(SS) Thompson 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 LISA NOVELLE THOMPSON, Case No. 1:21-cv-00815-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING CORRECTED JOINT MOTION TO REMAND UNDER SENTENCE 13 v. FOUR OF 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), REVERSING FINAL DECISION AND REMANDING 14 KILOLO KIJAKAZI, CASE1 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL 15 SECURITY, (Doc. No. 18) 16 Defendant. ORDER FINDING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOOT 17 (Doc. No. 13) 18 19 Pending before the Court is the Parties’ Corrected2 Joint Motion to Remand filed July 14, 20 2022. (Doc. No. 18). Plaintiff Lisa Novelle Thompson and the Commissioner of Social Security 21 agree that this case should be remanded for further administrative proceedings under sentence 22 four of 42 U.S.C. § 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 26 1 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). 2 An earlier filed motion for remand (Doc. No. 17) had incorrectly identified the first name of the Plaintiff 28 and was mooted by the parties filing of the corrected motion. 1 | See Melkonyan vy. Sullian, 501 U.S. 89, 97-98 (1991) (addressing issue of attorney’s fees under 2 | the Equal Access to Justice Act and calculating deadline using date of final judgment). The 3 | Melkonyan Court recognized 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) contemplates only two types of remand — 4 | sentence four or sentence six. Jd. at 98. A sentence four remand authorizes a court to enter “a 5 | judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Secretary, with or without 6 || resetting the cause for a rehearing.” Jd. at 98 (other citations omitted). 7 The Court grants the Parties’ motion to remand under sentence four and reverses the 8 | Commissioner’s final decision. As agreed by the Parties, upon remand, the Administrative Law 9 | Judge should “re-evaluate the evidence of record.” (Doc. No. 18 at 1). 10 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 11 1. Pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C.§ 405(g), the Court REVERSES the 12 Commissioner’s decision and REMANDS this case back to the Commissioner of 13 Social Security for further proceedings consistent with this Order. 14 2. An application for attorney fees may be filed by separate motion. 15 3. Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 13) is MOOT. 16 4. The Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff, terminate any pending motions 17 and deadlines, and close this case. 18 | Dated: _ July 15,2022 Mile. Wh fareh Zaskth 20 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 1 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28