appears at all possible the plaintiff can correct 26 1 The Court also notes that the Complaint does not contain a reference to a law or statute 27 which grants the Court jurisdiction to hear the case. If Plaintiff intends to bring a complaint 28 for judicial review of an adverse determination under the Social Security Act, then Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). || the complaint’s defects”); Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Plaintiff's complaint must be amended || to address the deficiencies identified above and should follow the form detailed in Rule 7.1 3|| of the Local Rules of Civil Procedure (“LRCiv’”’). Plaintiff can obtain a form to use for her 4|| amended complaint for judicial review of a Social Security Disability or Supplemental 5|| Security Income Decision via this link to the uscourts.gov website: || https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/complaint_for_review_of_social_security.pdf 7 Within thirty (30) days from the date of entry of this Order, Plaintiff may submit 8 || an amended complaint. Plaintiff must clearly designate on the face of the document that it 9|| 1s the “First Amended Complaint.” The amended complaint must be retyped or rewritten 10 || in its entirety and may not incorporate any part of the original Complaint by reference. IV. Conclusion 12 IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's Complaint (Doc. 1) is dismissed with leave to file 13 || an amended complaint within thirty (30) days of the date this Order is entered; 14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if Plaintiff does not file an amended complaint 15 || within thirty (30) days of the date this Order is entered, the Clerk of Court shall dismiss this action without further order of this Court; and 17 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if Plaintiff elects to file an amended complaint, it may not be served until and unless the Court issues an Order screening the amended 19 || complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). 20 Dated this 19th day of January, 2021. 21 22 —_—_— 2 ose 24 onorable Susan M, Brnovich 35 United States District Judge 26 27 28 -3-