(SS) Donzell v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ZACHARY DONZELL, Case No. 1:20-cv-00418-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PARTIES’ MOTION TO REMAND UNDER SENTENCE FOUR OF 13 v. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), REVERSING FINAL DECISION AND REMANDING CASE1 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, (Doc. No. 24) 15 Defendant. ORDER MOOTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 16 FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 17 (Doc. No. 23) 18 19 Pending before the Court is the parties’ joint motion to remand filed November 7, 2022. 20 (Doc. No. 24). Plaintiff Zachary Donzell and the Commissioner of Social Security agree that this 21 case should be remanded for further administrative proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. 22 § 405(g). (Id.). 23 The United States Supreme Court held that the Social Security Act permits remand in 24 conjunction with a judgment either affirming, reversing, or modifying the Secretary’s decision. 25 See Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89, 97-98 (1991) (addressing issue of attorney’s fees under 26 the Equal Access to Justice Act and calculating deadline using date of final judgment). The 27 1 Both parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a magistrate judge, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 28 §636(c)(1). (Doc. No. 21). 1 | Melkonyan court recognized 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) contemplates only two types of remand — 2 || sentence four or sentence six. Jd. at 98. A sentence four remand authorizes a court to enter “a 3 | judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Secretary, with or without 4 || resetting the cause for a rehearing.” Jd. (other citations omitted). 5 The Court grants the parties’ joint motion to remand under sentence four and reverses the 6 | Commissioner’s final decision. Upon remand, the Administrative Law Judge should re-evaluate 7 | the evidence and issue a new decision. 8 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 9 1. Pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C.§ 405(g), the Court grants the joint motion to 10 | remand (Doc. No. 24) and REVERSES the Commissioner’s decision. This case is REMANDED 11 | tothe Commissioner of Social Security for further proceedings consistent with this Order. 12 2. An application for attorney fees may be filed by separate motion. 13 3. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 23) is MOOT. 14 4. The Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff, terminate any deadlines, and close 15 || this case. 16 M Dated: _ November 9, 2022 oe Uh. Sareh Zackte 18 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 9 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28