Cristalinda Farias v. Nancy Berryhill

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
DEC 21 2017
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
CRISTALINDA FARIAS, No. 15-35897
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 1:14-cv-03093-SMJ
v.
MEMORANDUM*
NANCY A. BERRYHILL, Acting
Commissioner Social Security,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Washington
Salvador Mendoza, Jr., District Judge, Presiding
Submitted December 19, 2017**
San Francisco, California
Before: CLIFTON, N.R. SMITH, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.
Cristalinda Farias appeals the district court’s decision affirming the denial of
her application for supplemental security income. We have jurisdiction under 28
U.S.C. § 1291, and we vacate and remand.
*
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).
The administrative law judge (ALJ) posed an incomplete hypothetical to the
vocational expert because the ALJ failed to include all Farias’s residual functional
capacity (RFC) findings. Bray v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. Admin., 554 F.3d 1219,
1228 (9th Cir. 2009). The hypothetical concerned an employee who only needed
“breaks” rather than “frequent breaks,” and who had the ability to “stand or walk”
rather than “stand and walk.” Because the ALJ narrowed Farias’s RFC without
explanation, we vacate and remand to the ALJ for further proceedings. Matthews
v. Shalala, 10 F.3d 678, 681 (9th Cir. 1993).
Each party shall bear its own costs.
VACATED and REMANDED.
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