(SS) Benziger 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 JEANNETTE EILEEN BENZIGER, Case No. 1:21-cv-01454-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PARTIES’ JOINT MOTION TO REMAND UNDER SENTENCE 13 v. FOUR OF 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), REVERSING FINAL DECISION AND REMANDING 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL CASE1 SECURITY, 15 (Doc. No. 16) Defendant. 16 ORDER FINDING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOOT 17 18 (Doc. No. 12) 19 20 21 Pending before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Remand filed July 26, 2022. 22 (Doc. No. 16). Plaintiff Jeannete Eileen Benziger and the Commissioner of Social Security agree 23 that this case should be remanded for further administrative proceedings under sentence four of 24 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). (Id.). 25 The United States Supreme Court held that the Social Security Act permits remand in 26 conjunction with a judgment either affirming, reversing, or modifying the Secretary’s decision. 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. 9). 1 | See Melkonyan y. 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. (other citations omitted). 7 The Court grants the parties’ motion to remand under sentence four and reverses the 8 | Commissioner’s final decision. On remand, “the Commissioner will further develop the record as 9 | necessary, and issue a new decision.” (Doc. No. 16 at 1). 10 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 11 1. Pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C.§ 405(g), the Court grants the joint motion to 12 | remand (Doc. No. 16) and REVERSES the Commissioner’s decision. This case is REMANDED 13 | to the Commissioner of 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. 12) is MOOT. 16 4. The Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff, terminate any deadlines, and close 17 || this case. 18 | Dated: _ July 27. 2022 law Nh. fareh Base □□□ 20 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 1 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28