Jill McKelvy v. Andrew Saul ( 2020 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FEB 26 2020
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JILL MCKELVY, No. 15-35879
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:14-cv-05681-RBL
v.
MEMORANDUM*
ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of
Social Security,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Washington
Ronald B. Leighton, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted February 24, 2020**
Before: FARRIS, TROTT, and SILVERMAN, Circuit Judges.
Jill McKelvy appeals from the district court’s order granting the
Commissioner of Social Security’s Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) motion
to amend the district court’s original judgment following the Commissioner’s
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
denial of her application for disability insurance and supplemental security income
benefits under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. We have jurisdiction
under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). We review for abuse of
discretion, Allstate Ins. Co. v. Herron, 634 F.3d 1101, 1111 (9th Cir. 2011), and we
affirm.
The district court initially remanded the action in part for the administrative
law judge (ALJ) to develop the record, but subsequently granted the
Commissioner’s Rule 59(e) motion and affirmed the Commissioner’s denial of
benefits. The district court did not abuse its discretion because the original order
was based on an erroneous reading of the ALJ’s decision. See Herron, 634 F.3d at
1111 (amending a judgment appropriate where the original judgment rested on
manifest factual or legal error). Contrary to the district court’s original order, the
ALJ did not ignore the diagnoses of two examining dermatologists. The district
court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the original judgment
improperly shifted McKelvy’s burden of proof to the ALJ, where the record
contained no evidence of functional limitations related to McKelvy’s delusional
disorder. See Mayes v. Massanari, 276 F.3d 453, 459-60 (9th Cir. 2001) (claimant
has the burden to prove disability and, where there is a complete lack of evidence,
the ALJ has no duty to develop the record).
AFFIRMED.
2 15-35879