Sonia Wobbe v. Carolyn Colvin , 589 F. App'x 384 ( 2015 )

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JAN 16 2015
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
SONIA D. WOBBE, No. 13-35908
Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 6:12-cv-00512-AC
v.
MEMORANDUM*
CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Commissioner
of Social Security Administration,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Oregon
Marco A. Hernandez, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted November 3, 2014**
Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, and D.W. NELSON and LEAVY, Circuit Judges.
Sonia D. Wobbe appeals the district court’s judgment affirming the
Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of her applications for disability
insurance benefits and supplemental security income under Titles II and XVI of the
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Social Security Act. At step four of the sequential evaluation process, the
administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that despite Wobbe’s severe
impairments of cardiomyopathy (a disease of abnormal heart muscle), obesity, and
asthma, she could perform her past relevant work as a telephone solicitor. We
have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo, Molina v. Astrue,
674 F.3d 1104, 1110 (9th Cir. 2012), and we affirm.
The ALJ did not err in giving little weight to the contradicted opinion of
treating cardiologist Jerold Hawn that Wobbe was unable to perform sedentary
work. See Ghanim v. Colvin, 763 F.3d 1154, 1161 (9th Cir. 2014). The ALJ
provided a specific and legitimate reason, supported by substantial evidence, for
giving Dr. Hawn’s opinion little weight by stating that it could not be reconciled
with this doctor’s conclusion elsewhere that Wobbe fell within “Class II” of the
New York Heart Association functional classification system and thus was
comfortable at rest. See Morgan v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 169 F.3d 595, 603
(9th Cir. 1999).
The ALJ did not err in finding that Wobbe was not fully credible. See
Garrison v. Colvin, 759 F.3d 995, 1014-15 (9th Cir. 2014). The ALJ followed the
proper two-step analysis and provided clear and convincing reasons for rejecting
Wobbe’s statements regarding her symptoms by finding that these statements were
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inconsistent both with Dr. Hawn’s opinion that Wobbe was a “Class II” patient and
with her previous statements to Dr. Hawn and the agency. See Ghanim, 763 F.3d
at 1163.
The ALJ did not err in finding that the third-party function report of lay
witness Leland Neal Vickers was not fully credible. See Molina, 674 F.3d at 1114.
The ALJ properly relied on the inconsistency between the witness’s statements and
Dr. Hawn’s opinion that Wobbe was a “Class II” patient. See Bayliss v. Barnhart,
427 F.3d 1211, 1218 (9th Cir. 2005).
AFFIRMED.
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