(SS) Petinak v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 STEPHEN SCOTT PETINAK, Case No. 1:23-cv-00957-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PARTIES’ STIPULATED MOTION TO REMAND 13 v. UNDER SENTENCE FOUR OF 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), REVERSING FINAL DECISION AND 14 MARTIN O’MALLEY, REMANDING CASE2 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL 15 SECURITY,1 (Doc. No. 20) 16 Defendant. ORDER MOOTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 17 (Doc. No. 16) 18 19 20 Pending before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to remand filed December 29, 2023. 21 (Doc. No. 20). Plaintiff Stephen Scott Petinak and the Commissioner of Social Security agree 22 that this case should be remanded for further administrative proceedings under sentence four of 23 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). (Id.). 24 The United States Supreme Court held that the Social Security Act permits remand in 25 1 The Court has substituted Martin O’Malley, who has since been appointed the Acting Commissioner of 26 Social Security, as the defendant in this suit. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d). 2 Both parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 27 §636(c)(1). (Doc. No. 10). 28 1 | conjunction with a judgment either affirming, reversing, or modifying the Secretary’s decision. 2 | See Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89, 97-98 (1991) (addressing issue of attorney’s fees under 3 | the Equal Access to Justice Act and calculating deadline using date of final judgment). The 4 | Melkonyan court recognized 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) contemplates only two types of remand — 5 || sentence four or sentence six. /d. at 98. A sentence four remand authorizes a court to enter “a 6 | judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Secretary, with or without 7 | resetting the cause for a rehearing.” Jd. (other citations omitted). 8 The Court grants the parties’ motion to remand under sentence four and reverses the 9 | Commissioner’s final decision. As agreed upon by the parties, upon remand, the Commissioner 10 | will re-evaluate the evidence of record, further develop the record if necessary, and issue a new 11 | decision. 12 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 13 1. Pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C.§ 405(g), the Court grants the joint motion to 14 remand (Doc. No. 20) and REVERSES the Commissioner’s decision. This case is 15 REMANDED to the Commissioner of Social Security for further proceedings 16 consistent with this Order. 17 2. A motion for attorney fees may be filed within thirty (30) days. 18 3. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 16) is MOOT. 19 4. The Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff, terminate any deadlines, and close 20 this case. 21 22 Dated: _ December 29, 2023 law ZA. foareh Back 23 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 25 26 27 28